Review of Mandatory Minimums


Written by Toniann

  • Not a big deal, I guess, but you know the opening speech of the episode, where Bartlet is warming up to announcing his two candidates for the FEC? He's talking about term limits, and how they're unnecessary because we have "elections", where voters set term limits by casting votes. Okay, wait a second: Bartlet wants to get away with term limits? All of them? Whoa, there, Nellie. You may have strayed to far off the path for me.

  • What's the history, really, behind that "Irish lads throwing their caps over the wall" story? As a question of folklore, I'm just curious.

  • Continuing with the Godfather theme proposed by Josh, you know who the Senate Majority Leader reminds me of? The movie producer, in the beginning, the one Tom Hagen goes out to see. You know, the horse's head guy.

  • Can I tell you, closed captioning was sub-par for this episode. I got things like "imagery" and "abowt treatment". Funny, but come on.

  • A fine silent moment: Margaret straightening out her pencils. That actress deserves accolades, she's a hoot.

  • Hey, why wasn't CJ at the off-site breakfast meeting? I mean, everyone else was there.

  • Speaking of CJ, I thought Leo was a bit harsh with her, to put it mildly. So she misspoke. It was an honest mistake. She was uninformed and made a mistake. Maybe someone should've briefed her more carefully, but in any case, it was just a slipup, and she'd corrected it, end of story, and at least the president reacted in just such a way. Leo, in my humble opinion, was kind of a bastard about it, considering the many and various times Josh or Sam have done equal things with nary a mention. Anyhow, I'll get off my CJ soapbox for now.

  • Charlie's bit about Joey being a "fine lookin' woman" got, well, repetitious. One the other hand, I must say, Josh could probably learn some great dating tips from him. Charlie's certainly more successful at it than he is.

  • So, you know, the bit with the 7 people and the drugs thing, that was entertaining and, as Andy said, kind of fun. It was good writing, sure. Honestly, though, I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that I'm on Al Keifer's side. Science really doesn't sell all that well. And as a voter, I don't know how jazzed I am about treatment replacing punishment either. In other words, amusing writing, but I found the political argument being made less than convincing.

  • Lastly, can I just say that I adore Toby's ex-wife, Andy? She's, like, the perfect ex-wife for him. She completely gets his humor and cares about him. On some level, the two of them are obviously always going to be a little nutty about it each other. But, as he tells Leo another time (later), there are also obviously reasons why they could never live together. In any case, though, I hope we continue to see more of Andy.


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