The Wire (2002-8)

David Simon landmark series holds up in the waning years of the Golden era of television. The technology may be outdated by now, but the drama is timeless. Simon pioneered bingeable television (along with the Sopranos, I suppose), plotting a mystery to unfold over the course of a whole season. And today in the streaming era, every TV show worth its salt has an overarching plot. Some may criticize him for being slow, but it's a methodical slow burn that allows for deep characterization of even secondary characters. We come to know not just the cops, not just the head honcho drug dealers but even the street level kids (a very young Michael B Jordan). His sense of realism comes through in his unknown actors, character actors, non-actors, and many real Baltimoreans. The show is about characters who are trapped by the institutions (a set of rules) that plague the city.

The Wire is Simon's love letter to Baltimore. It may not always seem that way given all the crime and corruption he highlights but indeed it is. No city has ever gotten such a thorough treatment on TV, exposing its underbelly. He doesn't do it out of malice or hatred but he genuinely believes that it can do better. Despite the specificity, it could have been about any city because in general terms it is about the decline of the American city. Other cities also have drug problems, docks, corrupt city government, schools, and print media. He would give post-Katrina New Orleans a similar treatment in Treme, but Simon has a personal connection to Baltimore. He (and writer Ed Burns) have first hand experience about the things they write (the Baltimore Police and the Baltimore Sun).

Seasons 3 and 4 are the strongest. Simon's analysis on the flaws in our education system is brilliant. I thought season 2 at the docks was kind of weak while watching it but in retrospect it was also very good. There are so many characters and by the end I felt like we got satisfactory closure on each one. It was kind of weird that McNulty doesn't feature much in season 4, but honestly, it's all the better without him. His twisted story line in season 5 is probably the weakest, most cynical (most ironic).

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (2017)

Oprah is powerful as ever, but for some reason she was snubbed of an Emmy nomination. Oprah can do no wrong. I actually thought Rose Byrne was kind of charming. The movie isn't just about Henrietta of course, but about Rebecca Skloot's research process. The story of the Lacks family is as much Henrietta's story as her own life for in death she continues to bear influence on them. Johns Hopkins has done some horrible things, especially to the local African American population, in its history in the name of science and otherwise. And this film begins to tell us about some of them. What they did with Henrietta Lacks was ethically dubious but official policy is not well-defined. Though I think they were certainly wrong to draw blood from her descendants without properly informing them.

The opening scene in black-and-white, as if on an old film reel, is slickly edited to a drumming soundtrack. It tells you everything you need to know and the drums give it a sense of direction. The rest of the film however, to be totally honest, is a little boring. They have very short cuts to Henrietta Lacks and her life. These scenes serve little purpose because the real drama is in the present. I don't think Renee Elise Goldsberry even has a speaking role. Goldsberry has a very small role in the film, but she actually bears a surprising likeness to Henrietta Lacks. Good casting or good make up.