The Great West Wing Rewatch: 6.3 "Third-Day Story"

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 and Bartlet disagree, but this is the payoff. Far too often a character on a show is hurt, causing another character to feel guilty about something he said right before the first character got hurt. It’s a common trope, but one that’s frequently undercut by a lack of buildup which results in the guilt feeling out of place or downright pointless. That is not the case here.

Bartlet feels guilty about Leo’s condition, so guilty that it’s impacting the effectiveness of The White House, but that guilt feels real. It feels earned. There is a weight to the emotion that makes the emotion throughout the episode feel that much more powerful. Thank goodness for the lighthearted “Josh eats junk food” storyline, because we needed some lightheartedness in this episode.

Chris: We've seen these characters run themselves in the ground with this stressful, end-of-the-world prevention, long hours for 6 years now, most of which being Leo, and now we see the outcome of all that stress with Leo having the heart attack. And Joel makes a great point, there's no way he realistically would've been left in the woods by himself for that long or at all. Sure, you could make the argument that Camp David would be a secure location therefore the need for constant shadow of security detail would be unnecessary however, I'm sure if Leo was outdoors, there would be a security personnel that at least maintains eyesight on Leo. And thank goodness for the Josh and CJ junk food angle because this episode would've been supremely depressing without it. And it's a touching moment when Toby explains he doesn't want Leo's position but is making moves to make sure Josh is the new chief of staff, even if Josh finds himself jockeying for position in a panic just because it seems like that's what he should do. In the end, the most organize and poised person in the show, CJ, gets the job. Is it unprecedented and unrealistic that a press secretary would make the jump to Chief of Staff? Absolutely but that's the magic of television.

A good president orders his staff to jump off a cliff.