High quality drama
Having been unimpressed with first series of The Wire, I only started watching this, the second series, due to the endless critical praise that I kept seeing every time I picked up a newspaper. And I'm glad I did. The second series of The Wire is a huge improvement on the first. The story is deliberately slow to get into its stride but nevertheless is compelling from the opening credits to the final fade. This is a high quality Police drama which shows the good and the bad in everyone; the criminals, the stevedores and the Police all have very human qualities, both strengths and weaknesses, and the divide between crime and order is a realistically hazy one. A highly realistic drama showing the pitfalls of Police investigative techniques, the hard graft that is Police work and the real difficulties securing evidence against those running the crime families. In the end the team has some success but, unlike dire series like The Shield and CSI, they don't always get their man. The interweaving storylines all add to the mix and give a much fuller picture than you get from the typical Police drama.

I can't wait to watch the next three.

blood is thicker than water
Despite bringing in a case (of sorts) at the end of last season there is a fair bit of fallout for Baltimore's boys in blue at the beginning of season two. Lieutenant Daniels has been banished to the basement archives and McNulty is a fish out of water working with the harbour police. In fact the first few episodes show brilliantly how ill at ease he is. His barrel chest looks likely to topple him over the side of the boat and there's a repeating joke about his inability to tie any kind of knot. The action shifts for the most part away from the projects run by Avon Barksdale (who now languishes in jail with his nephew D'Angelo) and his crew and to the docks where stevedores and longshoremen ply their trade. In the modern age there is plenty of money to be made from those anonymous looking shipping containers but when one of them is found to contain the bodies of 14 eastern European women a new case begins.

Some slightly transparent plotting allows Daniels out of his underground exile with carte blanche to assemble his old detail (and the promise that if they bring in a case the team will become permanent - very handy for subsequent series) but once things get going it's just nice to have them all back together again. Only McNulty is left adrift and we see his private life following that familiar collision course from the first season. His drunken conversations with 'Bunk' are a particular highlight (and should come with subtitles of their own). We also get to meet Mrs McNulty for the first time as he tries to patch together his relationship.

At the centre of the case is the Sobotka family: Frank is a union official, knee-deep in corruption, his nephew Nick, short on hours at the docks, is doing what it takes to make money whilst also trying to keep Frank's son Ziggy from messing it all up. This series lacks some of the interest of the first. The dock workers can be difficult to care about at times because they are often shown to be just plain stupid. Higher up the ladder is 'The Greek' who with his constantly clicking worry beads is the enigmatic boss. The police work too doesn't get its hooks into you in the same way. Perhaps because of what they've learnt from the first case it all feels far more procedural rather than as if they're feeling their way through. But this is still a compelling series as we watch the personal lives of the team develop, that conflict between home and work putting strains on relationships.

Barksdale's crew continue to fascinate and it is Stringer Bell, played brilliantly by British actor Idris Elba, who exerts all the power whilst Avon does his time inside. His hands are on everything, and I mean everything, and I wonder how that might develop in season three. Could there be some possible conflict in the future? The thief Omar is the other really strong character, still stalking the streets looking to revenge the murder of his 'boy'. Underneath his chilling exterior there is that passion of a man wronged and he is given some of the more memorable utterances. The script continues to be wonderfully baffling at times and maybe suffers in places from much more obvious political point making but whilst it may not have been as impressive a series it still remains far more engaging, serious and worth watching than anything comparable from this side of the water.

world class
Not much can be said that hasnt already been said about season two of the wire,all the superlatives in the world have been used to describe this series,some of course will argue that this isnt as good as season one,i can say for the record that its as good if not better.
This time the drama unfolds in the dockland area of baltimore and involves murder,corruption,greed and much more,this is tense and cagey tv at its very best,laced with a bit more humour than series one but with a snarling attitude being prominent.
The usual band of characters return and we are introduced to new characters who play such an important part in this show,i certainly wont give anymore away but this is brilliant and thats all i have to really say on the issue.

Doesn't beat the first
I'd like to point out that I found this series better than any other show i've watched - except the first series. I still appreciated the plot and the new characters were equally if not more gritty than those in the first but I felt that it was trying to keep the first series personnel going when they really played a fairly minimal role in the series. Brilliant but a bit of an inbetween series.

Good viewing
I loved series one, and could not wait to buy this series. The story line was still gripping and you start to see how certain characters are going to come up dead soon. McNulty is still just as excellent in my book along with Stringer Bell who is really starting to shown his true nasty colours..watched this series in 2 days now looking forward to series 3.

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