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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