S01E02: Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc

"Do you know when we lost Texas?" "When you learnt to speak Latin?" I was a real fan of the little intellectual discussions they'd just randomly throw in to episodes, and this was no exception. Nothing says high brow like a Latin lesson five minutes in.

You may have gathered from the last review, I liked the pilot, and I mean I really liked the pilot. All too often though the subsequent series fails to deliver on the initial promise because the writers put so much creativity into the pilot in a deperate attempt to get the show picked up that they have nothing left for what comes afterwards (it even happens with great series, like The Shield. Good as that show was they took about four years to do anything as shocking as we saw in the pilot). Thankfully, this episode lays the concerns to rest. If anything this episode has even more rapid-fire dialogue than the first.

Tim Matheson does a really good job of making Hoynes competent but smarmy. It also highlights that CoS is in reality a far more influential position than VP, rightly or wrongly.

This is really more of a consolidating episode than anything else. We get to learn a little more about some of the main players, especially Jed and Sam, and we're given a proper introduction to Mandy. Of course, all that makes the final scene all the more shocking because it really comes from nowhere, and having the scene with Jed and Maurice adds further weight to it. One thing's for sure; we definitely want to see how this plays out.

Random observations:

Is "whomped" a real word?

Celebrity spotting: Maurice was the original chief from Castle.

How can people on White House staff money afford $100 a week for a sports pool?

Does anyone else think the poster behind Toby in his office looks like a caricature of him? If so, very nice work from the props department.

No one with Josh's political brains expects anything other than Mandy getting hired. He was talking her up in the previous episode - after Josh, Mandy was the go-to person for Lloyd Russell.

Episode grade: B-

So what did you all think?

Spoilers for the future follow. Caveat lector (see what I did there?):

"I worked with these people for two and a half years..." yet amazingly never appear in any of the flashbacks to the campaign. I was never Mandy's biggest fan but the way they wrote her out was just really poorly handled.

Did Maurice know about Bartlet's MS?

S1E01: Pilot

A few housekeeping points for starters: While I understand that the vast majority of people who ever read this will most likely have watched every episode (numerous times probably) I'd like the blog to be newbie-friendly. While there may be some mildly spoilerish details occasionally they shouldn't be enough to upset someone who's only watched up to the episode under discussion. When needed, there will be a section at the end (clearly marked) which will go into more detail on interesting points given knowledge of future episodes. Hopefully this method should satisfy all. Enough with that - onto the episode.

Of all episodes of The West Wing, the Pilot is the one I've seen the most. I show it to every new person I try to convert to the show, and as a result I've seen it somewhere between 15 and 20 times. In all of those times I can honestly say I've never been bored, as in my opinion, it's the best Pilot episode that's ever been made. It has an almost Herculean task to perform and it does it effortlessly.

For example, we have a pretty big ensemble to be introduced to, but for the most part we know a little something about all of them within the first five minutes. Sam is a fairly high level staffer for the President, in the know about issues that most people would be unaware of. Leo is rich, and the President's right hand man (he gets a call, not a page). CJ is awkward around men she's attracted to. Josh is a workaholic. Toby is an arrogant know-it-all. And this is all before the credits roll.

Then we have the scene with Leo actually arriving at the West Wing. Straight away we get a Scorsese-esque tracking shot (a few actually) and several plotlines are thrown at us (the Cubans, the President's accident, Josh's mis-step and a crossword puzzle). It doesn't feel like an information dump and it doesn't seem exposition heavy - this is what it must be like every day at the White House, right? Sorkin does a great job of making Josh likeable, while simultaneously making his job position appear really shaky. When I first watched the episode I didn't know Bradley Whitford was going to be a series regular, so there was the definite possibility that he was going to be gone by the end of the episode. The fact that I cared when I'd only been watching the series for half an hour is testament to the quality of the writing.

The first group scene (where they discuss the Cuban issue) is also a good sign that while this will undeniably be a drama series it will have some really funny moments too. We also get a glimpse of just how smart all these people are. Part of the rewatch value that the series has is that they discuss issues so quickly that on a first viewing you tend to pick up just the broad strokes of an episode - fine for understanding what's going on, but definitely not for picking up on all the nuance that's in the writing. Of course, that means you pick up on different things with each rewatch, which makes the investment in the DVD set an absolute bargain.

In an episode with a lot of great scenes/lines, the scene with the class and the one which immediately follows it in the corridor with Sam's monologue to Mallory have to be my favourite. By the time Sam says "Well this is bad on so many levels" I was in tears. Following that scene with the the heavily dramatic confrontation between Mary Marsh and Toby is a fantastic move.

Which all brings us to the introduction of the President. It's easy to see why the decision was made by the show makers to enlarge his role because Sheen nails the scene and clearly revels in the quality of writing. Oh the irony that Josh still has a job largely down to the actions of a far-right religious group.

While we're talking about good acting, you have to take your hat off to the entire cast here. This show will be the career-defining role for every one of them such is the strength of their acting. Whoever cast them was a genius.

As much as I love this episode, there are definitely a few things I can nit-pick:

"These things look exactly alike" is a huge telegraph of the swapped pagers plotline, and totally unnecessary.

Is the President really going to say "Economists were put on this planet to make astrologers look good" when he's won the Nobel Prize for Economics? Would the Economists in the room really let that comment go, much less laugh? It provides a nice soundbite but it doesn't stand up to any examination.

Leo phoned the New York Times? And from what he says it's a common occurrence? No way, not how busy they are. Realism is sacrificed for comedy.

Finally, is a member of the religious right really going to get the commandments wrong? And when know-it-all Toby corrects him would he really get it wrong too? "Honour thy father and thy mother" is the fifth commandment, not the first and not the third.

For the record I should say that I had no problem with any of these lines with the exception of the pager one when I first watched the episode. Indeed, I really liked most of them, which I guess is the point (this is first and foremost, an entertainment show, not a documentary).

Episode grade: A+

So what did you all think?

The Idea Behind The Blog

Hi all.

Since it originally aired I've seen every episode of The West Wing at least three times, and some of them many more. It remains my favourite TV show of all time.

I can't believe that it's been 13 years since the show originally began its run, and almost six years since the series ended (six years ago today there were just eight episodes left to air).

It strikes me that instead of simply watching the episodes another time, it might be interesting to do a review of each episode, one a week, which will make this a three year project. At the very least it will be something for me to look back on as I continue to enjoy the show, and it may turn out to be an interesting read both for the West Wing aficionado as well as those who are enjoying the show for the very first time (where were you?!).

I'm not sure exactly what form the reviews will take, but I guess it will change over time, possibly as a result of comments and feedback from any potential readers. Maybe some will be motivated to post their own thoughts on the episode.

My plan is to watch an episode over each weekend and post the review on the Sunday/Monday. The first review will hopefully be up the 8th/9th April, with an additional review each week. Obviously there may be occasions when I can't keep to the schedule, but I'll try and keep it to a minimum (and let you know if and when there may be the odd hiatus week).

Anyway, enough of this preamble, roll on April 8th when I'll be reviewing Pilot.

Regards,
Statto