The Thematic Similarities Between “The Sopranos” and “The Wire”

Ask anyone about the best TV shows of all time and you're very likely to hear either one or the other. Full disclosure, among us fangirls, I'm Team Tony all the way. I think The Sopranos has a pretty huge advantage over The Wire simply because, at its core, it's exceptionally funny, and in my view, all great art ought to be comic art. And though both shows have their brilliant comedic moments, I find The Sopranos wholly superior in that aspect, especially because I actually needed a couple of tries to get into The Wire, perhaps because it's more plot-heavy, which can be good or bad depending on how well you can keep up with all the deep procedural talk. But regardless of my preference, the more I watched either show, the more I realized they were oddly similar. Indeed I've come to think of them as cousins, and though different in significant ways, they probably have more similarities than differences. And as I wrote about the similarities between Berserk and A Song of Ice and Fire, which you can read here, I want to do the same now with these two absolute powerhouses of television.

I suppose the first obvious similarity is that all episodes of both shows start with that famous static sound of the HBO logo, and with good reason. Because HBO has a pretty good track record, obviously holding the two best TV shows of all time, as well as that first season of True Detective, and of course, Game of Thrones, which sadly petered out at the end there but was amazing during its run. In many ways, HBO's philosophy seems to be to defy standards, firstly in terms of continuity by allowing the episodes to run like uninterrupted movies rather than the typical “cut to break” method, and the other act of defiance would be to forgo the limits other networks would impose regarding sex and violence. And of course, neither show here shies away from those. In that sense, both shows are cold, bleak depictions of their respective criminal undergrounds, though with a twist – for the former, it's the contrast between Tony's ruthless mafia family against his real, almost normal family, and for the latter, it's the contrast between the drug trade and the police's perhaps worthless efforts to stop it. But in both shows that contrast is omnipresent, it's the backbone on which the whole story is told. For The Sopranos it's the constant gray morality shifts between seeing these characters we know and love in normal, everyday settings, almost made beautiful by the detail of the mundane, albeit with a cold, sociopathic predisposition towards extortion and murder. Though under David Chase's chipper demeanor, the whole thing is written as dark comedy. For The Wire it's this idea that all levels of society, be it the drug trade, the police, the government, the media, whatever it is, it all operates under a ruthless law of the land where it's kill or be killed, something which the drug dealer characters refer to as “the game” but in essence, every character plays it.

So I guess a big difference between both shows would be the field of study they operate under. For The Sopranos it's psychiatry all the way, it don't take a genius to know that. The whole show starts under the setup of “a mob boss walks into a psychiatrist's office” and almost every line of dialogue afterwards is a punchline. With that in mind we find the show is quite the character study on almost every single character, even ones who only appear on a single episode, like the unlucky Tracee for example. The Wire has great character development as well, but I'd say its field of study is obviously sociology. As a sidenote, it's often said one reads Dostoyevsky for the psychology and Tolstoy for the sociology, but what do I know... I personally favor Dostoyevsky as I favor psychology, I find it more interesting and I believe it offers the more compelling viewing experience. But at the end of the day, both fields are fairly similar, and while one is a strength of one show, and the other is a strength of the other, there is a bit of both on both. And as far as the main character's psychological profile goes, I'd wager we wouldn't have any Walter Whites without having had our Tony Soprano, nor would we have any Rust Cohles without having had our Jimmy McNulty. Maybe it's not entirely correct to call McNulty the main character, but you know what I mean... I suppose a possible drawback of The Sopranos could be that you might find some characters very odd or unlikable, though I can't say I do, but The Wire can at times bring you out of the show when you don't quite see the social issue in the same way. But that's politics for ya...

As far as the world itself goes, there is a funny thematic similarity, one I quite like, which is that both shows are set in cities which appear to be overshadowed by their neighboring giant, New York. The Sopranos is set in New Jersey, and for that reason, Tony's mafia family is often looked down upon by bigger families, indeed they are often called a glorified crew, but that's neither here nor there. The Wire is set in Baltimore, and though members of the drug trade there aren't exactly disrespected, in fact Chis and Snoop went to some lengths to prevent that from happening, the truth is that Avon Barksdale's major connection throughout most of the show was indeed New York, even to the point of having them send Brother Mouzone, a gentleman who has more cadaverous individuals on him than a chinese cemetery, and at one point he heavily implies, or threatens, they could send many more soldiers, should Avon remain an honorable friend. Additionally, we find that the mysterious greeks, the main connect bringing in drugs through the corrupt ports, were perhaps the true masterminds of the whole game... And I for one find this kind of writing very interesting, this idea that we aren't getting the big, epic conflict, we're just getting a sample of these people's lives, what they go through everyday, their trials and tribulations. It makes us feel much more connected to them rather than the ol' “the fate of the entire world hangs in the balance” cliché that lesser stories tend to fall into. And I'd even say that this idea that a powerful, shadowy organization looms over all the events of the show is quite scary indeed.

About the characters themselves there are at least two funny coincidences, namely that Bodie and Omar from The Wire actually appeared in The Sopranos playing fairly similar roles – Bodie being a sort of grunt in the criminal underground hijacking trucks, and Omar being a seemingly wise criminal and chess player living in the projects. Maybe that don't mean much but it's just funny... Anyway, both shows went to great lengths to paint complex portraits of characters who are, to say the least, morally ambiguous. Tony and Uncle Junior are both sociopaths capable of ordering someone's death like they're ordering lunch, but at the same time they also have a weirdly normal relationship, even at times going back and forth like a comedy duo. A similar bond can be found with perhaps Avon and Stringer, two best friends who, even before betraying one another, put aside their sociopathy to reminisce about the good days, or how later on, Avon and Marlo, who were previously sworn enemies, put aside their differences for the rules of the game... Alternatively, Carmella and Brianna both play the game in their own way, tilting situations in this direction or that one, not necessarily taking a hand in things but performing their role from a distance, and like Carmella acts innocent about Tony's work, so does Brianna act innocent, perhaps even in denial, of her brother's actions. Then we have guys like Silvio and Slim Charles, both actual, cold-blooded murderers but with such a strong code of honor about their respective games that you can't help but admire them.

I could write more, and indeed I should write more, but for that I'd need to rewatch both shows from beginning to end while jotting down a ton of notes. They are both amazing shows that just feel good to rewatch, even if randomly, just to catch up with the characters and admire their own world, always discovering something new in the process. I suppose that may sound insensitive since a world like mob-controlled New Jersey or the projects of Baltimore might not be the idyllic destination, but they sure are fascinating. And I think that is because both the Davids behind these shows knew very well that a big story is a small one. You can take a little bit of reality, in this case the complex reality of crime in american life, and fall down a spiral of increasingly complex characters and moving pieces. And speaking of pieces, the truth is that all other TV shows are bald-headed individuals compared to these kings of television.

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