Season #5 of what is probably the greatest drama ever broadcast on American television begins tonight, as HBO’s The Wire returns. There’s never been a series with the sheer level of consistent brilliance that the Wire shows in its writing, its directing, and its acting.

The Wire is the story of the decay of America as witnessed through the eyes of the city of Baltimore. David Simon, the creator, lead writer, and exec producer of The Wire, is from Baltimore and knows it intimately. He worked for the Baltimore Sun (their primary newspaper) for twelve years, and wrote Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets in 1991 about his experience shadowing members of the Baltimore Police Dept Homicide force. That, of course, was the foundation for the tv series Homicide: Life on the Streets, which Simon worked on as both producer and writer.

The Wire’s first four seasons are intricately layered broad story arcs focusing on different aspects of Baltimore. In Season 1, Simon showed us life in the ghetto and introduced us both to the street-level dealers and the behind-the-scenes local drug bosses, who would figure prominently in the series until the end of Season 3. It also introduced us to the cops who drift in and out of prominence throughout the series.

Season 1 got horrible ratings. Why? It was incredible from literally the first scene in the first episode of the first season. It is, however, difficult. The Wire does not coddle its viewers and it expects them to commit to taking the time and care necessary to fully appreciate every aspect of its excellence. In a country where brainless tv like “Deal or No Deal” dominates the ratings, it’s unsurprising that The Wire didn’t do well I guess.

In Season 2, Simon and HBO ignored the public reaction and went for it. Although the story arcs from season 1 continued, they were backgrounded and the focus shifted to a set of new characters who represented the decline of the working class, as represented by the docks at the Port of Baltimore, and the people who work there. I love Simon for this. I mean, switching about 70% of your character focus takes balls, and it worked in spades.

In Season 3, Simon switched the focus away from the docks and into the political arena. Issues of race have been prevalent throughout seasons 1 and 2 but here they come to more of a forefront as a white councilman challenges the black mayor (in a city whose politics are fairly racially divisive apparently). The story arc that began in season 1 involving two behind-the-scenes drug lords comes to a conclusion in this season.

Season 4 switches to the schools and here Simon is continuing to show that no matter the best efforts of a few, the whole system is set up to encourage failure. It’s pretty soul-crushing to watch some of the kids and their almost inevitable downward spiral.

Season 5 is moving the focus to the media, specifically the Baltimore Sun where Simon worked for twelve years. The previews of this season that I’ve read suggest that it is nothing but awesome, provided you don’t actually work for or empathize with the Sun.

It’s going to be the saddest day in my tv watching history when this season of The Wire ends. I love HBO for being willing to fund this series (which cannot possibly have been a direct commercial success) thus far and hope that the buzz around season 5 is sufficient to let them see a win on at least this last season.

Go rent or buy season 1 on DVD if you’ve never watched The Wire. Even if you don’t like police dramas (I do not, as a general rule), The Wire will blow you away if you invest the time/energy into appreciating it.