Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-10-10
• Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English, French
• Subtitled in: Arabic, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Swedish
• Number of discs: 5
• Running time: 780 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Picking up after the dramatic events of its maiden season, the second series of The Wire achieves something really rather special: it even manages to outclass the first.

For those fresh to the show, surely the best, most intelligent piece of scripted drama to emerge from America in the last decade, the actual premise is fairly simple. Across the thirteen episodes of its season, it charts one case, and the numerous influences upon it. So it devotes roughly equal time to those committing the crimes as it does to those chasing them.

This time, the Baltimore Police Department have twin worries. There's the continuing, festering narrative of events from the season before, along with a new problem when a container of dead bodies turns up at the nearby docks. After initial battles over whose statistics the bodies will be attributed to, a fresh case begins for the embattled officers of the Major Crimes Unit.

Yet season two is about much more than the case itself. Bubbling under the surface are characters with real problems, that take their toll on the day-to-day, while at the docks themselves there are union struggles underway, which also have a part to play. Thanks to, frankly, superb scripting, these various narrative threads are woven together quite brilliantly, and the result is perhaps the finest series of The Wire to date. And that's no small feat.

If you're one of the many who have let The Wire fly under their radar thus far, then you're urged to rectify that. Clearly season one is the logical starting point, but begin your adventure in the knowledge that this second series is simple exceptional. For the rest of the US television industry, this is the standard to aim for. --Simon Brew

Synopsis
Unlike most television crime dramas, which neatly introduce and then solve a case all in the space of one hour, HBO's THE WIRE follows one single drug and homicide investigation throughout the length of an entire season. Centred around the drug culture of inner-city Baltimore, the series' storyline unfolds from the points of view of both the criminals lording the streets and the police officers determined to bring them down. Created by writer David Simon (THE CORNER, HOMICIDE: LIFE ON THE STREET), THE WIRE's multifaceted approach offers a nuanced overview of every aspect of the drug trade and the complex morality of its participants. The second season is included here in its entirety.

Customer Reviews

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.