Okay, so I missed the December 1 episode. And now I see tonight’s and everything’s chaayyynged!!
What’s the deal with the Press Secretary? What’s the deal with Leo? What’s the deal with CJ?
If the series stays on the air after the Bartlett administration is over, are they setting up Alda to be the new moderate Republican president so they can still do “liberal-ish” topics?
Oh, and what Alda said about not having a bill of rights in China. Riiiiiight. Like a politician of his stature would say something like that that would really piss the Chinese off.
That is exactly what I have been hoping for ever since I heard that he was going to be joining the series at least for a while. I think he is more than just a moderate Republican. I think he is a fairly liberal Republican.
Josh seems to be having a little trouble with the fact that C.J. gives orders now. I can’t remember if Toby had a similar problem last week. The demands of her new position require that she be taken seriously and I think that causes a little distance. In my opinion, the writers may have written it that way because she is a woman and sometimes it is difficult for some men to make that shift in thinking for “woman-buddy” to “woman-boss.”
Now here’s a question for you. Did we just see Penn and Teller burn the flag of the United States of America on network television?
It sounds like you missed more than one episode. Here’s a recap of recent events:
Leo had a heart attack and resigned. CJ replaced him as Chief of Staff. She had some difficulty the first day but is now doing okay. Toby is acting as press secretary on what is supposed to be a temporary basis. He’s hired a new asst press secretary, who was the blonde woman being questioned about Penn and Teller tonight. One of the big ongoing plotlines of this season and next is going to be the election. The Democratic front-runner has been Gov Baker (Ed O’Neill) who unexpectedly dropped out tonight. Other candidates have been VP Russell and former VP Hoyne. Both men have asked Josh to run their campaign. Josh is starting to feel that he’s gone as far as he will go in the Bartlett administration and is open to a new job.
Josh has also been talking to Congressman Santos (Jimmy Smits) to encourage him to run for re-election. It hasn’t come out yet on the series, but Santos is going to emerge as a Presidential candidate and there are rumors Josh will quit the White House to run his campaign.
As for Penn and Teller, it was a really weak trick. It was easy to spot how they did it.
[QUOTE=niblet_head]
If the series stays on the air after the Bartlett administration is over, are they setting up Alda to be the new moderate Republican president so they can still do “liberal-ish” topics?/QUOTE]
I think they indirectly hinted at it today. When Alda agreed with Bartlett as far as the flag burning went, but Russell didn’t, you sensed there was some discourse there.
Well, MANY of Penn & Teller’s tricks are “weak” in the sense that they’re far from wholly original. Their gift has always been in repackaging old tricks (or clever variations on new tricks) with attitude.
Granted, if they’d done the exact same trick using anything but Old Glory, nobody would’ve thought twice about it. But it’s precisely the audacity to use the American flag that made it a Penn & Teller trick!
I don’t think it’s a man working for a woman thing. Josh has on one occassion, at least, told CJ “technically, I out-rank you” when she was still Press Secty (the one with his fan website), so that’s something he’s coming to terms with. And, he’s been distracted with Vice President Lumbergh’s getting ready for the new election, and the general disarray inside the West Wing. I don’t think it’s clear within the show that Santos is a contender yet.
Leo looked to be there to clean up some paperwork, and provide a needed plot device to show how much of a threat Vinick (Sen Hawkeye) is to the Dems.
I did like how last night Will came out of the background and finally showed some grit, and tried to get Josh in to run the VP’s re-election team. But as we saw, Josh looks to be ready to get Santos into the race. I think we’ll see Josh down in Texas in the next episode or two.
But what, in the name of Og, is the woman who was the expert in Mid-East affairs, Nancy’s new deputy, doing advising on China and the Koreas? Get her off the plane and back into her office. Things aren’t steady in the Mid-East yet - stop expanding her portfolio!
Didn’t see last night’s episode, but he was back last week to visit and give CJ some fatherly advice.
The blonde chick isn’t applying for Press Secretary, and she doesn’t want it. She’s there to both groom Toby for his temporary stint in the position and to conduct a formal search.
West Wing used to be my absolute favorite, cannot miss, television show. I thought it was the only intelligent and worthwhile drama for a long time.
I just don’t really care about it anymore. There seems to be a lot less focus on important political topics. What focus there is seems poorly executed. The drama of the characters managing their own feelings and concerns within the context of some larger issue is missing. Cleverly interwoven themes are not there. Good dialogue is simply not there. The “walk and talks” used to have a wonderfully fantastic interplay, at times almost as witty and snappy as Beatrice and Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing. Now there are rarely dialogue exchanges that make me smile simply for the skill that was required to pull them off. Much of the drama seems now reliant on actions or sensational events rather than on the history and desires of the characters. The characters seem out of place and disorganized, and to me often seem to be supporting positions and doing things that don’t really fit with the way they have been developed.
For instance, the Camp David talks episode was really weak, in my opinion. Bartlett seemed not to possess his typical intelligence and insight. He seemed to be stunned and stumped at the intransigence of both sides. No movement towards a resolution was achieved until right at the end, in one Velma from Scooby Doo/Wesley Crusher moment, one of the new characters has an “aha” idea that saves the day. Meanwhile the chief of staff gets fired and wanders off unnoticed and forgotten to have a heart attack in the woods. Bullshit!
It may very well just be me, but I have really lost interest. And I do mean no offense to people who still like it.
Actually, he was there shredding documents. They may not pursue the point any further, but I thought it was interesting that Leo (one of the “good guys”) would have papers that absolutely no one (not even CJ) should read. If he was just disposing of regular files, they could have assigned anyone to shred them, not Leo personally.
Plus, Josh doesn’t want to work for any of those other guys because he is secretly in looooooooooooooove with Santos. You can see it in his eyes. Those are the eyes of a man who’s in looooooooooooooove.
Yeah, I would have to agree. Isn’t it written or produced or something by the same guy who does ER? And it’s the same story over there. Used to be a nice blend of interesting characters whose lives occur in a hospital, but now it’s just hyper-tragedy after hyper-tragedy. The West Wing is going the same way. I used to love how the show was very good, but it was better if you knew something in RL about the situations they dealt with. Now it just might as well be another CSI/Law & Order type show.
I just really hope they don’t keep going with the “special guest star” schlock. Don’t get me wrong - I adore James Taylor, and Penn & Teller are great at what they do, but how long are they gonna contrive to get “special guest stars” on?? I mean, the Christmas Episode is coming up, right? How many people are they going to have pop by the White House for that one?
I think that’s where they’re going with the “Who’s going to run on the Democratic ticket” plotline…Josh is obviously going to jump ship to run someone’s campaign. The only question is who is going to be blessed with Josh’s presence. It’s been pretty much set that Hoynes would have won if Josh hadn’t left to help run Bartlet’s campaign.
She doesn’t want to talk about anything. She wants to get him alone so they can start pawing each other like animals. It’s about time, if you ask me. Come on, just do it already!
Good God, they made C.J. chief of staff, and Toby press secretary? What did they do, hold a lottery to pick the second most powerful person in the White House? Did Toby, Josh, the National Security Advisor lady, and every other person actually qualified for the job suddenly die, have a stroke, or turn down the job? Was it Bizzaro day at the White House, requiring that the least qualified member of the senior staff be promoted over everyone else?
Hmmm. I need to pick someone to run the day to day affairs of the White House, and be my most intimate and trusted advisor. Everyone will be expecting me to choose a savvy, powerful political operative who has experience as a high level political advisor. Nah, what I really need for such an important, delicate political position is a professional publicist.
Things like this are why I no longer watch this show.
Nope. When Leo had his heart attack, Jeb asked him for the short list of candidates to replace him, and Leo said “there is only one” person on the list. Apparently Neo Anderson was unavailable, so C.J. got the job instead.
Which is exactly why he’s been pouting since that happened, and will most likely jump ship to run a campaign somewhere else. Was it a bad move on Bartlett’s part? You bet. Has the writing following this decision been implausible? Nope, it’s been spot-on.
