So much great shit happens in Season 2. Even if you don't like the docks, you've got Cold Blood Stringer running the Barksdale Org. You get the Omar courtoom scene. D'Angelo and Avon in prison. Herc in Rocawear. The tennis ball.

But the shit with the docks is brilliant too. The last 4 episodes of the season are a perfect crescendo. The cat and mouse game with the Greek in the hotel is fucking great.

And without the Greeks you don't get the iconic line from Sergei - "Did he have hands? Did he have a face? Yes? Then it wasn't us."

Season 2 is objectively better than 5 by a mile and might even be better than Season 1. Doesn't touch 3 or 4 but to say it drags the show down is one of the stranger stances I see people take regarding The Wire. I really feel like people don't like Season 2 mostly because of how comparatively white the cast is.