In the continuing “ER”-ification of the “West Wing”, there is a lot of fuss over almost nothing this past week. In typical Wellsian fashion … actually, you know what, DCist needs a better name for the effect John Wells has on a show. Kind of like “jumping the shark”, but better. Send in your suggestions via the comments section, please!

Anyway, an Iranian fighter pilot shoots down a British passenger jet, mistakenly thinking it’s a U.S. spy plane, killing hundreds of people. In the ensuing aftermath, C.J has to decide when to bring the President into the crisis, and how to handle the English, the French, and the Iranians. The British PM, who is some Thatcherite shrew, treats the crashed jet as a terrorist attack and wants to retaliate by bombing the Iranians to bits.

President Bartlet calls in British Ambassador Lord John Marbury, who most of us love and remember from a few seasons back, to discuss the crisis. Bartlet thinks that the bombing will drive even moderate Iranians into the arms of the Ayatollah, and destroy any chance of bringing Democracy to Iran. Marbury is on the side of his PM and says it’s a chance to destroy some Iranian facilities that are suspected of making nuclear bombs. Whatever. Isn’t Iran like, so 1980s?