Irrelevant But Awesome

Joel:  I have to say, I’m very thankful for this “Charlie can’t find a Bible” storyline that’s been going on in this episode and the last one. The show has been dealing with an incredibly heavy storyline and sometimes I need just a few minutes of Charlie and the President arguing over Bible size and location before we jump back into the really heavy material. There’s a few big points in a presidential career like the Inauguration or The State of the Union, that we know there will be an episode about. But where we get a State of the Union speech every year, there are only two Inaugurations at best and we missed the first one because the show started a year into Bartlett’s presidency. So this is the one time we’re going to get to see our cast of characters prepare for an inauguration and this is almost the B story of the Inauguration two parter because of the mass killings storyline and the things that Donna is dealing with. Though I do want to mention the scene with Danny b...

Joel:  Whenever we get a new cast member they get a scene with the president where they say some offhanded comment about something or other that pretty quickly has a major effect on policy.  In this episode, Will is the one who makes a comment that gets the president thinking and deciding to make changes to the foreign policy plan. I have to say, the concept that you might be able to say the very direction of the nation just by thinking out loud in the West Wing, is an overwhelming one, and frankly a little terrifying. Because Sorkin is the one writing their words all the characters in the show are fast talkers with quippy phrases they love to use, but personally, if it were me, I would be terrified to say anything out loud. I would be very careful with what I had to say because of the ears that it might reach. I’m not saying that Will was wrong in what he said, or that it’s bad that the President latched on to that particular sentence to adjust his policies, but still,...