S02E14: The War at Home

Last time on West Wing: DEA Agents in mortal danger! Poll numbers soon to come in! Police officer in PR foul up! Abby annoyed with Jed! See all these plot strands tied up in the next exciting instalment. OK, so maybe The War at Home isn't all that fast-paced but it is nice to get a West Wing mini-movie.

Early on we get a scene where Bartlet has a scene with Josh and Sam which initially seems quite quirky and nice - it's a change of pace and it gives an insight into the various unofficial conversations PotUS may have during the course of the day. Unfortunately after a short time it becomes evident that it's merely an opportunity for Sorkin to give us a lecture on drug policy (pro tip: nothing Bartlet tells Josh and Sam would be news to them, so it's clearly aimed at us). I don't mind Sorkin preaching once in a while, I just which he'd do it with a bit more subtlety. We get another mini-sermon from Leo towards the end too.

When they're in the situation room at the start of the episode and there's one dissenting voice concerning sending people in I remember thinking when I originally watched the show "that guy's going to turn out to be right". For the life of me I can't tell you why I thought that; maybe it's the way the line is delivered, perhaps it's the fact that the camera lingers on this previously unseen character just a little longer than normal. Whatever the reason, it's very well done.

The resolution of the DEA situation is one of a relatively small number of instances in the West Wing where Bartlet clearly does the wrong thing (dealing with a terrorist) because he can't stomach the consequences of doing the right one. Throughout the episode it's repeated again and again that it would be a dreadful move to make, and if that isn't enough Josh spells it out in a conversation with Donna that leaves us in no doubt that under no circumstances can Aguilar be released. By the end of the episode, that's exactly what CJ's announcing at the briefing. Bartlet may be a good president, but he's not infallible.

Random observations:

The "You don't live longer, it just seems longer" quote is actually by Clement Freud.

Is this the first time we see Jed playing chess? I can't think of an earlier occurrence off the top of my head. By the way, considering what we learn further down the line about his prowess at the game, Leo's tutoring of him here seems really off.

Ed Begley Jr. does a really good job as Seth Gillette, junior senator from North Dakota. When he drops the boom on Toby by floating the idea of running as an independent it comes out of nowhere, though in Toby's defence he rallies reasonably well.

We get a trademark Sorkinism in this episode, where a piece of bad news is followed up by the rumble of thunder.

I really like that when Donna leaves for home she says bye to Joey's interpreter, not Joey. She identifies with the subordinate more.

It's a really poignant moment when we see Jed looking at the coffins coming back, heightened by having the man who gave him counsel that could have spared all their lives being stood right next to him.

Episode grade: B-

So what did you all think?

Spoilers for the future follow.

Finally the mutual attraction between Josh and Donna get acknowledged, even though we're still about five years away from them acting on it.

I wonder how many of us watching the conversation between Abby and Jed about his MS really wondered whether it would ever take hold to the degree it did in season seven.

S02E13: Bartlet's Third State of the Union

First up, my apologies for the very delayed nature of this review. Partially the holiday and partially a horrendous virus have conspired to put me way behind schedule. Hopefully over the next month or so I'll catch up on at least a couple of episodes.

If there's one thing Americans know how to do it's put on a show. Make no mistake, this episode is about a speech. As a British person I tend to think "so what"? Probably the most famous political speech over here in the UK isn't even delivered by the Prime Minister, but the Chancellor of the Exchequer (it's the Budget speech). Now there's no denying, the UK has history on its side (for instance, it's quite cool that the Budget speech is the only time someone is allowed to take a drink into parliament (it's the Chancellor who gets it, and he normally chooses whisky)). Sadly, Americans have us beat when it comes to pomp and circumstance. "The State of the Union" has such a great ring to it, and the idea that millions of people around a country sit on the edge of their seats as their head of state sets out a plan of action for the next 12 months is almost romantic when you think about it.

Of course, all those viewers mean the reaction to the speech is pretty important, hence Joey Lucas being bought in to handle polling. It's always nice to see Josh thrown off his game somewhat, and he's even more frantic than usual around Joey. While the power cut pushes the envelope of believability it's certainly entertaining.

I don't know how realistic the idea of a three hour news programme involving senior staffers debating various Republicans following the speech is, but I love the notion of it. While all of the debates are interesting, the real stand out is the one involving Toby where they discuss the second amendment. What with Sandy Hook so recent in the memory it's amazing how often you'll find yourself watching an episode of West Wing only to hear a snippet of dialogue which relates to something currently in the news. I can't think of another show which has aged nearly so well (and Toby's argument would have been just as effective if he'd given an accurate figure for gun deaths instead of the ridiculously exaggerated 32,000).

The main non-speech related plot is the capture of DEA agents in Colombia. It seems to exist mainly in order to give something for Leo to do while Josh, CJ, Sam and Toby stress over the fallout to the speech. It also means Jed doesn't really get much of an opportunity to bask in the glory of his rip-roaring speech which virtually launched his re-election campaign...

...which brings us to Abby. She's not just a pretty face, she knows what's just happened, and she's not a happy bunny. Sorkin does a bit of a juggling act here because he gives us about three reasons for Abby being upset with Bartlet, but saves the real one for the final scene. She clearly doesn't think he's up for another four years of political hoopla, and it means tension on the home front for Jed.

On the plus side, this episode had decent performances, some nice one-liners and quite a cinematic feel to it. On the downside, it felt like a little too much was going on and it could really have done with being a two-parter as the DEA situation doesn't get resolved and Josh never gets his numbers... hang on, this effectively is a two-parter, because The War At Home is going to give us all that and more. Hooray!

Random observations:

Josh gets so bored waiting for polling figures he reads Vogue.

Emily Proctor dancing to Blame it on the Bossa Nova = Awesome. Martin Sheen delivering Sam's line to Ainsley straight after = Awesomer.

Episode grade: B+

So what did you all think?

S02E12: The Drop In

The episode title refers to the (not-so) last minute change in the President's speech, but I'll get to that in a minute because quite frankly, when you have Lord John Marbury in the show he deserves the first paragraph. If you don't have a massive smile on your face during his first scene (in the office with Leo and Josh) then there's something wrong with you. His slapdown of the missile shield is particularly entertaining, and manages a level of condescension even Jed struggled to reach; I love it! He also gets the best line in the episode when he comments that even if the shield is successful people will simply build a better missile, while at the same time coming off warm enough towards Leo that even he thaws a little towards the new Ambassador. The one weird thing is that seemingly from nowhere CJ and Donna are swooning over him all of a sudden. I don't recall them indicating that during the India/Pakistan crisis last season.

And so to the drop in. The really interesting thing about this is that it highlights cracks in relationships between the senior staff that up to now have gone largely unmentioned in the show. We've always had the impression that Toby felt like he was just that little bit better than everyone else in the room, viewing everyone else with a mild disinterest. Notwithstanding that, the picture has definitely been painted thus far that they're all one big happy family who would walk through fire for any of the others. Here though, it's made abundantly clear that Toby is essentially backstabbing Sam.

I have to say, I don't entirely buy that subplot. Firstly, if there's one thing that Toby doesn't do it's duck a fight. He really doesn't do it when he thinks he's right. Second, Toby isn't dumb enough to give Sam enough evidence to figure out the drop in was planned. Third, if there's one person who Toby does show some affinity for it's Sam, which makes the move even worse. Finally, and most importantly, it's just a really mean-spirited and downright nasty thing to do. To steal Toby's own line here, "Friends are honest with each other". Thankfully Sorkin's a good enough writer that he doesn't push the reset button at the end of the episode, and it's clear from the scene in the bar that things aren't going to be back to normal with them for a while.

Honestly I don't know how I feel about the development we're given here. On the one hand it certainly injects a little realism into the show as I can imagine this is a pretty common occurrence in real life politics. On the other hand, isn't the whole point of The West Wing that it's a look at politics through rose coloured glasses, and that for the most part these people are the best versions of themselves they can possibly be? While characters make mistakes, and from time to time make calls that err on the side of political expediency as opposed to doing what's right, this is probably the nastiest thing that any of the main characters has done so far in the show.

Random observations:

Fancy Leo not picking up the Charlie Brown reference; shame on him! Having said that, given that information it's hardly worth Bartlet's effort adding the "Oh, good grief" line at the end.

It's not often that we know stuff before CJ does, but if you don't figure out who the British Ambassador to the US is going to be from the "previously on..." sequence alone then you're just not paying enough attention.

Gail is in a totally different bowl in this episode when compared to her normal one. Maybe that in itself is a reference to the replacement ambassador. It looks like a mobile phone has been "dropped in" the bowl too, which could just be a play on the episode title.

Episode grade: B

So what did you all think?

S02E11: The Leadership Breakfast

This is one of those place-holder  episodes. Nothing much happens, but it doesn't happen so nicely that we don't really care. There's some nice comedy, some geek trivia from Jed, some Machiavellian political manoeuvring in which Toby gets outplayed (several times) and some guest stars who do some really good work.

In some ways I feel like it's an opportunity missed. Small spoiler warning: It kind of feels like they're setting up both Felicity Huffman and Corbin Bernsen for recurring roles. By the end of the episode we're looking forward to round two between Toby and Ann and we've had Shallick's card marked as a probable opponent for Bartlet a couple of years down the line. Neither of those things happen (Felicity never appears again and Corbin is in one more episode a couple down the line). I think both of those things are bad. Bartlet's eventual opponent is no better a character than Bernsen's, who disappears without a trace, yet another continuity mis-step. Meanwhile the one thing the show could have done with is someone really good on the other side of the aisle (see spoiler section), and Felicity could have filled that role excellently.

The one thing that does happen which is concrete is the handshake between Leo and Toby where they form the "committee to re-elect the President". That plot-line does pick up over the next few episodes, leading to probably the best half season in the show's entire run.

Random observations:

There's nothing better to get me in the mood for an episode of West Wing than some Sam and Josh tomfoolery.

Sports Night crossover alert #1: Ann Stark is played by Felicity Huffman, who played Dana Whitaker in Sports Night (she was effectively the Leo of that show if you've never seen it).

Sports Night crossover alert #2: Sam screws up with a woman he wants to impress (Karen Cahill) by confusing Kurdistan with Kazakhstan. In Sports Night Dan Rydell (the Sam of that show if you've never seen it) screwed up with a woman he wanted to impress (Hillary Clinton) by confusing secular schools with non-secular schools.

Congressman Shallick is played by Corbin Bernsen, better known as Arnie Becker from LA Law.

Episode grade: A-

So what did you all think?

Spoilers for the future follow.

If there's one thing the post Sorkin era writers managed to do better than Sorkin himself, it was bring some really meaty Republicans to the show. Haffley is a weasel, but he's a talented one who keeps the administration on their toes. Vinick is probably the best example, and the season seven campaign is far more in-depth and well rounded than the season four version, which is all wrapped up in just a few short episodes.

S02E10: Noel

Noel is simply a perfect episode of television. Early on it's easy to see it's going to be something special. We're used to seeing Josh ride roughshod over people so his "you think you're talking to the paper boy" jibe is nothing to write home about, but the way Stanley comes back with "you're not talking to the paper boy either" salvo still has the power to send shivers down my spine, even though I must have seen this particular episode over a dozen times. What follows is a wonderful examination of post-traumatic stress disorder.

The first flashback takes us three weeks back. Nothing seems strange; Josh seems perfectly normal. We know the pilot has to have something to do with his issues (whatever they are - we still don't know as yet), Sorkin has already established the expertise of Stanley so when he picks up on the pilot comment we do too. As a result our ears prick up more over that subplot than any of the other stuff we hear in the opening segment. And then there's the knock at the door...

What's really clever about the way Sorkin deals with this is that he knows most of his audience don't know the first thing about PTSD, but he doesn't just want to tell us that Josh has it - he wants us to figure out what's going wrong with Josh (and more importantly why) at more or less the same rate as Stanley. It's far more nuance than you'd expect from the average network show, but this isn't the average network show.

The scene where Josh loses it in the oval office is tough to watch for me. I've probably mentioned it a time or six, but just to remind you Josh is my favourite character. Thing is, the person in that office isn't Josh. His whole demeanour is different straight from the off and watching him unravel in front of our eyes isn't easy viewing. Bradley Whitford is unbelievably good in the whole episode, but I think it's this scene which won him the Emmy that year.

Then we get Josh reliving the shooting during the Yo-Yo Ma performance and we begin to realise just how much he's been bottling up for the past ten episodes. When he puts his hand through the window it may not technically be cutting but it's not far off. By the end of the episode he's far from cured but at least he can see light at the end of the tunnel.

As an aside, the English snob working at the White House provides some much needed levity in an episode that could easily be a little too dark for most people.

Random observations:

Stanley is better known as Aaron Shutt, ace neurosurgeon from Chicago Hope. As much as I raved about Bradley's performance in the episode, Adam Arkin's is great too.

Does the President really receive a million letters in a year? That seems high.

"Long as I got a job you got a job." Thank goodness for that.

I can't hear Carol of the Bells without thinking of this episode. I get chills every time I hear it.

Episode grade: A+

So what did you all think?

S02E09: Galileo

It's no surprise in this episode when we find out that Jed geeks out over space related trivia. However, it's more of a surprise to hear that he's no fan of obscure symphony orchestras (no offense intended, Icelandic readers; I've personally visited Reykjavik and think it's a wonderful place). It just seems like the kind of thing he'd go for.

I love that the episode has so much going on, all of which is fairly interesting. Potentially the most boring of these is the stamp thing, so Aaron chooses wisely in giving this to the dynamic duo of Josh and Donna. Their natural chemistry along with some nice one-liners enables me to be entertained while simultaneously learning something, and I just love that.

After giving Mallory barely a mention for what seems like an age, she pops up again here. I've been critical before of the way they wasted the chemistry between her and Sam, so I should at least acknowledge that Sam comes out with a reasonably feasible reason why she's been absent for so long. I can see why being photographed hugging a prostitute may diminish other romantic possibilities. Having said that, she knew he'd actually slept with one before developing an interest, so I think it's clear she can't be referred to as prudish.

With all this going on (and I haven't even mentioned the green beans) a far more serious situation arises with the oil refinery/missile silo fire. What I really like is that most series would let all the more mundane subplots fade into the background as soon as something of this magnitude crops up, but The West Wing makes this the subplot. There aren't many shows that would have the guts to do that.

Random observations:

Did Jed really convert to celsius in his head, or did he just happen to know the figures in celsius rather than fahrenheit?

Would someone from NASA's PR team really be such an awful writer?

Toby gets something wrong again in this episode. Phobos and Deimos were Mars' sons, not his horses. Get it together Toby.

Gail makes an appearance and I think there's some kind of buggy in her tank, presumably relating to the space mission.

Is it just me or does the music playing as CJ and Charlie walk out the theatre sound like it's come straight from a Bond movie (mixed with a little whalesong)?

This episode would get an A if it weren't for CJ's little meltdown in the oval office towards the end of the episode. I don't like being lectured, but I especially don't like being lectured in a really obvious and patronising way.

Episode grade: A-

So what did you all think?

S02E08: Shibboleth

Wow. The plot for Sam's show is exactly the same as the plot for this episode... apart from the crime solving part.

Is it just me or is Toby absolutely insufferable in this episode? The whole thing with Leo's sister just doesn't sit well with me. From the off it's clear that Toby is well aware that Leo won't be pleased about it, and you'd assume that Toby would take that into consideration as been as Leo's his boss. Tiny spoiler alert: If I was Leo I'd say "Hey Toby, that's fine. By the way, I'm hiring your dad as my PA." I also think the issue is a bit bizarre. Didn't Josh get threatened with the school prayer issue last season when they were talking about FEC nominees who were against soft money? When did it go from being part of a nightmare legislative agenda to a debate the White House actually wants?

Al Caldwell and Mary Marsh make another appearance thanks to the religious asylum issue. Al is still a rotund buffoon and Mary is still awful.

I find the main plot incredibly similar to the one in the pilot. Call me politically naive, but does it really matter what the religious beliefs of the Chinese are? They came over in barrels and risked death in search of a better life. Shouldn't the White House have their backs regardless of their views on Jesus? Considering the final resolution of the issue shouldn't their beliefs be moot? Bartlet as good as says so to Josh at the end, so the entire interview is irrelevant really.

I know he's not perfect, but sometimes Sorkin's writing is just sublime. The little subplot with the knives is so inconsequential that 99% of writers wouldn't include it at all. Yet he makes it beautifully comic with each successive knife that fails to make the grade and just when you think it's run its course he concludes it with probably the most touching moment in the entire episode.

Random observations:

Yay. Yet another introduce the cast "previously on...".

Jamestown wasn't the 16th century Toby. If you're going to be a pompous ass at least be accurate about it.

Why is CJ setting off flashes in front of the turkeys when she knew from the off that Troy didn't like to be touched? Surely a turkey that doesn't want to be touched shouldn't be anywhere near PotUS?

The Chinese Christian names 11 apostles (there are two called James, and he omits Judas' replacement, Matthias).

"If the Oscars were like that I'd watch." The first time I heard that line I spit my drink out. The whole scene from that point up until Donna's "You can't pardon a turkey?" is brilliant.

Episode grade: B+

So what did you all think?

Spoilers for the future follow.

I find it interesting the way Barlet indicates that the main reason for allowing the refugees to "escape" is to allow the Chinese to save face. Events in Han would indicate the real reason is very different.