The Great West Wing Rewatch: 3.17 "Stirred"

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. Plus, as soon as he realizes the President doesn’t know about his alcoholism (something he genuinely thought Bartlet had been made aware of) he sets off at once to rectify the situation. This whole episode is set against the backdrop of considering the possibility of replacing Hoynes on the ticket for political reasons. Plenty of people are discussed as well as what voters they could bring in, but in the end, only Bartlet points out the biggest thing to consider when selecting a running mate, how good of a president they would potentially be. And that’s why Hoynes stays.

Chris: More or less, the Vice President was introduced in the show in a villainous way, not vicious but clearly with his own agendas and since then, the show has attempted multiple times to repair the character in showing his humanity in aiding Leo with his alcoholism and putting aside his agenda to serve at the pleasure of the president. For reasons I can't explain, the positive work done doesn't seem to carry over from one episode to the next and the show has an uphill road to climb every time the character shows up so perhaps this is the beginning of the show dipping their toes in the water in replacing Hoynes and, honestly, I wouldn't have mind if they pulled the trigger on bringing in Fitzwallace as the new VP but ultimately the president deciding against it was enough to convince me Hoynes is still the right guy. However, I'm sure I won't feel that way the next time Hoynes in on the show and West Wing will have to convince me that he's a decent guy all over again.

A good president criticizes the way James Bond has his martinis made. Clearly a president agrees with the movie Kingsman on how to make a proper martini. "Gin, not vodka, obviously. Stirred for 10 seconds while glancing at an unopened bottle of vermouth."