So, this is bingeing
Jan. 22nd, 2021 08:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shallownessThe West Wing - 1.4 Five Votes Down, 1.5 The Crackpots and These Women, 1.6 Mr. Willis of Ohio
I watched these three episodes in one night. (Was the opening theme slightly tweaked around this point or did I imagine it?) It’s really interesting to me what’s stuck with me from when I first watched it (when I was around Zoey and Charlie’s age), because I remembered Leo attending the same AA meeting as Hoynes, although I had a different visual in mind (but I may be remembering another scene and have married that with the memory of the fon and personal support between Leo and Hoynes was fascinating there. I also remembered Josh’s angst over getting the card and nobody else doing so (although not so much his sister’s death.)
Mandy has now joined the staff, yet although she’s included in Bartlet’s paean to ‘these women’ (thanks for the invite to survey them from your default male POV however benevolent it is, but I can’t unsee what’s going on structurally), she’s an outsider even though she was introduced before Charlie, and I don’t know how much is that punchy personality she displays, because with Josh and Toby it’s offset by other traits, or how much is knowing she wouldn’t last, for I was very pleased to say when Hoynes influenced the Texan congressman by claiming he was going to be the President. ‘No, yo won’t.’
There’s comedy - high on pain medication Bartlett more than the basketball game, (was the bad back the MS?) and drama, Leo’s marriage breaking down, the encounter at the bar (sexist, racist and homophobic, maybe those are three idiots who shouldn’t get a university education, she typed snottily.) I found the Josh the Enforcer persona a bit tryhard, but note that he didn’t actively agree with Sam that he saw Donna as a little sister figure, although he didn’t deny it either, but it was the broader point about his friends/work family not getting The Card that was foremost on his mind. Donna is the assistant with the most prominence, but that’s partly tied into Josh’s role in the dynamic, while Sam’s character seems to be about them trying to offset his Rob Loweness, while they haven’t fully grasped how much people were taking to CJ and Toby, but then there’s also finding the right amount of stuff for Leo and Bartlet. Abby Bartlet remains a figure cloaked in mystery.
Notable that it was the beginning of wee!Elisabeth Moss’s career and, I guffawed heartily that RON SWANSON was an animal lover trying to convince CJ CREGG to build a road especially for wolves. Okay, it was just the same actor, playing a different, younger character, but I was all ‘I know that voice’, stood up to peer at the screen and exclaim ‘It’s baby Ron Swanson’ – cue an extra level of hilarity to the scene.
I watched these three episodes in one night. (Was the opening theme slightly tweaked around this point or did I imagine it?) It’s really interesting to me what’s stuck with me from when I first watched it (when I was around Zoey and Charlie’s age), because I remembered Leo attending the same AA meeting as Hoynes, although I had a different visual in mind (but I may be remembering another scene and have married that with the memory of the fon and personal support between Leo and Hoynes was fascinating there. I also remembered Josh’s angst over getting the card and nobody else doing so (although not so much his sister’s death.)
Mandy has now joined the staff, yet although she’s included in Bartlet’s paean to ‘these women’ (thanks for the invite to survey them from your default male POV however benevolent it is, but I can’t unsee what’s going on structurally), she’s an outsider even though she was introduced before Charlie, and I don’t know how much is that punchy personality she displays, because with Josh and Toby it’s offset by other traits, or how much is knowing she wouldn’t last, for I was very pleased to say when Hoynes influenced the Texan congressman by claiming he was going to be the President. ‘No, yo won’t.’
There’s comedy - high on pain medication Bartlett more than the basketball game, (was the bad back the MS?) and drama, Leo’s marriage breaking down, the encounter at the bar (sexist, racist and homophobic, maybe those are three idiots who shouldn’t get a university education, she typed snottily.) I found the Josh the Enforcer persona a bit tryhard, but note that he didn’t actively agree with Sam that he saw Donna as a little sister figure, although he didn’t deny it either, but it was the broader point about his friends/work family not getting The Card that was foremost on his mind. Donna is the assistant with the most prominence, but that’s partly tied into Josh’s role in the dynamic, while Sam’s character seems to be about them trying to offset his Rob Loweness, while they haven’t fully grasped how much people were taking to CJ and Toby, but then there’s also finding the right amount of stuff for Leo and Bartlet. Abby Bartlet remains a figure cloaked in mystery.
Notable that it was the beginning of wee!Elisabeth Moss’s career and, I guffawed heartily that RON SWANSON was an animal lover trying to convince CJ CREGG to build a road especially for wolves. Okay, it was just the same actor, playing a different, younger character, but I was all ‘I know that voice’, stood up to peer at the screen and exclaim ‘It’s baby Ron Swanson’ – cue an extra level of hilarity to the scene.
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Date: 2021-01-23 08:54 am (UTC)You didn't! They didn't get the theme recorded with an actual orchestra until...ep 5, I think? So before that it's a synthesized version and does sound different.
was the bad back the MS?
Technically no, since Sorkin hadn't decided at this point that Bartlet had MS...but it's easy to say that it could have been, in hindsight. That's one of my favorite S1 scenes, for sure. I can't count how many times I say or think to myself "There's no one in the world I don't hate right now."
no subject
Date: 2021-01-24 08:45 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-01-25 06:51 am (UTC)Not sure if you're aware of it, but there's an excellent podcast called The West Wing Weekly that's a great resource for little tidbits like that. It's hosted by superfan Hrishikish Hirway and Josh Molina, who played Will Bailey in S4-7. It depends on your tolerance for Molina, who's a little obnoxious at times, but they've got great insights into the show and interview pretty much all the main and supporting cast, plus writers, directors, consultants, and other crew members. It could be a good companion to your rewatch!
no subject
Date: 2021-01-25 07:56 am (UTC)