Another unsolicited and unnecessary review of The Wire.

I don't mind crime movies. I don't seek them out but if I run across one I'll watch it, especially if Denzel or Morgan is involved. They're done in a few hours and usually, in the end, everything tidies up into a nice neat package. Sometimes I even figure out what's going on early in the movie without needing to be hit over the head with it at the end. Usually not, but sometimes.

But for whatever reason, I don't like crime shows. The early seasons of the X Files were different - alien crime? government conspiracy? Fox Mulder? now we're talking - but I think I've watched one episode of Law & Order in my entire life (quite a feat considering that it's on nine channels 24x7 these days) and I've never seen a full CSI episode. I like The Closer but that appeal is more about Kyra Sedgwick finally getting the role she was meant to play than the show itself. So I wasn't sold on the concept when a friend recommended The Wire, but after just two episodes of season one I was hooked.

The five-season run explores the underworld of drug trafficking and how it relates to life on the street, politics, media, policing and the school system. Been there, done that - right? Wrong. The characters are some of the most compelling I have ever encountered (sorry Joss) who play off each other in some of the best-written dialogue and plotlines I've ever seen (sorry again Joss). I think that every episode made me laugh at one point and drop my jaw in utter shock at another. The familiar locale kept me interested. (The show is based in Baltimore but surrounding areas often played into the plotlines. I'm a product of Prince George's County and yes, it really is that bad.) And everything - EVERYTHING - is connected.

I was a bit worried about the last season. Unlike other seasons that exposed me to worlds I would never know otherwise, season 5 seemed a little obvious. (Wait - the media is corrupt? Politicians are slimy? Police departments are underfunded? Nooooooo! Really?) But as a testiment to the writers' skillful storytelling, around the third episode I began to notice a very subtle but very present tension which I can only equate to a ticking time bomb. Many believe that the last episode was one of the finest hours of television ever made. Me, I found Middle Ground in season 3 to be one of the finest hours of television ever made. But that last hour was good stuff too.

So yes, do not pass go, do not collect $200, just watch it. Savvy?