(no subject)
Promo:
Firstly, SAAAAAAAAM!!! I'm BESIDE MYSELF over how much joy I have for his return. I am literally beside myself, looking at myself, rolling my eyes at myself.
Requiem:
This was so not the episode I was expecting, but I loved it. I loved it a lot. I didn't care about any of the Santos political maneuvering, but I'm beginning to accept that that's an inevitable part of the show now. It only took me nearly three seasons ;) Who will be V.P.? I don't really care. I care more about the rest of the positions on staff. Though really, it should be Jed (/denial). Actually, I'd love it if it could somehow be Vinick, but I understand the many reasons why THAT wouldn't work.
I think I could have easily come away from this episode unhappy considering how hard I've come down on the show lately, and how much I disliked the funeral sequence (it started too soon, It was painfully impersonal, and it was far too brief). But I was just so grateful to be laughing and smiling with these characters again that I forgave them the intro. I don't like how they dealt with Leo's death at all, but if this hadn't been an episode that should have been about Leo I'd have loved it, so I've made a conscious effort to love it anyway.
It killed me when they carried Leo out of the church. Something about Josh's soft whispering of the pall-bearer commands. And just, the sybolism of those men carrying Leo out of the show. And Margaret. Margaret broke me. I wish Mallory had been around for more, but at least we got to see her. And Joey! And Ainsley! Ainsley and Sam are going to be working together at the white house again! Even though I won't actually get to see that I can now rest easy with the fact that it's canon when I'm sitting around neurotically wondering what's going on at the white house post-show.
The chemisty between Josh and Amy is insane. INSANE. Though I'm they aren't going to play out a love triangle thing between Josh, Donna and Amy. And Amy's gonna work at the white house! I'M REALLY STARTING TO WISH THE SHOW WASN'T CANCELLED! I kind of hope Amy realizes about Josh and Donna, and kicks his ass for not being more assertive with her.
Oh, and Charlie? Charlie wins at this episode. HE WINS. That was the Charlie I'd been missing! Standing up for Toby and for Donna like that. Who'd have thought that was the same Charlie who just showed up for the messenger job so long ago.
C.J. also wins. I think I was either laughing or crying every time she was onscreen. Uh, and Danny and Josh! I laughed well into the commercial break when they shared that disparaging look.
I'm not sure what to make of Josh and Donna. They seemed to warm up a bit when they were talking about apartment sex, but we're clearly working up to a confrontation. A confrontation I can't wait for! I'm hoping that Josh has a role for Donna in the administration, and that he had just assumed that she had assumed so, but of course he SHOULD have been up-front with her. What position do you guys think Donna will end up taking in the new adiminstration? I keep thinking Press Secretary, but I'm not sure that isn't just because I associate the role with C.J. and becuase Donna doesn't have the kind of formal education that would be expected for some of the other positions. But I just can't fathom her NOT at the white house.
Man, do I ever wish we could get a glimpse of the conversations that take place at C.J.s that night. I feel like there's at lot of great character development stuff that could potentially happen off-screen between the end of this episode and the start of the next. Maybe because I didn't want this episode to end. I actually let out a sound of disappointment when the credits came up.
As for Jed, I'm still overwhelmed with this sense that he isn't present even when he's right there. Maybe they're just not very good at writing Jed anymore. Maybe it's because he isn't the heart of the show anymore (though I'm glad Josh is, at least). Either way, I'm at the point of accepting the fact that his grief for Leo will take place behind closed doors. And I liked the way Abbey was aware of that in the episode.
Gravitas. Leo. When they started up with the story telling I worried it would seem forced, but I don't think it did. Partially because some of those things (the sandwich comment, for example) were things that have actually happened. And it was just so nice to see them all smiling and laughing.
But now? Now I'm completely heart-broken because I feel that with Jed's passing of the torch to Josh, and with Josh's walk away from the white house, we've already said good-by to the Bartlet administration. And really, I won't be surprised at all if 95% of what we see in the final episodes are Santos-centric. Which, I guess is how it should be, but you know, I have issues. When I did that poll a little while ago a lot of people thought the final dialogue of the show would be Jed saying 'what's next', but I think it best to emotionally prepare for the possibility of Jed's final moment coming before the show finale. God, you guys! There's only four more left! I mean, how much more Bartlet do I expect? There's only four more left EVER. This feels so much more painful than any other cancellations I've been around for.
And finally, that look. That worn-out sad look on Josh's face as he glanced back at the white house on his way home. That's me looking at the end of this show. I love you, Bradley. Thank you for embodying that.