Review of Bartlet's Third State of the Union


Written by Toniann

Hmmm. Well, don't get me wrong, I thought it was a great episode. Action-filled, lots to think about, and there's certain to be some exciting moments next week in conclusion. I think, however, that the humor of this episode didn't meld with the seriousness as well as it usually does, if that makes any sense. I felt we were switching gears a lot.

  • For some reason, the President's pause to tie his shoes was somehow momentous. Is it just me, or when he then paused at the door and bowed his head, did anyone else think he'd tied them together or something?

  • You know, somewhere I thought I heard that they no longer had that guy do the whole "Mr. Speaker, the President of the United States" thing. True or false?

  • Those are nice terrycloth robes they have there at the White House. Though I kind of thought that they would've found CJ a change of clothes before she had to go on the air, it set up the bizarre Ainsley "Bossa Nova" bit later. "Dance with me, Sam!", huh?

  • Who's Who in the Situation Room: still no Anna Devere-Smith. And is John Amos gone for good, anyone?

  • A la "My Secret Service name is Flamingo", I got a kick out of the whole code-phrase of "Leo McGarry wants you to meet an old friend." What can I say, I'm easily amused.

  • Where do they do the polling? Not in the actual White House, I gather. Wherever it is, they really need to think about a backup generator.

  • Electricity Girl, indeed. Joey sure was bouncy in this one, wasn't she? Noel Cowardesque qit, that's one way of putting it.

  • The real story there, though, is Josh and Donna. What's up? I mean, from my point of view Donna is just being her usual nosy/bossy in a caring kind of way in trying to nudge Josh into making a move with Joey. She's done it before. To me it comes across as a kid sister kind of thing. But clearly Josh is finding it a little odd, from his "Donna's acting a little..." bit to Sam, which means we (the audience) are supposed to read something into it as well. I guess what I'm saying is, if this is a subtle move to show some sort of thing between Josh and Donna, I'm not getting it, exactly.

  • Great moment: when Leo ushered the President into the Oval Office where he was astounded to find quite an assemblage of Defense and military personnel. We really saw it through Bartlet's eyes and as a result, in the ensuing scenes I found myself identifying with the tough decisions he was going to have to make.

  • "We had a deal." So, color me obtuse, but I guess what Abby was saying was that she and Jed had discussed and agreed that he would not run for a second term? Furthermore, I'm assuming his health was part of that decision? Well, in any case, I thought Stockard Channing did a great job with this episode. She conveyed an awful lot of tension when talking to Leo and Toby about the speech, more than the language changes and so forth seemed to merit. Which clued us in to the fact that there was a bigger picture at stake, but without hitting us over the head with it. She really kept herself reined in, and it added another level to her character. I hope we stick with that angle in the next few eps.

  • Completely OT Comment of the Week: what's the verdict on NBC's Supersized Friends tactic? Is it keeping fans from switching over to Survivor? I confess it's not doing the job with me, and I'm a pretty devoted Friends viewer. In fact, I didn't have any intention of watching Survivor at all, but they sucked me in with the post-Superbowl premiere. It's like a car accident on the highway, I can't look away-- there's just something about how Survivor reflects everyday life in microcosm that appeals to me. Now, if only the networks would go for my idea for "Office Survivor", *that* would be something to see.


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