TWW: Horse riding and piano playing
Feb. 25th, 2023 02:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shallowness5.3 Jefferson Lives
I liked this episode more than the first two of this season because there was a really nice balance between the political and personal ramifications, and decent grace notes in their through lines for everyone except maybe Will and Donna, although with the latter daring to go for a bathroom break, she proved her worth.
The dream/flashbacks to the horse-riding as proxy for Zoey’s trials worked well, especially because of the pay-off of Charlie telling Zoey’s father the truth he’d failed to see about her bravery for him. Poor girl. (Although the podcast’s nitpicks about it had merit!) Guh to Charlie picking up that she was blaming herself and telling Jed as much. It was understated but just enough - especially with Abbey giving Leo what for (and Jed), and how it tied into what Amy was doing. I was just thinking that a minute’s silence was a powerful tool they’d never used on the show when Josh started kissing Amy. Bad idea, however stressed he was.
And the cause of Josh’s stress was the big political issue. Even if I hadn’t seen all this before (not that I remembered this episode specifically, but I remembered who kept appearing as Veep over the next three seasons), it was fairly obvious that their first choice for the position wasn’t going to get voted through as they’d named him before the cold open. I liked the other Democrats’ concerns were that he was a touch too fiery, that he hadn’t been elected ever and that he wasn’t a team player. It wasn’t scandal that did for him, but rather politics. And even though they’d ridiculed Bingo Bob, Russell got to made a decent pitch. I loved that the shadow of Hoynes loomed large in all the administration’s decisions.
As did Sharif, and I thought the way that CJ’s concerns came through was just subtle yet clear enough, while there was more Toby and Jed bonding as fathers. Debbie was great, Margaret and Donna got nice little assistant moments, and indeed there were just enough laughs throughout the episode to leaven Zoey’s trauma (and the country’s, because Bartlet wasn’t wrong to recognise his responsibility to the country). Given his telling loneliness at the fourth of July celebrations and how arduous we could see that the rest of his administration and Zoey’s recovery would be, I was glad that Bartlet got to be part of the ceremony for the newest Americans. I was also glad that the podcasters liked the episode a lot.
5.4 Han
I enjoyed this a touch less than Jefferson Lives, and I watched it almost straight after, so I was struck by the contrast between welcoming the new citizens and the decision about what to do with this North Korean pianist. (And I too remembered they’d found a way to help the asylum-seeking Chinese Christians, even if this was a different scenario.) So, I sided with CJ, even though I understood the dilemma.
On the one hand, his music was emotive, but on the other I knew they were pulling at my heart strings. Still, Sheen was tremendous in all Bartlet’s scenes with the young pianist
What struck me was that Bartlet’s work daughter was still angry with him about Sharif (as his wife and eldest daughters were/had been.) There was some discussion on the podcast regarding CJ becoming more assertive about her concerns, and they raised the fair point that her and Toby’s discontent echoed the churn of real people in these highly demanding jobs versus the need for regular characters on TV shows. I admit that I hadn’t really thought about CJ experiencing ‘han’ and Bartlet too to a lesser extent, which they discussed on the podcast. But then they'd gone to the trouble of talking to the writer and researching the definition, and noted that the definition Bartlet gave on the show failed to encompass that it was also a state of mind responding to injustice. I found the guy from State quite belligerent, and it was interesting that that debate wasn’t just between white guys.
Otherwise they were trying to get the compromise Veep unanimously confirmed, and Josh had one holdout, who dared to express the views held by the administration in private. I too noted that we don’t know what the contents of the intern’s call was (but it oozed entitlement to make it). Meanwhile Donna was adorable over showing her uncle and aunt around and Josh just about managed to be polite about their state (their Republicanism we’ll let slide, because it was obviously too big of an ask) and she got her moment of victory by having been right with her commonsense approach to dieting and the economy. I kind of felt Hrishi was overthinking the lack of respect for Donna and Charlie, because it hadn’t occurred to me.
But Josh’s textual romance was with Amy, and his hand was a little forced to want to define what was going on. My take remains that it’s a bad idea (probably prejudiced by shipping Donna/Josh). Even so, they’re bound to run up against the same problems they had before.
I thought Toby wasn’t wrong about drift, because the administration does seem to have been perpetually reactive.
I enjoyed Bartlet employing all the adjectives they’d dismissed when he had to ditch what was on the teleprompter. As they said on the podcast, Russell’s reaction made him come off as very likeable, while Will and Toby came off as nothing more than naughty schoolboys. (Yes, it was contrived, but so well delivered.) I endorse the praise heaped on Gary Cole for his range, and the history of intertwining casting with Tim Matheson was interesting – they were at it on Hart of Dixie even, with Matheson playing the protagonist’s work dad, Gary Cole her actual dad (with the added complication that her birth father was someone else.)
I didn’t mind that Bartlet’s political gamble had failed, because the talks had failed and he had to admit it to CJ. It was interesting that they really got into how muddled what Bartlet had told the wannabe defector was on the podcast. I suppose it was fairly convoluted for someone who would only have limited English, but on watching it, I suppose I took it as I was meant to. [Edited for typos 27/5/25/]
I liked this episode more than the first two of this season because there was a really nice balance between the political and personal ramifications, and decent grace notes in their through lines for everyone except maybe Will and Donna, although with the latter daring to go for a bathroom break, she proved her worth.
The dream/flashbacks to the horse-riding as proxy for Zoey’s trials worked well, especially because of the pay-off of Charlie telling Zoey’s father the truth he’d failed to see about her bravery for him. Poor girl. (Although the podcast’s nitpicks about it had merit!) Guh to Charlie picking up that she was blaming herself and telling Jed as much. It was understated but just enough - especially with Abbey giving Leo what for (and Jed), and how it tied into what Amy was doing. I was just thinking that a minute’s silence was a powerful tool they’d never used on the show when Josh started kissing Amy. Bad idea, however stressed he was.
And the cause of Josh’s stress was the big political issue. Even if I hadn’t seen all this before (not that I remembered this episode specifically, but I remembered who kept appearing as Veep over the next three seasons), it was fairly obvious that their first choice for the position wasn’t going to get voted through as they’d named him before the cold open. I liked the other Democrats’ concerns were that he was a touch too fiery, that he hadn’t been elected ever and that he wasn’t a team player. It wasn’t scandal that did for him, but rather politics. And even though they’d ridiculed Bingo Bob, Russell got to made a decent pitch. I loved that the shadow of Hoynes loomed large in all the administration’s decisions.
As did Sharif, and I thought the way that CJ’s concerns came through was just subtle yet clear enough, while there was more Toby and Jed bonding as fathers. Debbie was great, Margaret and Donna got nice little assistant moments, and indeed there were just enough laughs throughout the episode to leaven Zoey’s trauma (and the country’s, because Bartlet wasn’t wrong to recognise his responsibility to the country). Given his telling loneliness at the fourth of July celebrations and how arduous we could see that the rest of his administration and Zoey’s recovery would be, I was glad that Bartlet got to be part of the ceremony for the newest Americans. I was also glad that the podcasters liked the episode a lot.
5.4 Han
I enjoyed this a touch less than Jefferson Lives, and I watched it almost straight after, so I was struck by the contrast between welcoming the new citizens and the decision about what to do with this North Korean pianist. (And I too remembered they’d found a way to help the asylum-seeking Chinese Christians, even if this was a different scenario.) So, I sided with CJ, even though I understood the dilemma.
On the one hand, his music was emotive, but on the other I knew they were pulling at my heart strings. Still, Sheen was tremendous in all Bartlet’s scenes with the young pianist
What struck me was that Bartlet’s work daughter was still angry with him about Sharif (as his wife and eldest daughters were/had been.) There was some discussion on the podcast regarding CJ becoming more assertive about her concerns, and they raised the fair point that her and Toby’s discontent echoed the churn of real people in these highly demanding jobs versus the need for regular characters on TV shows. I admit that I hadn’t really thought about CJ experiencing ‘han’ and Bartlet too to a lesser extent, which they discussed on the podcast. But then they'd gone to the trouble of talking to the writer and researching the definition, and noted that the definition Bartlet gave on the show failed to encompass that it was also a state of mind responding to injustice. I found the guy from State quite belligerent, and it was interesting that that debate wasn’t just between white guys.
Otherwise they were trying to get the compromise Veep unanimously confirmed, and Josh had one holdout, who dared to express the views held by the administration in private. I too noted that we don’t know what the contents of the intern’s call was (but it oozed entitlement to make it). Meanwhile Donna was adorable over showing her uncle and aunt around and Josh just about managed to be polite about their state (their Republicanism we’ll let slide, because it was obviously too big of an ask) and she got her moment of victory by having been right with her commonsense approach to dieting and the economy. I kind of felt Hrishi was overthinking the lack of respect for Donna and Charlie, because it hadn’t occurred to me.
But Josh’s textual romance was with Amy, and his hand was a little forced to want to define what was going on. My take remains that it’s a bad idea (probably prejudiced by shipping Donna/Josh). Even so, they’re bound to run up against the same problems they had before.
I thought Toby wasn’t wrong about drift, because the administration does seem to have been perpetually reactive.
I enjoyed Bartlet employing all the adjectives they’d dismissed when he had to ditch what was on the teleprompter. As they said on the podcast, Russell’s reaction made him come off as very likeable, while Will and Toby came off as nothing more than naughty schoolboys. (Yes, it was contrived, but so well delivered.) I endorse the praise heaped on Gary Cole for his range, and the history of intertwining casting with Tim Matheson was interesting – they were at it on Hart of Dixie even, with Matheson playing the protagonist’s work dad, Gary Cole her actual dad (with the added complication that her birth father was someone else.)
I didn’t mind that Bartlet’s political gamble had failed, because the talks had failed and he had to admit it to CJ. It was interesting that they really got into how muddled what Bartlet had told the wannabe defector was on the podcast. I suppose it was fairly convoluted for someone who would only have limited English, but on watching it, I suppose I took it as I was meant to. [Edited for typos 27/5/25/]
