I just caught the latest episode of The Wire and was intrigued, but there were too many current plots and characters for me to really make sense of it.
Perhaps my trusty fellow Dopers could summarize the important plot points and identify the main players?
Thanks, y’all!
Unfortunately, I think it would take an hour to type out the plot arc to the last season of The Wire. Best to start with the Episode Guide and Cast and Crew pages here: HBO. Unfortunately, you probably saw one of (or the?) the final episodes of last season, as the new season (and a whole new story arc) starts in a couple weeks when Six Feet Under finishes its run.
Basically last season, you had the cops, the drug dealers, the drug suppliers, and the dockworkers. In the first episode a shipping container full of dead European woman is found on the docks. This starts an investigation by the cops into the dockworkers, who are helping the drug suppliers (who also traffic in various other things!) get their product to the dealers.
As for the next season, from the commercials, it looks like it will concentrate on the cops vs. the drug dealers, which was basically the arc for the 1st season. Given how last season ended, we aren’t likely to see much of the docks, which is a shame, cause I really enjoying those characters.