Watch The Wire. Understand why it might be the best television drama of all times. Cope with the fact that there won’t be a next episode, because what had to be told, has been told. Dig deeper nevertheless. Read Homicide. Maybe watch it. Read The Corner. Definitely watch it. Then think of the whole story as if it were Star Wars. Only that Episode 1-3 were written before 4-6. And that most of it happened for real. In our times. And then realize that is about doing what your kid does when he puts on a Darth Vader mask, knowing that this lost creature used to be and still is Anakin Skywalker. Do what we all do when we are taking interest in the fates of other human beings, no matter how remote from us: We empathize.
