I thought this was an excellent cliffhanger for a season finale. I liked the contrast between the hectic oval office and the serene late night nursery at the hospital.
When does the next episode air? Do I really have to wait all summer to see what happens?
John Goodman is a very large man.
Any thoughts?
Politically speaking, this is one of the more improbable story lines that I’ve ever heard, seen, or read about. This is soap opera.
Obviously the plot will exploit that vagueness (not wholly resolved) aspects of the 25th Amendment. Notice how Bartlett signed the paperwork that he was stepping down. Didn’t show the Speaker signing his respective document. Interesting.
It is getting improbable, but it’s been heading that way for a while. I have to admit, though, that it’s hard to imagine a replacement Blues Brother as president, even on television…
ACK!!! This was the season finale!!! I didn’t realize that.
I think John Goodman is going to be great in that role!!! I can’t wait to see him bossing everybody around next season! Any bets on how long it will take him to make Donna (or Josh) cry like babies??
I know nothing about the 25th amendement. Can the Prez just decide when he takes back over?? Is that part of the document they sign? Why couldn’t he just appoint a VP instead of going through all of that?
Actually it did. Josh points out that the Speaker must resign from Congress and from the Speakership before he can assume the Presidency, and that he cannot then resume his seat without beging again elected to it. The Speaker agrees, observes that it is against the law for one officer to serve in two branches at the same time, and says that he would have had to run again in the next election anyway. Will hands the Speaker a prepared resignation, which he signs.
President Bartlet can reclaim the Presidency at any time. In fact, the only body that can challenge his reclaiming the office is the Cabinet and the Vice President, so with the Vice Presidency vacant there is no constitutional mechanism for declaring Bartlet incapacitated (unless Congress meanwhile provides that a different body may make such a declaration).
The President cannot simply “appoint a VP” because a Vice Presidential vacancy is not filled by means of the regular appointment process: technically, filling such a vacancy is not an “appointment” at all. Filling a vacancy in the Vice Presidency requires action by both congressional chambers, not only the Senate, and takes time.
Here are the relevant provisions from the 25th amendment:
I’m damned annoyed. My VCR conked out and I missed most of the episode. Can someone give me a recap?
Where was Andi? I thought I heard the nurse say she’d gone home, but obviously she couldn’t since the babies are still in the hospital.
The boy’s name is Huck? Ick ick ick. I want to slap Andi for that.
I think Richard Schiff should get an Emmy for his performance during his chat with his children. How sweet and poignant, as Toby finally realizes that he does have the capacity for that kind of love. “Babies come with hats.” I just wanted to hug him.
We have a big old growly teddy bear for the President! I thought he was a little abrupt, “Mr. President, you are relieved.” But then with Leo repeated it, I realized that he was right. During a crisis, the US must present a strong front, and there must not be any question about who’s in charge, so there cannot be a dual press conference.
I thought it was very brave of the President to step down, understanding there’s no way he can govern effectively, and by removing himself as the most powerful man in the free world, Zoey’s value as a bargaining chip disappears.
I would have like to see more scenes with Abby and Jed. If I were Abby (what was up with her hair, by the way?) there is no way you could have kept me out of the Situation Room.
I thought the scene where Toby finally made it back to the White House and awkwardly told everyone about the babies was really well done. The usual happiness and excitement of this type of situation laid over the crisis that had been taking up all their attention.
I also liked when Charlie was asked about ecstasy and went dashing off like a madman to ask the Prince if he had given any to Zoey. Charlie’s too good for her.
All in all, a better end than last season, improbable as it all is.
Improbable? Yes. But Sorkin did what everyone always said he wouldn’t do. He put a Republican in the Oval Office on The West Wing.
Makes me think of “24” where they’ve also invoked the 25th ammendment. Both are improbable, but both make for great TV (in completely different ways).
Also, ditto to what ivylass said:
Oh, and for that hotdogging airplane? It would have been shot down after they couldn’t raise them the first time.
After Sept 11, you don’t screw around with communicating with air traffic control.
I thought of 24 too, and I shouted, “See, Mike! That’s what a real Chief of Staff is supposed to do!”
“Big and old”? Correct. “Teddy bear”? No way.
The West Wing “handed the presidency over to the most powerful Republican in the nation?” Gimme a break!
Expect this new president to be anything BUT a teddy bear. Expect Machiavellian, ruthlessly manipulative, confrontational and demogogic.
Actually it did. Josh points out that the Speaker must resign from Congress and from the Speakership before he can assume the Presidency, and that he cannot then resume his seat without beging again elected to it. The Speaker agrees, observes that it is against the law for one officer to serve in two branches at the same time, and says that he would have had to run again in the next election anyway. Will hands the Speaker a prepared resignation, which he signs.
I saw the Speaker sign-off on his own resignation. Can we safely assume that his consent to release his presidential powers was on that same document? I doubt it.
His consent is unnecessary. See my post in response to HelloKitty’s question.
Confrontational and demogogic, perhaps. But I expect the Speaker to turn out to be a straight-up guy who overall takes care of things in his 1, 2 or 3-story appearance at the beginning of next season.
After all, Hoynes was always an opportunistic jerk, but when he got caught, he walked out with as much dignity as he could. It’s just the West Wing way.
So what happens next season?
IRL, nothing would happen. The country would be in shock from losing the VP and President in the space of a week or two and the Acting President would do everything possible to reassure the public that Nothing Will Change. After that, one of two things would be likely. A) The President would recover or get his daughter back and regain control. B) The President would resign completely, a VP would be chosen through the normal procedure, and the Acting President would resign so that the country would have a President of the party that was just elected to the office. Anything else would essentially constitute a coup in the public’s eyes.
On TV, we will see a contrived artificial situation equal to the one which got us to this point in which the Bad Guy, er, Acting President will do something opposed by all the regular cast members and a huge to-do will spread over several episodes until the Good Guy, er, the President regains his office.
I am not looking forward to it. Unless done absolutely perfectly and brilliantly it will be a disaster, and I don’t have faith in anyone but Sorkin to pull it off - and I’m not sure he could.
I cried through the whole thing. I cried for Charlie, The Prez & hizzollady, Toby, everyone. I thought it was well-done, and if I die before next season, the whole of my life will have been pointless.
I’ve always liked John Goodman. He’s the teddy bear I was referring to, not his character.
Did anyone figure out who was the new Prez by the silhouette of the guy walking down the corridor? Goodman’s profile is somewhat unmistakable, and I knew who it was before the reveal.
I thought the show was great (as most are). I figure (as said above) that there will be some fighting between the “new” President and the staff. When Bartlett tries to come back, I think there will be fighting based on the 25th Amendent text of “unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.” I think they are going to bring up MS again.
But Sorkin is gone. From the Washington Post. It says “Since “West Wing” creator Aaron Sorkin was forced off the show because he was chronically late delivering scripts, the studio and NBC have had only nice things to say about him publicly. Zucker continued in that vein, saying NBC is grateful, that “no one will replace Aaron Sorkin,” blah, blah, blah.” (about 2/3 the way down)
Kalhoun, so did I.
I cried when Abby wanted to burst into the press room. I cried when Toby was talking to the babies (and I’m NOT a maternal person at all). I was sniffling most of the episode.
Has John Goodman gotten larger? I mean, I know he’s always been a hefty man, but when he walked in, I thought, “Woah!” He seems larger than he was in the Roseanne days. Not that it’s either here or there…it probably helps him in this role if he’s going to be playing a powerful figure.
Ok, so I was just kinda going over that last scene in my head. Someone points out that the speaker must resign, he says “That’s true…hand me a piece of paper” I don’t think it was anything prepared for resignation. At that point he is no longer the Speaker, so technically how can he then assume the office of Acting President? I may have gotten my timing mixed up. Did Bartlett sign off on his paper first, making Goodman the Acting President and the Speaker of the House for a couple of minutes before Goodman resigned?