What happened to Mrs. Landingham?
Mrs. Landingham was killed in a car accident. She had just bought her new car - her very first brand new car. The West Wing guys wanted her to bring it back to the White House so they could kick the tires. She was killed driving back to show it off.
StG
If I tell Mrs. Plant that and you are whoosing me, I’ll be dead and not in an auto accident.
StG is joking. She was really eaten by a pack of wild dogs.
Ok, I was kidding. Here’s her “bio” from the West Wing Continuity Guide:
Wild Dogs I’ll buy.
The Republicans probably wouldn’t pass the Democrat’s federal leash law.
Thanks
Her death was as described and at the funeral in the National Cathedral, Bartlett asked to be alone for a bit and he cursed out God - in Latin.
The last part of that episode was how my Step Daughter introduced me to the show, although we didn’t start watching it for a bit after that.
Bartlett mentions a tender. In another episode he is speaking with the radio operator of a ship in distress. Does the ship sink? Did they kill Fitz Mrs. Landingham and yjr kid on the ship?
Dammit.
Poor Ainsley Hayes is hanging out with Horatio Caine and probably envys the dead.
Nah, she’s solving crimes in Miami. Don’t know why they killed off Mrs. Landingham (contract dispute, Adam Sorkin wanted to, etc), but it made for some fascinating scenes in that episode.
The ship presumably sinks; Sorkin seems to have a penchant for leaving the resolution of certain situations to the imagination of the viewer. If I recall correctly, that show ended with Bartlet vowing to stay on the line with the young radio operator “until the end”. I don’t recall the details of that episode or its placement in the show’s chronology–I suppose it may have been the same ship Bartlet references in his diatribe in “Two Cathedrals”. Death or the possibility of death indeed seems to be a recurring theme on The West Wing. Each of the seasons has ended with the death of a character or a character’s life in danger.
Bumped.
Why is the episode called “Two Cathedrals.” One is the National Cathedral, obviously; what is the other?
The White House, almost certainly.
Wait, didn’t she eat a pack of wild dogs, and the indigestion did her in?
Stunning news from Michigan, as former Oval Office secretary Mrs. Landingham was chopped into little bits by the propeller of a commuter plane.
Well, don’t discount that there can be metaphorical cathedrals. Cathedrals are places you go to for guidance and understanding, so a father or big sister is a cathedral in that sense. In his father’s cathedral young Jed finds pettiness and abuse, but in his surrogate big sister Mrs. Landingham’s cathedral he finds direction and support.
Since this episode is Jed wrestling with whether he’ll run again, the question is will he go to his father’s cathedral and just shut up and admit defeat, or will he go to Mrs. Landingham’s and fight the good fight?
If you want a more mechanical answer, Jed is first introduced to Mrs. Landingham immediately after his father is telling him a cigarette butt was found in the school chapel, and it’s strongly implied that it was Jed’s cigarette. Then the last time Jed is with Mrs. Landingham in the National Cathedral he’s once again been putting out his Kools on the floor. So you’ve got two cathedrals (let’s pretend the school chapel was inside a cathedral) bookending Jed’s time with Mrs. Landingham.
Kathryn Joosten’s career took off after West Wing. She won 2 Emmys for Desperate Housewives a few years later.
She made the most out of a small role on West Wing. Amazing how many people remember Mrs Landingham.
Could be - thanks.
And now I’m going to hear Eddie Murphy’s voice in my head for the rest of the day…
It’s not that morbid.
Bartlet’s last line is “I’m going to stay right here as long as the radio works, OK.”