essential West Wing episodes
Because it's a massively long show but I think nearly everyone who likes television will enjoy some of it! This list is meant to be accessible to someone who hasn't seen any of the show - whatever you need to know to enjoy the episode should probably be in the "previously on" segments. I went with my "top 10% of the show) rule, so there's about 14 episodes here. Very heavy on the Sorkin era: while the seasons after his departure do have their merits, they're just a regular good show rather than a must-watch.
Pilot (s1 ep1): Probably the best pilot episode I've ever seen. I'm qualifying it with "probably" because of the Sopranos pilot, but even then it's still up in the air.
Celestial Navigation (s1 ep 15): Again, one of the best of its type, which is comedic episodes of hour-long drama. It's also one of the show's finest hours of "a day in the life of professional politics," with the story in all of its gloriously bizarre reality coming from the minds of Clinton Administration press secretary Dee Dee Myers and former Congressional aide Lawrence O'Donnell.
In the Shadow of Two Gunman (s2 eps 1-2): I do love S1, but the show took until S2 to locate its emotional center, AND HOW.
Noel (s2 ep10): The fallout of the season premiere. Very different from most of the episodes before it in that it's essentially a character study.
17 People (s2 ep18): An episode driven by conflict between the show's two dirtiest-fighting rhetoricians. Not to be missed.
Two Cathedrals (s2 ep22): Still takes my breath away, somewhere around a decade after watching it for the first time.
Manchester Part I&II (s3 ep 1&2): You know, there's probably only about one episode of greatness in there, spread out across a two-parter which is still pretty solid.
We Killed Yamamoto and Posse Comitatus (s3 ep 21&22): As you'd probably guess from the episode titles, these are episodes that deal with the big BSG-esque existential questions of governance. I'm surprised not to have more episodes of S3 on here, since I think of it as being quite a strong season, but maybe it was more in terms of consistency and multi-episode arcs rather than single episodes.
[obligatory note that the S4 opener, 20 Hours in America, is kind of a big deal, apparently. I'm not recommending it because I don't care for it.]
Game On (s4 ep5): It is a mark of progress that Ritchie looks like a blundering fool now, but for anyone with residual post-Bush resentment, spending an hour watching Bartlet smack him down is and will always be cathartic.
Angel Maintenance (s4 ep19): Not really a standout episode in one particular way, but it's just a great example of The West Wing as a whole.
Twenty Five (s4 ep23): CRISIS TIME.
Third-Day Story (s6 ep3): For the last scene.
WHAT DO WE THINK WHAT DID I MISS
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Pilot (s1 ep1): Probably the best pilot episode I've ever seen. I'm qualifying it with "probably" because of the Sopranos pilot, but even then it's still up in the air.
Celestial Navigation (s1 ep 15): Again, one of the best of its type, which is comedic episodes of hour-long drama. It's also one of the show's finest hours of "a day in the life of professional politics," with the story in all of its gloriously bizarre reality coming from the minds of Clinton Administration press secretary Dee Dee Myers and former Congressional aide Lawrence O'Donnell.
In the Shadow of Two Gunman (s2 eps 1-2): I do love S1, but the show took until S2 to locate its emotional center, AND HOW.
Noel (s2 ep10): The fallout of the season premiere. Very different from most of the episodes before it in that it's essentially a character study.
17 People (s2 ep18): An episode driven by conflict between the show's two dirtiest-fighting rhetoricians. Not to be missed.
Two Cathedrals (s2 ep22): Still takes my breath away, somewhere around a decade after watching it for the first time.
Manchester Part I&II (s3 ep 1&2): You know, there's probably only about one episode of greatness in there, spread out across a two-parter which is still pretty solid.
We Killed Yamamoto and Posse Comitatus (s3 ep 21&22): As you'd probably guess from the episode titles, these are episodes that deal with the big BSG-esque existential questions of governance. I'm surprised not to have more episodes of S3 on here, since I think of it as being quite a strong season, but maybe it was more in terms of consistency and multi-episode arcs rather than single episodes.
[obligatory note that the S4 opener, 20 Hours in America, is kind of a big deal, apparently. I'm not recommending it because I don't care for it.]
Game On (s4 ep5): It is a mark of progress that Ritchie looks like a blundering fool now, but for anyone with residual post-Bush resentment, spending an hour watching Bartlet smack him down is and will always be cathartic.
Angel Maintenance (s4 ep19): Not really a standout episode in one particular way, but it's just a great example of The West Wing as a whole.
Twenty Five (s4 ep23): CRISIS TIME.
Third-Day Story (s6 ep3): For the last scene.
WHAT DO WE THINK WHAT DID I MISS
This entry was originally posted at http://pocochina.dreamwidth.org/332646.html. Leave a comment here, or there using OpenID.