I never felt sorry for a television character before. 
I’m glad they finally showed Charlie again, he’s been missed.
Janel Moloney? Teri Polo? Feh. I wanna see Elizabeth Moss, dammit!
No, that’s the episode where
Leo’s funeral takes place, and where I expect Sam Seaborn to reappear. The naked shots of Janel Moloney were this week, when we got a really nice but too-short look at her ass.
Which leads me to the prediction I made weeks ago (not on this board, unfortunately.)
Santos manages to squeeze out a narrow victory, but Leo’s death causes the party to break apart because they can’t agree on a replacement. With the electors in revolt, the election might go to the House of Representatives. Santos turns to Vinnick, who agrees to serve as Vice-President on a unity ticket.
Yeah, it sounds like a crock, but it’s a West Wing type of crock.
Don’t read unless you want a small plot point from the finale spoiled.
Santos decides to make Vinick the Secretary of State, and there’s no mention of a VP having been chosen.
Did Donna have her surgery (for the pulmunary embolism, in Germany, after the bombing) done by a plastic surgeon? I didn’t see any scars when she was prancing around in her bra. Between the two characters (Josh and Donna), it should have looked like a road map just beneath the ever-present bedsheet.
You know, with the unexpectedly impressive profile Donna’s sweater puppies provided, I’m thrilled they tossed away that nugget of continuity.
One more thing, all the talk and stressing about the poll numbers might have seemed wasteful and tedious, but I’m guessing that it’ll be important for the next episode. The new regulation and the suddenly unreliable and inaccurate exit polling results nicely sets up a potential drama surrounding the final outcome. It also effectively set the mood of the episode by showing out the characters were alternatively helpless/stressed and amorous/optomistic from moment to moment on this one day where everything is for once out of their hands.
I realize that all the talk of numbers can be a little bit tiresome, but this is the West Wing not Dawson Creek for cripes sake.
Slight hijack…my father was in politics his entire life and never lost an election. However, the closest he came to losing was during one election when his opponent died of a stroke 10 days before the election. It was too late for the opposing party to nominate a new person, so they left the name of the deceased on the ballot and said they would fill the post after the election. Prior to the candidate’s death, my father was considered an easy front-runner, but the sympathy vote was strong and dad only won by a small margin. It was also the first and only somber election night victory party.
I am going to miss West Wing…whenever I hear that opening theme, I still get excited by the prospect of good writing and acting, and although it has gone down in quality in recent years it is still better than most crap still being aired.
That said, my guess (thus no spoiler box) is that Rob Lowe will be yanked into VP position although I think C.J. would be the ideal choice.
So is next week’s episode going to be a three hanky weep fest?
I can just see her with Charlie as her Evil Minion ™ on 24.
I don’t see CJ ever again serving in the White House. Does anyone remember if anything was said about where her and Danny ended up in the future, at the opening of the Barlet library? We know Will isn’t just going back to California to run a local election (unless, of course, this candidate dies on him too, and Sam says, “Fool me once, shame on me…”)
It was nice to see Charlie again.
My most realistic guess is that Sam writes the President’s funeral address for Leo, but I’m hoping he gets chosen for VP.
If Santos gets eelcted without a VP candidate, does Congress legally have to sign off on the replacement, the way they did when Russel was chosen to replace Hoynes?
I’ve got kind of a weird question for the thread, but I’m sure my wonderful fellow Dopers can help.
We had a problem with severe weather around here on Sunday, and the news broke in over the preview for next week. Would someone be kind enough to tell me what it was? We can’t find it anywhere else, and it’s driving us nuts.
TIA!
No. When Vice President Hoynes resigned, the resulting vacancy was filled under the 25th amendment:
But Leo McGarry’s death doesn’t create a vacancy, since Vice President Russell is still serving and will finish out the current term with President Bartlet. The vice president who will begin the new term hasn’t been elected yet.
The “Election Day” to which the episode’s title refers, and which everyone calls “Election Day,” isn’t the day on which the voters elect the president and vice president. It is just the day on which the voters elect the electors who will elect the president and vice president. The people vote for the electors in November, but the electors don’t cast their votes until early December.
But while there is no vacancy in the vice presidency itself, there is now a vacancy in the Democratic nominee for vice president, and thus no nominee for whom the Democratic electors can cast their votes. Under the Democratic Party’s rules (which are the same as the Republican Party’s rules), the National Committee will nominate a new candidate, for whom the Democratic electors will duly cast their votes in December. If the Democratic ticket won the election, then the new nominee will be elected as vice president by the Electoral College in December.
Next Sunday on The West Wing:
We see Anabeth crying and saying “He died.” Josh grieves and Donna stands with him and rubs his back. Santos tells someone unidentifiable (not Josh) that he is not naming a new running mate in the next five minutes. Vinick looks overwhelmed and irritated and says, “Everybody shut up.” A room is full of stunned political supporters who stand silently in red, white, and blue straw hats.
Contradictory montage of scenes in between the words “The votes are in”:
*Two guys high-fiving in the hallway of the Santos headquarters hotel.
*Lou looking at a TV and putting her head in her hands.
*Bob Mayer (Stephen Root’s character; senior member of Vinick campaign) gestures at a TV, looking stunned, as a station has called the election for Vinick.
*The back of Santos’s head as he begins to give a speech to a roomful of supporters.
*Lou tallying electoral votes.
*Josh looking harried and running through the war room.
Then you see Bartlett in the Oval Office asking CJ, “Do we have a winner?”
The screen reads, “Moment of truth,” and we fade to generic “West Wing final episodes next week” promo.
Whew. Running back and forth from the TiVo to the computer is exhausting.
Thank you very very VERY much!!! 