Review of Take Out the Trash Day
Written by Toniann
review written in Jan. 2002
My favorite part of this episode, hands down, was the CJ/Danny storyline. From the opening "Freak boy" comment to their final scene, it was fascinating watching them together. And the running commentary about grabbing & kissing was pretty funny, too -- especially the time she didn't do it.
When Toby questioned CJ about leaking stories to Danny, I thought he was out of line. But it turns out he was onto something, and I think he knew CJ better than she knew herself in that moment. I don't think Toby would suspect her of doing it on a whim or to garner Danny's favor, I think he foresaw the situation that occurred: that there would be stories that CJ would want, in her heart, to be leaked. Anyhow, kudos to Danny for taking the high road and not taking advantage of her.
Because, lastly, let's not forget: CJ is a woman in her prime. She's a prime woman.
Loved Josh and CJ's little scene about the sex ed report. So "abstinence plus" equals "everything but"? You know, I knew a girl in college who, for religious reasons, believed in that theory. Her boyfriend was more than happy to go along with that philosophy.
Carol seems like a great assistant, but she really can't spell.
I got a huge kick out of Sam's musings about how impossible it would be to stop people from coveting their neighbor's wives. I have to agree. Not to get all religious/philosophical here, but it was a point I had trouble with in religious instruction classes. That, and the bit about not having impure thoughts. Impure thoughts?! It's not enough that we don't do it, we're not even supposed to think about it? Sheesh. Throw me a bone, will you?
I can think of no finer champion for Miss Julia Child than Toby Ziegler. And hey, today, that lineup would include Antiques Roadshow as well, and we all know I'm pretty attached to Antiques Roadshow. So yeah, Toby, give 'em hell.
Sigh. I don't like Mandy.
I'm sorry, I'll elaborate. She botched that business with the Lydells. Not CJ, Mandy. She's the one who read the father completely wrong and mistook his reticence for homophobia, when in fact this man very rightly is disappointed in our government for not standing up for gay rights. Talk about insulting. She led CJ to believe that was the case, and let CJ go in there and say that. Crappy prep work, if you ask me. And then she told CJ to "get it together". I think CJ had a pretty damn good point, personally, and maybe one Bartlet should have been presented with. I can even see a political spin to be put on it, frankly, and I don't even care about political spin. Anyhow, I don't like Mandy.
Likewise, I think Sam was 100% right to fire the leak, Karen Larsen, and Leo was wrong to rehire her. Oh, I know why he did it, and I understand that he feels that he owes it to someone like her, because of all of the chances he's been given. But it doesn't work that way. She was a campaign staffer that already had some sort of wacky crush-incident with the VP, and now she's proven untrustworthy. Geez, did we give her back her high-level FBI clearance, too?
Having said all of that, though, don't get me wrong: I thought it was a well-written and powerful episode. I may not have agreed with the actions of the characters, but it was compelling drama that elicited a response from me. That's all you can ask for.
"It's Fozzy Bear, not Fuzzy Bear."
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