I think it was far less sucky than the other episodes this season have been.
There was a fantastic op-ed in a local weekly this week, whose URL is stubbornly not responding right now.(This is the URL, give it a shot later?) But I have a hard copy (old-fashioned, I know) in front of me, titled “West Wing Goes South” about how it’s jumped the shark. The author’s opinion, for example:
Tis a great article. I wish you could read it !
The link works now.
Soap opera. Soap opera. Soap opera. Ptui.
OTOH, he comes from money (Notice the “Backstage at a Rolling Stones concert”) and she doesn’t. Picture an underachieving son of Bobby and Ethel Kennedy making a pass at Condolleeza Rice; not a pretty sight, but it could happen. That’s about the same dynamic as what we saw last night.
“24” and, obviously before it ended its run, “Buffy”.
Now Buffy is gone, “24” is only one ep into the season; so it’s too soon to tell if it’ll be up to snuff and “West Wing” may very well be dead in terms of good writing and dialogue.
I actually thought the episode was okay. Maybe it’s because by not having Bravo, I can’t be continously seeing the old episodes to compare them.
I think the demoralization in the White House is believable. As Russell pointed out, for all practical pruposes the Bartlett administration is over. There won’t be another election and with a solid Republican majority in Congress, the Presidency can’t set an agenda. So essentially they’re all marking time. Leo and Toby are justifiably upset about this and I think this was portrayed well.
It looks like the writers are planning on making the breakup of the Bartlett marriage the big event of this season. I don’t think it’ll be believable, but I will concede that it would explain the President’s mood.
I foresee CJ offering her resignation in the next few episodes. The scripts seem to be heading in that direction.
I also felt the Josh and Amy affair was handled well. They’ve always been attracted to each other, but both view their work as more important than their personal life, so it was inevitable that they’d break up again when they realized their relationship was distracting them from their jobs. Plus as others noted, they had to get Amy off the show before her real life pregnancy became impossible to hide.
I actually liked the episode. I think it’s more realistic of what would go on in an actual administration. I like seeing their flaws. Sorkin built them all up to be too noble and Lincoln-esque.
I especially liked the part with Leo and CJ. I think that stuff happens a lot. The Press Secretary is there to be the mouthpiece of the administration and she crossed the line.
I think the difference is that Sorkin did have an agenda other than making good TV shows. I don’t think these producers or writers give a rats ass about politics or policy. It’s not as preachy as it’s been the last few seasons.
It isn’t as good as season 2 but neither was season 3.
I wonder if they are starting a transition with Will and Russell. Russell is going to do something huge soon. Will they continue the show after Bartlett with Russell as President and Will as a chief adviser? Maybe this is the beginning of that.
A Russell/Fitzwallace Administration.