Irrelevant But Awesome

Joel:  Honestly I hadn’t gone back and watched WrestleMania 31 straight through after watching it live about a year ago. Having seen this particular WrestleMania so recently, I can remember that my initial reaction to the show was that it was really quite, good and surprisingly good considering how bad it looked like it was going to be going into the show. So, on this rewatch, I was looking forward to closing out the whole thing with two really strong WrestleManias back to back. However, upon actually sitting down to watch WrestleMania 31 I realized that “surprisingly good” only works when you’re expecting it to be really bad. I don’t think WrestleMania 31 is terrible exactly, but rewatching it now doesn’t hold up to watching it live as much as I thought it would. For example, the ladder match that opens up the show is still one of the best matches on the card, but it doesn’t mark the triumphant return for Daniel Bryan anymore. Another example is the exciting “surprise” app...

Joel:  I haven't yet mentioned the operation to kill Shareef storyline. While the actual operation takes place in this episode, discussion and debate about the idea have been in the past several episodes, and much of next season will be dedicated to the fallout that comes from what happened in this episode. This is probably the most complicated situation the President has faced so far in the series. The situation is nowhere close to being black and white, and there is no real right answer. No matter what decision is made, Bartlet is going to feel a tremendous amount of guilt over his decision. I can’t in this handful of paragraphs say if the call he made was the right one or the wrong one. It’s a decision I’m honestly thankful that I’ll never have to make. I do want to say that I’m glad that the show took several episodes to lead up to this point. This is not the kind of story to tell in a single, sixty minute episode. The gravity of what is being discussed here, and the po...

Joel:   In rewatching this WrestleMania, I am honestly a little bit in awe of it. This may be as close to perfect as WrestleMania is ever going to get. Everything just seemed to click. Daniel Bryan is the big story here, having two matches, to both open and close the show. Either one of those matches could be a contender for match of the year, and together, along with the video packages, told one of the best underdog stories to ever come out of this company. The “Monster” video they played, telling the background of this story is one of the best video packages that the WWE editors have ever put together. Even if the rest of the show had been nothing more than subpart, the strength of the Daniel Bryan material is enough to pull the overall quality into good territory. But that’s not the case, as almost every other spot of WrestleMania is great. I enjoyed the opener of Hogan, The Rock and Stone Cold just coming out and having fun for a little bit. It worked to celebrate the mil...

Joel:  You know who I love in this episode? Sam. Previously on The West Wing, Sam made a major mistake handling a possible attack ad on the Bartlet campaign. Sam trusted someone that he shouldn’t have and as a result, the campaign ad was leaked, and it became a news story, playing over and over again on news media, meaning that it was out there without the competition having to pay a cent for air time. In the campaign so far, this was one of the worst missteps anyone had taken and the blame is squarely on Sam. So in this episode we get angry Sam, a Sam that’s trying to make up for the mistake and get back in the game. We get a scene near the beginning of this episode where a couple of staffers come to Sam with an idea that they want to take to Leo and Bruno. Sam shoots it down almost immediately as a bad idea, and the scene comes across as Sam making a knee jerk conservative decision after having been burned so recently. Toby even confronts him about the idea later in the ...

Welcome to Kue's List! This is a weekly collection of fresh and fantastic tunes curated by yours truly, Jonah Kue. So, without further adieu, here's this week's Kue's List, followed by Apple Music and Spotify links to it: Hundred Waters - "Show me Love (feat. Chance the Rapper)" Will Joseph Cook - "Girls Like Me" Kiiara - "Hang Up tha Phone" Era Istrefi - "Bonbon" M83 - "Solitude" Rihanna - "James Joint" Jimi Tents - "Landslide" Frightened Rabbit - "Lump Street" Niykee Heaton - "Bad Intentions (feat. Migos)" Autolux - "Soft Scene" A$AP Ferg - Let It Bang (feat. ScHoolboy Q)" Christine and the Queens - "iT" Click for Apple Music link Click for Spotify link

Joel:  I know we met Donovan last episode, but we really get to see his interactions a lot more with CJ here, and we’re starting to get a very clear picture of where this is headed. Let me first say that I love Danny and have missed him this whole season. (I believe that season 3 is the only season where Danny doesn’t appear in any episodes.) Also while CJ and Donovan are flirt-bickering in her office, I can clearly see the goldfish from Danny on her desk in several shots and it reminds me of Danny in a scene where Danny would probably be a very awkward topic of conversation. That being said, I really enjoy Donovan as a character. He’s smart, clearly feels very passionate about his job, and is able to match CJ quip for quip. He’s a character that ultimately will be in the show very little, but in that short time we get an image of what is required and expected of a member of the secret service. It’s a role in the White House that we’ve seen very little of up to this point, y...

Joel:  Unfortunately, there’s not much on this card to make up for the frustration of Twice in a Lifetime. I don’t know what it is about Brock Lesnar and Triple H, but these are two talented guys who just do not work well together. As bad as this match was, it pains me to remember this was one of the best matches that these guys put on together during this particular feud. I remember at the time also being surprised that Fandango’s debut landed with such a thud since they were obviously high on the guy, putting his debut match on WrestleMania, against Chris Jericho no less. Well now, seeing where Fandango’s career has gone, that thud is even louder rewatching the show. Honestly, CM Punk vs. The Undertaker is the only match I feel like praising here. It’s a strong match between the two of them, and has some nice spots, but I think both guys had a stronger showing the previous year. On a technical level it’s a great match, but the emotion for this match isn’t there the way it ...

Joel:  I love that Charlie has something to do in this episode. Not that I think Charlie sits around and does nothing all day. Clearly, Charlie is one of the busiest people in the White House, frequently having to be prepared for anything at a moment’s notice. We see Charlie busy all the time, delivering messages, finding information for the President, or any number of additional things. What I love about this episode, is that Charlie gets to make something right. We get a lot of these little mysteries, a woman crying at a painting on a White House tour, or a dead person found wearing Toby’s coat. We get one main character having to track down the information and solve the mystery, usually ending with a wrong being set right, or as right as the circumstances allow. This time the mystery comes in the form of a letter addressed to the President that should have been theoretically impossible. But Charlie, throughout the episode, tracks down the answer to his mystery and finally...

Joel:  I remember really enjoying this WrestleMania when I was watching it live, but rewatching it this time around I spent the first hour or so of the show wondering how I could have possibly liked any of this. The Daniel Bryan match with Sheamus bothered me a little bit watching it live, but it frustrates me so much more now, knowing that Bryan will only ever have two singles matches at WrestleMania and this is one of them. Honestly there are only three really good matches on the card, and they’re good enough to make this a good WrestleMania on a “thumbs up/thumbs down” scale, but  these three matches are all in the last four matches on the show. Undertaker and Triple H more than make up for their so-so match from WrestleMania 27 with this Hell in a Cell match. It’s nice to see the end of this era go out with Undertaker standing tall rather than having to be carted away like he was the previous year. And I feel like bringing Shawn Michaels in as the referee nicely t...

Joel:  Up until this point, the Vice-President was more or less an antagonist of the show. Not a main one, there are plenty of other characters to fill that role. And I’m not saying that he didn’t have his standout moments, helping Leo by introducing him to the meeting is a big example. But for the most part, Hoynes has been at odds with our set of main characters. Several times he is asked/forced to do something that’s against his political beliefs. He more or less is a fault for kicking off the MS scandal last season. It’s no secret that he doesn’t see eye to eye with the president on a great many things and rarely gets along with The West Wing staff. But his actions in this episode are truly those of a good person. We finally get to see Hoynes fighting for something, not because taking that stance would be good politically, but because it’s a good thing for the American people. We get to see him be passionate about something other than just getting to be President one day...

Welcome to Kue's List! This is a weekly collection of fresh and fantastic tunes curated by yours truly, Jonah Kue. So, without further adieu, here's this week's Kue's List, followed by Apple Music and Spotify links to it: Cassius - "Action (feat. Cat Power and Mike D)" Club Cheval - "Legends" Dream Wife - "Everything" Baauer - "Temple (feat. M.I.A. and G-DRAGON)" AURORA - "Conqueror" RKCB & Demo Taped - "Open Arms" Desiigner - "Panda" I LOVE MAKONNEN - "Solo" Mura Masa - "What if I Go?" Autolux - "Change My Head" Sunflower Bean - "Easier Said" Click for Apple Music link Click for Spotify link

Joel:  This WrestleMania was not good and it’s The Rock’s fault. I don’t know if there’s another time where the failure of an entire WrestleMania can so clearly be attributed to a single wrestler. But there’s no way around it, having The Rock on this show made the whole thing worse. The problem came with the fact that we were never really clear what the “host” of WrestleMania was supposed to do. He came out to hype up the crowd, but we all knew at that point that he was going to confront Cena at some point here, that’s what we were all waiting for. And so, Rock hangs like a shadow over the whole show as we wait for the final match of the night. Even watching it again, knowing how everything is going to end The Rock hosting never works quite right on this show, and makes everything that isn’t a match feel a little bit more awkward. Not that the matches on this card are anything impressive. I only ended up liking one match and that was the Orton vs. CM Punk match, which is...

Joel:  You know it occurs to me that pretty much every character on this show is single. Josh, Donna, Sam and CJ are all single. Toby and Leo are divorced. Even characters that only appear from time to time, like Ainsley, are more than likely going to be single. The only characters that constantly appear on the show who are married are the President and the First Lady. There’s no real comment or criticism there, I just wonder if that is accurate at all to the average West Wing staff.  I know they are a group that tends to work long hours, both on the show and in real life so I guess it’s possible. It means very little in the way of scenes where main characters have to explain to significant others why they have to be late again. We should also note in this episode Bartlet going “old school” as CJ liked to put it. We will see it a bit more as we get into the election, but I like the little reminder than in addition to being a good President and an ideal speaker, Bartle...