The Great West Wing Rewatch: 5.15 "Full Disclosure"

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 in stories.
But I do want to mention the Mayor of DC, which is one of my favorite storylines from this season. This character is in a unique position of being one of the smallest political players in town, when his job title would make him the biggest player in any other town in America. The frustration of the position that this puts him in is very apparent, but he is able to articulate why he feels the way that he feels, standing up to The President no less. We have doesn’t of shows that talk about the big politics of DC, from West Wing to House of Cards, but there is a very interesting local government in DC as well, that I would love to see explored more at some point.

Chris: I don't if it were by design or circumstance but since the beginning of the show, John Hoynes had been a villainous figure but then a few episodes later, I suppose Sorkin decided that maybe it didn't make sense for a VP to have such a contentious relationship with the president and Hoynes revealed some redeeming qualities. And then finally, in the madness that was the last few episodes before Sorkin left the show, the VP revealed a sex scandal and left office. What that did was set up the perfect scenario to truly paint Hoynes as a villain now that he's become separate from the Bartlet administration. And in his place, Vice President Russell went from a simple-minded idiot to now a guy that is likable, talks sense into people and has a good idea once in a while.

The city of DC is like the guinea pig for any bold or new policy the federal government want to try, or at least that's what shows like West Wing or House of Cards led me to believe.

A good president bases his reversal on school vouchers on the opinion of one person that grew up in DC.