Irrelevant But Awesome

Joel:  A very delicate diplomatic situation almost falls apart in this episode but who cares? Bernard is back! Without question Bernard is the most entertaining cameo character to appear on the show and I’m thrilled that we got to see him again. I would gladly watch an entire spinoff series where he catalogues and critiques any and all items given as gifts to the White House. I’m almost a little disappointed that Charlie ended up getting the upperhand in the end. I mean I know it’s important for Charlie to get the flag back, but it’s so enjoyable to see Bernard’s disdain for those who disagree with his world’s view.  On another note, this was an amazing way to introduce the next leg of the MS storyline that we’re about to get into. We know that in the past, Bartlet has intentionally made political gaffes that have worked out in the long run. For example when he accidentally on purpose spoke candidly about his opponent's intelligence during his re-election campaign. This ...

Joel:  Though he showed up for the first time two episodes ago, this is the first real introduction to Santos, and it’s masterful. We know that Santos is leaving it’s been well established both in the earlier episodes that he appeared, and again at the beginning of this episode. But so far we’ve been told that Santos is a great senator without any real proof presented in the show other than the word of the characters. Now, this is the first time we get to see his political skill in action. Throughout the whole episode, his actions don’t seem to line up with his words, and we’re on the trial with Josh the whole episode long trying to figure out what’s going on. This storyline almost plays like a murder mystery, it gives us all the clues as to what the true motivations of Santos are, and then in the final scene spells out the reasoning for us when we couldn’t figure it out on our own. At the end of the episode Josh tells Santos “You’re too good at this. You can’t just walk away....

Joel:  The first part of season six is filled with echoes of the early episodes of West Wing. These guys have been through so much lately, from Zoey getting kidnapped, to Leo having a heart attack, and all the political beatdowns they’ve received in between, you almost forget what those early storylines were like. And then, we get almost a perfect turn around back to the characters and stories we were getting way back in season one. Josh is probably the smartest guy in the room 95% of the time, but he can’t prevent his initial instincts from getting in the way of his better judgement. Echoing Josh’s previous run in with the internet earlier in the series Josh relies on his own brilliance to get him out of a situation, only to end up making everything worse. Toby, also feels like the Toby of old, forced to brief the press in CJ’s absence, we get the Toby of early seasons, the one who is constantly frustrated that people won’t just shut up and do as he says since he is so clea...

Joel:  This episode opens up with CJ’s apartment being overrun with people who are in charge of her security. There are members of the secret service, there are people with plans in case of an attack on the White House, and all of this makes you wonder, if there is supposed to be this much security for the Chief of Staff, then doesn’t that make Leo getting lost in the woods for so long even less believable? It’s nice to get a “in over their head” episode again. Back at the beginning of the show, there was so much emphasis placed on how busy everyone was all the time at the White House. It’s one of the recurring themes of the show, often shown through the walk and talk scenes. But as the show had progressed over the years, we’ve gotten used to the fast pace, and it doesn’t seem as out of control as it once did. But now we have CJ in a new position and is serves as a good reminder as to just how busy these people are, all the time. We also meet Matthew Santos for the first t...

This episode raises so many questions. Like Leo wandering around in the woods without anybody knowing where he is. Is it even possible for the White House chief of staff to be alone in the wilderness for such a long period of time. Doesn’t somebody need to be with him, or at the very least know where he’s supposed to be? How long was he out there? It felt like hours. And what’s with this swim test that Charlie is supposed to be taking? What kind of school is this? Does Georgetown really require a swim test for people to be able to graduate? (I actually checked and no, Georgetown hasn’t required a swim test in years.) I also want to take a moment to mention Bartlet’s reaction to finding out about Leo. We’ve had to go through several episodes now where Leo and Bartlet haven’t been seeing eye to eye. This has gone from a comment here and there, to an all out argument throughout this storyline. More than one argument in fact. Chris has talked about how unfun it is to watch Leo a...

Joel:  What works great in this episode is the discussions being had. The show does a great job at presenting the wishes and desires of both sides, of portraying their reasons behind those wishes and desires, and at the same time, keeping from making one side the clearly sympathetic party. So much information has been thrown at us for the past handful of episodes, that it’s perfectly reasonable to come into this one feeling a little lost. Names of characters and past situations are discussed without taking much time at all to make sure the viewer knows what’s going on. We’re just expected to keep up. And it’s hard. It’s hard for the main characters as well. You can feel the constant struggle and frustration coming from them and they offer this, and negotiate on that, all with the ever looming Jerusalem subject hanging over everything. A peace summit isn’t supposed to be an walk in the park. And the weight of the whole ordeal can be felt through each conversation here, juxtapos...

Joel:  It’s pretty obvious that this storyline was very heavily influenced by the War on Terror that was going on in real life at the time. So many of Bartlet’s scenes in the final episode of season five and this episode are about how his response can have ramifications that will impact the country for the next decade or more. There is a point where someone suggests that while America is retaliating, they should bomb Iran as well, and they would find a connection to the Gaza attack later. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that this aired only two months after America first entered Iraq in 2004.  What’s all the more interesting to watching this storyline unfold a decade after it first aired. Early on in the series, Sam had a monologue about the internet and where it was headed. That scene is often pointed to with people commenting on how right The West Wing ended up in its predictions, but the show got a lot right here as well. It’s almost uncomfortable to listen to Bartlet...

Joel:  The bombing in the last episode is really what drives the plot for the end of the fifth season and the beginning of the sixth one. I’ve already written about the issue with the fifth season relying too heavily on foreign conflict storylines in an effort to raise the stakes, but I understand that’s what you end the season on. After all the show ended its very first season by shooting the President, so there’s a precedent set here that you go big at the end of the year. But what really saves this episode is seemingly random storyline about Bartlet having to throw the first pitch at a baseball game. There’s a scene in this episode where Bartlet is standing in a hallway practicing throwing the first pitch with Charlie and Toby. The scene is a bit of comic relief, but the show doesn't treat it that way. This isn’t another butterball turkey scene where it’s funny to watch the President spend way too much time focusing on something bizarre. No the focus here is still firmly p...

Joel:  It’s very hard to distinguish what happened in this episode and what happened in the next one. They very much blur together. So I’m going to save most of the commentary on the bombing storyline for the next episode’s recap, and right now focus on Donna’s new guy here. So we’ve been teasing the eventual Josh and Donna relationship for a very long time now, pretty much since the very first episode. While I won’t say that it was a planned the whole time, it’s been clear for a while that this would be addressed at some point in the show. And it feels like after several failed relationships for both, we’re finally approaching the point where it’s going to be addressed by the characters. And this character of Colin seems like he’s introduced to be that one last speed bump that we have to get over. A smart, funny guy that is perfect enough to be dedicating his life to an important, noble cause. The set up is all there. Josh crosses the sea to check on Donna only to see her k...

Joel:  The shows about to spend a lot of money over the next few episodes with the Gaza storyline, so before we get to that, we have what is effectively a bottle episode featuring very few guest actors or new sets. But West Wing is often at it’s best when it’s just the main characters talking to each other for extended periods of time. Watching this episode makes me wish that Season five had been confident enough to make more episodes like this, instead of constantly trying to top themselves with threat after threat of potential foreign conflict. This episode comes across much more like a play, with almost all of the plot progressing happening through scenes of dialogue. We get several great scenes here, but the standout for me is the one between Toby and Will. I mentioned earlier that Will for the bulk of this season seemed to be stuck on the outskirts of every plot that happened in season five, and not just because he was the newest cast member. Having these guys trapped in...

Joel:  By the end of this episode I’m not sure where Josh stood on the issue of free trade. I’m not sure if that was intentional, but I’m going to assume that it was. At the start of the episode the whole concept was set up in a “we feel one way and the enemy (republicans) feel the opposite” manner. Like many issues already addressed in this series, the goal of our heroes here was to outsmart, out-think and out talk the republicans to get the big win for the democratic party and the democratic way of thinking. Only it doesn’t work out that way. Republicans start being fine, even excited with the proposed free trade plan. With a little digging, Josh learns that the appeal of free trade isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. In a manner of speaking, Josh has been blindsided by his own political rhetoric on the subject. Josh comes to realize that in some ways he was campaigned to on this deal just as much as the american people. At the end of the episode, I’m not sure that Josh has d...

Joel:  The West Wing is very much an ensemble show and has never really had a main character. It would make sense that a show about the West Wing would have the president be the main character, but that clearly isn’t the case with this show. It seems like Sam was initially intended to be the lead character, after all Rob Lowe got top billing in the opening credits, but it’s hard to argue that there was ever a time that he was the main character of the show. If anybody was the main character, most people would argue Josh for the first part, after all, we spend so much time with him that he’s the only one who’s assistant gets credited in the theme song. However, as the show goes on, CJ has become more and more a stand in for the viewer, often the one who’s having to figure out how complex policy and politics can be broken down to layman terms. She also seems to be the one that often has a scene in every subplot of an episode because they all have to go through the press room. I...

As always, we begin with a rough plot summary of the album. I'll reiterate just how rough it is seeing as how the album did just come out 3 days ago but I feel like it's about as accurate as we could hope for (source of the plot summary can be found  here ). Act V: The Oracles appear once again to remind The Boy of his fate but realize there's nothing more to be said to avoid his demise, they only hope it comes swiftly for him. The Boy remains under The Priest/Pimp control due to him knowing of The Boy's false identity and using it as blackmail. The Boy is ashamed of the situation he's currently in and wonders if there's any possible way it can be fixed. After a night of wandering the city, The Boy finds himself at the church late at night by himself, lamenting about the stresses of being mayor. The Boy feels like he's constantly watched and everything he tries to do to help the people, it's met with heavy criticism from the very people he...

Joel:  Ok, this feels like a good old classic episode of West Wing. One where there is a clear problem, an ideal answer that will never work, some clever and unique plan that works out and our heroes are able to make real progress in making the country a better place. What’s more this episode has a great deal of focus of the political aspect of the Supreme Court appointments, something that was already addressed in the first season. Frequently when political issues are brought up on the show, the extremes are often condemned as the reasons for the biggest problems in the country, especially when they refuse to compromise on principle. However, in this case, it is the moderate attitudes that are condemned as the biggest issue that’s making the country run ineffectively. The two people who are considered the solution to this problem are one extreme liberal and an extreme conservative. Instead of being portrayed as stubborn, they are both being hailed in the episode as intellig...

Joel:  I have to wonder what the original plan was for Will Bailey had Sorkin not left. Clearly he was there to be a replacement for Sam since Rob Lowe was leaving, yet very early on into the fifth season, he’s moved from Deputy White House Communications Director to Chief of Staff of the Vice President, a role which had not really been addressed on the show up until this point. But after Will left, there was no replacement for his/Sam’s job. We still see his office sitting empty whenever Toby walks by. Isn’t that a role that needs to be filled? Plus, after the first run of episodes with Will Bailey trying to get going in his new role, the character is kind of shuffled to the side, maybe getting one or two walk and talks in an episode but never really having a big plot of his own. This episode is the first time he’s really had something to do and it made me realize that I had kinda forgotten about his for the past several episodes. I wonder if the writers had as well. After ...

Joel:  The character of Hoynes was never the strongest part of the show. In some ways he was supposed to be the contrast to Bartlet’s high ideals by being more of a realist, but Leo more often than not would be the one to voice those thoughts on the show. As a result, Hoynes seemed to switch personalities and motivations depending on what each specific episode needed from him. Sometimes his prime focus was his eventual presidential run, to the point where he would ignore the wishes of the president if something would make him look better in the long run. Other days, he would stick his neck out for Leo or Bartlet simply because it was the right thing to do. Maybe it’s better to say that Hoynes is a complicated character. And while his actions might not always line up perfectly with his character motivations, it’s not a terrible things. Complicated characters should be attempted and even if they don’t always work out perfectly, that should deter writers from trying to put them ...

Joel:  Most people can agree that the fifth season of The West Wing is one of, if not the weakest season of the series. And most of the credit/blame goes to the fact that it’s the first season without Sorkin outlining and writing most of the episodes every year. But nobody really takes the time to look into exactly where the replacement writers went wrong trying to emulate Sorkin. Now halfway through the first Sorkin free season I think that one of the biggest issues here is that the fifth season is relying far too much on military and foreign power stories to try and capture the dramatic feel. It seems that every other episode, this one included is about Bartlet having to address something that could easily turn into a full blown war if not handled very carefully. This episode dealt with a spy plane crashing into North Korea and trying to get the men out safely. An earlier episode dealt with a new country testing nuclear weapons. I’m not saying that these aren’t important i...