TWW: Farewells
Feb. 21st, 2025 08:12 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shallownessThe West Wing - 7.22 Tomorrow
In an ideal world I would have watched this several weeks ago, but mostly I was able to take it as the finale to The West Wing, with just enough sprinkles of a new beginning, (without getting too caught up with comparisons to the current reality) although I imagine it would have been different had there been an eighth series. The only moment I’d consciously remembered was Donna, Josh and Sam all coming into the White House together, I think.
The most emotional moments for me were Bartlet saying goodbye to Charlie, because we knew he was a father figure to the closest thing to a filial figure he approved of, with Hill’s delivery showing Charlie’s feelings a cap to it all. (Of course, I did mutter ‘fourth daughter’ when Bartlet said his goodbyes to Claudia Jean, and the fourth wall got awfully thin when Bartlet talked to Nancy about her mother, as Nancy was played by Renee Estevez.) I really loved that Debbie giving Rona the handover talk and tour got so much time, and Rona got her own bright-eyed ‘THAT’S the Oval Office’ moment. In contrast, you had Bram barely registering Charlie. Oh, and it turns out Charlie is going to law school instead of following in CJ’s coat-tails. Good for you, Charlie!
But the other big emotional moment was Leo’s gift to Bartlet, and that it had come via Mallory and she’d had a scene with CJ had built to it.
Overall, I thought they did a nice job of mainly focusing on Bartlet and Santos, with their wives playing crucial roles, and giving just about everyone a moment. (Well, maybe more the old gang, but that’s fair enough. Sorry, Lou and Amy, who were nowhere to be seen. Also, I wouldn’t blame Otto for not wanting to work for Josh after everything. As a result, the podcast did have a point when they critiqued the fact that it looked as though Santos’s senior staff were all men based on the one representative scene.) It was lovely to learn that Annabeth would be Helen’s spokesperson and that they’d found a place for Leo’s right hand woman in the Santos administration. But Carol! Larry and Ed! I was really glad that they were there, in what the podcast revealed was the last sequence to be filmed.
It was all relatively low key, Kazakhstan was mentioned, there was a train accident to deal with and most pressingly Bartlet’s decision over what to do with Toby. (2025 me: well, he wasn’t related to you, and while it’s never been faultless, I have more faith in Bartlet’s conscience than in some people’s.) There felt like there was some mild jeopardy as to whether the last pardon would get processed while Bartlet was still president, and I also felt some anxiety about Gail. (Maybe CJ gifted her to Carol?)
But it was mainly about process and dealing with inauguration day, with the continuing contrast of the endings and the beginnings. It was good to have the Josh-CJ interaction, given that she’d been shouty at him the last time they’d been in the office together, I think. Good too to see that he’d wanted her to stay/join the new administration, but that two weeks after making her decision, she was happy with it. I loved all her grace notes – the return to the press room, the interaction with the journalist who has been a regular face since forever and her not having to answer the question for once. The interaction with the tourists hit a similar note, but…different location. It’s not surprised that they got all the great access in Washington. (And so she’s lost her protection detail now? Is there fic about Josh gaining Secret Service agents?)
Some nice contrasts in what happened with the couples. I was a little sad to see that Will and Kate were no longer on the same wavelength - well, that’s how I interpreted them telling Bartlet different phone lines. Donna and Josh’s body language suggested that they were going to be all right, AND SHE GOT HER OWN OFFICE and it was grand enough that Donna thought it was for FLOTUS.
I got enough to really believe in both the Santoses and the Bartlets’ marriage – of course we’ve seen one over a lot of series, and Abbey telling Jed that he’d made it through was a reminder of all his health and other crises, while the Santoses’ vibe was very different, as it should be. (The excellent point was made on the podcast that the audience had a better idea of the strains that the presidency would put on their marriage than the Santoses did. There was yet another hint of Helen’s reluctance to have been on the journey that had brought them here.)
Mostly, very classily handled, although I thought the make-up on Santos’s face (and Bartlet’s, to a lesser degree) was a bit too obvious at the inauguration itself. Was that Aaron Sorkin there? The podcast confirmed that it was, and it seemed that it was because they’d built the podium in the parking lot and they’d taken advantage of his proximity. You have to be convinced of your own talent to perform in front of Kirsten Chenoweth. (Also a reveal to me on the podcast that the actress playing Mallory has sung on Broadway.)
The dialogue was pretty decent. Santos’s last line was ‘What’s next?’ because of course it was, perhaps giving Bartlet’s last word as the title of the episode was just a little too on the nose, but overall I was too mellow and happy to truly be critical. I think the choice to focus on the feels, and for there to be a sense of contemplation, was right, and it was revealed on the podcast that the writers had been feeding in what they’d like to be paid off in this episode. And of course, that was as a result of their knowing that this was to be the final episode. Both Leo and Toby were a part of it, which is as it should be.
They talked about the running Presidents looking out of windows imagery on the podcast, but for me it was the hanging coats that all the departing staff would have to pick up, as new people took over their offices – because they weren’t being bullied into not wearing coats to look young and vigorous like Santos!
In an ideal world I would have watched this several weeks ago, but mostly I was able to take it as the finale to The West Wing, with just enough sprinkles of a new beginning, (without getting too caught up with comparisons to the current reality) although I imagine it would have been different had there been an eighth series. The only moment I’d consciously remembered was Donna, Josh and Sam all coming into the White House together, I think.
The most emotional moments for me were Bartlet saying goodbye to Charlie, because we knew he was a father figure to the closest thing to a filial figure he approved of, with Hill’s delivery showing Charlie’s feelings a cap to it all. (Of course, I did mutter ‘fourth daughter’ when Bartlet said his goodbyes to Claudia Jean, and the fourth wall got awfully thin when Bartlet talked to Nancy about her mother, as Nancy was played by Renee Estevez.) I really loved that Debbie giving Rona the handover talk and tour got so much time, and Rona got her own bright-eyed ‘THAT’S the Oval Office’ moment. In contrast, you had Bram barely registering Charlie. Oh, and it turns out Charlie is going to law school instead of following in CJ’s coat-tails. Good for you, Charlie!
But the other big emotional moment was Leo’s gift to Bartlet, and that it had come via Mallory and she’d had a scene with CJ had built to it.
Overall, I thought they did a nice job of mainly focusing on Bartlet and Santos, with their wives playing crucial roles, and giving just about everyone a moment. (Well, maybe more the old gang, but that’s fair enough. Sorry, Lou and Amy, who were nowhere to be seen. Also, I wouldn’t blame Otto for not wanting to work for Josh after everything. As a result, the podcast did have a point when they critiqued the fact that it looked as though Santos’s senior staff were all men based on the one representative scene.) It was lovely to learn that Annabeth would be Helen’s spokesperson and that they’d found a place for Leo’s right hand woman in the Santos administration. But Carol! Larry and Ed! I was really glad that they were there, in what the podcast revealed was the last sequence to be filmed.
It was all relatively low key, Kazakhstan was mentioned, there was a train accident to deal with and most pressingly Bartlet’s decision over what to do with Toby. (2025 me: well, he wasn’t related to you, and while it’s never been faultless, I have more faith in Bartlet’s conscience than in some people’s.) There felt like there was some mild jeopardy as to whether the last pardon would get processed while Bartlet was still president, and I also felt some anxiety about Gail. (Maybe CJ gifted her to Carol?)
But it was mainly about process and dealing with inauguration day, with the continuing contrast of the endings and the beginnings. It was good to have the Josh-CJ interaction, given that she’d been shouty at him the last time they’d been in the office together, I think. Good too to see that he’d wanted her to stay/join the new administration, but that two weeks after making her decision, she was happy with it. I loved all her grace notes – the return to the press room, the interaction with the journalist who has been a regular face since forever and her not having to answer the question for once. The interaction with the tourists hit a similar note, but…different location. It’s not surprised that they got all the great access in Washington. (And so she’s lost her protection detail now? Is there fic about Josh gaining Secret Service agents?)
Some nice contrasts in what happened with the couples. I was a little sad to see that Will and Kate were no longer on the same wavelength - well, that’s how I interpreted them telling Bartlet different phone lines. Donna and Josh’s body language suggested that they were going to be all right, AND SHE GOT HER OWN OFFICE and it was grand enough that Donna thought it was for FLOTUS.
I got enough to really believe in both the Santoses and the Bartlets’ marriage – of course we’ve seen one over a lot of series, and Abbey telling Jed that he’d made it through was a reminder of all his health and other crises, while the Santoses’ vibe was very different, as it should be. (The excellent point was made on the podcast that the audience had a better idea of the strains that the presidency would put on their marriage than the Santoses did. There was yet another hint of Helen’s reluctance to have been on the journey that had brought them here.)
Mostly, very classily handled, although I thought the make-up on Santos’s face (and Bartlet’s, to a lesser degree) was a bit too obvious at the inauguration itself. Was that Aaron Sorkin there? The podcast confirmed that it was, and it seemed that it was because they’d built the podium in the parking lot and they’d taken advantage of his proximity. You have to be convinced of your own talent to perform in front of Kirsten Chenoweth. (Also a reveal to me on the podcast that the actress playing Mallory has sung on Broadway.)
The dialogue was pretty decent. Santos’s last line was ‘What’s next?’ because of course it was, perhaps giving Bartlet’s last word as the title of the episode was just a little too on the nose, but overall I was too mellow and happy to truly be critical. I think the choice to focus on the feels, and for there to be a sense of contemplation, was right, and it was revealed on the podcast that the writers had been feeding in what they’d like to be paid off in this episode. And of course, that was as a result of their knowing that this was to be the final episode. Both Leo and Toby were a part of it, which is as it should be.
They talked about the running Presidents looking out of windows imagery on the podcast, but for me it was the hanging coats that all the departing staff would have to pick up, as new people took over their offices – because they weren’t being bullied into not wearing coats to look young and vigorous like Santos!
no subject
Date: 2025-02-21 06:56 pm (UTC)There is a lot of sentimentality in this ep, but as you say, it's hard to begrudge them that and most of it is nice to see. It's a good sendoff for everyone!
no subject
Date: 2025-02-22 08:07 am (UTC)I think it is a good sendoff, probably not one of the very best, but certainly not one that disappoints, which is too often the case.