The Wire: A Missed Opportunity

Anyone with ears can hear the buzz about “The Wire”, the HBO show set in Baltimore’s back alleys and trash-littered projects. I, like everyone else I know, am a big fan of the show. It’s well-written, easy to watch and more realistic than anything else on TV (including the news). That being said, “The Wire” is guilty of focusing on the city’s crack and heroine problems, its organized crime, and its dark-side in general, and I think it’s unfair.

Why, for instance, does the show never feature a stroll in the attractive, trendy and family-friendly Fell’s Point neighborhood? Couldn’t the storyline take viewers away from the crumbling and boarded-up facades of the slums and instead stage a few scenes in front of the creative architecture of the Visionary Arts Museum?

Although I did witness a few shady-looking gatherings from my car window, and I’m pretty sure that one Baltimorean tried to sell me crack, my visit to Baltimore really didn’t resemble “The Wire” at all. And to be honest, I think “The Wire” is really missing out. Here are some things that I did on my visit that I think should have included in one of its Emmy-winning episodes:

The Waverly Farmers’ Market

I, personally, love farmers’ markets, and I’ve heard that they’re actually becoming quite trendy. That’s why I’m so confused about the complete and total lack of farmers’ market scenes in “The Wire”. This market in particular would have been a great setting, because it’s only open on Saturday morning (when drug-dealers, cops, mobsters etc. are known to do their grocery shopping). And it’s not like they only sell food there – aside from meat and dairy products and a host of winter crops, they’ve got local honey, preserves and even an alpaca yarn spinner!

Spring Flower Show at the Druid Hill Conservatory

The conservatory in Baltimore’s Druid Hill Park is a stunning example of late-nineteenth-century greenhouse construction. This year’s spring flower show included a comprehensive array of tulips, daffodils, and other spring bulbs, as well as a whole room full of orchids. The kicker: this year’s show had an “Alice in Wonderland” theme. Need I say more?

The Maryland Zoo

This remarkable zoo is one of the nation’s oldest, founded in 1876, and is home to a virtual arc-full of fabulous creatures. It even has two polar bears!! I really think that “The Wire” would have benefitted from a script change that resulted in a foot-chase through the zoo. The shining eyes and glistening teeth of the leopards and chimps would have really added an additional element of suspense and realism to any one of the chases normally staged in back alleys with rats and whatnot. Leopards are much more threatening than rats, even when they’re in cages. And the cages themselves would allow for a fascinating and artistic juxtaposition with the jail where the show’s leading drug-boss character, Avon Barksdale, was imprisoned. Too bad your writers didn’t think of that one, HBO.