November 4, 2004
We Watch So You Don't Have To
The West Wing: Episode Three
John Wells tries to be funny this week and fails.
We open with Josh, Toby and Will arriving at the White House and still looking for a missing Leo. After some not so witty banter they agree he must be in Foggy Bottom, which is why they can't reach him by cellphone. Not to nitpick before the opening credits even start, but why would the COS be in Foggy Bottom? Wells' idea of funny includes everyone repeating the location Foggy Bottom over and over again. Finally, Charlie (yay!) enters the Oval Office with some Secret Service types who tell Jed they found Leo almost dead in the woods. Everyone looks mildly concerned.
After the credits, Abby flexes a little doctor muscle as she fills the President and the rest of the staff in on the details of Leo's condition, which, from the ER-speak that follows, we get is pretty serious. Leo is rushed to bypass surgery as Jed and Abby go to the hospital. They hold hands in the limo. It's cute.
Meanwhile, Josh, Toby and CJ have the task of shoring up international and domestic support for the peace keeping treaty the president brokered. Apparently, Josh and Toby become incompetent almost overnight as they badly bungle up the process of getting the votes they need in Congress. DCist gets that the whole point of this is to show how badly Leo is needed, but it doesn't really work.
At the hospital, Abby convinces Jed that he has to fire Leo for the sake of his health. There's a nice scene here between Jed and Leo, where Leo resigns gracefully and names CJ (shocker!) as his replacement.
Also, Josh gives Donna a pen and they stare at each other for a little while. Bradley Whitford and Janelle Maloney are both good actors and the scene really works. There's no dialogue, just a nice pause between the two. Someone kiss someone already!
What did you think DCers? Is CJ really going to be the new COS? Don't you think it should have gone to Josh?
|
Steve O. thinks CJ is a good surprise pick and due time to shake things up a little bit more. Next week's episode should be poignant and tasteful, we shouldn't be thrown into a CJ meets the world episode.
I don't know what other DCists think, but I want to see the actual details of the transition, from announcement to staff reaction to public reaction.
Turkmenistan to US: We did not order these pizzas.
See, the Turkmenistan thing was kind of funny,but it tired too hard to be Sorkin like. Just like the CJ/Josh plot line with the junk food. And like the Toby/Josh good cop/bad cop thing. What does work though is CJ's new hair cut. It is smokin' hot.
I'm still trying to like the West Wing and I agree that the humor this time around was kind of hollow. But sometimes, it was funny and it was certainly a worthy attempt.
I think the selection of CJ for COS is crazy. First off, she's a PR specialist and doesn't have the expertise for diplomacy, the military, or even domestic governance. Heck, her major accomplishment this week was to recognize that she had a bunch of NATO members to issue a press release on. She isn't a dealmaker, she doesn't have contacts, hell every time there's some new subject on the table, she has to get briefed by Josh or Toby.
Part of me is suspecious that the motive for this plot twist was to put a female character higher up in the WW heirarchy. Next week they're going to have to do a really good job selling us on the wisdom of this switch.
I think they might be able to sell us on the idea if they make CJ more of a coordinator, managing the expertise and talent of Josh and Toby, rather than the "co-president" of Leo. We shall see.
One other note: I do not want the West Wing to go Republican. I think the appeal of this show was to liberals who wanted an escape from a reality in which the president is a conservative Republican. Why would I want to watch a show about a Republican presidency when I can just read CNN? I'm sure both will be equally unentertaining and lack the kind of progressive idealism that has been the hallmark of the West Wing.
oh my god, i totally forgot about that "co-president" line! it was terrible.
This once great show has become a total disaster. I still watch it out of loyalty but at this point it's about a 1/5 the show it used to be. Thank god for the OC.