a winning West Wing double-bill
May. 10th, 2022 08:02 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shallownessI was about to edit and post my thoughts about these episodes, but went to check The West Wing Weekly again, just in case, and the podcast worked for me! Also, in the meantime, but a few months late, The West Wing has reappeared on All4. Which is nice, but I’ll stick with the DVDs for season 4, although I may return to All 4 for the fifth season.
4.5 Debate Camp
I liked that the debate preparation was intermingled with flashbacks to the days of the fledgling administration.
By the end of the episode, I felt like a doofus, though, because of course I remember Toby and his twins, but while watching, first of all, I was wondering why Andi was even there – isn’t foreign affairs her specialty? But she wasn’t there for that so much. Then I was feeling that we’d lost something of the build-up to Toby’s proposal. Basically I felt like an idiot for not joining the dots of the past fertility treatment to the marriage proposals now. (It’s all very noble, but there must have been reasons for the divorce, Toby, possibly that the marriage wasn’t common knowledge, or that she wanted kids more, or that you were prioritising the President’s timetable when she was listening to her biological clock. They wouldn’t all have disappeared.) Team Toby were adorable, especially the way that Josh and Sam were trying to be bros and Toby was so, so pained, and wanting to be in his kids’ life is admirable, but Andi’s flat refusal of remarriage doesn’t seem unreasonable at this point or preclude him fathering his children.
On the other hand, she must have had his consent to continue using his sperm? On the face of it, that’s an adorable plotline, and as the podcast says, great reverse engineering to answer the actor-posed question of Toby’s wedding ring, but…
Going back to when everyone was new at their jobs was adorable: getting to see a brief glimpse of Mrs Landingham! The President’s somewhat naïve question as to why everyone was acting funny! In the Oval Office!! The genesis of walk and talks being that Josh and Sam were lost! I saw it coming that Donna was pranking Josh (had he been called Bambi in the past on the show and was this the backstory for that?) Also CJ’s perm.
Sam shone, antagonising Bartlet enough as his fake opponent in the now that Bartlet was making it personal, although the impersonation to Bartlet’s face WAS cheeky, but the way he’d been right about the nominee, but was too late, right that they’d have to withdraw their support before anyone else was willing to go there (and CJ was both adorable in her response to being on the prayer list and professional, even though she hadn’t got all the reporters’ names fixed in her mind) and gracious to Josh about it. Sam continued to be exercised by Not!Thornton Wilder, the in-show explanation for would come in the next ep.
It was good to see Joey, while the continuing Josh/Amy awkwardness ensued – his referring to calling her as that which he did not want to do and her date being underwhelming were enjoyable, as she found one answer for them. Ooh, and I also really liked CJ taking the answer down as Josh let her hear, for some reason.
It was enjoyable, and building up nicely to the debate. And the podcast got a great guest to be an informed voice about the realities of debate prep and debates.
4.6 Game On
I actually got anxious that the whole episode was going to be build-up to the debate and they’d hold off on that until the next episode. (Silly me.)
What I loved about the cold opening (apart from all of it) was that it had an echo of the pranking in the previous episode – I wonder if Sorkin had conceived of it as belonging in the previous episode but saved it for here, appropriately, to show that the President was indeed ready. I loved that Toby noticed CJ’s ten dollars as the bet was going on (in hindsight), and I loved how Toby snapped, and then didn’t mind being tweaked because it showed where the President was at.
I didn’t love the strand with Leo so much, because although I appreciated that it showed the act of governing and re-emphasised Ritchie’s unfitness for office, the narrative was supporting Leo’s hawkishness, some of which came from his military past, his personal grief and guilt over the Israeli foreign minister. But the whole storyline is so framed by 9/11, so Leo got to slap the President down, and Jordan ended up supporting him. The podcast made some vaild points about specific stuff that didn’t work there.
In some ways, this ep was all about proving that Our Guys are Right and I was willing to be carried along by the tide, especially for the debate. Before that, I enjoyed seeing the return of Charlie’s superstition, Donna’s common sense and Abbey’s last-minute move – presumably she’d realised that having him and everyone worry over the tie would banish all nerves. (It took the podcast to point out the tie obsession to me, though.)
It was satisfying in a way real life isn’t to see Bartlet verbally eviscerate Ritchie as we knew he ought to (and I don’t have that much baggage over US Presidential debates). I loved how it came together and showed Sorkin’s use of words. I was thrilled at Bartlet pointing out that it wasn’t one long word but two words, but I loved how the 10 words Josh had been worrying about were brought in and the concept was turned on its head. I also loved Sam’s later admission that they’d realised the voters all thought Bartlet was arrogant (hee, true) and decided to ride with it.
And that the team was capable of responding to the performance – CJ’s call that they didn’t spin, and how the subplot with crazy Albie had played out. In her first encounter with him, I thought she played him charmingly, and then the second time, partly playing on gender dynamics of the time, but also it then tied into the intellectual win of appreciating complexity.
And then the third strand: what an introduction for Will Bailey. I’ve been hyper aware of Sam’s departure and Will’s arrival because of Josh Malina’s role on the podcast, and thought ‘my memories of Will were always fond’ and now I see why. Sorkin gifted him this entrance and it’s also a graceful way to let Sam go. I mean, it’s a gift package wrapped in very fancy ribbons, Hrishi rightly called it a Christmas tree – not only is Will campaigning for ideas and explicitly linking that to the first Bartlet presidential campaign, but we all knew who wrote that speech they were all impressed by, AND he gave Elaine her dues. (While Sam, nice try for checking, but u wuz sleazy, dude.) So, Sam had come to shut this little campaign down, but was argued out of it. And Sam saying he’d stand if they held a special election felt inevitable, especially because he’s taller than Will, handsomer than Will, got more experience and the credentials that explained why this race had caught his attention – he was from the area. There’s something there about coming to terms with his father, although we explicitly got more info about Bailey’s patrilineal descent.
And honestly, a lot of my nitpicks came after, and didn’t realy spoil my enjoyment of all the sweet sweet victories going on in these eps.
[Edited for typos 22/01/25. Wow, I used 'adorable' a lot in this post.]
4.5 Debate Camp
I liked that the debate preparation was intermingled with flashbacks to the days of the fledgling administration.
By the end of the episode, I felt like a doofus, though, because of course I remember Toby and his twins, but while watching, first of all, I was wondering why Andi was even there – isn’t foreign affairs her specialty? But she wasn’t there for that so much. Then I was feeling that we’d lost something of the build-up to Toby’s proposal. Basically I felt like an idiot for not joining the dots of the past fertility treatment to the marriage proposals now. (It’s all very noble, but there must have been reasons for the divorce, Toby, possibly that the marriage wasn’t common knowledge, or that she wanted kids more, or that you were prioritising the President’s timetable when she was listening to her biological clock. They wouldn’t all have disappeared.) Team Toby were adorable, especially the way that Josh and Sam were trying to be bros and Toby was so, so pained, and wanting to be in his kids’ life is admirable, but Andi’s flat refusal of remarriage doesn’t seem unreasonable at this point or preclude him fathering his children.
On the other hand, she must have had his consent to continue using his sperm? On the face of it, that’s an adorable plotline, and as the podcast says, great reverse engineering to answer the actor-posed question of Toby’s wedding ring, but…
Going back to when everyone was new at their jobs was adorable: getting to see a brief glimpse of Mrs Landingham! The President’s somewhat naïve question as to why everyone was acting funny! In the Oval Office!! The genesis of walk and talks being that Josh and Sam were lost! I saw it coming that Donna was pranking Josh (had he been called Bambi in the past on the show and was this the backstory for that?) Also CJ’s perm.
Sam shone, antagonising Bartlet enough as his fake opponent in the now that Bartlet was making it personal, although the impersonation to Bartlet’s face WAS cheeky, but the way he’d been right about the nominee, but was too late, right that they’d have to withdraw their support before anyone else was willing to go there (and CJ was both adorable in her response to being on the prayer list and professional, even though she hadn’t got all the reporters’ names fixed in her mind) and gracious to Josh about it. Sam continued to be exercised by Not!Thornton Wilder, the in-show explanation for would come in the next ep.
It was good to see Joey, while the continuing Josh/Amy awkwardness ensued – his referring to calling her as that which he did not want to do and her date being underwhelming were enjoyable, as she found one answer for them. Ooh, and I also really liked CJ taking the answer down as Josh let her hear, for some reason.
It was enjoyable, and building up nicely to the debate. And the podcast got a great guest to be an informed voice about the realities of debate prep and debates.
4.6 Game On
I actually got anxious that the whole episode was going to be build-up to the debate and they’d hold off on that until the next episode. (Silly me.)
What I loved about the cold opening (apart from all of it) was that it had an echo of the pranking in the previous episode – I wonder if Sorkin had conceived of it as belonging in the previous episode but saved it for here, appropriately, to show that the President was indeed ready. I loved that Toby noticed CJ’s ten dollars as the bet was going on (in hindsight), and I loved how Toby snapped, and then didn’t mind being tweaked because it showed where the President was at.
I didn’t love the strand with Leo so much, because although I appreciated that it showed the act of governing and re-emphasised Ritchie’s unfitness for office, the narrative was supporting Leo’s hawkishness, some of which came from his military past, his personal grief and guilt over the Israeli foreign minister. But the whole storyline is so framed by 9/11, so Leo got to slap the President down, and Jordan ended up supporting him. The podcast made some vaild points about specific stuff that didn’t work there.
In some ways, this ep was all about proving that Our Guys are Right and I was willing to be carried along by the tide, especially for the debate. Before that, I enjoyed seeing the return of Charlie’s superstition, Donna’s common sense and Abbey’s last-minute move – presumably she’d realised that having him and everyone worry over the tie would banish all nerves. (It took the podcast to point out the tie obsession to me, though.)
It was satisfying in a way real life isn’t to see Bartlet verbally eviscerate Ritchie as we knew he ought to (and I don’t have that much baggage over US Presidential debates). I loved how it came together and showed Sorkin’s use of words. I was thrilled at Bartlet pointing out that it wasn’t one long word but two words, but I loved how the 10 words Josh had been worrying about were brought in and the concept was turned on its head. I also loved Sam’s later admission that they’d realised the voters all thought Bartlet was arrogant (hee, true) and decided to ride with it.
And that the team was capable of responding to the performance – CJ’s call that they didn’t spin, and how the subplot with crazy Albie had played out. In her first encounter with him, I thought she played him charmingly, and then the second time, partly playing on gender dynamics of the time, but also it then tied into the intellectual win of appreciating complexity.
And then the third strand: what an introduction for Will Bailey. I’ve been hyper aware of Sam’s departure and Will’s arrival because of Josh Malina’s role on the podcast, and thought ‘my memories of Will were always fond’ and now I see why. Sorkin gifted him this entrance and it’s also a graceful way to let Sam go. I mean, it’s a gift package wrapped in very fancy ribbons, Hrishi rightly called it a Christmas tree – not only is Will campaigning for ideas and explicitly linking that to the first Bartlet presidential campaign, but we all knew who wrote that speech they were all impressed by, AND he gave Elaine her dues. (While Sam, nice try for checking, but u wuz sleazy, dude.) So, Sam had come to shut this little campaign down, but was argued out of it. And Sam saying he’d stand if they held a special election felt inevitable, especially because he’s taller than Will, handsomer than Will, got more experience and the credentials that explained why this race had caught his attention – he was from the area. There’s something there about coming to terms with his father, although we explicitly got more info about Bailey’s patrilineal descent.
And honestly, a lot of my nitpicks came after, and didn’t realy spoil my enjoyment of all the sweet sweet victories going on in these eps.
[Edited for typos 22/01/25. Wow, I used 'adorable' a lot in this post.]
no subject
Date: 2022-05-11 01:39 am (UTC)Toby and Andi's whole deal is very odd, and never actually explained...I assume they had leftover embryos from their first attempt while they were still married, maybe? But it's very unclear.
no subject
Date: 2022-05-14 12:59 pm (UTC)As for Andi and Toby...yeah. Everything else I have to say about the timing and how much she and Toby had discussed this latest attempt devolves into contradictory thoughts and more questions.