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I watched the final episode of The West Wing this morning. Though I've never actually been in this position, watching it was akin to the subtle but permanent denouement to a great relationship both parties see coming. It's nobody's fault… it's just the way things go. The feeling was mirrored in the ways in which the staff members displayed their feelings towards their final days, hours, minutes, and seconds in office.

Just like an ex, you'll occasionally see them around town - Bradley Whitford and Rob Lowe will even be starring in Aaron Sorkin's new show - but it won't be the same. Every time you see them, you'll remember the good times you had back when. Back when you became enveloped in a TV show that portrayed government the way you wish it was, not the way it's increasingly apparent it really is. I didn't often agree with the politics of The West Wing, but I always found comfort in the ideal the characters portrayed: that hard work and morals are nothing to be afraid of, that leadership can be found in everyone, and that small groups of people can do tremendous things to shape our world, for better or worse.

Despite the subtle agony of the post-Sorkin episodes, on the whole, The West Wing managed something very few TV shows can do. That small group of people - the actors, the writers, the crew - changed my world for the better. So I'll look back fondly on the past seven years, and when I'm feeling nostalgic, I won't break out an old love letter or a shirt left behind or a tattered photograph, but a DVD, even if it's only for a few minutes at a time.

Goodbye, West Wing. We had good times.

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