This was an incredibly boring episode, with none of the tension and power struggles with the other shows.
Granted, it was not set in DC, but in Dayton, where CJ went home for a high school reunion and to visit her ailing father, who’s suffering early Alzheimer’s.
The scenes with Matthew Modine? Boring.
The scenes with the dad? Slightly less boring.
The fight with the new wife who walked out on Ill Dad, then returned? Yawn.
The phone call from Toby in the middle of her speech? Contrived. Could she not have taken an extra ten minutes and finished? It’s not like she’s the Head of the Joint Chiefs…I hardly saw why she needed to rush back to the White House.
The “relative with Alzheimer’s” plot has been done so many times that there’s little new to say. Yes, I know that in real life, it’s a terrible, terrible situation. But this has been dramatized time and time again; it’s close to being a cliche, and Sorkin didn’t do anything particularly original with it. In addition, it wasn’t “West Wing” – the story could have been on any show on TV.
The dialogue – usually the best thing about WW – was flat. If a show bores me, I often pick up a magazine and read while it’s on. A good show makes me put down the magazine. I realized this show was bad when I was reading the New Yorker through most of it.
I also was a bit surprised that she left in the middle of her speech. And don’t they have a deputy press secretary? Toby or Josh shouldn’t be the ones subbing for her. (When Josh did it, there was a reason – he was cocky and decided to go on. But it’s unlikely a senior staffer would take over if the press secretary goes on vacation.).
I don’t think the show had gone downhill overall this season, but this episode was their worst by far.
I was also underwhelmed. Although I am curious where that reunion place was in Dayton. The actor who played CJ’s dad was pretty interesting, though, and I’m wondering where I’ve seen him before.
Agree with all of the other comments. And what was with her and Matthew Modine jumping into the sack? That was not very neatly explained. It was either the Allison Jainey emmy show or the CJ needs a love life since Mark Harmon got whacked show. What about Timothy Busfield? Or are they only allowed to nosh Lo Mein together?
My sister asked the same question, why would she sleep with him. I said, well, he asked CJ to be his date for the reunion, we’ve put out for less “Riiiight” said my sister.
But I think CJ was in a familiar place, feeling not exactly comfortable and ran into someone who made her feel at ease. Sleeping with him was just an easy thing to do. Besides, when they met at the airport, it sounded by their cnversation referencing the Voilent Femmes and quualudes that they had some type of history.
Not a good episode, but better than most other choices last night.
My mother died a few years ago after suffering through Alzheimers. When ER did the episode with Mark Green’s mother having Alzheimers, it was painful to watch because of the feelings it evoked. Last’s night’s episode of The West Wing was painful to watch, too, but because it was so bad. According the NBC website, it was “a special episode guest written by playwright Jon Robin Baitz,” which may explain why the dialogue was so different than normal.
Hey c’mon, CJ got laid. That was nice to see. And let’s face it, that stuff – old boyfriend sex, “I had a crush on you once” sex, reunion sex, etc. – happens all the time in real life, so why not put it on the screen. And that Modine guy was a looker, so it’s not like she was slumming.
The thing that annoyed the crap out of me was, the people didn’t applaud her aborted speech. She takes the call, excuses herself and not a peep from the place. No titters, no smark-assy heckle cum counter-heckle a la the press briefings, no MC rushing up to tie a bow on the cut-short speech, and NOT ONE CLAP. She just walks off and the room stays silent while she chit chats her way out the door with her circle of family.
That was freaky for me. I guess it was just sloppy TV production, but that’s not typical of the WW.
What makes the WW so enjoyable to us is all the quick dialogue and conflict. Having just one storyline (essentially) in an episode is unusual for them, and just didn’t have the same excitement.
Actually, the restaurant where the reunion was held is Horwath’s in Elmwood Park, Illinois, near where I grew up. It used to have a reputation as a mob hangout (don’t know whether it was deserved or not.
I think TWW pumps up the Press Secretary role too much to justify having a female in the lead cast. Why did she have to get back so fast? The Press Secretary communicates the administrations positions to the press. They don’t make policy. Can’t someone else get up there and talk?
I did like the shot of her in her bra or tank top, whatever it was, we got a nice boob shot.
I guess you can’t expect every episode to be great, but this one was truly lame. I guess now that I read it was written by a “guest playwright”, that explains a lot.
If I may stand on a soapbox for a minute:
What is the point of a story about her and a father with Alzheimer’s? By definition there can be no happy end. The storyline is hardly original and there really wasn’t a single twist in the plot to warrant a full hour. Maybe as a sub-plot in a regular episode, but a full hour? Even ten minutes of CJ relating to classmates at the reunion would have been more interesting. Yes, Alzheimer’s is a horrible and tragic illness. But if you haven’t got anything else to say but “it is a horrible and tragic illness”, then don’t write about it.
It wasn’t the worst thing I have ever seen on TV (and it was opposite The Bachlorette), but it was sub-par for West Wing.
“Riiiight” said my sister.