The Wire has transcended the tropes of police drama and looks at the human conditions, the human ecology of certain social groups who are often neglected, forgotten or even rejected by the mainstream of a society. It puts you right into their community and show you both the pretty and ugly sides, both the virtues and vices without flinching, thus avoiding depicting them from an outsider's perspective. In other words, The Wire manages to represent these groups without giving them a sense of otherness, and that is something truly admirable.