WATCH THIS: If you've forgotten what it was like to watch Season Two of "The West Wing" for the first time,
The AV Club's Steve Heisler just completed his summer-long recap with
"18th and Potomac" and
"Two Cathedrals" yesterday:
There he stands, hands in his pockets, a grin forming on his face just as Mrs. Landingham had noticed. So much of this show has been complicated, but the final moment of "Two Cathedrals," one of the finest I've ever seen on television, is deceptively simple. The essence of The West Wing is that the most complicated problems always have the simplest answers. Why answer 14 or 15 questions at once when you only need to answer one?
One of my proudest moments as a WW devotee was right after the end of Eighteenth & Potomac, when they showed the preview for Two Cathedrals. The showed Leo uttering "Watch this." I turned to my wife and sister, who were watching with me, and said, "That's the last line of the season." I didn't know what it meant, but I knew that was it.
ReplyDeleteMan, it sucks that they're not coming back for season 3 until next summer; Christina and I are about halfway through. We just finished "Dead Irish Writers," and my opinion of Stockard Channing and how she plays Abby's final dealing with the medical board went way, way up. Also, the subplot involving Donna and the INS is still hysterical.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I love Two Cathedrals for many, many reasons, but one reason that gets overlooked is Schlamme's tremendous directing in the last 10 minutes or so (everything after "Brothers in Arms" begins). From the gathering of the President's men and women as they file out to head to the press conference, to the shots of DC in the rain, to CJ's interactions with the press, to the shots of the President's contingent's feet entering building, to (especially) the various shots of the staff in the moment before Leo's "watch this," he manages to create a magnificent series of shots. Really, go back and watch the final two or three minutes -- everything after Bartlet takes the stage. Amazing.
ReplyDeleteTotally agree, Russ. I get chills every time "Brothers in Arms" starts - it's such a brilliant sequence, and is directed beautifully. The moment that always gets me is when Bartlet goes through his office and Charlie holds out his coat for him. The President declines to take the coat, so Charlie pauses a moment, then takes off his own coat and follows the president. I guess the relationship between Charlie and Bartlet often gets to me, but this is the moment that gets me most.
ReplyDeleteLove the scene in that episode with all the women drinking together.
ReplyDelete"The First Lady just asked me to get boozy with her. You think I don't want to write a book someday?"
"For god's sake, Mrs. Bartlet, you were also a doctor when your husband said, 'give me the drugs and don't tell anyone."
For as much acclaim as she's gotten for Weeds, the part of Amy Gardner may be the best thing Mary Louse-Parker has ever done. (She was also great in "Proof," but was really too old for the part.)
ReplyDelete"You're back to being first lady again, aren't you?"
ReplyDeleteIt's Channing's expression there that really struck me on the rewatch; she's realizing that unlike her husband, she's been feeling more than a little selfish about her license and not taking her medicine like Jeb did.
Oh my god that argument in Josh's apartment (or maybe her apartment) with the phones and the soup and the Van Morrison!!! I love that. Wow, I need more West Wing in my life.
ReplyDeleteReading these WW recaps as Heisler watches for the first time has been a true pleasure this summer. I own a few TV series on DVD, but mostly one-season shows like MSCL and Freaks & Geeks. I own all seven seasons of WW and every time I read a recap I'm tempted to start the series all over again.
ReplyDeleteOkay, but how do you pass the National Cathedral when going from the White House to the State Department?
ReplyDeleteE St NW was rained out and they had to make a 7 mile diversion?
ReplyDeleteSorkin has always taken great liberties with DC geography. He also thinks that any trip from point A to point B necessarily involves a trip through Dupont Circle.
ReplyDeleteWhen they play O Canada for Donna and Channing says "You were VERY good today, Donna." Kills me every time.
ReplyDeleteI've been rewatching season 7 with Smits and Alda. I like it more this time around, perhaps because I'm able to watch the writers move all the pieces into place.
Well, if President Shepherd would just declare it a Federal Disaster Area already...
ReplyDelete