Review of The Crackpots and These Women


Written by Toniann

review written in Jan. 2002

  • The great thing about the basketball game in the teaser is not that it's funny (it is), but that it's also serious. As we see later in the episode, some of the things Toby and Bartlet were saying to each other were quite heartfelt.

  • I really loved the story about the president playing mixed doubles with Toby and CJ, though, and showing up with Steffi Graf as his partner.

  • So, this is the first Big Block of Cheese Day. No matter how many times they refer to this on the show, I can't stop obsessing about just how big a two-ton block of cheese would be. Moreover, where would Andrew Jackson have gotten such a thing made? What dairy farmer had a two-ton mold? Speaking of mold, didn't the thing go bad?

  • The crackpots in this episode (as opposed to later seasons) were, well, I thought, at least, more cracked. But I did get a kick out of the guy who wanted Sam to tell the president that we should be spending more time and effort looking for UFOs. Someone needs to put that guy in touch with Mulder & Scully instead.

  • Don't you wish we could have seen Roberto Benigni push CJ into a pool?

  • The president's complete mood change when he heard that Zoey was coming to visit was nice. Suddenly he was bright and chipper and ordering the staff to be excited about chili. Fun.

  • You know, they keep talking about the First Lady's Ouija board. Obviously they hadn't fleshed out the character of the First Lady yet, because from where I'm standing, mid-season 3, Abigail Bartlet (Stockard Channing) is not the kind of woman who would consult a Ouija board.

  • I really enjoyed Josh's subplot in this episode, his scenes with the therapist and then with CJ at the end. When he figured out, talking to Sam, that he was the only senior staff to get an NSC card -- and he'd already been feeling terrible about Donna, as it was. Learning about his sister, Joanie. And his decision to give the card back -- that was nice, character-wise, and I liked the way he told the president and Leo. The cynic in me couldn't help thinking that in real life, it's not the kind of thing Josh would have a choice about.

  • The way Josh was associating "Ave Maria" with his upset regarding the card, Donna, his friends, and his sister was interesting, considering that a year later, in "Noel", music is what triggers his post-traumatic stress incident.

  • You know, those wolf people CJ was talking to had just no sense of humor. I thought her joke about the wolf not having photo ID to cross the US-Canada border was funny. The bit about Pluie the Wolf getting drunk and eating her cat was humorous too, except that I don't think I've heard CJ mention a cat since. If she has one, I very much want to hear about it.

  • I've never been able to decide just what was going on when Mandy told Toby that David Rosen had been offered his job first. Was she really "being nice"? It doesn't seem like a very nice thing to do, but then again, I'm assuming she knew he didn't know. Maybe she thought it was old news.

  • Wasn't the Charlie/Zoey meeting just too cute? And did you see Josh essentially nudging them together?

  • I loved how, during the staff chili get-together, you come back from commercial and other conversations, and CJ is still trying to explain how vending machines kill people.

  • The best part of this episode, for me, was Toby and Bartlet. Watching them argue, seeing the pot ready to boil, the rest of the staff aware of the tension as well. And then the wonderful way it concluded, with Toby sitting down to talk to the president, and Bartlet saying, "I couldn't live without you, Toby." Terrific resolution, and such a building moment for their relationship.

    "Is it 'Total Crackpot Day' again?"


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