Dear Eric: An Open Letter to Eric Christian Olsen

Dear Eric,

We can’t end our run here at wikiDeeks without a huge and sincere thank you for all that you’ve done to inspire our work and make it the joy that it was.

First, there is the character you brought to life. Simply put, Marty Deeks has been the best character on the show (just ask Frank Military!) and arguably, the best character on TV, during his time on the air. He’s complex, he’s flawed, and he’s charming. He’s an underdog who made us want to root for him to overcome his childhood demons and his adult mistakes, a brave fighter for justice, and in these last couple years, the father he always wanted to be. Your performances communicated all those layers and more, and your chemistry with literally every actor you interacted with brought a dynamism to your scenes, and to the show overall. Deeks – and you – were the missing element that made the team gel, and made those banter-filled bullpen scenes special. You also managed to both lighten the tone of the show and bring a sense of fun (and romance), while displaying an amazing capacity to embody an incredibly dark side that fascinated us.

But there’s more than just your character and performance. There’s also the way you (and Daniela) interacted with one another and with fans on social media. You communicated, more than anyone else in the cast, a sense that creating the show and “taking down bad guys” was fun. And you showed through your appearances at ComicCons, Paleyfests, and other events just how much of a family you all became. Watching people who apparently loved their jobs was in and of itself refreshing.

You always supported and encouraged fan artists and other creative responses to the show and I’m sure you know how much your interactions meant to everyone you ever reposted or mentioned. Here at wikiDeeks, we can’t begin to express how downright thrilling it was to get a chance to interview you (twice!), to have you take the time to create custom videos just for us and our readers, and to repost many of our various features and art. And thanks to your introduction, we even interviewed our favorite writer, Frank Military.

You also supported our charity efforts, autographing photos for us to raffle and reposting about our efforts. Thanks in large part to that support, we raised a total of $5500 for Pets of the Homeless and Every Day Action, charities whose choice had been inspired by Deeks’ frequent undercover persona.

We’ve appreciated every gesture, public and private, and we hope we’ve managed to repay you in some small way for your incredible generosity of time through our efforts to create, analyze, and defend Deeks. It’s been an amazing decade, something we’d never have imagined when we first began, a unique experience and an utter joy.

In gratitude,

Diane, Karen, Colleen, Lindy, Donna, Em, Lyssa, Brenda, Randy, and Gayle