Way Down in the Hole.

"What The Wire says, repeatedly, is that The System -- government, business, law enforcement, everything that runs this country -- is broken and that the guardians of The System are too committed to defending the status quo to even try fixing it. It's not a case of corrupt or evil people choosing to ruin things for the rest of us; it's people of all moral calibers making decisions within the established context of their own institutions (the police force, City Hall, drug corners) without regard to how they affect the world at large." The Newark Star-Ledger's Alan Sepinwall previews Season 4 of The Wire. (Via The House Next Door.)