We had the rare sight of Mayor Tommy Carcetti lost for words after being told that Baltimore’s homeless serial killer was a fabrication. At least his advisor could see the funny side. ‘I wish I was still on the newspaper so I could write on this f****** mess. It’s too good.’
In typical Wire style, though, once everybody had taken in the facts, they quickly found a way to cover their backs. ‘The Mayor’s up there figuring how to hide the dirt,’ explained police boss Daniels, and hide the dirt is what they do.
McNulty and Freamon can’t work out why they haven’t been arrested for their scheme, but the reason is that it’s in the interest of the powers-that-be to hush it up and deal with it through ‘the back channels’.
-30- is a superb ending to the series, with the writers showing the real politics that goes on beneath the surface. Whether it’s the Mayor’s office, the police department, the newspaper office, or on the streets, everybody is looking out for themselves. So we see reporter Scott Templeton receiving his Pulitzer Prize (despite being told about the fabrication by McNulty); we see Mayor Carcetti re-elected; Rawls getting his promotion to Superintendent and Daniels to commissioner; and drugs baron Marlo released on condition he gives up his trade.
Perhaps the most disturbing misuse of power shown in The Wire is The Baltimore Sun’s decision to back Templeton’s dodgy reporting, despite the concerns of his news editor Gus Haynes. After all, if a newspaper isn’t going to keep an honest eye on those in power – the Mayor, the police – then who is? Perhaps The Wire offers us some hope in the integrity of Haynes. As he tells his editor: ‘Maybe you’ll win a Pulitzer with this stuff, maybe you’ll have to give it back…’
wire schmire, what did everyone think about Lipstick Jungle last night?