The Wire Season 2
Overview
A lot of people bounce off Season 2 on first viewing because it leaves the corners behind and moves to the docks. Stick with it — it's secretly one of the best seasons of television ever made. The focus shifts to the stevedores' union and Frank Sobotka, a man stealing and smuggling not to get rich but to keep a dying port, and his men's jobs, alive a little longer. His money comes from a shadowy smuggling ring run by 'The Greek,' and when thirteen women turn up dead in a shipping container, McNulty — exiled to a harbor boat and loving the chance to stick it to his bosses — makes sure the case lands on the department. The old Major Crimes team slowly reassembles, Stringer Bell tries to run the Barksdale crew like a business while Avon's inside, and Omar steals a courtroom scene in a tie he clearly bought for the occasion. By the end, the season's real subject sneaks up on you: it's about work disappearing, and what decent people do when the honest way stops paying. Frank Sobotka might be the most tragic character the show ever wrote.
