Both The complete series of The Wire is a cultural juggernaut and picking a better show between the two almost seems unfair. But there are certain features that elevate one above the other.
The Wire was first broadcast in 2002 and ran for five seasons. Initially focused on the Baltimore Police Department and its investigation into the drug dealing Barksdale family, it expanded in subsequent seasons to encom several institutions and their relationships with the Police. The show was immensely complex and Pelecanos and Simon went to great lengths to realistically capture the futility of police work, the lives of those caught in Baltimore’s criminal underbelly and the language they used. This push for realism and its drawn-out approach to story-telling – Simon wanted the show to be "novelistic", with a lack of exposition and each episode a chapter in a wider arc - initially saw The Wire garner low viewing figures. However, it has since been met with critical acclaim and lauded as one of the best crime dramas ever made. By contrast, We Own This City is a spiritual sequel to The Wire, based once again on the Baltimore Police Department but this time led by a true story involving the Gun Trace Task Force (GTTF). The show centers around Sgt. Wayne Jenkins (Jon Bernthal) and a group of six police officers whose increasingly corrupt actions eventually lead them to be imprisoned for racketeering. The true story stands on its own as an example of policing gone wrong and how a system of law enforcement can allow corrupt officers to operate unchecked for years.
We Own This City leans heavily into this critique of the Baltimore Police Department and utilizes a flashback format to illustrate how Jenkins spiraled out of control. Its focus is tighter than The Wire, but still encomes various characters from the political sphere and several factions of law enforcement. Both We Own This City and The Wire succeed in painting a rich picture of police corruption set within a city close to the hearts of both Pelecanos and Simon. However, thanks to both its ambition, cast and content, The Wire still comes out on top. Here's why The Wire is better than We Own This City.
The Scope
Never has a show or series covered more ground in one area than The Wire. The political and legal institutions that govern Baltimore are laid bare in five seasons of critique and adoration for the city. It begins with an examination of the impacts of drug dealing on the poor in Baltimore’s predominantly black, urban areas and evolves, in season 2, into an exploration of the working class in and around the city’s docks. The show touches on the politics that trigger the issues further down the social ladder and the impacts within the city’s schools. In the fifth and final season, the inner workings of a fictionalized newspaper are explored, identifying the media’s role during the important events of The Wire and its impact on Baltimore. The common thread throughout being the involvement of the Baltimore Police Department. The Wire’s scope is enormous and We Own This City was always going to struggle, with only six episodes, to contend with this. While its attempts to include the wider investigation of the GTTF are irable, some storylines struggle due to a shorter run time. Including the introduction of Erika Jensen (Dagmara Dominczyk) as one of the FBI agents tasked with investigating Jenkins and his team.
The Cast and Characters
Both shows enjoy a large ensemble cast. The cast and characters of The Wire, however, have transcended the show and become household names. The heavy hitters include of the Barksdale family; Stringer Bell (Idris Elba), the endlessly professional career criminal and his more exuberant and vicious boss, Avon Barksdale (Wood Harris). The constant thorn in their side was the now iconic Omar Little (Michael K Williams), the stick-up man. A complex, multi-layered character, with no allegiances but to himself. In a role that could have fallen foul of being one-sided, he gave The Wire a layered, brutal but tender performance. Dominic West as Detective Jimmy McNulty gave The Wire as close to a lead as possible, but the show never failed to give bit-part players time to shine and there was no lack of notable, iconic characters. Andre Royo’s "Bubbles" could have been nothing but a drug addict and informant, but The Wire gave Bubbles room to grow and develop his own subplot.
While the We Own This City cast benefits from being both a wide-ranging and multi-faceted ensemble, it has less time to develop characters through its runtime. Wunmi Mosaku is brilliant as the civil rights attorney, Nicole Steer, who is investigating police corruption; however, her character feels tacked on and would have benefited from a longer runtime. The same can be said for other of Federal Law Enforcement who get involved in investigating the GTTF. The show does, however, have time to provide audiences with career-best work from Jon Bernthal as Jenkins. The show essentially centers around his descent into darkness, as Jenkins becomes desensitized to his own actions.
Message
Williams' Omar was a gun-toting criminal, but he was also tender and humorous. Bubbles descends down a very dark path, after accidentally killing a young homeless boy he mentored called Sherrod. However, by the end of the final season, Bubbles has been rehabilitated and is finally able to re his family and begin leaving the streets. The tough streets of Baltimore can offer salvation and there are second chances for those who choose to take them.
Conclusion: Why The Wire Is Better
If anything was going to draw comparisons to the incomparable The Wire, it was going to be We Own This City. Showrunners Pelecanos and Simon continue to bring audiences thoughtful, gritty, true-to-source drama. They not only were successful with both The Wire and We Own This City, but 2017’s We Own This City forces comparison with The Wire because of its source material. It sits in the shadow of The Wire and inevitably feels like a footnote; an aggressive, fast-paced footnote at that. It suffers in comparison simply because of the enormity of The Wire. While We Own This City is inarguably a tour-de-force in the golden age of TV, with an essential message and ferocious performance from Bernthal, The Wire continues to stand as one of the best TV shows ever made. It probably always will do.