This Character Has the Best Redemption Arc on ‘The Wire’

Often cited as one of the greatest drama shows of all-time, The Wire was a groundbreaking series that utilizes a Shakespearean narrative structure to analyze the complex relationship between American infrastructure and the drug trade. Unlike traditional drama programs that follow a core group of characters from the pilot episode onward, The Wire grows only more immersive with each season, as it shows how different subjects are intertwined in the ongoing effort by Baltimore’s police department to put drug dealers behind bars. While the show’s authenticity and profound political commentary made it "must watch" television, it’s the great characters that make The Wire so compulsively watchable. In a series that often analyzes its subjects’ capacity for change, no character on The Wire has a better redemptive arc than Chad Coleman’s Dennis "Cutty" Wise.