The West Wing (Sam stans might find this contains Sam bashing)
3.13 Night Five
I realised/remembered what was going on before Stanley did, as Josh took him on the tour, ending up in the residence. Well, the previously of Toby calling out Bartlet’s father’s abuse was a pretty good pointer, but I was surprised when it then turned out that it wasn’t just going to be a two-hander, but that the episode woud involve everyone. Given that Bartlet was unable to sleep, it was notable that in this episode and the next that everyone was at work after the point when I’d consider turning in for bed. Presumably Donna never ended up doing that jury duty.
It took Bartlet a while to get to what he knew was bothering him, and clearly Stanley knew he was putting it off. I suppose the podcasters were right that Bartlet was testing him out here.
The big thing that was keeping most of them in the office was the foreign policy speech that everyone knew would rile Andi. Cue a lot of slightly dated comments about ‘the missus’ (that exact phrase probably wasn’t used), and Toby, I think, protesting that she was his ex (I was tired watching this.) Worst of all was Sam calling her Toby’s ‘old lady’, which is to say I was totally on the temp’s side when she called out Sam for sexism, and was still with her when Ainsley returned and spouted her own brand of feminism (as before, I don’t think Ainsley owns her privilege), because if you wouldn’t say it about Charlie’s sister, (and I got irked that Sam asked Charlie to weigh in, because the complaint was about making it a really uncomfortable environment for women). The argument about how that wan’t real sexual harassment made me twitch from a post Me Too perspective, although I appreciated the podcast getting lawyers to discuss this in a broader context, talking about American laws and how they applied, or didn’t. I thought they made a good point about how Sam handled it as a superior, and I liked looking at whether it worked well dramatically (hard for me to tell, because I was still more on the complainant’s side for all the attempts to make me side with Ainsley, if not Sam.)
And I wasn’t particularly sympathetic of Sam obsessing over being accused of sexism and trying to defend himself so hard that he couldn’t focus on what Ainsley was saying about the legal text. (And I’m pretty sure this was about Sorkin responding to criticism about the display of chauvinism on the show from MBTV/TWoP.)
Andi finally got Toby to explain why he was going so hard on that point on Islamic fundamentalism in his speech, (and of course it was mainly that this was post September 11th,) and they got to be all eloquent and argue-y and I got to be a bit less America yay! and hindsightey (in fairness, the American podcasters were critical, especially of Toby taking this stance) and then they reached a possible compromise.
But meanwhile Donna got offered a job during her ‘lunch hour’ and Josh felt a little betrayed, but as Donna said, another four years wasn’t a lock. Donna was certainly considering the idea as she got pulled into the plotline with the missing reporter. I didn’t know whether to read the Congolese attaché being unable to take CJ as sexism or a power play. Anyway, I loved the characterisation of the wife, she was clearly distraught but in a very real way, (though their daughter being called Donna too was too on the nose, and I will point out that if you’ve brought two kids into this world, it might behove you to read the State Department’s advice about going to a Very Dangerous Country, even if you think you’re upholding the noble job of the fourth estate.) I did cynically think that this isn’t normally part of Donna’s job, even as I appreciated Janel Moloney’s FACE as Donna observed the worldless action in the background as they told the wife the bad news. Very clearly telegraphed that Donna won’t be leaving this job. Good framing, good acting. I didn’t overthink whether Donna not knowing anything made her more or less likely to take the job offer as the podcasters did. (Probably beause I knew she was staying.)
3.14 Hartsfield’s Landing
I spent a good three minutes after watching this episode going ‘No,’ because I don’t think Sam would be fit to be President due to his women problem (see the previous episode and all the complaining about him in episodes before that) and that’s fifty per cent of his country and…just no. I think I was meant to be uplifted by the possibility, and the pdcasters talked about this being fandom’s hope for a way back for the show, (except you still have the prolem of the post-Sorkin seasons and how could Sorkin come back after that, and that Lowe left early, and… Even in this age of returns and reboots, it’s toh to see.) It was a nice grace note to Rob Lowe as Sam, as he ‘saw the board’, and I bet it was as much as anything because Sam wanted to cure cancer in the SoU speech, but no, pick someone who can see the board and doesn’t have a woman problem. Pick a woman who can see the board! Pick that young intern who reamed himout about the reports! I am nowhere near where I was when Bartlet gave Charlie the knife.
Otherwise, it was great to see Bartlet the grandmaster, who has come on in military/foreign affairs, still troubled by Toby’s ability to poke at the sore spot that is his father, but knowing it is a problem for the campaign, and only just beginning to face that it’s a problem for his whole life. As was said in the podcast, Sheen smashed it, by knowing just how to judge his performance.
This was the first time Toby and the President had spoken since…! Meanwhile, I didn’t feel beaten over the head by the chess metaphor - I don’t play it, I only know it as a dramatic metaphor - while the voting in New Hampshire started quirkily with Josh obsessing about managing the news cycle. (Shouldn’t that be CJ’s domain?) Too right Donna took his coat to do the work for him. Eventually Taiwan’s struggle for democracy got through, and Josh came to call Donna off from trying to argue with this couple who were kind of angry about the omissions about the MS but kept raising other matters. Well, that’s what I assumed, so I was puzzled that the podcasters were puzzled by Josh’s volte face.
I didn’t jot down any other notes after watching it, so I can only say I enjoyed the prank war, even if Leo was right about how silly CJ and Charlie were. Charlie wiped the floor with her!
This entry was originally posted at https://shallowness.dreamwidth.org/477533.html.
I realised/remembered what was going on before Stanley did, as Josh took him on the tour, ending up in the residence. Well, the previously of Toby calling out Bartlet’s father’s abuse was a pretty good pointer, but I was surprised when it then turned out that it wasn’t just going to be a two-hander, but that the episode woud involve everyone. Given that Bartlet was unable to sleep, it was notable that in this episode and the next that everyone was at work after the point when I’d consider turning in for bed. Presumably Donna never ended up doing that jury duty.
It took Bartlet a while to get to what he knew was bothering him, and clearly Stanley knew he was putting it off. I suppose the podcasters were right that Bartlet was testing him out here.
The big thing that was keeping most of them in the office was the foreign policy speech that everyone knew would rile Andi. Cue a lot of slightly dated comments about ‘the missus’ (that exact phrase probably wasn’t used), and Toby, I think, protesting that she was his ex (I was tired watching this.) Worst of all was Sam calling her Toby’s ‘old lady’, which is to say I was totally on the temp’s side when she called out Sam for sexism, and was still with her when Ainsley returned and spouted her own brand of feminism (as before, I don’t think Ainsley owns her privilege), because if you wouldn’t say it about Charlie’s sister, (and I got irked that Sam asked Charlie to weigh in, because the complaint was about making it a really uncomfortable environment for women). The argument about how that wan’t real sexual harassment made me twitch from a post Me Too perspective, although I appreciated the podcast getting lawyers to discuss this in a broader context, talking about American laws and how they applied, or didn’t. I thought they made a good point about how Sam handled it as a superior, and I liked looking at whether it worked well dramatically (hard for me to tell, because I was still more on the complainant’s side for all the attempts to make me side with Ainsley, if not Sam.)
And I wasn’t particularly sympathetic of Sam obsessing over being accused of sexism and trying to defend himself so hard that he couldn’t focus on what Ainsley was saying about the legal text. (And I’m pretty sure this was about Sorkin responding to criticism about the display of chauvinism on the show from MBTV/TWoP.)
Andi finally got Toby to explain why he was going so hard on that point on Islamic fundamentalism in his speech, (and of course it was mainly that this was post September 11th,) and they got to be all eloquent and argue-y and I got to be a bit less America yay! and hindsightey (in fairness, the American podcasters were critical, especially of Toby taking this stance) and then they reached a possible compromise.
But meanwhile Donna got offered a job during her ‘lunch hour’ and Josh felt a little betrayed, but as Donna said, another four years wasn’t a lock. Donna was certainly considering the idea as she got pulled into the plotline with the missing reporter. I didn’t know whether to read the Congolese attaché being unable to take CJ as sexism or a power play. Anyway, I loved the characterisation of the wife, she was clearly distraught but in a very real way, (though their daughter being called Donna too was too on the nose, and I will point out that if you’ve brought two kids into this world, it might behove you to read the State Department’s advice about going to a Very Dangerous Country, even if you think you’re upholding the noble job of the fourth estate.) I did cynically think that this isn’t normally part of Donna’s job, even as I appreciated Janel Moloney’s FACE as Donna observed the worldless action in the background as they told the wife the bad news. Very clearly telegraphed that Donna won’t be leaving this job. Good framing, good acting. I didn’t overthink whether Donna not knowing anything made her more or less likely to take the job offer as the podcasters did. (Probably beause I knew she was staying.)
3.14 Hartsfield’s Landing
I spent a good three minutes after watching this episode going ‘No,’ because I don’t think Sam would be fit to be President due to his women problem (see the previous episode and all the complaining about him in episodes before that) and that’s fifty per cent of his country and…just no. I think I was meant to be uplifted by the possibility, and the pdcasters talked about this being fandom’s hope for a way back for the show, (except you still have the prolem of the post-Sorkin seasons and how could Sorkin come back after that, and that Lowe left early, and… Even in this age of returns and reboots, it’s toh to see.) It was a nice grace note to Rob Lowe as Sam, as he ‘saw the board’, and I bet it was as much as anything because Sam wanted to cure cancer in the SoU speech, but no, pick someone who can see the board and doesn’t have a woman problem. Pick a woman who can see the board! Pick that young intern who reamed himout about the reports! I am nowhere near where I was when Bartlet gave Charlie the knife.
Otherwise, it was great to see Bartlet the grandmaster, who has come on in military/foreign affairs, still troubled by Toby’s ability to poke at the sore spot that is his father, but knowing it is a problem for the campaign, and only just beginning to face that it’s a problem for his whole life. As was said in the podcast, Sheen smashed it, by knowing just how to judge his performance.
This was the first time Toby and the President had spoken since…! Meanwhile, I didn’t feel beaten over the head by the chess metaphor - I don’t play it, I only know it as a dramatic metaphor - while the voting in New Hampshire started quirkily with Josh obsessing about managing the news cycle. (Shouldn’t that be CJ’s domain?) Too right Donna took his coat to do the work for him. Eventually Taiwan’s struggle for democracy got through, and Josh came to call Donna off from trying to argue with this couple who were kind of angry about the omissions about the MS but kept raising other matters. Well, that’s what I assumed, so I was puzzled that the podcasters were puzzled by Josh’s volte face.
I didn’t jot down any other notes after watching it, so I can only say I enjoyed the prank war, even if Leo was right about how silly CJ and Charlie were. Charlie wiped the floor with her!
This entry was originally posted at https://shallowness.dreamwidth.org/477533.html.