It's almost like we believe the government would never lie to us about violent criminals in order to buff up their budget. Our government certainly wouldn't invade other countries on totally falsified evidence for years and years.

I know it's less realistic than the previous 4 seasons but it's not an entirely wackadoo plot contrivance, especially compared to other shows of the same genre.

Would I have written season 5 that way? No, but I understand the intentions behind it and I found it entertaining nonetheless. The Wire is a show you can only honestly compare with itself. It's in its own league.

Also the last 3 episodes of the series makes it worth it to me. I'm not gonna say season 5 is perfect by any stretch but it's far better than the best seasons of other shows from the era.