The Wire

1. S01E01The TargetJune 2, 2002 7.7Homicide detective Jimmy McNulty observes the murder trial of a mid-level drug dealer, D'Angelo Barksdale, and sees the prosecution's star w
2. S01E02The DetailJune 9, 2002 8.0The witness who testified against D'Angelo is killed and the Barksdale organization is suspected. In light of Phelan's pressure, a detail is
3. S01E03The BuysJune 16, 2002 8.0"The king stay the king." - D'AngeloAfter early morning "field interviews" conducted by Herc, Carver and Prez lead to a minor riot and bad p
4. S01E04Old CasesJune 23, 2002 8.4Bodie wakes up from his injuries in a Washington, D.C. juvenile detention center and manages to escape just before Herc and Carver arrive to
5. S01E05The PagerJune 30, 2002 8.3Avon Barksdale Avon becomes more and more suspicious, he orders Wee-Bey to change phone lines in his apartment and promotes Stinkum to manag
6. S01E06The WireJuly 7, 2002 8.4"...and all the pieces matter." - FreamonBrandon's bloodied body is discovered in the pit. Wallace gets even more unsettled about the situat
7. S01E07One ArrestJuly 21, 2002 8.5"A man must have a code." - BunkUsing information from the wiretap Detectives Greggs, Herc, Carver, and Sydnor catch a runner on his way to
8. S01E08LessonsJuly 28, 2002 8.5"Come at the king, you best not miss." - OmarMcNulty uses his children to tail Stringer after a chance encounter in a local market. Greggs a
9. S01E09Game DayAugust 4, 2002 8.5"Maybe we won." - HercFreamon gets Sydnor and Prez started on the Barksdale money trail. Omar gives East side kingpin Proposition Joe a stol
10. S01E10The CostAugust 11, 2002 8.8"And then he dropped the bracelets..." - GreggsAfter being clean for three days, Bubbles gets some strong advice from a former addict. Avon
11. S01E11Season's bestThe HuntAugust 18, 2002 8.9"Dope on the damn table." - DanielsWhile Greggs' life hangs in the balance, Daniels is ordered to raid the Barksdale operation. The detail's
12. S01E12Cleaning UpSeptember 1, 2002 8.8"This is me, yo, right here." - WallaceAvon and Stringer meet with their attorney, Maurice Levy, to discuss a potential leak in the wake of
13. S01E13SentencingSeptember 8, 2002 8.8"all in the game..." - Traditional, West BaltimoreDaniels and McNulty's evidence of political corruption is of slight interest to the FBI, b

Season 1 ranked & reviewed

1. S02E01Ebb TideJune 1, 2003 7.5"Ain't never gonna be what it was." – Little Big RoyJimmy McNulty is sidelined to harbor patrol. He discovers a corpse in the harbor and pay
2. S02E02Collateral DamageJune 8, 2003 8.3"They can chew you up, but they gotta spit you out." – McNultyOfficer Russell is assigned the murders of the thirteen women discovered in th
3. S02E03Hot ShotsJune 15, 2003 8.2"What they need is a union." – RussellNick is concerned over how he is to provide for his girlfriend and their daughter. He joins his errant
4. S02E04Hard CasesJune 22, 2003 8.1"If I hear the music, I'm gonna dance." – GreggsD'Angelo confronts Avon about the bad package and washes his hands of the business. Avon bro
5. S02E05UndertowJune 29, 2003 8.0"They used to make steel there, no?" – Spiros VondasZiggy's inability to move a package of drugs costs him his Camaro and nearly his life as
6. S02E06All PrologueJuly 6, 2003 8.4"It don't matter that some fool say he different..." – D'AngeloThe detail continues to look for the source of the union's money and begin to
7. S02E07BackwashJuly 13, 2003 8.0"Don't worry, kid. You're still on the clock." – HorsefaceRawls attempts to persuade Daniels to take the Jane Doe homicides but is unsuccess
8. S02E08Duck and CoverJuly 27, 2003 8.2"How come they don't fly away?" – ZiggyMcNulty deals with the disappointment of his failed reconciliation with his wife by returning to his
9. S02E09Stray RoundsAugust 3, 2003 8.3"The world is a smaller place now." – The GreekThe detail is dismayed at the lack of activity from their subjects and realizes that they mus
10. S02E10Storm WarningsAugust 10, 2003 8.7"It pays to go with the union card every time." – ZiggyEthnic tension over the next union secretary continues to build; Sobotka still plans
11. S02E11Bad DreamsAugust 17, 2003 8.8"I need to get clean." – SobotkaStringer manipulates Omar into pursuing Brother Mouzone. Omar shoots Mouzone and then leaves him alive havin
12. S02E12Season's bestPort in a StormAugust 24, 2003 8.9"Business. Always business." – The GreekThe stevedores gather for work as a floating corpse is pulled from the water. Once it is ashore, the

Season 2 ranked & reviewed

1. S03E01Time After TimeSeptember 19, 2004 8.3After the notorious Franklin Terrace public housing towers are razed, the Barksdale drug crew searches for a new home on the streets of West
2. S03E02All Due RespectSeptember 26, 2004 8.8Omar continues his bold strikes on the heavily guarded Barksdale stash houses. McNulty launches his own investigation into last year's priso
3. S03E03Dead SoldiersOctober 3, 2004 8.7The brutality at police headquarters continues over the perceived failure of department commanders to rein in the city's crime stats. Anothe
4. S03E04HamsterdamOctober 10, 2004 8.7Greggs and McNulty recruit Bubbles to gather street intelligence on the Barksdale gang. Cutty seeks out the Barksdale gang after he loses hi
5. S03E05Straight and TrueOctober 17, 2004 8.4Johnny pressures Bubbles to stop snitching for the detail. Cutty lies to his grandmother about going straight. McNulty realizes pursuing Bar
6. S03E06HomecomingOctober 31, 2004 8.7Major Colvin instructs his men to use brute force to get the message out to street dealers about his free zone. Avon Barksdale and Stringer
7. S03E07Back BurnersNovember 7, 2004 8.8Daniels goes ballistic when the detail gets reassigned to the Western District. Stringer Bell learns from Donette that Brianna is thinking a
8. S03E08Moral MidgetryNovember 14, 2004 8.9Prez impresses the detail with what he's found out from Bodie's cell phone, information that sends McNulty and Greggs on a road trip. Colvin
9. S03E09SlapstickNovember 21, 2004 8.7Responding to an officer's call for help, McNulty and Prez turn up the wrong alley with unanticipated results. Cutty is surprised to find he
10. S03E10ReformationNovember 28, 2004 8.8Brother Mouzone returns to Baltimore on a mission of revenge and casts a wide net in his search for Omar. Colvin manages to put off a Sun re
11. S03E11Season's bestMiddle GroundDecember 12, 2004 9.3The wire begins to yield information about the Barksdale organization. Stringer and Avon reminisce on how far they have come. McNulty finds
12. S03E12Mission AccomplishedDecember 19, 2004 9.0Avon readies his troops for a seemingly endless war against Marlo. The detail works towards the top rungs of the Barksdale organization with

Season 3 ranked & reviewed

1. S04E01Boys of SummerSeptember 10, 2006 8.3In the Season Four premiere, four boys from West Baltimore play out their summer vacation in the streets. Meanwhile, Marlo has solved the pr
2. S04E02Soft EyesSeptember 17, 2006 8.5Herc's soft-duty job with the mayor takes an unexpectedly hard turn. Despite the potential damage to her career, Pearlman provides Freamon a
3. S04E03Home RoomsSeptember 24, 2006 8.5With his lead dwindling, Royce resorts to extreme measures to stall Carcetti's momentum. At Bodie's corner, Michael proves adept as a runner
4. S04E04RefugeesOctober 1, 2006 8.2With Freamon and Greggs moved to Homicide, Herc and Dozerman join Marimow in the stripped-down Major Crimes Unit. Cutty gets a 'custodial' j
5. S04E05AlliancesOctober 8, 2006 8.5The ensuing negative attention turns Royce against Burrell, who takes the heat while Rawls comes to the rescue. At school, Prez's reward/pun
6. S04E06Margin of ErrorOctober 15, 2006 8.6With Election Day approaching, the three mayoral candidates make last-minute appeals. Carcetti wrangles for votes as he responds to a potent
7. S04E07Unto OthersOctober 29, 2006 8.4With a bounty on him, Omar calls in a favor to Bunk. The election over, Royce and Carcetti make peace and contemplate their futures. At scho
8. S04E08Corner BoysNovember 5, 2006 8.2To monitor the pulse on the street, Carcetti makes the rounds with members of the force. While Proposition Joe shows off his vocal range, Ch
9. S04E09Know Your PlaceNovember 12, 2006 8.5Poot returns to the corner after a stint in prison--and is welcomed back. Carcetti engages in a testy budget battle with City Council Presid
10. S04E10MisgivingsNovember 19, 2006 8.6Acting on Clay Davis' advice, Burrell seeks to burnish his reputation by ordering the department to double their street arrests. The mandate
11. S04E11A New DayNovember 26, 2006 8.7After flexing his muscles around the city, Carcetti faces his first dilemma when a group of ministers protests Herc's mistreatment of one of
12. S04E12Season's bestThat's Got His OwnDecember 3, 2006 8.8On the trail of missing bodies, Freamon turns to a higher authority after being rebuked by Landsman. Carcetti finds his promises of prosperi
13. S04E13Final GradesDecember 10, 2006 8.7In the Season Four finale, the bodies from the vacants pile up while Burrell offers his support to Daniels and admonishes Rawls for crossing

Season 4 ranked & reviewed

1. S05E01More with LessJanuary 6, 2008 7.8Season Five premiere. As McNulty and the detail continue staking out Marlo's crew, recently promoted Sergeant Carver is welcomed by a cauldr
2. S05E02Unconfirmed ReportsJanuary 13, 2008 7.9Although he tells Sydnor the Davis investigation could be a 'career case,' Freamon keeps a wary eye out for Marlo, who takes care of some un
3. S05E03Not for AttributionJanuary 20, 2008 8.1Carcetti's master plan for the police department is leaked to the press, sending the brass into a panic. Marlo turns to Proposition Joe to h
4. S05E04TransitionsJanuary 27, 2008 8.3Campbell tries to smooth out the transitions in the police department. The newspaper scrambles to confirm surprising news from City Hall, bu
5. S05E05React QuotesFebruary 3, 2008 8.1Marlo forges an alliance with a drug connect, who shows him a new communications trick. McNulty's case gets increased attention from the new
6. S05E06The Dickensian AspectFebruary 10, 2008 8.1Mystified by Omar's disappearance, Marlo and Chris ramp up their efforts to locate their nemesis. After a sparsely attended waterfront cerem
7. S05E07TookFebruary 17, 2008 8.2An unexpected call puts Templeton back in the spotlight--and gets McNulty more attention than he expected. Bunk bucks at Landsman when order
8. S05E08ClarificationsFebruary 24, 2008 8.3Baltimore's renewed police commitment brings fresh recruits to Daniels and McNulty, starting with Carver. Facing a new political challenge,
9. S05E09Late EditionsMarch 2, 2008 8.6With Steintorf ordering Rawls to initiate 'creative' remedies for the rising crime rate, Freamon's vigilance pays off with a promising lead,
10. S05E10Season's best-30-March 9, 2008 8.7Carcetti maps out a damage-control scenario with the police brass in the wake of a startling revelation from Pearlman and Daniels. Their cho

Season 5 ranked & reviewed