Chris: In this episode, and in real life I'm sure, the position of Chief of Staff basically serves as a filter for the president, leaving out any unnecessary information that the president doesn't need to be bothered with. Typically in an episode, there's one issue the CJ has to deal with and filter for the president but in this, she has 3 plates spinning, all of which has to do with individual interests rather than seeing the bigger picture and how it would affect the president, that's where CJ comes in. And of all of Bartlet's daughters, this one in particular is my least favorite because you're telling me that she's fighting so hard that her kids see their father in a positive way even though he hasn't deserved or earned any of it? That's ridiculous. It's a temporary scandal that she's hoping to weather that could be a giant black cloud over her father, the president, and his legacy. Has Jed Bartlet cheated on anybody? We have no reason to believe he did so wouldn't that mean he's more worthy to be seen in a positive way rather than a cheating husband? I'm all for people trying to work things out after they've made mistakes but all the evidence provided shows that this is an ongoing thing that Doug Westin has no intention of stopping so why continue to defend him? We've already established that Elizabeth is the stronger political mind and maybe that's the only viewpoint she's seeing right now.
A good president stays blissfully ignorant of the affairs of a son in-law.
Joel: When CJ first got the job of Chief of Staff, there was an episode almost entirely dedicated to showing us how busy she was now that she had this new job. There were constant meetings, things she had to be at, people she had to talk to, things she had to approve. There was a huge stack of paper that she needed to go through by the end of the week only to learn that it actually needed to be done by the end of the day. The whole thing was done in a very light hearted manner, in that it was comically absurd how much this job expected of one person.
I want to contrast that tone to what we saw in this episode. Again, we get a very CJ centric episode as we follow her throughout a day in the life trying to keep up. Only this time we get a different feel from the episode as a whole. This time around, instead of CJ trying to comically keep up with everything, we have a CJ that seems like she much more on top of everything, but privately she is perpetually five minutes away from breaking down. Like the earlier episode this one also feels non stop but it's such a drain here. And everything CJ has to deal with seems like the worst part of the job. From having to talk to the son in law of your boss about his personal life, to the constant threat of a nuclear war happening on the other side of the globe, by the mid point of the episode you're amazed that CJ isn't trying to quit every ten minutes. By the time the credits roll, not only is she worn out from having to go at a hundred percent all day but the viewing audience feels drained too. That first episode was a lot of fun, and a joy to watch, but unfortunately, this episode is probably a better representation of what the job feels like on a daily basis.
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