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shallownessThe West Wing - 7.12 Duck and Cover
The White House was dealing with the nuclear plant malfunction. (I winced when Bartlet declared himself czar in passing, but his shouldering of responsibility was crucial to the episode.) The two campaigns were deciding what it meant for them, because not only had Vinick been heavily pro-nuclear in the debate, but, as he admitted in his first scene, he’d played a huge part in getting this particular reactor where things were going wrong built in San Andreas as a Californian senator. Team Santos learned this quite early, but Josh’s advice was to sit on it, because the press had to find it themselves for maximum impact.
So, we had Bartlet and team (including J.K. Simmons, who slot in perfectly well and credibly as the guy in charge of nuclear) trying to sort out the problems, trying too to minimise the panic while getting people out of the danger zone, letting out some radioactive steam and hoping the winds would be kind and it wouldn’t be too bad, and then sacrificing engineers to go in and fix stuff manually. The other option being radioactive things going kablooey.
(Kate kept popping in with updates on the election in ‘Khazakstan’, where a Russian puppet got elected and China was marching in to protect democracy. CJ kept reminded us that it was a fight over oil, but the comparison with modern geopolitics made my mind boggle, while it made Hrishi whingey on the podcast, because the storyline hasn’t done much but linger. It's a fair complaint. Also, on the West Wing, at that time, Florida was a swing state.)
Will got decent airtime, tasked with giving out all they knew – Bartlet was for transparency – but insisting it would only be through him to minimise panic. One of the other Government spokespeople didn’t listen, and although it took a while for the hammer to fall, we did see a little more steel from Will. As he said, the guy was lucky to keep a job. (This in an episode where we’d had pratfalling, Will having to deal with a bunch of spokespeople acting as if they were journalists, not to mention journalists. So, decent air time being the press secretary.)
Bartlet having to take all these key decisions, sometimes with decisiveness, sometimes taking a moment, feeling the weight of them felt like a contrast to the grubby politics of the campaigns. It was notable that there was no Patricia, so Vinick had just two guys giving him markedly different advice about what to do. Bruno seemed to be giving the better advice, although it was striking how obsessed he was with Josh and what he thought Josh would do. (On the podcast, it was pointed out that he hadn’t seen Josh’s character growth as a campaign manager.) There was no Lou in Santos’s ear either, but (anti-nuclear)Helen and Donna were in the room. I felt the same unease as Donna when Josh finally snapped, after Bartlet, following protocol, invited Vinick on the plane to visit his state, just outside the danger zone, giving him primo airtime as a senior politician. So, Josh wanted her to break the story off the record, without okaying it with Santos. Vinick had already snapped and given an ill-advised press conference, but the optics were gnawing at Josh. Team Santos dodged a bullet, because Donna’s chosen reporter was already on the story, and the episode ended with a lot more states in play for the underdogs.
In between that, Bartlet got into it about nuclear on Air Force One with Vinick, who had attacked federal regulation (under Bartlet). It was as much a chance for Bartlet to vent after a long night of strain as a debate on the issue, I felt. CJ popped in to inform him that one of the engineers had died of radiation poisoning, and the undertone was very clearly, ‘These are the burdens that you’re looking to take on when you become President, Arnold Vinick. You ready?’ He’d been intemperate and taken the wrong counsel (in an episode written by Eli Attie.) In contrast, Santos had listened to Josh and stuck to the staying schtum position, even after Josh started to doubt it, even after Bartlet had informed him personally that, following protocol, he was going to have to bring Vinick with him to California, and it wasn’t going to be political, except of course it was. And Santos had to just take it.
One thing that jumped out at me from the podcast was how various people had to keep quiet was a running theme throughout the episode, even though the administration was being remarkably open.
The White House was dealing with the nuclear plant malfunction. (I winced when Bartlet declared himself czar in passing, but his shouldering of responsibility was crucial to the episode.) The two campaigns were deciding what it meant for them, because not only had Vinick been heavily pro-nuclear in the debate, but, as he admitted in his first scene, he’d played a huge part in getting this particular reactor where things were going wrong built in San Andreas as a Californian senator. Team Santos learned this quite early, but Josh’s advice was to sit on it, because the press had to find it themselves for maximum impact.
So, we had Bartlet and team (including J.K. Simmons, who slot in perfectly well and credibly as the guy in charge of nuclear) trying to sort out the problems, trying too to minimise the panic while getting people out of the danger zone, letting out some radioactive steam and hoping the winds would be kind and it wouldn’t be too bad, and then sacrificing engineers to go in and fix stuff manually. The other option being radioactive things going kablooey.
(Kate kept popping in with updates on the election in ‘Khazakstan’, where a Russian puppet got elected and China was marching in to protect democracy. CJ kept reminded us that it was a fight over oil, but the comparison with modern geopolitics made my mind boggle, while it made Hrishi whingey on the podcast, because the storyline hasn’t done much but linger. It's a fair complaint. Also, on the West Wing, at that time, Florida was a swing state.)
Will got decent airtime, tasked with giving out all they knew – Bartlet was for transparency – but insisting it would only be through him to minimise panic. One of the other Government spokespeople didn’t listen, and although it took a while for the hammer to fall, we did see a little more steel from Will. As he said, the guy was lucky to keep a job. (This in an episode where we’d had pratfalling, Will having to deal with a bunch of spokespeople acting as if they were journalists, not to mention journalists. So, decent air time being the press secretary.)
Bartlet having to take all these key decisions, sometimes with decisiveness, sometimes taking a moment, feeling the weight of them felt like a contrast to the grubby politics of the campaigns. It was notable that there was no Patricia, so Vinick had just two guys giving him markedly different advice about what to do. Bruno seemed to be giving the better advice, although it was striking how obsessed he was with Josh and what he thought Josh would do. (On the podcast, it was pointed out that he hadn’t seen Josh’s character growth as a campaign manager.) There was no Lou in Santos’s ear either, but (anti-nuclear)Helen and Donna were in the room. I felt the same unease as Donna when Josh finally snapped, after Bartlet, following protocol, invited Vinick on the plane to visit his state, just outside the danger zone, giving him primo airtime as a senior politician. So, Josh wanted her to break the story off the record, without okaying it with Santos. Vinick had already snapped and given an ill-advised press conference, but the optics were gnawing at Josh. Team Santos dodged a bullet, because Donna’s chosen reporter was already on the story, and the episode ended with a lot more states in play for the underdogs.
In between that, Bartlet got into it about nuclear on Air Force One with Vinick, who had attacked federal regulation (under Bartlet). It was as much a chance for Bartlet to vent after a long night of strain as a debate on the issue, I felt. CJ popped in to inform him that one of the engineers had died of radiation poisoning, and the undertone was very clearly, ‘These are the burdens that you’re looking to take on when you become President, Arnold Vinick. You ready?’ He’d been intemperate and taken the wrong counsel (in an episode written by Eli Attie.) In contrast, Santos had listened to Josh and stuck to the staying schtum position, even after Josh started to doubt it, even after Bartlet had informed him personally that, following protocol, he was going to have to bring Vinick with him to California, and it wasn’t going to be political, except of course it was. And Santos had to just take it.
One thing that jumped out at me from the podcast was how various people had to keep quiet was a running theme throughout the episode, even though the administration was being remarkably open.
