In a way, singling out one episode is antithetical to The Wire, in which each season was really one twelve- or thirteen-hour story. But the penultimate episode encapsulated everything humane and heartbreaking about this sweeping Baltimore urban drama. In particular, it put a cap on the stories of four Baltimore teenagers, begun in The Wire's season 4 (the series' finest). In the last section of the episode, teen Michael (Tristan Wilds) breaks with the gang that's been using him by tenderly killing Snoop who would have killed him otherwise then goes on the run, saying a poignant goodbye to his little brother, Bug (whom he became a gangbanger to protect in the first place). The Wire gave urban crime a face, and here it put well-earned tears on all its fans' faces.
(HBO)