# West Wing 11/19 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 20, 2003, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/west-wing-11-19/214263 "2003-11-20T06:45:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2003, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/west-wing-11-19/214263/1 "2003-11-20T06:45:45Z")
I thought it was an entertaining episode overall… the whole “walk to the capitol” thing struck me as ludicrous at first, but then it grew on me… it’s just the kind of random event that can lodge itself in the public consciousness. I thought the Speaker caving at the end of the episode was perhaps a bit pat, but overall, it was satisfying. However, what was the deal with that Rina woman? Were we supposed to be able to deduce what program she was a part of? What did it have to do with Americorps? And why would she want Toby to write her a letter of recommendation? ---
**Author:** ![Nanook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nanook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanook)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2003, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/west-wing-11-19/214263/2 "2003-11-20T09:27:13Z")
I’ve asked this on a separate thread but wasn’t that Emily Proctor (who played Aynsely) as Marina? And was it coincidental that Josh and C.J. had dialogue about poker, considering that Mr. Sheen, Ms. Janney and Ms Proctor will be appearing on Celebrity Poker on Bravo next month? Is there some kind of synchronicity going on here? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2003, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/west-wing-11-19/214263/3 "2003-11-20T14:20:44Z")
A wild guess, but I was thinking Marina was going to be revealed as a federal prisoner on a work release program. ---
**Author:** ![BJMoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5fc32e/32.png) [@BJMoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BJMoose)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2003, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/west-wing-11-19/214263/4 "2003-11-20T15:41:11Z")
Re: Marina This episode was, of course, inspired by the real shutdown of the government several years back, which resulted in interns suddenly having something useful to do. One night, an intern takes some pizza to the Prez and. . .we’ll, you’ve probably heard this story. Ergo, Marina was a coy _homage_ to Monica. Ick. The Jeb’s Day Out thing was a bit pat, yet at the same time it was one of those glorious things that wish we had a real president like this. ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2003, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/west-wing-11-19/214263/5 "2003-11-20T15:43:57Z")
They’ve been showing up Toby snapping at his assistants lately, so my guess is she is going to get hired by him to be his “Donna/Margaret”. If this show was 24 then I say she was an undercover terrorist/mole (no one seems to know where she came from, she ingratiating herself with the senior staff). Then again, this ain’t Sorkin’s show anymore. ---
**Author:** ![greck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7ab992/32.png) [@greck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/greck)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2003, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/west-wing-11-19/214263/6 "2003-11-20T17:05:14Z")
Yeah, she was oddly placed and oddly opinionated with Toby, yet simply the trash cleaning lady with everyone else. I got the weird sense that she was some undercover republican mole or something. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2003, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/west-wing-11-19/214263/7 "2003-11-20T17:22:49Z")
Regarding the clean-up woman: I just figured it was sweeps week, and the producers hadn’t met their quota for both T&A and minority characters. ---
**Author:** ![AV8R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/898d66/32.png) [@AV8R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AV8R)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2003, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/west-wing-11-19/214263/8 "2003-11-20T17:26:33Z")
I didn’t understand why the White House didn’t just get on TV and say exactly what happened: That negotiations had established that a Continuing Resolution would be put in effect with a 1% cut in spending, and just before officially signing it the Speaker said that there was no deal, that it had to be 3%. Wouldn’t that have made the Speaker and his buddies look like the jerks that caused the shut-down? Wouldn’t public opinion then be against them and on the side of the President? ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2003, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/west-wing-11-19/214263/9 "2003-11-20T19:57:37Z")
At least they got rid of the bizarre and annoying themes of Josh in exile and Abbey as the shrew from hell. But there were still far too many significant glances, knowing looks, and stylized camera shots. Plus, these people aren’t smart anymore. I miss them being smart. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2003, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/west-wing-11-19/214263/10 "2003-11-20T20:11:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by amarinth \* > \*\*Plus, these people aren’t smart anymore. I miss them being smart. \*\* Ding! You nailed it on the head. Why exactly is Donna the one now coming up with all the brilliant ideas and concepts? Sure, she’s smart. But the people around her are head and shoulders above her! ---
**Author:** ![bughunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@bughunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bughunter)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2003, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/west-wing-11-19/214263/11 "2003-11-20T20:24:24Z")
Umm. Maybe because the writers have to be intelligent for the characters to seem intelligent? I mean, it’s possible for a smart writer to write a dumb character, but a dumb writer… well… Let’s just say I miss Aaron Sorkin, too. ---
**Author:** ![TeaElle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8491ac/32.png) [@TeaElle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeaElle)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2003, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/west-wing-11-19/214263/12 "2003-11-20T21:42:09Z")
I’ve only watched since the middle of last season, but I too miss the smartness. The tip o’the cap with “Marina” the probable intern was just a little too nudge-nudge-wink-wink for me. Sorkin, for all his shortcomings, was never that unsubtle. I’m also struck by the dubiousness of a one-step-below-senior-staffer (what is Donna’s exact title, anyway) at the White House not owning her own computer, not even a 486 with a 33.3 modem. It’s 2003. What urban, professional with a college education and a job which requires a high level of “connectedness” to current events and a diversity of opinions doesn’t have a computer of their own? Did I miss some setup of Donna being broke beyond words? ---
**Author:** ![Hydrocortisone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e19b73/32.png) [@Hydrocortisone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hydrocortisone)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2003, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/west-wing-11-19/214263/13 "2003-11-22T07:56:35Z")
> [@](#): > > professional with a college education Didn’t Donna drop out of college?