Remember last year when you heard about this TV show called Mad Men but got too busy to watch it? And then by the time you set your DVR to record it, you had already missed the first three episodes so you put off watching them until you piled up 5 more? And then you decided to just wait until the DVD came out? But then all your friends started talking about it and you realized you missed out on one of the best shows ever?

Don’t make that mistake with The Wire, which returns for its final season tonight at 8pm CT on HBO, with repeats of the season premiere throughout the week.

It may not have as many metaphorical layers as The Sopranos – but it boasts one of the strongest ensemble casts in TV history and its thought-provoking, unfiltered use of inner-city Baltimore to examine the greed, corruption and indifference that leads to urban decay is both revealing and riveting.