Review of A Proportional Response
Written by Toniann
review written in Jan. 2002
I tend to agree with Donna. When your boss really needs something from you is
probably the best possible time to ask for a raise.
CJ lying in wait in Josh's office was priceless. It reminded me of a phrase
from "Gone With The Wind", where Mammy is chastising Scarlett for wanting to go
to Atlanta and see Ashley. "And there you'll be waiting for him, just like a
spider!" Different situation, same impact.
For my two cents, CJ is right. It was stupid for Sam, Josh, and Toby to leave
her out of the loop. She's the person who's going to get asked about Sam's call
girl friend first, and she's the person who's going to be the first one with an
opportunity to defend him. I think that Sam and Josh, especially, haven't
developed much trust or respect for CJ yet. That'll change, eventually. What
surprises me is that Toby didn't tell her.
And really, Josh really is pretty silly, calling CJ names. "Feminista"? He's
always going to lose that battle; I'd put my money on CJ any day.
To put it succinctly: I probably would have gotten more out of the president's
theme this episode, what is the virture of a proportional response, if we hadn't
already explored this topic in "The American President". It's not stealing if
you copy yourself, I guess.
Charlie really was great even from his first scene. I don't remember watching
this episode the first time around, but I'm sure a lot of folks thought, "This
kid is too good to be true". And maybe so, but he's stayed that way,
consistently, for three seasons now.
I notice in these early episodes that the staff had less access to, and less
of a relationship with, the president. CJ had to ask Leo for time with the
president in a way that implied that was difficult to come by; Sam made some
comments about just now getting involved with policy. I buy it, except that
they'd already gone through the campaign together. I just thought they'd be
closer than this, even in the early first season, because of that.
To echo an earlier Random Thought, about Cathy, I sure do miss seeing Admiral
Fitzwallace (John Amos) on the show. Put him on the "get back" list, as well.
I'd forgotten how quickly they set up the relationship between CJ and Danny,
how he slipped into the show. An interesting beginning to a relationship, bother
working and (briefly) personal.
Leo and Bartlet's scene together, where Leo pulls him back from the edge
regarding the attack, was a nice way to develop the personal relationship
between them that we'd been hearing about. A scene that needed to happen, I
think, so that the audience could base their understanding of the bond between
them on something concrete.
Lastly, the brief exchange between Charlie and Josh ("I've never felt this way
before." "It doesn't go away.") may seem corny to some, but to me, it was not
only touching, but a vital concept behind this show and what makes it so
successful: people really want to see, and believe, that it *can* be this
wonderful, the governing of our country. It gives us something to believe in,
and something to strive towards.
"And I'm your host CJ. Let's play our game!"
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