In West Baltimore, the narcotics and homicide divisions begrudgingly launch a sprawling investigation at the insistence of a frustrated judge.

Led by Lt. Daniels, the half-hearted detail focuses on Avon Barksdale and his partner, Stringer Bell, the two men behind a drug operation that reigns in the high-rises. Barksdale and Bell are also responsible for a string of murders – raps they always manage to beat. Despite resistance from up high, the Barksdale investigation will culminate in a complex series of dangerous wiretaps and surveillance.

Told from the point of view of both the police and their targets, the series captures a universe of subterfuge and surveillance, where easy distinctions between good and evil, and crime and punishment, are challenged at every turn.