The West Wing

[billroper]

Interesting return of The West Wing tonight.

The episode opens with a flashforward to the dedication of Bartlet's Presidential Library three years from now. Interestingly, none of the likely suspects for leaking the info about the military space shuttle are missing from this gathering: CJ, Toby, and the new National Security advisor are all present. Maybe the guilty party got sprung from jail. daisy_knotwise wants to review the tape and see if CJ actually does appear to be pregnant. :) Of course, we cut away just before we see who the new President is.

Meanwhile, back in the present, Santos and Leo are trying to get to know each other, which is a rougher process than you might think. It's the editorial cartoon that shows Santos dressed up as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz that probably isn't helping...

And Donna comes to Josh looking for a job and is turned down. Actually, this makes some sense plot-wise. Donna will get this job when Josh realizes that he needs to look for her, because someone has to keep him from screwing things up by trying to run everything himself.

Very little of Alan Alda in this episode. I presume we'll see more of him later, since he leads off the cast list.

Comments

[jhayman.livejournal.com]

Did you know that The West Wing is one of the highest rated programs for Canadian audiences?

Loved the episode. Continue with horrified fascination at some of the approaches to political life.

(Alda gonna lead off the cast list because it's usually alphabetical...)

[jrittenhouse.livejournal.com]

(1) CJ has already had the kid in the future; they were fussing over pictures of same. Danny mentioned e-mailing Bartlet one, and Bartlet said how about one that you can put on the fridge (actual print). My guess is that after Barlet left office, they went west and the kid is a very recent addition.

(2) I would have liked to have seen that cartoon.

(3) Good points on Donna. I was shaking my head over that one, because they hire people from the losing sides in the primaries (including the VP sometimes) all the time. Josh was being a prick.

[pheltzer.livejournal.com]

I was thrown all episode by the collossal screw up in the writting/editing. When we first see Leo he's captioned as being at the Port of Philadelphia, but he's supposed to be in Bakersfield an hour later. And then while still at the dock in Philly they show a sign that says Port of Long Beach. It was like they couldn't decide if he was in CA or in PA. For some reason I expected better. Otherwise the episode left me kinda flat.

[beamjockey.livejournal.com]

I was thrown all episode by the collossal screw up in the writting/editing. When we first see Leo he's captioned as being at the Port of Philadelphia, but he's supposed to be in Bakersfield an hour later. And then while still at the dock in Philly they show a sign that says Port of Long Beach. It was like they couldn't decide if he was in CA or in PA. For some reason I expected better.

You think you've caught the show in a mistake, but it's possible you have not.

[Further SPOILERS for last season and new season.]

Consider the following arguments.

1. Like George W. Bush, Leo flew supersonic fighters in the Sixties.

2. It has been established that, in the West Wing universe, there is a secret military rocketplane capable of reaching orbit.

3. As former White House Chief of Staff, Leo certainly has the clearance to be aware of this secret.

4. Such a plane would certainly be fast enough to take off from the vicinity of Philadelphia and land in Bakersfield in less than half an hour.

The ethical consequences of using a secret military vehicle for partisan campaign jaunts are left as an exercise for the student, and will, no doubt, be treated in a future episode.

[pheltzer.livejournal.com]

Well yes that is an option... although they'd have to violate a few FAA regulations by flying supersonic almost immediately after take off at too low of an altitude. Even the Blackbird took an hour and a half LA - NY. :)

But then again with a secret service contingent of 50 people you're right... he probably has the clout to pull this off.

[folkmew.livejournal.com]

Not going to read spoiler but ARGHHH!!! Ed and I got through all 4 seasons on DVD from Netflix and now we're DYING to see season 5 but we don't have TV. poot!!!

[drzarron.livejournal.com]

OH yes, I wanted to SLAP Josh in the back of the head. Donna is EXACTLY who he needs right now.

I don't blame Santo's for not letting Leo beat the bushes. He's right, he needs to appear to be the one in charge, leading the way. If he let's Leo do too much, the campaign will become "Leo and his amazing pet Boy".

[cyohtee.livejournal.com]

I believe he leads the cast list because it is in alphabetical order (with the exception of Martin Sheen, but that is because he has the prestigeous last spot in the credits with the "and" or "with"). I didn't really pay enough attention last night to really notice if the credits are alphabetical, but it seems likely as Dule Hill was like 3rd in the credits, and he is not a major player or big named actor.

[billroper]

Well, yes, he's at the head of the cast list because of alphabetical order. My point is that he's now a featured player rather than a guest star and that we didn't see much of him at all this episode.