The fourth season of HBO’s critically acclaimed drama “The Wire” began this past Sunday. The show focuses largely on Baltimore heroin dealers and the police who pursue them.

A stand-out aspect is the program’s fearlessness in displaying the dark side of the American dream. Season four will be no exception.

With the Barksdale organization in tatters following the death of Stringer Bell and the arrest of Avon Barksdale, young upstart Marlo Stanfield (Jamie Hector) is the new king of Baltimore’s streets.

Baltimore’s finest are still at it, with detectives Lester Freamon (Clarke Peters) and Kima Greggs (Sonja Sohn) up on a wiretap of Stanfield’s operation, while Jimmy McNulty (Dominic West) adjusts to life as a beat cop.

Each season “The Wire” takes an uncompromisingly sharp magnifying glass to aspects of city life. While past seasons have woven local politics and struggling dockworkers into the stories of urban decay, this season examines Baltimore’s failing public schools, where more than half the kids don’t graduate high school in four years.

Cop-turned-teacher Roland Prezbylewski (Jim True-Frost) finds his new job quickly resembles his old. A storyline focusing on a group of middle school boys explores how the teenage years can be the difference between growing up and having an honest career or growing up to be the next Avon Barksdale.

“The Wire” has never attracted the same kind of ratings as better-known HBO shows like “The Sopranos.” But it is every bit as engrossing, innovative and addictive as some of the great televised dramas of our time and is well worth the extra $10 a month on the cable bill.

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