HBO series The Wire is one of TV's several sleeper hits. When it first came out, it struggled with poor ratings but a few years later, it became very popular and went on to be regarded as one of the best TV shows of all time. It also launched the careers of a couple of Hollywood stars including Idris Elba, Dominic West, and Michael B. Jordan.
The series was created by police reporter David Simon who initially based it on the former homicide detective Ed Burns. During its run, it was nominated for over 100 awards across different organizations. Here are the best episodes of The Wire according to IMDb.
A New Day (9.0)
Bodie was having second thoughts about working for Marlo after one of his own crew members died. Elsewhere, Bubbles managed to get revenge on Herc while Randy started getting bullied in school after word went around that he was snitching.
Daniels' work paid off too and he received a promotion to the rank of Colonel. He then became the commander of the CID. Later, Pearlman moved to the homicide unit, taking the mantle of lead prosecutor. There was good news for all the officers, too, when Carcetti gave them a pay hike.
Cleaning Up (9.1)
After the police raided Stringer's operation and seized plenty of the stash, he sought to reorganize things. He made an anti-technology rule, meaning no phones and no pagers. He even put a pause on the dealing of drugs to allow for things to cool down.
Stringer went even further by targeting everyone who was a threat to his operations. On the other side, the show proved why it was such a good cop drama once again in with an interesting scene where Shardene was convinced to turn into an informant. Finally, The Deputy Chief called off the pursuit of Avon Barksdale just before Freamon and Prez found out the real reason he was buying abandoned buildings.
Bad Dreams (9.2)
In the eleventh episode of Season 2, the FBI carried out a string of raids but were unable to catch anyone since the Greeks' properties had already been abandoned. But they didn't walk away empty-handed. They managed to seize plenty of cash and heroin.
Sobotka was also arrested and Valchek made sure the press was present to create a glorious TV moment for the Bureau. Malatov and the Greeks were persuaded to rat bur they wouldn't do it. Valchek then stayed busy. He tried to put Ziggy behind bars before making the shocking discovery that Nick was in the heroin business.
The Cost (9.2)
After Omar's attempted hit on Avon, Stringer and Wee-Bey figured he had to be dealt with so they tried to come up with the perfect plan. They thus tricked him into thinking they were seeking a peace treat while in reality, they wanted to murder him.
McNulty was denied a chance at re-election because of how he had mishandled the Barksdale case. Keeping up with the main plot arc of the show, he attempted to turn Wallace into an informant. Orlando also tried to get drugs but ended up in trouble.
Mission Accomplished (9.3)
After Stringer's death, McNulty felt depressed. It wasn't out of adoration. He just felt that he had been denied the joy of arresting the gangster himself. To avenge Stringer's death, Avon's crew waged war against Marlo, thinking he was responsible, but Avon came out to reveal that Marlo was innocent.
Elsewhere, Royce and Burrell reignited their rivalry again after the press toured the junkie zones of the city. And Marla's ambition was clear once again as she announced her city council candidacy. Conversations captured by the wires also revealed the planned war against Marlo.
That's Got His Own (9.3)
In Season 4's twelfth episode, Carcetti's financial problems continued as he learned about a $54 million debt. His chief of staff came up with some recommendations to remedy the situation but Campbell proved why bureaucratic wars suck once again by suggesting that Carcetti should ignore all that and seek assistance from the Governor.
The friendship Prez and Dukie then got threatened after Dukie was given a social promotion, enabling him to join high school. And after conducting some excellent police work, Freamon discovered the ground where Chris and Snoop normally dumped bodies.
Late Editions (9.3)
Carcetti was forced to stop funding Prince George's County while the FBI refused to hear Freamon out. Freamon then opened up to Davis about the evidence he had come across. Fan-favorite character Omar had died too after being shot in the head by a young boy but Marlo was not crying like everyone else. He was glad it happened.
But not everything was rosy for Marlo. Sydnor managed to break one of his codes, leading the police to seize a major supply. The crew then began suspecting Michael for snitching about the supply to the authorities. Away from the violence, there were discussions about submitting the controversial serial killer story for a Pulitzer Prize.
30 (9.5)
Season 5 received plenty of praise from critics and in its tenth episode, Levy began to seriously investigate who the informant was. This was after Marlo told him that only Cheese, Chris, and Monk knew about the code that the police intercepted. Since all the three were in prison, there had to be another snitch.
Greggs also let the cat out of the bag, revealing that Daniels that McNutty's serial killer story was not true. To everyone's surprise, Carcetti decided to cover it up the revelation in order to protect his gubernatorial ambitions. Elsewhere, Freamon found out about the leak
Final Grades (9.5)
Season 4's thirteenth episode was nominated for "Best Drama Episode" at the Writers Guild Awards. In it, Sherrod's death was depressing Bubbles so much that he attempted suicide. Carcetti was also in a dilemma on whether he should take the governor's offer of money, fearing that there would be plenty of strings attached to it. In the worst-case scenario, he could be blackmailed.
Cutty was also recovering after getting shot. The New Day was also planning on how to deal with Omar after he robbed their shipment. Interestingly, he went ahead and tried to sell the same drugs back to Joe back his own drugs. And at school. Dukie finally decided what he really wanted to do.
Middle Ground (9.6)
This specific episode made the show win an Emmy for "Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series." In it, Burrell and Rawls were trying to come up with ways to handle the drug zones, so Royce gave them more time to do it. However, Burrell misunderstood Royce's lenience and thought he was buying time in order to devise a story that would put the blame on the police department.
Stringer also found out that Clay was lying to him and tricking him into making one-sided contributions. Furious, he ordered a hit on Davis. Later, the wires then gave the authorities a big hint by revealing that Avon and Stringer were on a different network.