The West Wing Season Four
The Cast
Martin Sheen .... President Jed Bartlet
Bradley Whitford .... Josh Lyman
Rob Lowe .... Sam Seaborn
Stockard Channing .... Abbey Bartlet
Dulé Hill .... Charlie Young
Allison Janney .... C.J. Cregg
Joshua Malina .... Will Bailey
Janel Moloney .... Donna Moss
Richard Schiff .... Toby Ziegler
John Spencer .... Leo McGarry
Bradley Whitford .... Josh Lyman
The Good
Well, this was the last season that The West Wing won an Emmy for best Drama series, so it's obviously high quality TV goodness. The characters are consistently excellent, storylines both believable & completely unbelievable, which is alright since it concerns the White House, somewhere that none of us will ever work more than likely. Especially with sentence structure like that, yipes.
The introduction of Will Bailey (Malina) was well done, & his integration into the White House staff was both smooth & rough, & that's exactly how it should be. I'm just sitting here, typing the bloody obvious right now. It's harder to talk about the good things because there are just so many that you can sum it up with: the entire show is excellent. But then there's the next section.
The Bad
Well something happened with Rob Lowe, & I only have andythesaint's word on that. Apparently he wanted out or something & that led to Sam Seaborn's character being kinda just.. never mentioned again. I hate it when real life politics interfere with art. Also, the C.J. episode with her high school reunion just didn't feel like it belonged. It's great getting back to the heart of the characters, but it felt very out of place.
& oh yeah. John Goodman? Why? You could kinda tell that series creator Aaron Sorkin kinda checked out 10 minutes early on the last episode of the season. It just didn't strike me as plausible in the least, & I'm being vague 'cause it's kind of a spoiler thing.
The Fucking Awesome
The last two episodes of the season (minus the previously mentioned LAST 10 minutes) were some of the best TV I've ever watched. With the intense techno tension buildup of the second last episode to most of the last episode, just fantastic TV goodness. I was a little glassy-eyed at the end of the second last episode, I don't mind telling you. It was incredibly well done.
I think Toby will always be my favourite character on the show, no matter what any of the others do. They all get their little moments in the sun, for sure, but Toby is consistently ON FIRE. Second favourite's gotta be President Bartlet, because he seems like the kinda dad I always wished I had.
The Verdict
What more can you say about one of the best shows on TV, other than it's consistently excellent. Fantastic writing, characters, storylines, just everything always comes together. Possibly one of the best ensemble casts in TV history, with everyone knowing their role ('cept for Lowe apparently). Highly recommended, as apparently this is the last high quality season in the show's history, again, based on what andythesaint has told me.
Season One Review
Season Two Review
Season Three Review