Irrelevant But Awesome

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:  This was the first episode of the show to air after the unexpected death of John Spencer, and the episode itself opens up with a segment where Martin Sheen deticates the upcoming set of episodes to the late actor. It’s fitting in some ways that this is the very next episode to air after Spencer’s death. In many ways, the character never quite recovered after the heart attack storyline. For years Leo has been the man in charge in every situation, and then we had that story. By the time Leo recovered and returned to the White House, it was like everyone had already moved on. Leo never really fell back into the swing of things. Then when he was added to the ticket, most of the Leo conversations revolved around whether or not he was up for the challenge, his addiction and health problems being frequently cited. But in this episode, we finally get to be reminded that Leo is really good at what he does. It’s the first time we get to see him back in full form, and he performs...

Joel:  I want to go back a second to the moment in episode four where Leo says that his job is more important than his marriage. It doesn’t matter if you agree with Leo about that or not, the point is that to Leo, and the rest of the people on the show, for these eight years their job is the most important thing that they could do. And I think that’s a good thing. These are the type of people that you want in charge of the country. America doesn’t close at five, so sometimes people need to stay late. But it can be complicated. Take this episode for instance. It isn’t just Leo and his wife who are affected by his job. To Mallory, working at the White House is what ended her parent’s marriage. And it can be hard to understand that. And it can’t be fixed simply by Leo saying that this is the way it is. What I love about this little ploy is how relatively harmless it is. Nobody was hurt or offended, and at the end of the day Mallory gains a better understanding of how the jobs i...

Joel:  The West Wing should be a very boring show. It’s about the most boring aspect of politics. It’s just about the talking. And somehow it’s not. This episode is the first, real prime example of that. There’s a vote taking place about gun control and our heroes learn they they are five votes short of what they thought they had. This should lead to some very boring scenes but instead it leads to scenes of people sitting around a table that are more tense than most action thrillers. The West Wing does this time and time again. John Spencer also needs to be specifically mentioned when talking about this episode (Spencer was actually nominated for an Emmy for this episode.) Most of the show takes place in the West Wing itself, so very little of the show spends time on the families of the people who work there. The moment where Leo gets home to find his wife is leaving him is one of the most heart wrenching scenes to date and Spencer does the scene masterfully. Leo, in the scen...