I’m tapping out. Season 5 Episode 3 is where the "Natural Police" died for me.

The Wire - I know I am late to the party. I have been binge watching the series for about a month now and I was totally hooked. It was easily some of the best TV I have ever seen right up until Season 5 Episode 2. Even in Season 4 when McNulty was barely around I still thought the show was incredible because the writing felt so grounded. But I have reached my breaking point. I just finished episode 3 and I think I am done. I can't stomach what they are doing to McNulty. For four seasons he was a disaster of a human being but he was always Natural Police. His arrogance was tolerable because it was rooted in a genuine talent for the work. He was a prick but he had a code. This fake serial killer plot is a bridge too far. Watching him physically tamper with bodies and invent a fantasy to manipulate the system does not feel like classic Jimmy anymore. It feels like he has become a total fraud. He spent the whole series complaining about how the bosses and the stats were fake and now he is the one orchestrating the biggest lie in the department's history. Even worse is seeing him drag Lester down with him. Lester Freamon was the moral anchor of that unit and seeing him go along with this madness just feels like the writers needed a way to catch Marlo and decided to throw the characters' integrity in the trash to get there. I loved the realism of this show but this feels like a cartoonish jump the shark moment. I would rather stop now and remember McNulty as the flawed genius than watch him become a hollow fraud. Am I the only one who feels like the show lost its soul here? Does it actually get better? TL;DR: Stopping at S5E3 because watching McNulty go from Natural Police to a total fraud is ruining the show for me. I can’t watch him burn it all down like this.