Aaron Keith Harris
2008-01-18 08:00:00.0
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BALTIMORE -

HBO has shown two episodes of the fifth and final season of “The Wire.” Watching them gives me the feeling I had as a kid on Christmas morning when there were only a couple of more unopened presents on my pile: Elated, but sad that it would be over soon.

But, to paraphrase Augustus Haynes, one of the show’s major new characters, “there are a million stories in the naked city,” and David Simon will no doubt pick out some great ones to tell in these last few hours.

One of those story lines is that of the decline of the big-city daily newspaper in America. In this case, it’s the Baltimore Sun, where Simon was a reporter in the ’80s and ’90s.

“Gus” Haynes is the Sun’s city editor. Clark Johnson (Detective Meldrick Lewis from “Homicide: Life on the Street”) plays the part with the peculiar mix of cynicism and idealism that a natural “newspaper man,” as Haynes would say, has to have. Johnson’s work is probably far too subtle and authentic to win the supporting actor Emmy the full performance could well deserve.

The rest of the fictional Sun cast is also on the button, perfectly illustrating the feel of an actual working newsroom better than anything I’ve seen on the large or small screen.

The crotchety veterans try to school the youngsters who just can’t write, including one rookie who improperly, and hilariously, uses the word “evacuated.” A photographer constantly tries to spice up his disaster photos by tossing a charred Barbie doll into his shots. A lazy reporter complains about not getting good assignments.

And I’m quite sure that every current or former reporter particularly enjoyed the stinging portrayal of Haynes’ witless, but no doubt well-compensated, superiors. Concerned only with chasing Pulitzers and confirming their own prejudices, Haynes’ bosses casually tell everyone else they “simply have to do more with less.”

“Someday, I wanna find out what it feels like to work for a real newspaper,” one of the Sun’s drones says.

Detective Jimmy McNulty, who is drinking again, uses a dash of his trademark profanity to say the same thing about the Baltimore Police Department, after the investigation into drug kingpin Marlo Stanfield is deemed too expensive.

When he’s told that his police officers haven’t been paid overtime or court pay in weeks, Mayor Carcetti’s only reaction is to ask how much the crime rate has dropped, because he wants to run for governor.

Stanfield and the rest of the city’s drug dealers are having a leadership crisis of their own as they deal with Johns Hopkins construction eating up prime retail space in East Baltimore.

Though the theme of corrupt and inept leaders looks to be a strong one this season, the problems explored by “The Wire” go much deeper.

“Americans are a stupid people by and large,” says Detective Edward T. Norris, played by former Police Commissioner Edward T. Norris. “We pretty much do whatever we’re told.”

Norris says this to another homicide detective while they are preparing to trick a teenage murder suspect into confessing by hooking him up to a lie detector that is, in fact, just a copier.

The ruse works, prompting the other detective, the cigar-chomping Bunk Moreland, to crow, “The bigger the lie, the more they believe.”

Lines like that are clearly aimed at the viewer, but they don’t come off as preachy as they would on a lesser show. “The Wire” has so powerfully shown the problems with how we think about the American city, it can credibly demand serious thought after the TV is turned off.

Aaron Keith Harris writes about politics, the media, pop culture and music and is a regular contributor to National Review Online and Bluegrass Unlimited. He can be reached at aaronkeithharris@gmail.com.