The fourth season of the television series The Wire

The WIRE

the WIRE is the student-run College radio station at the University of Oklahoma, broadcasting in a freeform format. The WIRE serves the University of Oklahoma and surrounding communities, and is staffed by student DJs. The WIRE broadcasts at 1710 kHz AM in Norman, Oklahoma...

commenced airing in the United States on September 10, 2006, concluded on December 10, 2006, and contained 13 episodes. It introduces Baltimore's school system and several middle school students while continuing to examine the remnants of the Barksdale Organization

Barksdale Organization

In the television series The Wire, the fictional Barksdale Organization led by Avon Barksdale began as the most powerful and violent drug crew in Baltimore, Maryland and was the main focus of investigation in seasons one and three...

, the ascendant Stanfield Organization

Stanfield Organization

On the fictional television drama The Wire, the Stanfield Organization is a criminal organization led by Marlo Stanfield. The Organization is introduced in Season Three of The Wire as a growing and significantly violent drug syndicate...

, the Baltimore Police Department

Baltimore Police Department

The Baltimore Police Department provides police services to the city of Baltimore, Maryland and was officially established by the Maryland Legislature on March 16, 1853...

 and politicians.

The fourth season aired on Sundays at 9:00 pm in the United States. The season was released on DVD as a four disc boxed set under the title of The Wire: The Complete Fourth Season on December 4, 2007 by HBO video.

Crew

Playwright and television writer/producer Eric Overmyer

Eric Overmyer

Eric Overmyer is a writer and producer. He has written and/or produced numerous TV shows, including St. Elsewhere, Homicide: Life on the Street, Law & Order, The Wire, New Amsterdam, and Treme.-Biography:...

 joined the crew of The Wire in the show's fourth season as a consulting producer and writer. He had previously worked on Homicide. Overmyer was brought into the full-time production staff to replace George Pelecanos

George Pelecanos

George P. Pelecanos is a Greek-American author. Many of his works are in the genre of detective fiction and set primarily in his hometown of Washington, D.C. He is also a film and television producer and a television writer...

 who scaled back his involvement to concentrate on his next book and worked on the fourth season solely as a writer. Emmy-award winner, Homicide and The Corner writer and college friend of Simon David Mills

David Mills (writer)

David Eugene Mills was an American journalist, writer and producer of television programs. He was an executive producer and writer of the HBO miniseries The Corner, for which he won two Emmy Awards, and the creator, executive producer, and writer of the NBC miniseries Kingpin.-Early life:Mills was...

 also joined the writing staff in the fourth season. Regular writer Ed Burns

Ed Burns

Ed Burns is a producer, screenwriter, and novelist. He has worked closely with writing partner David Simon. They have collaborated on The Corner and The Wire . Burns is a former Baltimore police detective for the Homicide and Narcotics divisions, and a public school teacher...

 also became a producer on The Wire in the show's fourth season.

Cast

The focus of the fourth season shifted among a local school, the mayoral election, police department politics and action on the street corners. The returning starring cast consisted of Dominic West

Dominic West

Dominic Gerard Fe West is an English actor best known for his role as Detective Jimmy McNulty in the HBO drama series The Wire.-Film and TV:...

 as Officer Jimmy McNulty

Jimmy McNulty

Detective James "Jimmy" McNulty is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by British actor Dominic West. McNulty is an Irish American detective in the Baltimore Police Department...

, the formerly insubordinate detective who attempts to shed his ability and his problems in favor of a better life. Lance Reddick

Lance Reddick

Lance Reddick is an American theater, film and TV actor and musician born in Baltimore, Maryland. He starred in The Wire as Cedric Daniels, appeared in Oz as Detective Johnny Basil and appeared in the fourth and fifth seasons of Lost. He now has a prominent role in Fringe...

 reprised his role as newly promoted Major Cedric Daniels

Cedric Daniels

Cedric Daniels is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Lance Reddick. He is a well regarded officer in the department whose focus is on good police work and quality arrests...

, now commanding the western district. One of Daniel's sergeants within the district was Sergeant Ellis Carver

Ellis Carver

Ellis Carver is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Seth Gilliam. Carver is an African American lieutenant and formerly in command of the Baltimore Police Department's Western District Drug Enforcement Unit...

, portrayed by Seth Gilliam

Seth Gilliam

Seth Gilliam is an American actor. He is known for his HBO television roles, first as corrections officer-turned-prisoner Clayton Hughes on Oz, and later as Baltimore police detective promoted to sergeant Ellis Carver on The Wire. On both of these series, he co-starred with Lance Reddick and J.D....

. Robert Wisdom

Robert Wisdom

Robert Wisdom is an American actor. He is a graduate of Columbia University.-Biography:Wisdom was born in Washington, D.C. to Jamaican parents. He appeared in four of the five seasons of HBO program The Wire as Howard "Bunny" Colvin...

 reprised his role as former western district commander Howard "Bunny" Colvin, who has become a field researcher after a short stint working in hotel security following his retirement from the Baltimore Police Department.

The Major Crimes Unit sees a shift in personnel this season. Kima Greggs

Kima Greggs

Detective Shakima "Kima" Greggs is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actress Sonja Sohn. Greggs is a police detective in the Baltimore Police Department who is a dedicated officer and capable detective with some off-the-job issues. Openly lesbian, she has had problems...

, portrayed by Sonja Sohn, Lester Freamon

Lester Freamon

Lester Freamon is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Clarke Peters. Freamon is a detective in the Baltimore Police Department's Major Crimes Unit...

, portrayed by Clarke Peters

Clarke Peters

Clarke Peters is an American actor, singer, writer and director best known for his role as Detective Lester Freamon on the HBO drama The Wire.-Early life:...

, transfer to the Homicide Unit after the new lieutenant of the Major Crimes Unit ends the wire and halts Freamon's investigation of the Barksdale money. Corey Parker-Robinson portrays Detective Leander Sydnor

Leander Sydnor

Leander Sydnor is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Corey Parker Robinson. Sydnor is a young, married Baltimore Police detective who was a member of the Barksdale detail and later worked in the Major Crimes Unit.-Season 1:...

, one of two detectives who remain in the Major Crimes Unit after the arrival of the new lieutenant. Domenick Lombardozzi

Domenick Lombardozzi

Domenico "Domenick" Lombardozzi is an American actor best known for his role as Thomas "Herc" Hauk on The Wire. Lombardozzi was inspired to act by the film State of Grace.-Filmography:...

 returned as Thomas "Herc" Hauk, a former member of the Major Crimes Unit whose work on the mayor's security detail earns him a promotion to sergeant and a transfer back to his old unit after Freamon and Greggs' departure.

Wendell Pierce

Wendell Pierce

Wendell Pierce is an American actor, best known for his work in HBO dramas, including his portrayal of Detective Bunk Moreland in The Wire and trombonist Antoine Batiste in Treme.-Life and career:...

 portrayed veteran homicide detective Bunk Moreland

Bunk Moreland

William "Bunk" Moreland is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Wendell Pierce. Bunk's character is based on a retired Baltimore City Police Detective named Rick Requer and nicknamed "the Bunk", an officer who joined the force in 1964 as a Western District patrolman who...

. Deirdre Lovejoy

Deirdre Lovejoy

Deirdre Lovejoy is an American actress. She is most notable for her role on the HBO television series The Wire as Rhonda Pearlman. She graduated from the University of Evansville with an undergraduate degree in theatre....

 starred as assistant state's attorney Rhonda Pearlman

Rhonda Pearlman

Rhonda Pearlman is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actress Deirdre Lovejoy. Pearlman has been the legal system liaison for all of Lieutenant Cedric Daniels' investigations on the show...

, the legal liaison between the unit and the courthouse. Andre Royo

Andre Royo

Andre Royo is an American actor. He is best known for his role as "Bubbles" in The Wire , and has had guest starring appearances in Fringe, Party Down, and How To Make It In America.-Career:...

 returned as Bubbles

Bubbles (The Wire)

Reginald "Bubbles" Cousins is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Andre Royo. Bubbles is a recovering heroin addict. His real name is not revealed until a fourth-season episode when he is called "Mr. Cousins" and in the fifth-season premiere when he is called "Reginald"...

, who continued to indulge his drug addiction and act as an occasional informant. Jim True-Frost

Jim True-Frost

Jim True-Frost, born Jim True, is an American stage, television and screen actor. He is most known for his portrayal of Roland "Prez" Pryzbylewski on all five seasons of the HBO program The Wire.-Biography:...

 portrayed Roland "Prez" Pryzbylewski, a former member of the Major Crimes Unit who has become a teacher in an inner city school after inadvertently killing a fellow officer in season three.

The police were overseen by two commanding officers more concerned with politics and their own careers than the case, Deputy Commissioner of Operations William Rawls

William Rawls

William A. "Bill" Rawls is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor John Doman. Over the course of the series he ascends to the rank of Superintendent of the Maryland State Police.-Season 1:...

 (John Doman

John Doman

John Doman is an American actor best known for playing Deputy Police Commissioner William Rawls on HBO series The Wire from 2002 to 2008 and Colonel Edward Galson on Oz in 2001....

) and Commissioner Ervin Burrell

Ervin Burrell

Ervin Burrell is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Frankie Faison. Burrell was an officer in the Baltimore Police Department who ascended from Deputy Commissioner of Operations to Commissioner over the course of the show...

 (Frankie Faison

Frankie Faison

Frankie Russel Faison , often credited as Frankie R. Faison, is an American actor.-Personal life:Faison was born in Newport News, Virginia, the son of Carmena and Edgar Faison. He studied drama at Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, Illinois, where he joined Theta Chi Fraternity...

). At city hall, Tommy Carcetti

Tommy Carcetti

Thomas J. "Tommy" Carcetti is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by Irish actor Aidan Gillen. Carcetti is an ambitious Baltimore politician who rises from a seat on the city council to the office of the Mayor of Baltimore, and to the office of the Governor of Maryland by the...

 (Aidan Gillen

Aidan Gillen

Aidan Gillen is an Irish stage and screen actor and television presenter. He is known in Ireland for his role in Love/Hate, in the UK for his role in Queer as Folk and in the US for his role in HBO's television series The Wire in which he plays Tommy Carcetti and for his role in Game of Thrones as...

) was an ambitious city councilman seeking to become mayor. Joining the cast for the fourth season was Reg E. Cathey

Reg E. Cathey

Reginald "Reg" E. Cathey is an American stage, film and television actor.Cathey is a native of Huntsville, Alabama and a graduate of J.O. Johnson High School. He spent his childhood in West Germany. His favourite band is Blur....

 as Carcetti's deputy campaign manager, Norman Wilson. Also joining the cast after having a recurring role during the third season was Glynn Turman

Glynn Turman

Glynn Russell Turman is an American stage, television, and film actor as well as a writer, director, and producer. He is perhaps best known for his roles as high school student Leroy "Preach" Jackson in the 1975 coming-of-age film Cooley High, math professor and retired Army colonel Bradford...

 as Mayor Clarence Royce

Clarence Royce

Clarence V. Royce is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by Glynn Turman-Biography:Mayor of Baltimore Clarence V. Royce is a deft political figure and is fixated on remaining in power. Royce is the incumbent Mayor of Baltimore who was elected into office in 1998 and is in the...

.

On the streets, former Barksdale crew chief Bodie Broadus

Bodie Broadus

Preston "Bodie" Broadus is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor J. D. Williams. Bodie is initially a Barksdale organization drug dealer in "The Pit" who slowly rises through the ranks...

 (J.D. Williams) joins the organization of new drug kingpin Marlo Stanfield

Marlo Stanfield

Marlo "Black" Stanfield is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Jamie Hector. Stanfield is a young, ruthless and ambitious player in the Baltimore drug trade who gains control of West Baltimore and is the head of his own drug crew.-Character background and plot...

 (Jamie Hector

Jamie Hector

Jamie Hector is an Haitian-American actor who is known for his portrayal of Marlo Stanfield on the critically acclaimed HBO series The Wire.- Biography :...

). Michael K. Williams

Michael K. Williams

Michael Kenneth Williams is an American actor known for his portrayal of Omar Little on the HBO drama series The Wire, and of Albert "Chalky" White on HBO's Boardwalk Empire.-Early life and career:...

 portrayed renowned stick-up man Omar Little

Omar Little

Omar Devone Little is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, portrayed by Michael K. Williams. Omar is a renowned stick-up man who lives by a strict moral code and never deviates from his rules, foremost of which is that he never robs or menaces people who are not involved in "the game"....

. Joining the cast this season after having a recurring role in season three is Chad L. Coleman as Dennis "Cutty" Wise, a
reformed member of the Barksdale organization who has opened a boxing gym for neighborhood children.

Two members of the third season starring cast did not return for the fourth season with the change in focus and the termination of those characters' storylines. Wood Harris

Wood Harris

Sherwin David "Wood" Harris is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his roles as drug kingpin Avon Barksdale on the HBO television drama The Wire, and as high-school football player Julius Campbell in the 2000 motion picture Remember the Titans.-Life and career:Harris was born in...

 (Avon Barksdale

Avon Barksdale

Avon Randolph Barksdale is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire portrayed by actor Wood Harris. Avon is the dominant drug dealer of Baltimore's West Side, running the Barksdale Organization...

) and Idris Elba

Idris Elba

Idrissa Akuna "Idris" Elba is a British television, theatre, and film actor. He has starred in both British and American productions. Elba grew up in Canning Town, East London. One of his first acting roles was in the soap opera Family Affairs. He has worked in a variety of TV roles including ...

 (Stringer Bell

Stringer Bell

Russell "Stringer" Bell is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by English actor Idris Elba. Bell served as drug kingpin Avon Barksdale's second in command, assuming direct control of the Barksdale Organization during Avon's imprisonment...

) leave the starring cast at the beginning of the fourth season.

Recurring characters

Many guest stars from the earlier seasons reprised their roles. On the side of the street Proposition Joe (Robert F. Chew

Robert F. Chew

Robert F. Chew is an American actor from Baltimore, Maryland. He starred in the HBO television drama series The Wire as manipulative drug kingpin Proposition Joe on all five seasons of the show...

), the East Side's cautious drug kingpin, became more cooperative with the Stanfield Organization

Stanfield Organization

On the fictional television drama The Wire, the Stanfield Organization is a criminal organization led by Marlo Stanfield. The Organization is introduced in Season Three of The Wire as a growing and significantly violent drug syndicate...

 after the death of Stringer Bell. His lieutenant "Cheese" (Method Man

Method Man

Clifford Smith , better known by his stage name Method Man is an American hip hop artist, record producer, actor and member of the hip hop collective Wu-Tang Clan. He took his stage name from the 1979 film The Fearless Young Boxer, also known as Method Man. He is one half of the rap duo Method Man...

) continued to elude the Major Crimes Unit investigation. Hassan Johnson

Hassan Johnson

Hassan 'Iniko' Johnson is an American actor/producer from Staten Island, NY, born November 19, 1976. His most noted performance was appearing on the HBO program The Wire as Roland Wee-Bey Brice. His first acting role was in the 1995 Spike Lee film Clockers. He also had a significant role in the...

 reprises his role as incarcerated Barksdale enforcer Wee-Bey Brice

Wee-Bey Brice

Roland "Wee-Bey" Brice is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Hassan Johnson. Wee-Bey was the Barksdale Organization's most trusted soldier before being sentenced to life imprisonment for multiple homicides....

. Former Barksdale enforcer Slim Charles

Slim Charles

Slim Charles is a fictional member of the drug trade in the HBO drama The Wire, played by Anwan Glover. An enforcer for the Barksdale Organization and later the top lieutenant of kingpin Proposition Joe Stewart, he shows integrity, loyalty and competence throughout his career.The saga of the...

 (Anwan Glover

Anwan Glover

Ralph Anwan Glover is an American actor and musician. He is one of the founding members of the Backyard Band, a go-go band, as well as appearing as gang member Slim Charles in the HBO series The Wire. He has also appeared in music videos, such as Boyz n da Hood's "Dem Boyz" among others, and has a...

) returned as a new recruit to Proposition Joe's organization.
Several members of the Stanfield Organization introduced in season three also returned: Chris Partlow

Chris Partlow

Chris Partlow is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Gbenga Akinnagbe. Partlow is Marlo Stanfield's best friend, bodyguard, and second-in-command in his drug dealing operation. Despite his quiet demeanor, Partlow commits more on- and off-screen murders than any other...

 (Gbenga Akinnagbe

Gbenga Akinnagbe

Gbenga Akinnagbe is an American actor, best known for his role as Chris Partlow on the HBO original series The Wire.-Early life:...

), Stanfield's chief enforcer; and Felicia "Snoop" Pearson (Felicia Pearson

Felicia Pearson

Felicia Pearson is an American actress, author, and rapper. She is best known for playing a character of the same name, Felicia "Snoop" Pearson, on The Wire. She wrote a memoir titled Grace After Midnight.-Biography:Pearson was born to two incarcerated drug addicts and raised in an East Baltimore...

), Partlow's protégé. Tray Chaney

Tray Chaney

Tray Chaney is an American actor. He appeared on the HBO program The Wire as Poot Carr.Chaney began his entertainment career as a dancer at the age of four winning competitions at the Apollo Theater. He appeared in the 2003 music video "My Baby" by rap artist Bow Wow. He later appeared in The Wire...

 continues to portray former Barksdale crew chief Poot Carr

Poot Carr

Malik "Poot" Carr is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Tray Chaney. Poot is a drug dealer in the Barksdale Organization who slowly rises through the ranks, but ends up serving time in prison as his institution collapses around him...

, who joins the Stanfield organization this season.

Michael Hyatt

Michael Hyatt

Michael Hyatt is a British-born film and television actress. Before Hyatt's work in film and television, she enjoyed memorable performances on stages throughout the country, particularly in Ragtime on Broadway.-Early life:...

 reprised her role as Brianna Barksdale. Michael Kostroff

Michael Kostroff

Michael Kostroff is an American actor. He appeared on the HBO program The Wire as defense attorney Maurice Levy. Kostroff starred in the fifth season of the series and appeared in all four earlier seasons as a guest star.- Biography :...

 returned as the defence attorney Maurice Levy

Maurice Levy (The Wire)

Maurice "Maury" Levy is a fictional lawyer on the HBO drama The Wire, played by Michael Kostroff. He is a skilled defense attorney and was kept on retainer by the drug-trafficking Barksdale Organization, representing the organization's members at trials and advising Avon Barksdale and Stringer Bell...

. Isiah Whitlock, Jr.

Isiah Whitlock, Jr.

Isiah Whitlock Jr. is an American actor.He is most famous for his role on the HBO television series, The Wire as corrupt state senator Clay Davis. He also is notable for appearing in Spike Lee films She Hate Me and 25th Hour as Agent Amos Flood...

 reprised his role as corrupt State Senator Clay Davis

Clay Davis

State Senator R. Clayton "Clay" Davis is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Isiah Whitlock, Jr. Davis is a corrupt Maryland State Senator with a reputation for pocketing bribes...

 whose involvement with Barksdale money causes him trouble with the Major Crimes Unit. Omar Little

Omar Little

Omar Devone Little is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, portrayed by Michael K. Williams. Omar is a renowned stick-up man who lives by a strict moral code and never deviates from his rules, foremost of which is that he never robs or menaces people who are not involved in "the game"....

's crew shifted focus to the Stansfield Organization and the New Day Co-op and consisted of his new boyfriend Renaldo (Ramón Rodríguez), partner Kimmy (Kelli R. Brown), and advisor Butchie (S. Robert Morgan

S. Robert Morgan

S. Robert Morgan is an American television actor. He guest starred on Home Box Office drama series The Wire as Butchie from the second season until the show's fifth and final season. Morgan lost his sight in his twenties due to macular degeneration. Morgan is from Fort Washington, Maryland and...

).

Many guest stars also reprised their characters from the police department. Returning guest stars in the homicide unit include Delaney Williams

Delaney Williams

Delaney Williams is an American actor from Washington, D.C. He appears on the HBO drama The Wire as a recurring guest star playing homicide sergeant Jay Landsman. He also had a small role on HBO's mini-series The Corner which brought him to the attention of the producers, who worked on The prior to...

 as Sergeant Jay Landsman

Jay Landsman (The Wire)

Jay Landsman is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Delaney Williams.-Policing method:Landsman's role in the police department is that of a supervisory detective sergeant who doesn't participate in much investigation work...

, Ed Norris

Ed Norris

Edward T. Norris is an American radio host and former law enforcement officer in Maryland. His talk show, the Ed Norris Show, airs on WJZ-FM in Baltimore, Maryland. Norris, a 20-year veteran of the New York Police Department, served as police commissioner for Baltimore from 2000 to late 2002...

 as Detective Ed Norris, and Brian Anthony Wilson

Brian Anthony Wilson

Brian Anthony Wilson is an American film and television actor. He first appeared in the 1997 film The Postman as Woody....

 as Detective Vernon Holley. Al Brown and Jay Landsman

Jay Landsman

The book was later developed into the television series Homicide: Life on the Street. He was the inspiration for the fictional character John Munch on that show and a character named Jay Landsman on the television series The Wire, created by Simon. Landsman portrayed himself in a brief appearance...

 reprised their roles as Major Stan Valchek and Lieutenant Dennis Mello. Michael Salconi recurred as veteran Western patrolman Michael Santangelo.
Gregory L. Williams played Michael Crutchfield, a cantankerous homicide detective. Joilet F. Harris returned as Caroline Massey, an officer in the Major Crimes Unit. Joining the Major Crimes Unit this season is Kenneth Dozerman (Rick Otto), In the western district, Carver's squad includes Anthony Colicchio (Benjamin Busch

Benjamin Busch

Benjamin B. Busch is an American actor, writer, film maker, photographer, and former United States Marine Corps officer. He is best known for his portrayal of Anthony Colicchio on the HBO original series The Wire.-Biography:...

), Lloyd "Truck" Garrick (Ryan Sands), and Lambert (Nakia Dillard).

In the political storyline, Cleo Reginald Pizana returned as Coleman Parker, Royce's chief-of-staff. Brandy Burre

Brandy Burre

Brandy Burre was born on September 27, 1974 in Sandusky, Ohio. She earned her Master's degree in acting at Ohio University, and has performed on the stage in addition to her work in film and television. She is best known for her portrayal of Theresa D'Agostino on the HBO series The Wire.-External...

 appeared as Theresa D'Agostino, a political campaign consultant. Frederick Strother performed as Odell Watkins, a state delegate and political king-maker. Christopher Mann played Carcetti's city council colleague Anthony Gray. Maria Broom returns as Marla Daniels, the estranged wife of Major Daniels who is running for a seat on the city council.

The fourth season also saw the return of two former starring characters from the second season: Amy Ryan

Amy Ryan

Amy Ryan is an American actress. She has been nominated for an Academy Award and Golden Globe for her performance in Gone Baby Gone and is also known for her roles in the HBO series The Wire, playing Port Authority Officer Beadie Russell; In Treatment, playing psychiatrist Adele Brousse; and The...

 as Officer Beadie Russell

Beadie Russell

Beatrice "Beadie" Russell is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actress Amy Ryan. She was featured prominently in the second season, after she discovered thirteen corpses in a container on the Baltimore docks....

, an officer at the port and Jimmy McNulty's domestic partner, and Paul Ben-Victor

Paul Ben-Victor

Paul Ben-Victor is an American actor.Ben-Victor was born Paul Friedman, in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Leah Kornfeld, a playwright, and Victor Friedman. Ben-Victor debuted on the small screen in 1987 in the made-for-TV movie Blood Vows: The Story of a Mafia Wife and on an episode of Cagney &...

 as Spiros Vondas

Spiros Vondas

Spiros "Vondas" Vondopoulos is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire played by actor Paul Ben-Victor.-Biography:...

, the second in command of the Greek's drug smuggling operation.

The shift of focus to the schools saw the introduction of four young actors in major recurring roles this season, Jermaine Crawford

Jermaine Crawford

Jermaine Crawford is an actor best known for appearing on the HBO original series The Wire as Duquan "Dukie" Weems. He is a cousin to fellow Wire castmember and actor Tristan Wilds....

 as Duquan "Dukie" Weems; Maestro Harrell

Maestro Harrell

Maestro Harrell is an American actor who starred on the HBO original series The Wire as Randy Wagstaff. He was also on the NBC drama ER on April 26, 2007....

 as Randy Wagstaff

Randy Wagstaff

Randy Wagstaff is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by Maestro Harrell. Randy is an enterprising student who is dependent on social services. During season 4, he was an 8th grade pupil at Edward Tilghman Middle School and is friends with Namond Brice, Michael Lee and Duquan...

; Julito McCullum

Julito McCullum

Julito McCullum is an American actor of Afro-Colombian descent best known for his role as Namond Brice on the HBO series The Wire. Currently lives in Staten Island....

 as Namond Brice

Namond Brice

Namond Brice is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by Julito McCullum. Namond is the son of Wee-Bey Brice and De'Londa Brice and was a middle school pupil during season 4. He is friends with Michael Lee and Randy Wagstaff and often bullies Duquan "Dukie" Weems...

; and Tristan Wilds

Tristan Wilds

Tristan Paul Mack Wilds is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Michael Lee on the HBO original drama series The Wire and as Dixon Wilson on the CW drama series 90210.-Life and career:...

 as Michael Lee

Michael Lee (The Wire)

Michael Lee is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by Tristan Wilds. He is a middle school pupil and is friends with Namond Brice, Randy Wagstaff and Duquan "Dukie" Weems. He is more soft-spoken than his friends, and appears to have a leadership role among his peers...

. The characters are friends from a West Baltimore middle school. Other new characters from the school included Tootsie Duvall

Tootsie Duvall

Tootsie Duvall is an American film, theatre and television actress.-Career:...

 as Assistant Principal Marcia Donnelly; David Parenti (Dan DeLuca), a Professor of Sociology at the University of Maryland who works with Bunny Colvin in the school to study potential violent offenders; Stacie Davis portrayed Miss Duquette, a doctoral student who works with Parenti and Colvin; Aaron "Bug" Manigault (Keenon Brice), Michael Lee's younger brother; Kenard (Thuliso Dingwall

Thuliso Dingwall

Thuliso Dingwall is an American actor. He is best known for portraying Kenard on the television series The Wire. Dingwall is from Clinton, Maryland.-External links:...

), one of the younger members of Namond Brice's circle of friends; and Richard Hidlebird as Principal Claudell Withers.

Reception

The fourth season of The Wire has been universally lauded and hailed as one of the best seasons of television ever produced. As of 2011, it is the highest rated individual TV season of all time on Metacritic

Metacritic

Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...

 with a score of 98 based on 21 critics—including 17 perfect score reviews.

Awards and nominations

The writing staff of the fourth season was nominated for two awards at the 2008 Writer's Guild of America Awards - best dramatic series and best episodic drama for the episode "Final Grades" (story by David Simon and Ed Burns, teleplay by David Simon).

Episodes

"Series #" refers to the episode's number in the overall series, whereas "Season #" refers to the episode's number in this particular season. All episodes were made available by HBO six days earlier than their broadcast date, via On Demand

Video on demand

Video on Demand or Audio and Video On Demand are systems which allow users to select and watch/listen to video or audio content on demand...

.
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