Although television connoisseurs will continue to pit Breaking Bad against The Wire for years to come, one crucial factor actually settles the debate. Given the game-changing nature of both prestige dramas, which offer a more nuanced look at the nature of crime, morality, and gray-area antiheroes, comparisons were inevitable. No matter where one falls in the Breaking Bad vs. The Wire debate, however, there is one indisputable signifier of which series is superior.
Created by David Simon, HBO’s The Wire centers on Baltimore’s various institutions, exploring these structures’ relationships to law enforcement and the city’s community at large. Meanwhile, Vince Gilligan’s New Mexico-set crime drama chronicles overqualified high school teacher Walter White’s (Bryan Cranston) journey from desperate meth-maker to sinister, drug-dealing kingpin. In both shows, characters are pushed to make impossible decisions, choosing survival over following the letter of the law. The two shows not only changed the TV landscape, but contributed to the “Golden Age of Television.”
The Wire Season 5 Proves Breaking Bad Is Better
Interestingly enough, both Breaking Bad and The Wire boast five seasons — and it’s that final season of the latter that makes all the difference when it comes to determing the better show. The consenus among The Wire fans is that season 5 is weaker than the rest of the series. For some, that key factor doesn’t impact the show’s overall success, but, when directly comparing The Wire to Breaking Bad, it does give Gilligan’s show the edge. Unlike the HBO crime drama, Breaking Bad manages to maintain its top-notch quality, adrenaline-pumping pace, and dramatic intrigue across all five outings. In fact, even the genius Breaking Bad spinoff Better Call Saul and the post-finale tie-in movie, El Camino, carry on that excellence.
That doesn’t mean Breaking Bad is without its flaws. Breaking Bad‘s divisive “Fly” episode, season 3’s notoriously plodding “bottle” story, is often cited as the series’ one dip in quality. Still, a single weak episode doesn’t compare to an entire season’s worth of issues. In part, The Wire season 5 is so much worse than other outings because it delves into a fictionalized version of The Baltimore Sun, exploring how journalism impacts the city. This more introspective turn produces a season that’s less grounded in reality and infinitely more didactic. Given that one of the series’ highlights is its commitment to realism, the final outing lacks the emotional core or cutting insight of The Wire‘s best seasons.
What Breaking Bad Vs. The Wire REALLY Means
Even though Breaking Bad may have a slight edge thanks to its consistent caliber of storytelling, the title of “best TV show of all time” doesn’t say as much as the two series say together. With The Wire running from 2002 to 2008 and Breaking Bad releasing between 2008 and 2013, the back-to-back shows cement the fact that the mid-2000s really were the “Golden Age of TV.” Coming on the heels of HBO’s The Sopranos, The Wire and Breaking Bad prove that prestige dramas of that merit weren’t one-offs or flukes, but a true landscape-changing TV trend. Undoubtedly, both crime dramas will continue to influence future series, all while maintaining enduring pop culture relevance.
