Just getting it ready. It’s almost over.
I liked the episode. I liked the Bill Russell analogy. Leo’s smile at the end when he realized Toby and Sam went to the Republicans to throw their elbow was priceless. I am truly beginning to enjoy Leo’s subtle mannerisms.
I loved the exploration of everyone wanting something. I liked that Sorkin showed a DEM in a bad light. They aren’t all angels.
I’m wasn’t sure I liked the catty reporter until CJ broke out “NaCl” and the pop quiz.
Channing looked horrible again.
I am getting tired of Sheen’s end of the episode speech. It is always so preachy (in an already preachy show).
Charlie’s immunity bit was solid. I also like how they play Charlie as a straight man so much that when he delivers his funny line (“I’ll watch”), it is much more funny.
I don’t like where the Donna/Republican staffer plot is going. No doubt, it will be Romeo and Juliet all season. The Republican will admit that he doesn’t really believe in ANY of the conservative ideals (as all good republicans must do on this show). At the last minute, Josh will rush into the mix.
Next Week: Major Dad has been promoted (I think that was him) and Otter stops by.
We missed the first 10 minutes, NBC went out in our area, so I think we missed the original reference to NaCl. Please explain.
The catty reporter was AWFUL!! Loved CJ putting her back into the real world and calling her out in the press room. I half expected the other reporters to give CJ a standing O for doing it!!
I wasn’t sold on the idea that all of the senior staffers would counsel Charlie to take the immunity deal. I mean, this is politics after all, what’s in it for them. Or is it just more of the over the top idealism? Rang a bit hollow for me. Otherwise I liked this episode, and the one last week (was there a thread started?), a bit more down to brass tacks.
HelloKitty: The NaCl reference was tied back to the state dinner most of them were missing to work. CJ was supposed to sit next to a Nobel prize-winning Chemist. She was studying up in the beginning so that she could have an intelligent conversation.
I’ve got a question. Why did Toby and Sam completely withdraw their offer to the Democratic congressman before going to the Republican? I understand the smart politics behind offering the latter the deal, but why did they go out of their way to burn their bridges with the Democrat, pissing him off in the bargain, before gambling that the Republican would pull his override vote? A show of strength to the Democrat, television drama, or a little of both? Since they were banking that the Dem would get back on boar anyway once the Republican gave them the votes, I didn’t really see why they couldn’t have left the Democrat hanging (without ceding any more ground) while they secured the support of the Republican.
I hate to say it, but this season’s shows–with the exception of last week’s and the 9/11 episode–have seemed somewhat lifeless. There doesn’t seem to be as much spark and humor as usual, and some actors–okay, just Donna–appear to be compensating by simply speaking faster. MHO.
I took this as part of the “throwing an elbow”. They didn’t just withdraw the offer, they plan to leak to key Democrat supporters that this guy was a sleaze who was blackmailing the president and asking for non-Democrat sort of payoffs (ie, protecting big cattle). They had to keep their fingers crossed that the plan didn’t backfire if they couldn’t swing the seven Republican votes. They were saying in essence, if you f&ck with us, you will get burned. Even if you are ostensibly on our side.
The scientist in question was Kary Mullis, inventor of the PCR technique of copying DNA. If CJ had done a bit more research, she could have found some very interesting things to talk about, such as his unflagging support of Duesberg’s HIV-doesn’t-cause-AIDS hypothesis, or his experiences with glowing, talking raccoons.
Dr. J
Does the President actually make any decisions? Everything I see has the Chief of Staff running around getting briefings from NSA and telling everyone what to do. Then he finds the President and tells him what to do. I realize that’s why he’s called Chief of Staff but it looks to me like he’s actually making decisions.
Who’s running the show here?
Next week’s show looks good.
Speedy hijack here:
Is the Danny character – the bearded reporter who had a crush on CJ – off the show? Haven’t seen him all season.
Thanks all.
Oh, one more thing: More Otter. I love VP Hoynes (sp?). I wish they’d use him more often. More Otter, dammit.
In the show, none of this made much sense. CJ is apparently so clueless about chemistry that she is not familiar with the formula NaCl. (We’re talking 8th grade science here.) Later, she is so pleased with herself that she was able to spout off the formula. In doing so, she is guilty of the same thing that the catty reporter is, implying that she knows more about a subject than she actually does. (Not that it’s all that impressive anyway!)
Later, does she really think that she will be able to make intelligent conversation with a Nobel-prize winning chemist by looking over the periodic table?
As mentioned above, it would be a trivial matter to look up a layman’s artcle on the subject of the chemist’s work. Nobel prize winners always get writeups in newspapers and magazines that certainly are not at the Ph.D. level!
While I liked her handling of the reporter, the whole issue with the state dinner made her look both incompetent and stupid.
robby, I’m afraid I’m going to have to come to the defence of CJ! At no point did she claim to not know the chemical name for table salt - she was joking in the Oval Office about “how chemists will typically spew off a big chain of incomprehensible letters, which usually turn out to be something like table salt.” This was obviously in jest. Later, the President, after a brief sermon about something, says, “NaCl, CJ.” “What?” “NaCl is table salt.”
Sure, it may not have clicked for her, but the fact that she then researched everything she could about Sodium Chlorate does allude to the fact that she’s very serious about fighting her own ignorance (she’d certainly be welcome on this board!). I wonder how many 8th graders know why Sodium is represented by “Na”? I’m guessing none. I didn’t know - and I aced AP Chem way back when.
And when she later ends her rebuke of the fashion reporter with “and the chemical formula for table salt is NaCl”, she did so completely under her breath, towards an audience of only herself - the reporter at this point would have been far down the hallway.
In other words, CJ is one of my favorite characters. So there. Thbbbpppt. 
Thank you all for the WW posts here. This is far and away my favorite program currently airing right now, but work has been so intense lately that I always fall asleep before the ending.
Got the Bill Russell reference. And saw the initial scene with CJ and the Bitch. But what did CJ do to give the catty reporter her comeuppance?
Damn…I think I have missed the ending of every show this season, except the one when Josh walks out into the sunlight to make his speech after his peptalk to the staff.
There was another press conference, which was being televised nationally. CJ was taking questions about the veto override vote. She then took the fashion reporter to task by asking her a bunch of questions related to a veto override, which she can’t answer correctly. She then just asks her how many seats make up the House of Representatives, which she still can’t answer. CJ then just says that maybe someone else in class will lend her their notes. It was great.
Coming out of the meeting, she comes up to CJ and says that that wasn’t fair. All her competitors are going to be showing that clip, and she’ll be humiliated. CJ then says that not only will her competitors show it, 115 national affiliates will as well. CJ says she’s taking away her press pass, and any time she needs to get in, security is going to have to run it by CJ first. Fashion Reporter protests, and CJ says “One more word out of you, and every network except yours gets an exclusive with the President. Hunting season on CJ Craig is over.” Fashion Reporter walks away. “[sub]And the chemical formula for salt is NaCl.[/sub]”
Sodium ChlorIDE!!!
AaAaaAaarrrghghghghghgggh
-friedo
Exactly.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by robby *
**
Sometimes I do also wonder about CJ…last year she had to have Sam explain the Census to her. How hard is it to understand the Census? I believe we also learned about it in the 8th grade. Maybe she missed that year…
Could someone explain the story line involving the bombing of the Americans? I didn’t quite understand how that was all resolved.
IIRC, she didn’t need to have the census explained, she needed to have the controversy over the census explained. Perhaps CJ and I both went to crappy junior high and highschools because the controversy didn’t come up in 8th (or 12) grade American government.
But why bother with the finger-crossing at all? They could have offered the deal to the Republican while they were still talking to the Democrat, then they would have been on much better footing when finally dealing with the Democrat.
::rips open envelope::
I am proud to present this week’s Machivellian Politics Award to SmackFu.
[sub]okay, that’s more likely the way it would play in real life, but would decrease the dramatic tension required for a television show[/sub]