He Shall, From Time To Time

In honor of election day, I present to you my top 10 West Wing episodes, in series order.

The Short List

Eschewing what society considers the “model” Supreme Court nominee/justice, Bartlet vets and nominates a staunchly liberal former police officer judge who is also Hispanic. Edward James Olmos acts the living fuck out of his very few scenes as Judge Roberto Mendoza, and Martin Sheen does a great job at playing a president who is having the living fuck beat out of him (verbally) by the outgoing Supreme Court Justice. The B plot is superb, featuring “gasbag” congressman Lillianfield accusing 1 in 3 White House staffers of being on drugs. It’s the start of a longer story arc involving Leo’s past, and it even makes an appearance in the 3rd season during Leo’s congressional hearing. However, the entire scene following the press conference is comic gold, featuring a timeless quote from Josh: “Five White House staffers in the room. I would like to say to the 1.6 of you who are stoned right now, that it’s time to share.”

In Excelsis Deo

Toby plays the unexpected hero, Josh and Sam are the keystone kops, and Leo is Officer Krupke in this Christmas episode. Toby is revealed to have a heart and a soft spot for veterans when he arranges a military funeral and an honor guard for a homeless Korean War vet who was found wearing a coat that Toby gave to the Goodwill. Mrs. Landingham, having lost two sons in the Vietnam War herself (and at Christmastime, no less), finds a way to remember and pay tribute to them by accompanying Toby to the funeral. Meanwhile, Sam and Josh are digging up dirt on Republicans (or trying to) using Sam’s Special Hooker Friend. Never mind that Leo said no, “We don’t do that.” And as accent pieces to this lovely episode, the President steals out to a rare book store, and CJ is trying to convince Leo, Danny, and everyone else that hate crime legislation is an important pursuit. The episode ends with Little Drummer Boy being sung over alternating shots of Toby and Mrs. Landingham at the funeral, and the rest of the staffers gathering together in one of the series’ most iconic shots. Take note, this is one of only three times that the West Wing has managed to use outside (i.e. non-score) music appropriately.

Celestial Navigation

Josh’s narration and constant blundering win the day in this absolutely classic episode. His inept and comedic performance at the press conference (where he was filling in for CJ) is hands down one of the funniest scenes in the entire series. Add in Toby and Sam, lost on the Merritt Parkway, trying to find the Wesley, CT police station so they can spring the wrongfully incarcerated nominee to the Supreme Court. Not to mention CJ, who talks with cotton in her mouth for about half the episode, due to an emergency root canal. Josh telling (most of) the story in flashback while speaking at a local university is key here, and having the B plot with Toby and Sam and Mendoza take place at the same time as the lecture (and not the actual main plot) was a stroke of brilliance.

Let Bartlet Be Bartlet

Anyone who loves the West Wing has to have this episode in their top 15 somewhere. After nearly a season of frustration, of watching these characters struggle in the constructs of the White House, of Washington, of Congress, of Politics, and most of all, of the President, we watch Leo and the President liberate them all. The President refuses to sit on the fence anymore, and Leo refuses to let him. Watching Leo and Jed fight in the oval office, and then watching the resolution, I always well up. “This is more important than reelection, I want to speak now.” After a day of meetings that went nowhere, that echoed months of meetings that went nowhere, Leo goes back into the office and takes them off the leash. “If we’re going to walk in to walls, I want us running full speed…And we’re gonna lose some of these battles, and we might even lose the White House, but we’re not gonna be threatened by issues.” Truer words were never spoken. In that White House, and in the White House we all hope to see someday.

What Kind of Day Has It Been/In the Shadow of Two Gunmen Parts I and II

The first season finale and the season two openers are (or should be) models of finales and premieres. The gradual build up in the finale to what everyone knew would happen (the shooting, as it had been advertised) was great. The bait and switch between an air force pilot downed in Iraq and Toby’s brother on the stalled Space Shuttle was wonderful – you’d assume in a finale like that, there just wouldn’t be happy news. But there was – twice. The episode left the audience at the ideal point of tension: you got to see the shooting, see everyone scrambling and taking cover, and then a lone secret service voice shouting “Who’s been hit?” The first episode of the second season picks up not with the President, but with the staff. CJ bumped her head, Toby and Sam are alright, Leo, Zoe, Charlie, and the President are all in cars. But no one can find Josh. Slumped up against a fence, Toby finds him, and the music breaks in. We discover that the President suffered a minor gunshot wound, and that Josh’s injury is extremely serious and will require 12-14 hours of surgery. We take periodic trips into Josh’s memory, exploring how he and the rest of the staff came to work on the Bartlet campaign, and how they won the nomination (after polling in the single digits). When we’re not in Josh’s memory, we’re with the President, who is recovering and finding out that Charlie was the target of the shooting. We’re also with CJ, who is dealing with answering questions from the press while being shaken and not quite remembering what happened to her during the shooting. We’re with Leo and the Vice President, who have to make some military decisions. And we watch everyone try to deal with the fact that since the President didn’t sign a letter giving the VP power when he’s under anesthesia, no one was in fact in charge of the country for a couple of hours. Clever, well thought, well executed, the West Wing came bounding back from an exemplary first season with a premiere that trumpeted to everyone that there would be no sophomore slump.

The Leadership Breakfast

CJ was right. Toby was wrong. It wasn’t the first time it had happened, but it was the first time it had such wide ramifications. Toby played right into the conniving hands of Ann Stark, the new chief of staff for the Majority Leader. Historically hating ceremony, Toby demanded that at the Congressional Leadership Breakfast, everyone be allowed to discuss an important issue (Patient’s Bill of Rights, raising the minimum wage). The trade off? Ann wanted the entire proceeding press conference on the Hill, something which CJ had already rejected. Toby overruled her, and caused an unmitigated disaster. Plain and simple, it’s fun watching CJ be right. She’s right, and she’s classy doing it. Per usual, the B plots are not to be ignored. A domino effect follows when Leo insults a prominent reporter, causing Sam to (while he was apologizing for Leo’s insult) mistake Kurdistan for Kazakhstan, which then caused Donna to have to apologize for Sam, during which she left her underwear on the floor in front of this reporter. Plus, one of the funniest pre-credit openings in the series: the heat is not working, and Sam and Josh decide to build a fire in one of the fireplaces. During their mountain men positing, they fail to realize that the flue had been welded shut since the mid 1800s.

18th and Potomac/Two Cathedrals

Two Cathedrals, the second season finale, is widely considered to be the single best episode in the series (and I believe the swan song for the West Wing’s golden age). Preparations are underway for the President’s first MS interview. The press conference is being arranged, and the information leak is started. Mrs. Landingham’s funeral is earlier in the day before the interview. And no one knows if he’s going to run again. The President is a shadow of himself; he goes through the motions, constantly thinking about how he met Mrs. Landingham. The flashbacks are perfectly cast, young Jed and young Mrs. Landingham almost perfectly embodying their older counterparts. It seems that without her, he’s crippled. In an empty National Cathedral after the funeral, Jed angrily confronts God. At once, he’s enraged at God and at his earthly father: why isn’t anything good enough? Why must you take away things that are precious to me? “You’re a son of a bitch, you know that?” He killed Mrs. Landingham as she was taking her first drive in her first new car. He almost killed Josh, his son. What else has Jed done for God’s son but praise his glory and praise his name. Painfully yelling upwards in Latin, he tries to understand, but he finds no understanding. He tells God fine. He’ll quit. He gets Hoynes. Until, of course, Mrs. Landingham pays him a visit. After one of the most boomingly powerful scenes, Sorkin follows it with the most quietly transformational scenes. He speaks to Mrs. Landingham, and she tells it to him like it is. He has no right to act put upon, with his abilities, in his position. Adults and children without healthcare. Kids born into poverty. Schools that are falling apart. And in those moments, he repents. Hands in his pockets, soaked with rain, a quiet song with a roaming guitar line playing, he smiles.

Enemies Foreign and Domestic

This episode from the erratic and overall “meh” third season surprised me quite a lot. Sam is finalizing details for the President’s trip to Russia with two of the Russian President’s Aides (played by a really hot guy and also Al Swearingen). As Sam picks at minute details, he notes their struggles with the English language, which later helps him decipher a secret message from the new Russian President concerning Russia’s nuclear dealings with Iran. The look of pride and satisfaction on Sam’s face is immeasurable as he realizes that he’s not only saved the administration from having to cancel the trip (a strong diplomatic insult), but he’s also helped a nation come one step further out of their Cold War entrenchment. CJ, on the other hand, is appalled and disgusted when she hears that a group of Saudi schoolgirls were prevented from leaving a burning building because they weren’t dressed correctly. Allison Janney totally nails the press briefing, when she reminds everyone that in Saudi Arabia, women can’t drive a car, they can’t leave the house with anyone but a male family member, and they can’t dress in anything but burkas -- their “lives” are anything but. “Am I surprised? No…that is Saudi Arabia, our partners in peace.” This storyline is a great follow-up from the earlier third season episode The Women of Qumar, where CJ first displays her anger and dismay at how radical Islam treats its women. It took long enough for Sorkin and co to develop the only female senior staffer on the show, but when they finally got around to it, witnessing the fullness of her character was worth the wait.

2162 Votes

The sixth season ender is how you both hope and dread the nominating convention will go. No clear frontrunner, unexpected developments, new candidates, behind the scenes scrambling. The excitement the episode creates is almost palpable, as you wonder how it’s going to go, what’s going to happen next. Santos, while not a long shot, doesn’t have the votes to beat Vice President Russell – who doesn’t have the votes to win either. Talks start to revolve a second ballot, knowing that the first one won’t produce a winner. When Russell VP contender Baker suddenly throws his hat into the ring, all hell breaks loose. Leo, the head of the convention, asks Santos to drop out of the race so there can be a nominee, and they can move on. It’s hurting the party, and he doesn’t have a chance. The balloting goes to the second night, and Santos is asked to speak. Even Josh, his campaign manager, thinks that Santos is going to drop out and endorse one of the candidates. What follows is one of the most inspirational moments the West Wing has ever provided. Santos won’t drop out of the race – that choice is for the delegates to make, and theirs alone. He tells everyone to be proud of their vote, be proud to be a democrat, to go back to their states and proclaim that they did their duty. And then, the crowd is behind him, and for a moment, politics, politicians, and the convention seems to all work the way it should. Swayed by great oratory, great inspiration, great respect. Daniel Webster and William Jennings Bryan would both be proud.

Institutional Memory

In the last season, the focus of the show was on the campaigns. The President and the White House seemed to be afterthoughts – that’s not where the action was anymore. So Allison Janney’s CJ Cregg, the first female Chief of Staff in history (fake history, as there hasn’t been one yet in real history), got left behind. Thankfully, the showrunners knew that they couldn’t leave her out in the cold – they had to cap off her character. In the appropriately named Institutional Memory, CJ struggles with a schedule that is emptier than she thinks it should be, several job prospects both attractive and forced, distracted staffers, her complicated relationship with Toby, and her budding relationship with Danny. After being offered an incredibly amazing job (here’s a couple of billion dollars, go fix something) from the head of a software company with islands full of money (Bill Gates Clone), she is also offered a job from President Elect Santos to be a special advisor. She thinks that this is an offer she can’t refuse, and it puts a damper on her relationship with Danny. Danny doesn’t want to wait for her to come out of the White House for another two years – he wants a real relationship with her, something CJ thinks is moving way too fast. Completely confused and angry, CJ visits Toby for the first time since he confessed to being the leak. Toby tells her what dedicated West Wing viewers already know: CJ should be with Danny, do what she wants, and not feel beholden to the magic office of the President. It’s easy to see that Toby and his no nonsense ways were missing from her life, and when she arrives at Danny’s, it’s even more obvious that Toby has the ability to help CJ see reality more than anyone else. Talking to Danny, she finally lets him in to her life, and they’re suddenly partners in the same relationship. In one scene, we see what’s been wrong with CJ since we met her, and we see her get past it. Given her perfect partner, CJ can finally live her full life.