The Wire is a 10 year old show so at the time Tv broadcast was mainly 4:3. And the creators decided to stick with the 4:3 for the later seasons to maintain visual consistency.
Season 4 is the (rightly)considered the best season of The Wire and of TV history.
While the central theme is the drug trade and decay of Baltimore MA, each season is created to showcase this from a different institution like Police Department, Port Authority/longshoremen, City Hall,school system and the news in the 5 seaons respectively.
The show is never dull or slow at any time and is unlike anything you've ever seen or will see. The twist and turns and come & go in a matters of seconds. The show wasn't dumbed down in any to attract or appeal to a few wider audience and actually rewards viewers who follow the show intelligently. Although seeming like a cop show the storyline spends equal time on both sides of the law and focusses more on social commentary and I though there is violence in the show it is never the ACTION kind but is portrayed very realistically. So to summarise here the show is about realism at level which isn't possible to do again. The language, the references are totally unique and by the time your done with 5 seasons you can very call Baltimore your hometown, being that you'll have learnt soo much about it.
