My favorite part of the show is the Baltimore dialect. If you are casually watching an episode or two for the first time, there is no way you can grok all the n

My favorite part of the show is the Baltimore dialect. If you are casually watching an episode or two for the first time, there is no way you can grok all the nuances of the local diction. Over time, you start to re-hear words, phrases, pronunciations, and slang and you feel like you are in on it. Then you realize, the diction is different across the regional characters. Sometimes, even the characters can't understand one another. This joy of language combines with the fact that surveillance and eavesdropping play such central and indeed titular roles in the show. You then mix in the racial element for example having the black office secretary translating street hood lingo to the white cops listening in. It just all fits together beautifully.