Irrelevant But Awesome

What Makes a Good President A Good President: - isn’t afraid to intellectually slap the taste out of the mouths of people that let the crazies continue to speak for the majority of an organization. - never allows anyone to tell you what to eat or else their plane will blow up on the way to Jordan. - hires a Charlie Young. - seriously considers getting a dog. - is an economics professor with a big ol’ stick up his butt. - foreshadows later plotlines. - stays there as long as the radio works. - is a parental wingman for his/her chief of staff - nominates Mendoza to the bench. - yells inaccurate facts at children visiting the White House. - builds a dungeon to keep his younger daughter in before she grows up. - hides a life-altering diagnosis from his best friend for seven years. - chooses his sex education vocabulary carefully. - can construct a good joke no matter the occasion: “A priest, a rabbi and a puritan walk into the oval office…” - has a s...

Chris: What a year its been, am I right? It's been amazing to relive the Bartlet administration and witness the excitement of the Santos campaign once again. The last episode I talked about how resolution is more important than surprise to the ending of a show like West Wing but they still managed to hold onto one surprise and that being the pardon for Toby. However, it doesn't feel like a total surprise especially when Bartlet never seemed to be one to hold a grudge especially when Toby did what he did in the service and well-being of others. Add all of that and the personal relationship President Bartlet has with all of his top staff members and you get this notion where we all knew he was going to sign the pardon. Bartlet has a lot of great one-on-one moments with different members of the show but none felt more gratifying to watch than the one he has in the car with the First Lady as they leave when she says "you made it, you're still here." Typically the...

Chris: Danny has been a constant over his feelings for CJ since the very beginning and his level of patience should be rewarded. And believe me, I wasn't the biggest fan of Danny the first time I went through the series but right here at the end, Timothy Busfield knocks this episode out of the park and won me over as they only guy out there good enough for our beloved CJ Cregg. This is the episode that really pieces together to set up the flash forward opening to the season and we can fill in the rest of what our favorite characters do once the show is over. What I enjoy about West Wing is that they went ahead and took care of the surprise element of the season with the election and what next for everyone so that the finale can be truly a resolution to the whole story. West Wing isn't exactly a show for cliffhangers. Sure we got one at the end of a few seasons here and there but for the show as a whole, the audience appreciates resolution. Joel:  In many ways this is t...

Chris: This put a happy little bow on Vinick's West Wing character arc and is a testament to how well he is respected by Santos and I'm fully on-board with Santos obsessively pursuing him for Secretary of State, especially since they see eye-to-eye on foreign policy. I enjoyed this episode because it's an ending that Vinick deserved that I wouldn't expect for us to get. There's been so many characters that were once vital to the show but simply cease to show up once their purpose has passed and by the time you realize they're gone, they've been gone for at least 3 or 4 episodes. So the fact that we get a brief look into Vinick's life now that the campaign is over and how much of a contrast it is from campaign life is interesting and I'm glad the show afforded us that luxury rather than just never seeing Vinick again. Joel:  I wonder, way back when the creative staff of The West Wing was first talking about the election storyline for the fina...

Chris: The show's come a long way since the "you can't walk away, you're too good at this" moment in reference to Santos' ability to master political chess and that's why nobody really sees the call to the Chinese government as a strategic move, at least not one that's in conjunction with the Bartlet administration. In actuality, it still isn't but it's more like covert play between Bartlet himself and Santos knowing that Bartlet doesn't have enough time to see the situation through. I had forgotten about this aspect of this episode but I do remember feeling odd about Bartlet not having an exit strategy because that seems so unlike the president but in truth, he and Santos is playing everybody. And we've seen Josh break down mentally going into the stretch of the campaign, the height being election night while also having to immediately deal with the death of his mentor in Leo. I know a week is all the Santos administration can a...

Joel:  I mentioned in yesterday’s recap that there was really no way around having Leo’s death come when it did. It couldn’t happen too early because it would impact the election storyline. But it had to happen before Santos was declared victorious because we couldn’t have the image of the new President elect and VP elect raising their arms victoriously. That left the very small window of on the actual election day for Leo to die. And while that was the right choice for them to make I feel, it does come with the negative side effect of only getting a moment or two to mourn the loss of this character before we’re right back into the fast paced, nonstop world of the election. But now, one epsiode removed from the election we really get some time to sit back and reflect on the loss of Leo. Yes, there is a little bit of political talk here and there as Santos starts to figure out what his first few days in office are going to look like, but for the most part, this episode is abo...

Joel:  This is what it’s all been leading up to. For the past season and a half, we’ve been largely focused on the election, so when the election day is finally upon us, it’s a pretty big deal. On one hand, of course the election plot is going to be two episodes long, it’s the biggest storyline since Bartlet got elected for a second term. On the other hand, election day for the most part seems like it’s going to be people sitting and watching the news all day, and you have to wonder how that gets stretched into two hours worth of content. Well they successfully make that stretch. Honestly I feel like there was a storyline that never fully developed here. For much of the first episode we have Josh and Bruno each talking about how the numbers aren’t adding up right while everyone else takes the numbers at face value. Josh and Bruno are supposed to be the smartest guys in their respective rooms, so it felt like this was all leading up to a big reveal, of something that had bee...

Joel:  I can only imagine what it would have been like to try and put this episode together. Just the choreography of the episode is impressive. Figuring out who goes where, who says what when, and making it all flow smoothly while see seming hectic and disjointed is a feat all on its own. At some point watching this, you have to stop trying to follow every single storyline that’s going in every possible direction, and just sit back and let the chaos of the episode wash over you. There are scenes on the bus in this episode where five or six different topics are being discussed at the same time. People are talking over each other, holding a conversation with someone while simultaneously talking to someone else on the phone. Most of what is discussed are topics that could easily fill a full storyline on a different episode, but here they only get a handful of lines before we’re on to the next topic of discussion. On top of that, Bon Jovi keeps randomly popping up when you least ...