Word on the Street: "Time after Time" (The Wire, Season 3)

I'm a Wire fiend.

It's my juice, my own personal addiction to complex storytelling and dynamic characters. The show winds with an ebb and flow one in its own, striking a tone that's hard to describe but even harder to resist.

Season 1 is where my habit started. An investigation played out over an entire season, hanging behind back doors in the streets of Baltimore and its police department.

Season 2 hooked me. Writer David Simon took us out to the port, where unmarked shipments and unspoken deals are the norm. I figured out what The Wire was: a portrait of a city and its citizens, in the guise of a police procedural.

All written, directed and acted with a flair for reality and a knack for powerful moments.

Season 3 arrived in my mailbox this morning, and I popped in the season premiere without hesitation. The players are laid-out as we return to McNulty and company's investigation of the Barksdale organization. As much as I enjoyed a detour at the port, I'm glad Simon decided to bring the show back to "the game". The groundwork was laid so strongly there in Season 1 that a follow-up was a necessity.

After all, nothing's been resolved. So begins the next tale from the streets of urban America. Word up.