West Wing 5/7 (Spoilers)

Cafe Society
1

I liked it. I like how the thing with Toby and his ex isn’t going the obvious, uber-happy route.

OTOH, I’m not liking where they’re going with Josh and Donna. Why can’t a guy and a girl just be really good friend? The chemistry works as friends. A boss dating his assistant would be kinda creepy, actually.

I guessed who would be kidnapped since I saw the ads (saying that someone would be kidnapped). Plus, the scene had a really creepy musical score. I heard that song and thought “Ah, that can’t be good”.

Anyway, I just started this thread so I could say this:

[spoiler] The president’s daughter has been kidnapped by ninjas. French ninjas.

Is Charlie a bad enough dude to save her?

Sorry.

Seriously was the French guy in on it? I think so. Bad timing Sorkin. [/spoiler]

2

Then there’s next week’s season finale …

The prez shuts down DC and orders the Fifth Fleet to the Persian Gulf …

3

Maybe I’m just a sleaze, but I thought the show was heading towards a lesbian interest between Amy and Donna.

I also was somewhat confused about the Level Bravo thing. If I got it correctly, they were using an existing storm in the Pacific as a cover story for an alert that was actually about the terrorists. But I didn’t follow the significance of the ship in Portland. What am I missing?

And having just demonstrated that I’m clueless, I’ll fearlessly predict they will pursue the Leo as VP storyline. Having put it out there, they’d either have to shoot it down (which they didn’t) or follow through on it.

4

NONONONONONONO to Josh and Donna, damn it. I’ve said it all season, so I felt the need to lead with that one. Josh and Amy? Oh hell yes. Amy and Donna? Sure, why not. Josh and Donna. No!

Since DC is a quick drive from New York, I’m saying the terror cell that went missing took Zoey and is going to use her to force the pres into fessing up about Sharif and, possibly, turn himself over to UN jurisdiction for possible breach of international law.

Leo would make a great VP, but he’d have a hard time getting confirmed, since it’s likely the painkiller addiction in addition to the alcoholism would come up. If you remember, Jed thought Leo was talking about running for the nomination when Leo first brought the idea to him in NH, and Jed told him the same thing.

Charlie keeps getting stronger and stronger. I’ve really come to like this guy over the last couple seasons in particular.

I liked that Andi called Toby out on why she doesn’t want to marry him again, even in the face of his grand gesture. That took class, and even more real love for the guy than a straight out “yes” would have. I also liked how stricken Toby was. Maybe the doctor and take a bit of the stick out of his ass while he’s taking the spawn out of Andi.

Toby was really cool, though, when he wrapped his hand and told her to bit that when it hurt. That was oddly touching.

I also really liked how convincing the top SS guy with his nervousness in telling Leo Zoey got gotten. His range of fear, nervousness and shame were all very tightly nailed.

I wasn’t too convinced on the whole Danny, CJ, Leo thing, but maybe that’s just because as an ex-reporter I don’t buy that he’d give them that much lead time before the story ran in the first place, much less let them talk him into an additional 72 hours without clearing it with his editor first. Then again, he is a lovestruck putz where the lovely Ms. Craig is concerned

All in all, a solid episode, and I’m already way overpsyched for next week.

5

They had been listening to the “chatter” of a terrorist cell, whwich ceased just after talking about a “deluge in the Pacific Northwest.” This sounded to the Prez like a warning of an imminent attack. The report of a container ship about to dock in Portland with a discrepancy in the container count sent up red flags in the Oval Office.

As for the Josh and Donna thing, the sexual tension has been there from the first, since they had a history. But I can’t see anything coming of it. If they ever got together again on the show, it would blow the whole thread of their story.

Donna and Amy…hmmmmm. I may have interesting dreams over that idea. :wink:

6

This episode restored my faith in WW. It was the best episode of the season, and one of the best ever.

Random thoughts:

I agree… Charlie just keeps getting better and better. The french guy was just too smarmy and jerky, and now we find out he might actually be involved with kidnapping Zoey.

Amy and Donna: Ok, good, I wasn’t the only one that half expected them to kiss over those bottles of beer. That would have just been horrible… horrible, I say. (If I say it enough times, maybe I’ll believe it!) Mmmm… Amy and Donna…

Did Toby flip off Andi right after he told her to bite his hand? It cracked me up.

I thought the whole last segment was excellent. The music from the club was under all the scenes, tying them together nicely despite the frequent cuts. The scene where the Secret Service chief told Leo was great; the perfect mix of anxiety and realization. Leo first walking, then running to tell the President what had happened. It all gave me goosebumps.

Emmy nominations for: Taye Diggs, for his accurate portrayal of a Secret Service agent getting tossed by the very cute Molly; Dule Hill, for saying the exact right things to Zoey when she kissed him, repeatedly; Zoey, for being so damn cute. Turek says: Check it out (my apologies to Joe Bob Briggs).

One last thing: Was it in the WW or some movie that the President or one of his aides said that one of the worst things that could happen would be for one of the President’s children to be kidnapped, because it would put the most powerful man in the world in a position where they would have to choose between the life of their child or being a puppet of the kidnapper?

7

I must confess, even though she’s kidnapped and she made up some ground by going to the arboretum last night, I still don’t like the Zoey character much. She just seems a bit too flighty.

I also thought that gathering everyone, including Will, in the Oval Office to tell them about Sharif, was very unrealistic. “Yes, I committed an international crime, just thought you all might want to know”. What? Especially after last week when Will had to leave the room because he didn’t have enough clearance. And then back earlier POTUS was asking Sam(?) was he “ready to come inside”, meaning was he ready for the inner circle. Way too quick for Will.

I did like Jed screwing up a bit during the speech (or so it was inferred).

As for the kidnapping and the terrorists, I wonder if the whole Portland thing was an intentional red herring. Sounds like it. The reason they were worried about the missing container was that it might contain a nuke, I assume, or some other evil stuff. Don’t know if I’m convinced that Prince Smarming might be involved. Could just have been a coincidence. He seems like the type of prick that would drug his girlfriend just for fun. And it’s established that he’s a bit of a head.

Finally, yeah, I was wondering what was up with Amy and Donna. Wasn’t sure if I expected straight sapphic action or maybe a beer commercial style catfight first. Very odd. And of course Donna answered by not answering on the Josh question. I’d rather see Donna and Amy get together.

8

West Wing. The promos led you to believe Zoey was kidnapped in that episode, but it was only a tease.

On the contrary, the addiction would make him easily confirmed. Why? Because Bartlett is a lame duck and his vice president would be the frontrunner for the next presidential nomination. Also, you have a Republican Senate. So they’d love to put an unelectable person as VP.

9

Man, that was an intense final 10 minutes, even with Danny and CJ talking about his news article. I was surprised that the most obvious person was the one to be kidnapped; they shouldn’t have told us that was going to happen.

10

IIRC there was a first season episode where Zooey complained to her dad about the SS protection (she had been playing “ditch the bodyguard”) and he responds by describing, in graphic detail, almost exactly what happened in last night’s episode as his “worst nightmare.”

11

I am really surprised at the enthusiasm for this episode, as I believed it to be one of the weakest of the season.

The dialog between Amy and Donna was forced and artificial. It reminded me of a tampon commercial.

The rave music playing behind all of the scenes in the last half of the show was too loud and just plain annoying. It covered the dialog between CJ and Danny, and was distracting in the scenes of the security meetings.

The entire secutiry Bravo thing was so muddled that it was hard to follow. I still, even though it’s been explained here, don’t understand what the significance of the “downpours in Portland” means. I got the missing guys, the missing container, and the increased chatter, but the pres. saying “…there are downpours in Portland”, just made me shake my head.

The show lacked the subtle humor of other shows, and the spiking of the drink with Ecstasy bordered on preachy. The only good thing about this episode was Charlie.

I hope the finale is better than this one.

12

anyone remember Amy Carter?

13

The fact that the music kept playing during the last 10 minutes, even during cuts away from the club, was an immediate tip-off that Something Dramatic was about to happen. The production staff on WW is getting predictable.

But otherwise, a good episode.

14

I to was expecting some hot lesbian action. But I don’t watch regularly so I don’t know the characters well enough to know which way either of them swing. But the dialog between those two was horrible.

Here’s how I would like it to go, if they want powerful.

Next week, the ransom comes in. They want the president to do something for them. He struggles with it, his responsibilities as president not to negotiate, his responsibilities as father to get her home alive.

Cliffhanger ending, he says no.

The next week, they are dealing with trying to find his daughter, string the kidnappers along, keep the video of hot lesbian sex between Donna and Amy out of the press, and nominate a new VP.

End of episode, they find Zoey. Dead.

The french guy is on the scene. The president, in a rage, grabs a secret service guys weapon and tries to shoot the french guy. But his hands are shaking from rage and MS and he misses, shooting Charlie instead. Charlie collapses, dead, to the floor beside Zoey, staring at her face in death, one hand having fallen over hers.

Ok, maybe that last paragraph would be taking it a bit far.

15

In case anyone’s curious, the music from the club is Massive Attack. I’m not certain on the song name (could be “Angel”) but it’s off their album Mezzanine. I’d always considered the album a great make-out album, but now I will associate that song with sadness.

I was emotionally drained after this one. I so want Charlie to come out victorious in the end. I’m not real keen on Zoey, but if it would make him happy, I’m all for it. When they were in the arboretum I was getting mad at her for toying with him.

I wanted to weep for Toby (even though he truly is a sad individual) when he laid it out bare like that by buying the house. Gah!

And lesbianism was a topic of discussion in my household as well. Until Amy asked Donna if she was in love with Josh. Then I figured it might just be a scratchy cat fight.

Either way, so much drama. I’m beside myself! [see, the writers are being completely effective in roping me in - I hate that! ;)]

16

Next week is the final episode for the season, so we’ll have to wait until fall for any resolution.

17

Amy Carter was nine years old when she moved to the White House. She was 12 when she left. A large difference. Yes, she was arrested during student protests against the Reagan non-policy about Apartheid, but you kind of expect Jimmy Carter’s kid to be an activist.

However she never really struck me as a fatuous or self-absorbed, as the Zoey character often seems to me. Sure, it has to do with the snippets I’ve seen, surely she’s bright and engaging as well. Just think that the character could be shown as more multifaceted. Especially as she is obviously becoming a focal point.

18

Yes, or maybe the terrorists could string together a mega-nuke that takes out everything within 2000 miles of Portland. Then an alien could pop out of the President’s head, and start firing death rays at everyone. Then Josh could wake up, and it was all a dream. :slight_smile:

Seriously, the President can’t kill anyone. That’s just not right. Emotionally powerful moments once in a while are good, but that’s not what this show is about.

19

I think the Massive Attack song was a bit over the top. And with all the other stuff going on, why bother with the Donna/Josh hokum? It was not well written, and a bit out of the blue, and also totally unnecessary.

French dude has nothing to do with the kidnapping, IMHO. He was just being sleazy, and inadvertantly made the kidnappers’ job easier.

20

I think it served to point out how Josh is going to react to the kidnapping. From his perspective, he’s going to be responsible, and without some refresher on his background, we might not have understood why.

As it stands, I feel terrible for him.