The Wire: Season 2
One thing I loved about Season 1 of “The Wire” is that it seemed authentic. There’s no way for me to know if it is. My penchant for ass-kicking aside, I never worked in an inner-city policy department. (After I typed “penchant”, I voice in my head started chanting “Bic, Bic, Bic!”) But I reason it’s more likely for police work to be filled with paperwork, boredom, cursing, and office politics than non-stop wild gun battles because there’s a lot more of the former in real life than the latter.
The jargon and slang the characters used seemed authentic too, like the show’s creators talked to a lot of police officers and drug dealers before writing. I highly recommend watching the first season.
I’ve only watched two episodes from Season 2, but it’s disappointing so far because it doesn’t have that same sense of authenticity. The main setting moved to the inner harbor docks and focuses a lot on the life of the dock workers. A lot of the dialogue seems contrived and the camaraderie among the workers forced, like the show’s writers aren’t too familiar with that world.
Again, my penchant for moving shipping crates aside, never worked at the docks. But the depiction doesn’t ring true anymore. Also, there’s this new obnoxious character, Ziggy, who I hate. Part of what doesn’t ring true to me is that fact that he reached his mid-20s and no one has killed him yet. He’s not even missing a limb. 
Bart said,
June 25, 2008 @ 9:14 pm
You have to push through season 2 to get to the rest of the seasons which are just as good as the first. Season 2 is not so great.