A message for 2026

Dear Blog Diary,

Stranger Things, Attack on Titan, The Wire.

I wasn’t upset with the end of Stranger Things. In my mind, as long as you give me one of those 80s movie corny wrap ups that leaves you gooey and warm, I’m good. Breakfast Club type shit. John Hughes.

Final battle was underwhelming and wow plot armor.

Stranger Things earned its due and when it was good, it was damn good. An original IP that developed a cult following.

Attack on Titan is an anime that gave us the love of my life, Mikasa Ackerman.

Giants attack a German-style city and bitch boy Eren Yeager loses his mother. He joins the military to fight them and get his revenge.

Honestly from there it just gets way more intriguing than that premise.

I’ve always loved how they seamlessly transition from the perspective of the mouse to the perspective of the cat. You question who really is right and wrong, who’s the cat, who’s the mouse, and how revealing the truth can be.

In my book, The Wire is second only to Breaking Bad.

I can praise The Wire for hours but if nothing else, it gave us Omar Little. I fucking love Omar Little. He’s my favorite character in all television not named Don Draper.

Omar is part Robin Hood part boogeyman part Albert Camus with a shotgun in West Baltimore, and he’s gay.

It’s a whole TedTalk but I believe Omar’s character is encapsulated in a scene where he robs a convenience store owner in the drug trade at gunpoint, and then buys a pack of Newport cigarettes with cash and insists on getting his change.

To Omar, you have to live by a code.

What all three shows have in common is that each have five seasons and the fourth was the best one.

(Technically AOT had 4 but they did part 1 and 2 for season 3 and a year apart too so — Just go with it.)

When Stranger Things brought in Vecna, they brought it back and forward at the same time. AOT basically made Eren a god and you question everything. The Wire built a masterpiece, burnt it to the ground, and then built a better one in one season.

Great starts, iconic season fours.

I say all this to say, now that 2026 is in full swing — just remember that even iconic things take time and the best in you might still be ahead.

Much love,

E

#ARTiculate