Saturday 20 October 2012

S02E06: The Lame Duck Congress


I'm a big fan of the moments in the show where we get to see how staggeringly knowledgable the main characters are when it comes to congressional and senatorial affairs. That's just what we get in the pre-credits sequence with the discussion of the various committee changes. As an side I find it interesting that when CJ criticizes the dirty pool they'd be playing Toby frankly admits that it is but he doesn't care. Funny how dirty pool is fine when you do it but disgusting when the other guy does.

Emily Proctor once again does some excellent work in the episode. I really like the way after handing Sam the position paper she just hangs around the office because she knows exactly what's coming. I also find the ensuing debate both interesting and very similar to the one Sam had the previous season with Mallory about school vouchers in Six Meetings Before Lunch.

This episode also gives us a sort of resolution to the CJ/Danny arc. It's not particularly elegant, but it's better service than they gave to Mandy and Mallory.

The final conversation between Jed and Toby is pretty interesting. I like the ethical dilemma of which way you fall when public opinion is clear one way or another (and it becomes a lot murkier when the thing you perceive to be right is the opposite of what's popular).

Random observations:

I find the whole carpal tunnel syndrome completely uninteresting (ditto the Konanov sub-plot). They provide a few mild smiles but they're just window dressing.

Sam's "we play with live ammo around here" line gets borrowed by the Parks and Recreation writers for the episode which features Bradley Whitford.

Episode grade: B

So what did you all think?

2 comments:

  1. I really like the scene when Ainsley realize that she has changed the presidents position and stop and look around the room to see all the people working in the west wing. It's a very nice illustration of all the leg work that goes into forming policy and opinions.

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  2. I got really affected by the lame duck senator who said " i choose not to assume my constitutes feel a certain way because they were duped", i don't know if a real senator can behave with such high morals.

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