It's a The West Wing Double-Bill Post
Apr. 24th, 2021 10:48 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shallownessThe West Wing, 2.3 The Midterms - This episode covered the aftermath of the shooting and built up to the midterm elections – some of the storylines didn’t quite track with the time jumps for me, but from the brilliant CJ-centred opening on, there’s a sense that the team is working together even more intricately and confidently, (the onscreen fictitious team and the creative team creating them.)
A couple of ‘as rewatched in 2021’ points: Josh’s line about not knowing the value of being outside, sitting on a sloop with four friends after three months indoors elicited a snort of ‘Oh, JOSHUA, you have no idea, pet.’ (Although thank goodness, I have no experience of recovering from a gunshot wound.) Secondly, on CJ coming to wonder whether they needed psychological support after what had happened, from outside, all these years on, of course they did, the President and Josh, CHARLIE and Toby especially. The President refusing Toby leave of absence at that point when he’d been obsessing over hitting back so long? Turning up to work had clearly not been enough for Toby. Talking to the President and CJ had been more of a help, but talking to a trained professional would hae been better. Oh, and here’s a third thing, pagers appeared in both this episode and the next. Heh. I know they were on the verge of being dated then and that’s a nod to Washington being behind the times, but that and the computers jump ot at you.
So good that Charlie’s struggles and response, after that one scene in the previous episode, where he found out he’d been the target, got their due. Particularly as she didn’t appear in the next episode, it felt odd that Mrs Landigham didn’t appear here, especially to introduce Macintosh. Although she trusted him, he didn’t seem like the most capable IT person, having to come back three times! And although it was nice to see Charlie interating with his son and the father’s last line seemed, on the face of it, helpful to Charlie…that line about being the reason the President got shot felt a bit harsh to someone you didn’t kinow. But anyway, it helped Charlie make up for avoiding Zoey (IIRC things didn’t work out between them, but I was struck with a wish for futurefic where they came across each other and acknowledged that the other had been a postitve part of their lives.)
Toby had a few ‘No, listen to yourself’ moments in his response. Especially when CJ laid out his derelictions of duty. CJ was the voice of sense in that conversation where Bartet had been obsessing over the first guy he beat, and he was puffing himself up to make a speech and it epitomised the disproportionate nature of it.
Sam was funny and serious – the situation with his friend was pretty grim (we didn’t really find out if the guy was racist or just seemed to be) and when he raised it with Leo, he admitted that yes, they’d deserted him. (The point made in the podcast that Sam could have reached out on a personal level was valid.) Really interesting dramatic choice that the (pregnant) wife was the one who lashed out.
I did feel that the final moment with Sam stealing that radio host’s food was a bit much. She’s been reverse kneecapped two beats before. (And, again, the criticism about her character’s introduction felt valid.)
With Josh out of the office, we had some Toby-onna interaction, and although he was monomaniacal about going after hate groups, surely even he could have seen that Donna would be Josh’s fiercest guard. Though it was funny watching Josh bash his head in frustration over the psychics/physicists thing, it was NOT GOOD FOR HIS HEAD. But nice belated catch by CJ.
2.4 ‘In This White House’ - enter Ainsley! Knowing what was coming I was watching Sam worry about pulverising his poor little Republican competitor thinking ‘puhlease’, being outraged by the host’s patronising demeanour and enjoying it. Josh and Toby’s glee was predictable, if absurd and sexist, surely the point shouldn’t be Sam got beat by ‘a girl’, but the argument, but they didn’t really address that. Well, maybe Bartlet did after being a chauvinist too. Ha ha, not, although the balance was not only showing that Ainsley’s Republican friends were just as guilty of tackling the players not the ball as out senior staff (I see your American sports metaphors and raise them a rugby one) but worse, the bloke was also guilty of objectifying her. Emily Procter’s comments on the podcast about her experiences of being a young actress were telling.
But she was funny around Leo, as was Margaret (listening at the door. Appalling, but still funny.) Though Margaret really was lax about letting Ainsley wander around the White House. Leo might have been being Machiavellian, he certainly listened to Bartlet about appealing to her civic duty, but was he really invested enough to tell Margaret to let her see them at work to that extent? Letting her wander about the press room and even talk to CJ is one thing (when she hadn’t accepted the job) but letting her witness a meeting between two Presidents, when others had been told to clear the room? Asking a bit of my suspension of disbelief given that – okay, the FBI had clearly vetted her (oh Ainsley, you’re so naïve) but the White House might possibly be a little less lax about security after Rosslyn. (But then, they let that kid wander everywhere in the previous ep.)
(I know it was for story reasons.)
Still, I liked the continuing aftermath of the shootings, there in Josh’s body language - going to sit on a couch, the pointed way he did not engage as Sam railed about the crime that had led to his shooting. Again, Procer made some interesting points about how they filmed space and body language.
Twenty years on, the debate about drugs for AIDS made ya think of vaccines. For it all to be undercut by a coup was somewhat devastating (actually, I know the focus was on the good President, but I also wondered what had happened to the interpreter at the end there.) And I thought that they did a good job of raising thorny issues,even if the visual always was of a row of middle-aged to old white American men ranged against two black Africans, with Toby and Josh trying to play brokers.
Sam did get on my nerves a bit by bristling at all the assistants when it had been the senior staff who’d been ribbing him about his humiliation. At least Charlie and the President had made it up.
I was probably more puzzled over CJ’s worries about how much she’d misspoken to the cub reporter than an American viewer might be. But aww, CJ, we’ve all been there (if usually with much lower stakes than 19 months in medium security).
So, Ainsley will be one tier lower than Mandy was, even if working for the Counsel’s Office might not be the same as working in communications.
A couple of ‘as rewatched in 2021’ points: Josh’s line about not knowing the value of being outside, sitting on a sloop with four friends after three months indoors elicited a snort of ‘Oh, JOSHUA, you have no idea, pet.’ (Although thank goodness, I have no experience of recovering from a gunshot wound.) Secondly, on CJ coming to wonder whether they needed psychological support after what had happened, from outside, all these years on, of course they did, the President and Josh, CHARLIE and Toby especially. The President refusing Toby leave of absence at that point when he’d been obsessing over hitting back so long? Turning up to work had clearly not been enough for Toby. Talking to the President and CJ had been more of a help, but talking to a trained professional would hae been better. Oh, and here’s a third thing, pagers appeared in both this episode and the next. Heh. I know they were on the verge of being dated then and that’s a nod to Washington being behind the times, but that and the computers jump ot at you.
So good that Charlie’s struggles and response, after that one scene in the previous episode, where he found out he’d been the target, got their due. Particularly as she didn’t appear in the next episode, it felt odd that Mrs Landigham didn’t appear here, especially to introduce Macintosh. Although she trusted him, he didn’t seem like the most capable IT person, having to come back three times! And although it was nice to see Charlie interating with his son and the father’s last line seemed, on the face of it, helpful to Charlie…that line about being the reason the President got shot felt a bit harsh to someone you didn’t kinow. But anyway, it helped Charlie make up for avoiding Zoey (IIRC things didn’t work out between them, but I was struck with a wish for futurefic where they came across each other and acknowledged that the other had been a postitve part of their lives.)
Toby had a few ‘No, listen to yourself’ moments in his response. Especially when CJ laid out his derelictions of duty. CJ was the voice of sense in that conversation where Bartet had been obsessing over the first guy he beat, and he was puffing himself up to make a speech and it epitomised the disproportionate nature of it.
Sam was funny and serious – the situation with his friend was pretty grim (we didn’t really find out if the guy was racist or just seemed to be) and when he raised it with Leo, he admitted that yes, they’d deserted him. (The point made in the podcast that Sam could have reached out on a personal level was valid.) Really interesting dramatic choice that the (pregnant) wife was the one who lashed out.
I did feel that the final moment with Sam stealing that radio host’s food was a bit much. She’s been reverse kneecapped two beats before. (And, again, the criticism about her character’s introduction felt valid.)
With Josh out of the office, we had some Toby-onna interaction, and although he was monomaniacal about going after hate groups, surely even he could have seen that Donna would be Josh’s fiercest guard. Though it was funny watching Josh bash his head in frustration over the psychics/physicists thing, it was NOT GOOD FOR HIS HEAD. But nice belated catch by CJ.
2.4 ‘In This White House’ - enter Ainsley! Knowing what was coming I was watching Sam worry about pulverising his poor little Republican competitor thinking ‘puhlease’, being outraged by the host’s patronising demeanour and enjoying it. Josh and Toby’s glee was predictable, if absurd and sexist, surely the point shouldn’t be Sam got beat by ‘a girl’, but the argument, but they didn’t really address that. Well, maybe Bartlet did after being a chauvinist too. Ha ha, not, although the balance was not only showing that Ainsley’s Republican friends were just as guilty of tackling the players not the ball as out senior staff (I see your American sports metaphors and raise them a rugby one) but worse, the bloke was also guilty of objectifying her. Emily Procter’s comments on the podcast about her experiences of being a young actress were telling.
But she was funny around Leo, as was Margaret (listening at the door. Appalling, but still funny.) Though Margaret really was lax about letting Ainsley wander around the White House. Leo might have been being Machiavellian, he certainly listened to Bartlet about appealing to her civic duty, but was he really invested enough to tell Margaret to let her see them at work to that extent? Letting her wander about the press room and even talk to CJ is one thing (when she hadn’t accepted the job) but letting her witness a meeting between two Presidents, when others had been told to clear the room? Asking a bit of my suspension of disbelief given that – okay, the FBI had clearly vetted her (oh Ainsley, you’re so naïve) but the White House might possibly be a little less lax about security after Rosslyn. (But then, they let that kid wander everywhere in the previous ep.)
(I know it was for story reasons.)
Still, I liked the continuing aftermath of the shootings, there in Josh’s body language - going to sit on a couch, the pointed way he did not engage as Sam railed about the crime that had led to his shooting. Again, Procer made some interesting points about how they filmed space and body language.
Twenty years on, the debate about drugs for AIDS made ya think of vaccines. For it all to be undercut by a coup was somewhat devastating (actually, I know the focus was on the good President, but I also wondered what had happened to the interpreter at the end there.) And I thought that they did a good job of raising thorny issues,even if the visual always was of a row of middle-aged to old white American men ranged against two black Africans, with Toby and Josh trying to play brokers.
Sam did get on my nerves a bit by bristling at all the assistants when it had been the senior staff who’d been ribbing him about his humiliation. At least Charlie and the President had made it up.
I was probably more puzzled over CJ’s worries about how much she’d misspoken to the cub reporter than an American viewer might be. But aww, CJ, we’ve all been there (if usually with much lower stakes than 19 months in medium security).
So, Ainsley will be one tier lower than Mandy was, even if working for the Counsel’s Office might not be the same as working in communications.
no subject
Date: 2021-04-24 11:19 pm (UTC)Josh’s line about not knowing the value of being outside, sitting on a sloop with four friends after three months indoors elicited a snort of ‘Oh, JOSHUA, you have no idea, pet.’
I've seen SO many gifsets of that scene in the past year, understandably. TWW, still relevant all these years later!
Your thoughts are very similar to my own on the subject of therapy and processing trauma inside the White House in this ep - The Midterms has always felt like one of the weaker episodes of the season to me, partially for these reasons. On one hand, people in these positions of power really don't want to admit to or accommodate any weaknesses. On the other, it makes them really unhealthy, and often harsh or cold to each other, like you pointed out with the President and Toby, or MacIntosh and Charlie. At least it's not the last of it we'll see this season.
it helped Charlie make up for avoiding Zoey (IIRC things didn’t work out between them, but I was struck with a wish for futurefic where they came across each other and acknowledged that the other had been a postitve part of their lives.)
Spoiler alert!! But their relationship status is actually left ambiguous at the end of the series and is a matter of some debate in the fandom. I always liked them a lot too.
I did feel that the final moment with Sam stealing that radio host’s food was a bit much.
Nah, she didn't deserve that crab puff. That scene is conflicting for me, because on one hand, she's such a strawman stock evil, sanctimonious republican just set up for a beatdown - but on the other, the beatdown is so satisfying. I can't be mad at it.
Josh and Toby’s glee was predictable, if absurd and sexist, surely the point shouldn’t be Sam got beat by ‘a girl’, but the argument, but they didn’t really address that.
Yeah, I hate that bit, and I hate that "Ginger, get the popcorn!" is one of the most well-known and memeable lines of the series since I know what it refers to. Oh no, not a girl. CJ should have kicked their asses.
showing that Ainsley’s Republican friends were just as guilty of tackling the players not the ball as out senior staff (I see your American sports metaphors and raise them a rugby one)
Gonna be honest here and admit I read it as an American football metaphor until I got to 'rugby' cause well, Americans gonna American. Oops. It is a good metaphor though!
Also agreed with the points on Ainsley being allowed to wander the whole West Wing as she pleases. I amuse myself by thinking of all the different things and people Margaret's been waylaid by in order to let Ainsley escape her supervision over and over, because it makes no sense at all.
I was probably more puzzled over CJ’s worries about how much she’d misspoken to the cub reporter than an American viewer might be.
Nope, the whole 'who can say what about grand jury proceedings and when' thing is baffling to me too. Pretty sure it's just there to give Ainsley a human moment (and to make an excellent joke about CJ getting lost on the way to work).
Ainsley is a delight through and through, her gun control opinions aside. There's such good stuff coming up!
no subject
Date: 2021-04-25 01:57 pm (UTC)'The Midterms' does have to do a lot, and I was primed for a slightly different execution of the ramifications of their trauma. I take your points about the specifics of the environment, plus there's an element of different times, but the timeframe of the episode just exacerbated the fact that it wasn't the execution I was expecting, most of all around Toby.
their relationship status is actually left ambiguous at the end of the series
Ah, so ambiguous I'd forgotten about that, although Charlie/Zoey weren't my focus, so it's no surprise my memories of them faded. But looking at them now, to me they're so young and going through so much and yet seem to be coping with it well that it's more touching.
CJ should have kicked their asses.
YES! Or Ginger maybe should have handed CJ the popcorn so she could flick it at them.
Actually, looking at that metaphor again, I think I messed up, you are meant to tackle the player in rugby, but you're meant to compete for the ball not interfere with the player when you're in the air. So, I think I was borrowing the American metaphor. Basically, I sholdn't be trusted on sports meaphors of any kind.
I amuse myself by thinking of all the different things and people Margaret's been waylaid by in order to let Ainsley escape her supervision over and over, because it makes no sense at all.
That sequence would be AMAZING. That is now headcanon: all the things happened to Margaret.
I feel much better about only getting the gist of CJ maybe misspeaking now, and it didn't detract from the enjoyability of what ensued, which, as you say, fed into making Ainsley likeable.