S02E07: The Portland Trip

CJ is sort of in the doghouse at the beginning of the episode, thanks to her Notre Dame gaffe. It's light and fluffy stuff, and gives us the opportunity for a few chuckles, but I always get a bit concerned when they emphasize the somewhat sadistic nature of Bartlet's character. He's the President and they all serve at his pleasure. He can order them to do pretty much whatever he wants. Personally I think a good rule of thumb would be to refrain from deliberately making your senior staff miserable on a whim. Danny's retribution is far more subtle, and all the better for it.

The meeting Josh has with the congressman in this episode is particularly interesting. It shines a light on the complexity of political opinion, which can often get lost in world where the media needs to pander to the extremes in order to be heard. In reality, not every homosexual is a democrat, not every gun-toting redneck is a republican. Not every democrat is pro-choice, not every republican wants taxes lowered. Truth be told "the enemy" often isn't the enemy at all, and we'd probably be surprised how often our "friends" don't necessarily take the position we expect. What we should recognise is that just because someone disagrees with us doesn't mean they're any less sincere than we are, and we should respect that.

Jed's final decision on the issue is also interesting. He can rail all he likes about how it's wrong, but even for possibly the most idealistic president ever portrayed on the small screen, political expediency trumps what he feels is right. A second term is more important than doing what's right. Depending on how cynical you are you can see that one of two ways. Either it's a feather in the cap for democracy - he has to bend to the will of the people or risk being ousted, or it's a reminder of just how ineffective the whole process of government is. Ever get the feeling these weren't decisions we were meant to make?

I really get the feeling at this point that they're trying to make Ainsley part of the regular cast, not just a recurring character. Her part in this episode was totally crowbarred in.

Random observations:

Sports Night crossover - Colonel Chase was also in an episode of Sports Night. His character name? Chase.

I agree with Josh about Donna's dress. Wow.

Episode grade: B-

So what did you all think?

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?

S02E05: And It's Surely to Their Credit

For an episode with an awful lot of humour in it they also manage to deal with some pretty heavy stuff too. When you're fifteen minutes in and all the President's been involved in is an abortive attempt to read a radio message and a possible booty call from the first lady you realise he's just the comic relief.

Heavy stuff #1: Ainsley's first assignment is pretty sensitive stuff. After shocking us by introducing a sympathetic republican in the last episode, he really floors us in this one by giving us two democrats who are just, well, pathetic. Sam's initial lack of support seems against character to me, and the last minute turnaround doesn't really redeem him totally. This is a man who was best pals with a prostitute the previous year but can't stand sharing the same room with someone who doesn't share his political opinion. It's put in even bigger contrast by Leo's acceptance, given the article she previously wrote about him.

Heavy stuff #2: Suing the KKK. I love Josh's reason for rejecting this. He's a big picture guy, and classy with it.

It's really impressive how well Emily Proctor gels with the main cast right from the off (more about her in the spoilers section).

Random observations:

Donna's jokes were probably good enough to make Studio 60.

Gail makes an appearance at the five minute mark. It looks like a stage in her bowl, which could be a Gilbert & Sullivan reference. It's hard to tell though, as you only see it for a couple of seconds.

Lionel Tribby is better known from Boston Legal (and IIRC from the US remake of Fawlty Towers).

Is it Donna's birthday during this episode? There's a note on Josh's blackboard.

The steam pipe trunk distribution venue doesn't seem too bad to me.

Aaron Sorkin actually got me into Gilbert & Sullivan (curse him). He's clearly a fan too, as the first Studio 60 episode after the pilot modifies Modern Major General for their cold open.

Episode grade: B+

So what did you all think?

Spoilers for the future follow.

Clearly Emily Proctor had a good future with the show, but she chose to go and star in CSI: Miami instead. While I can understand why she'd do that, I think it's a shame she didn't stay with The West Wing until the end of its run. She's a good enough actress that she'd have easily been able to get the lead in another series after.

S02E04: In This White House

I have to say I loved the pre-credits sequence of this episode the first time I saw it, and to this day I find it really entertaining. Problem is, it's completely unbelievable and doesn't stand up to any scrutiny. Why would Sam continually refer to the state Kirkwood is in if he doesn't absolutely know? This is a guy who will not only know which state it's in, he'll know which Congressional district it's in (as evidenced by the previous episode), and most likely how Justice Mendoza would get there by car.

While Ainsley Hayes is the focus of the episode, I think it's worth focussing on the absolutely stellar job Zakes Mokae does as President Nimbala. He steals pretty much every scene he's in, and while a lot of that is due to Sorkin's fantastic writing Moake just nails the performance. He makes Nimbala incredible personable and that makes the resolution to the episode all the more heartbreaking. It's the Nimbala subplot which raises this from a good episode to a great one.

And that brings us to Ainsley. I think she's a fantastic character, and without a doubt the best written Republican Sorkin has ever managed. Yes, he makes Sam untenably stupid in an effort to emphasise her intelligence, but there's no denying he writes her with great deal of subtlety. When Sam rails at her because of the Roslyn shooting there just doesn't seem like any response, yet her "you don't like the people" speech back to him isn't at all confrontational yet manages to be completely disarming. Boy is she better than Mandy or what?

Random observations:

Yet another previously on which just introduces us to the main cast.

We get another bit of Sorkin recycling as the host of Capital Beat is Dana's former boyfriend from Sports Night.

I think Sorkin has a rule - for every sympathetic Republican in an episode he needs to put in two dreadful ones to make it clear that what we're observing is the exception rather than the rule.

Gail's bowl has an elephant in it, presumably a reference to Ainsley getting a job at the White House.

I was racking my brain because I knew I'd seen the actor who plays President Nimbala somewhere before. I checked the IMDb page and nothing rang any bells. Then it hit me - I'd seen him in a Matthew Modine film called A Cut Above, but it was listed on IMDb as Gross Anatomy (they changed the name for the UK release presumably).

In another bit of Sports Night recycling "the President likes smart people who disagree with him" sounds suspiciously like an Isaac Jaffe quote.

Episode grade: A+

So what did you all think?

S02E03: The Midterms

While the episode is called The Midterms we actually pick things up 12 weeks before. I can't recall off the top of my head if there's any other episode which covers such a long period of time but I don't think so.

The fast pace allows us to deal with subjects in a single episode which would normally be spread over several, and that has some advantages. For instance, the Tom Jordan subplot wouldn't normally make it into the show, because quite frankly it doesn't warrant a multiple episode arc - it's just not important enough. However, it is interesting, though I'm not entirely sure the reasoning is sound given various revelations about pretty much every presidential nominee for the last 20 years.

We also get to see some of the emotional aftermath of the shooting. We see it between Zoe and Charlie (who seem to have a somewhat strained relationship) and particularly in Toby, who seems to be going off on a crusade against hate groups.

Of course, the best thing about compressing 12 weeks worth of events into a single episode is that we get Josh's entire recuperation out of the way in a single week. Yay!

By far the most remembered part of this episode is the confrontation between Bartlet and the Christian talk show host. Lauded as it is, I have problems with it on several levels. First off, I just don't buy the fact that she'd be stupid enough to fail to stand for the President (people get briefed on appropriate behaviour before they meet PotUS, don't they?). Secondly, they don't even make her a good bigot - if you're going to condemn homosexuality then use the New Testament reference so you can't get tagged for the stuff Bartlet quotes from the Old Testament (you also then get a chance to say that the Old Testament laws were abolished when Christ came, further cementing your Christian credentials). Thirdly, Sorkin didn't even come up with it, he just nabbed it from an email that was doing the rounds. Finally, it just doesn't seem very presidential. He's the leader of the free world - isn't it beneath him to comment on stuff like this? He just comes off as petty and small (and I think that's why they had to have her sitting down - she had to appear obnoxious in every possible way to stop anyone from feeling sorry for her).

Random observations:

Gail's bowl has a ballot box with a vote going into it, which should be self-explanatory given the episode title.

Someone should really make a gif of Josh repeatedly smacking his head off the bed.

The bit with the tech support guy seems completely tagged on, almost like the running time was a bit short and they needed to fill another couple of minutes of air time.

Episode grade: B

So what did you all think?

Spoilers for the future follow.

When I said Josh's recuperation was dealt with entirely in this episode I was talking about his physical recovery obviously. Noel will reveal how his emotional state is far more fragile than Zoe's, Charlie's or Toby's.