My Addiction

A couple years ago my British friend Dave started telling me about this American tv program called the Wire. I'd never hear of it, and figured if it was any good, there would have been a buzz- there probably was, but I didn't really watch tv in the first place and never had cable so I may not have been in the right circles. I ignored him. A few months later we met in Istanbul for a holiday and he brought it up again, making me promise I would go home and watch it. That promise remained an empty one. Four months later he's back in New York and we're on our way to our friend Peter's wedding in Minnesota. Again with the Wire... I go home and make no adjustments whatsoever on my Netflix queue; I don't even google it. Regular emails come, and Dave continues to pitch how great this show is- but I've just discovered Mad Men, Dexter, and Weeds, The Wire is going to have to stay shelved for the moment.

Dave comes to New York this July and we go on a road trip out west and of course he brings up the Wire. Finally, I can say, I knew you were coming so I put it in my Netflix queue just for you... I get the first season as I'm leaving for Africa I watch one DVD before I leave and I bring the other 2 DVD's with me to watch in the airport. In the Delta lounge at JFK I'm already hooked. But when I return from Africa, season 2 is listed as a "long wait" and I don't get to watch anymore before I leave for Chile. Hulu doesn't work outside the country, and so I end up looking on Surf the Channel and voila, all 5 seasons at my finger tips. The problem is, I'm addicted. I watch an episode in the morning, and at least a couple sometimes 3 at night, and I can't really see myself breaking the habit until I've exhausted the entire series- at this rate of course, it will only take me another week.  I do feel gross, I wish I could pace myself to an episode or two a day, but I haven't been able to... 

Dave used to go into this diatribe about why and how the show was so good- he was right, but it never made me want to watch it. All I will say is this: it takes place in Baltimore, MD, and I love the Omar character.