The Great West Wing Rewatch: 1.10 "In Excelsis Deo"

Joel:  Of the nine episodes that we watched before this one, I think that eight of them have made me tear up at some point or other. Watching Bartlett talk on the radio to the men about to face a hurricane. Seeing Leo watch his marriage crumble and knowing that he wasn’t going to be able to save it. The emotion that washed over Mendosa’s face when he learned that he was going to be nominated for the Supreme Court got me as well. But nothing comes close to this episode. Every moment of this episode is just so frustratingly powerful. We get Toby realizing that nobody was in a rush to do anything about the deceased veteran. We learn about Mrs. Landingham’s sons. We get CJ’s passionate thoughts on a hate crime that occurred. We get Toby under the bridge trying to find relations to the deceased veteran that results in him giving away all of his money only for some of it to be returned by the homeless man so that he can take a safe cab ride home. We get Josh and Sam having to apologize to Leo for trying to get Laurie involved which leads to him saying that despite the fact they did something bad, it still means something to him that their intentions were good. We get the president asking Toby if he’s not worried his actions in this episode will cause every homeless veteran to come out of the woodwork with Toby responding, “I can only hope.’ And then if all that isn’t enough, we get Mrs. Landingham asking Toby if she can go to the funeral.

The West Wing in a great show to binge watch. But part of what makes a really good binge watching show is that every now and then there are exit ramp episodes where you can get away for a day or two before plunging back into your next binge. This episode is insanely powerful and is such an episode. I needed a day or two to recover from the emotions in this episode before going back to the show. This is a fantastic episode.

Alexa: On the surface, “In Excelsis Deo” isn’t the most uplifting of Christmas episodes, as it revolves around three deaths. Toby is drawn to a homeless Korean War veteran who froze to death in the cold (he was wearing a coat that Toby donated to Goodwill, which still had one of his business cards in the pocket), and he works tirelessly to ensure the former Marine has a proper military funeral. C.J. suggests it’s time to pursue hate crime legislation after a group of 13-year-olds assault and kill a teenager because he was gay, but her colleagues resist, arguing that a crime is a crime regardless of the motivation and hate crime legislation risks punishing people for their beliefs. And Mrs. Landingham reveals to Charlie that her two sons were killed in the Vietnam War. But ultimately, Toby and C.J. become advocates for marginalized people who can no longer speak for themselves, and the result is a deeply moving episode that captures the spirit of Christmas in an unconventional way. It isn’t an overtly feel-good story, but it’s a poignant reminder about reserving judgment and going the extra mile to help our fellow man. The episode is a particularly powerful showcase for Richard Schiff, who took home the Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series after The West Wing’s first season in no small part because of his fine work here.

Chris: Man, for being a prostitute, Laurie sure does get offended whenever someone alludes to the fact that she's a prostitute. Not the greatest joke and probably not the best episode to make that point but still, that's the main thought that pops into my head whenever she has a scene in the last few episodes. Beyond that, this episode utilizes very real problems and very grim situations to bring in some sort of hope and Christmas spirit of giving. Predominately that works with the homeless veteran that Toby finds himself organizing a funeral for while using the influence of the President which isn't allowed but given the circumstances, I don't anyone is going to really reprimand Toby for. And then you have the kick to the gut with the teenager dying and brings up the debate on hate crimes with CJ definitely in favor of making punishment more severe whereas everyone else seems to recognize that it is bad but all violent crimes has an element on hate involved. That's one thing that I've admired about West Wing, rarely (not saying it doesn't happen) is there a position that is truly demonized and categorized as wrong. Sure, there's characters don't agree with a lot of views but both sides are given an equal about of spotlight to understand the argument fully.

"Oh hey, I know that person!" Award: Lance Riddick (Philip Broyles in Fringe)

A good president yells inaccurate facts at children visiting the White House.