The WORST episodes of The Wire
Every episode of The Wire ever, ranked from worst to best by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The worst episodes of The Wire!
Follows one single drug and homicide investigation throughout the length of an entire season. Centered on the drug culture of inner-city Baltimore, the series' storyline unfolds from the points of view of both the criminals lording the streets and the police officers determined to bring them down.
#1 - The Detail
Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired 6/9/2002
McNulty feels the heat when a witness who testified against D'Angelo is killed.
#2 - The Target
Season 1 - Episode 1 - Aired 6/2/2002
Baltimore detective Jimmy McNulty gets assigned to a new task force.
#3 - All Due Respect
Season 3 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/26/2004
Omar continues his bold strikes on Barksdale stash houses, which are now heavily guarded.
#4 - Dead Soldiers
Season 3 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/3/2004
Colvin feels the sting of Burrell and Rawls during a Comstat assessment of his district's felony numbers.
#5 - Ebb Tide
Season 2 - Episode 1 - Aired 6/1/2003
Det. McNulty—exiled to police-boat duty—makes a shocking discovery in the Baltimore harbor.
#6 - Refugees
Season 4 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/1/2006
A major case gets a new detective; Marlo is burned in poker; Colvin and Cutty get new jobs in the school system.
#7 - Old Cases
Season 1 - Episode 4 - Aired 6/23/2002
Greggs and McNulty try to get Hardcase to turn informant.
#8 - The Buys
Season 1 - Episode 3 - Aired 6/16/2002
The early-morning "field interviews" by Herc, Carver and Prez result in a minor riot.
#9 - Misgivings
Season 4 - Episode 10 - Aired 11/19/2006
Burrell sends out a mandate; Kevin comes clean to Marlo; Bubbles gets payback; Chris takes care of a problem.
#10 - Collateral Damage
Season 2 - Episode 2 - Aired 6/8/2003
Major Valchek gets back at Sobotka for the church gift fiasco and a feud begins.
#11 - Alliances
Season 4 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/8/2006
Burrell feels the heat from Royce; Marlo tries to enlist Michael; Dukie debunks Randy's 'special dead' theory.
#12 - Home Rooms
Season 4 - Episode 3 - Aired 9/24/2006
Royce takes extreme measures; the detail gets a new boss and agenda; Prez survives his first day at school.
#13 - Straight and True
Season 3 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/17/2004
Frustrated in his reform efforts, Colvin delivers a message to the next level of corner management.
#14 - Hard Cases
Season 2 - Episode 4 - Aired 6/22/2003
Sobotka reprimands his nephew Nick for stealing the cameras and orders him to bring the cargo back.
#15 - Time After Time
Season 3 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/19/2004
A wave of urban reform brings down the notorious Franklin Terrace public housing towers.
#16 - Hot Shots
Season 2 - Episode 3 - Aired 6/15/2003
Bunk and Freamon chase their crime scene, a container ship, to Philly.
#17 - Hamsterdam
Season 3 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/10/2004
West Baltimore residents get some surprising straight talk at a community meeting from Major Colvin.
#18 - Boys of Summer
Season 4 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/10/2006
Four boys play out their summer; Royce and Carcetti hit the campaign trail.
#19 - The Pager
Season 1 - Episode 5 - Aired 6/30/2002
McNulty's detail finally gets "clone" pagers to track Barksdale and his gang.
#20 - More With Less
Season 5 - Episode 1 - Aired 1/6/2008
Budget cuts hit the police hard; corporate downsizing frustrates the staff of a local newspaper.
#21 - Homecoming
Season 3 - Episode 6 - Aired 10/31/2004
Stringer Bell gets an education in construction management; Bunk uses shoe-leather to catch up with Omar.
#22 - Corner Boys
Season 4 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/5/2006
Carcetti makes the rounds; Colvin uses corner logic in class; Daniels sees his stock rising.
#23 - Storm Warnings
Season 2 - Episode 10 - Aired 8/10/2003
Bodie is unhappy that Proposition Joe's people are slinging on his turf.
#24 - Duck and Cover
Season 2 - Episode 8 - Aired 7/27/2003
McNulty is back to his old self, on a drunken binge of legendary proportions.
#25 - Reformation
Season 3 - Episode 10 - Aired 11/28/2004
Brother Mouzone returns to Baltimore on a mission of revenge and casts a wide net in his search for Omar.