The Great West Wing Rewatch: 4.8 "Process Stories"

Joel: There’s a lot that’s going on in the show right now, what with the election happening, Sam getting ready to leave the show, a new character being introduced, and the thing that really sticks out for me in this episode is the $400 dollar ashtray. A stat like that sounds like something that would come up during an election. A creative way to look at an opponent’s budget so that their ideas will look silly to the voters. You the kind of ad that says something like “Candidate X’s proposed budget is so ludicrous, that it allows $400 to be spent on every ashtray in the pentagon.” even though we all not that some fancy math was done to make the numbers come out that way.

Then to see that a supporter of said candidate not only doesn’t refute the idea of a $400 dollar ashtray but in fact defends the idea, seems straight out of left field. With a hundred guesses I never would have come up with a reason why an army ashtray should cost so much, yet the second it’s presented I, like Donna in the show, watched my outrage deflate into something along the lines of meek embarrassment. Most of the time, a political debate needs more than soundbites for either side to get their point across. Something we all struggle to remember when it comes to election season.

Chris: Where there are a handful of characters in stressful situations, this episode is more or less what the White House is like during a night off seeing as how everyone is celebrating the results of the election. Its nice to see the president finally be rewarded for being the smart candidate, which might be the biggest indicator that this show is, in fact, fiction. Poor Leo will just never find the time to get laid. He was so close with the attorney whose face has to be at least 85% comprised of cheeks but instead, Leo spends the remainder of his night with Jigsaw. Seriously, the scene was pretty laid back until Tobin Bell popped out of a curtain and made sure I was fully depleted of poop. Even when he's not playing a game, Bell is terrifying.

Hey, I know that person! Tobin Bell (Saw) and Christian Slater (pretty much everything...but go watch Mr. Robot!)

A good president is the leader of the free world in the streets, commander in chief in the sheets.