I dunno why season 2 gets a bad rep. It sets up pretty much the main plot points of season 5. In season 2 we get to see how the drugs and prostitutes and pretty much any illegal movement gets brought into Baltimore. Without that you wouldnt know why Marlo wanted to move Joe out of power. You wouldn't know why Marlo kept sending the Russian 100,000 every week to be on his visiting list at Jessup. You wouldn't understand the pure scope of the crime that the police where trying to combat. It more than Avon, Stringer, Prop Joe and the streets. Everything is interconnected. And it's all controlled by the little quiet old seemingly harmless guy at the coffee shop. Frank Sabotka is a tragic character who got caught in the underworld while trying to keep his family on the docks and be there for his union. It's a great story. Look beyond the streets and you will see season 2 is up there with the rest of em.