Dear The Wire,

it's really no secret that i love you more than anything else in this whole wide world. i spout your praises everywhere i go, and really, you're the only thing i care to talk about. i get annoyed with people who aren't into you like i am, and i most certainly pass (negative) judgement on people who don't like you, or rather, have never even watched you. because really...who on earth would watch you and NOT like you? i'm bothered that the lady who sits next to me at work, of whom i urged to watch you (her husband does; at least someone knows good television in that family...), suggested i start watching The Shield when i lamented to her about you ending in two episodes. as if. how dare she compare you to that. you are without compare, and i'm offended that anyone would even attempt to do so.

anyhow, you're the shit. your writing is fucking stellar, your actors are the most amazing on any show, and despite the fact that you are set in perhaps one of the most downtrodden American cities, you somehow manage to portray her with some sort of grace...some respect. your stories may involve scandal and murder and drugs and such, but somehow Baltimore is never shat upon. in fact, watching you makes me miss my city.

you are the only television show that makes me cry. i still remember sobbing at the end of the first season, when Poot and Bodie killed Wallace. and when Stringer got got--jesus christ...i loved him. and i can't tell you how many times i found myself teary eyed during the fourth season either. and seriously...this season...?

i don't really know quite what to do once you're gone. shall i start all over from season 1 (which, btw, i've already watched 3 times)? shall i watch with a closer eye, and knowing how the story ends, will i notice details, characters, and themes that i didn't notice before?

i'm sort of in awe about how amazing you are. i think perhaps what it comes down to (besides the enthralling story, the amazing writing, and the characters that evoke emotion) is that despite the fact that you are specific in regards to setting and storyline, you really traverse the bounds of what modern storytelling is. especially that told through television. you somehow manage to hold every single literary theory, theme, and method in each episode and character, and have somehow managed to make Shakespeare relevant in the Baltimore drug game. you have translated the Byronic hero (my absolute favorite character in all of literature, fyi) to the modern streets, with Omar (my absolute favorite character ever. barack and i are so on the same wavelength). and you are perhaps the most tangible representation of Chekhov's Gun (umm, Bubbles' bad junk...? Sherrod's death...?) it really is quite amazing.

anyhow, i just wanted to let you know how much i love you.

love, always and foreva',
sarah

ps, i don't know if you're aware or not, but there's a really stellar column on the New York Times online about you every week. it's really quite good.