(Photo: Courtesy of Paul Schiraldi/HBO)

Devotees of The Wire will nag you to watch this underrated show, which you should. But with season four, even die-hards might be nervous: The action’s shifted to Baltimore’s school system. What is this, Stand and Deliver? Then again, The Wire didn’t become HBO’s best series by playing to expectations. In season two, some viewers were jarred by a shift from the streets to the docks—and that turned out to be the finest season yet.
—The Wire, HBO; premieres September 10 (10 p.m.)

Related:

• Archive: “Features”
• Articles by Hugo Lindgren
• Table of Contents: September 11, 2006 issue of New York | Subscribe!