Review of The Midterms
Written by Rachel
I had wondered how they might deal with the aftermath of the assassination. I couldn't quite imagine a whole fall of Josh recovering from his wounds and was not looking forward to them just dismissing the fact that he had suffered a critical injury. The design of this episode took care of this in an oh so creative fashion. By moving us through the twelve weeks of the election season we are able to see Josh, the President, Toby and the rest of the staff recovering from the effects of the shooting without rushing it or boring us.
Bartlet's obsession with the school board election was a hoot. I love this man. I'm ready to put my "Bartlet for President" bumper sticker on my car. The President is so single-minded. His inability to move off this issue was played well throughout the episode and made for some great lines. I loved the comment about him baking things for his daughters' schools.
Charlie's story was the most poignant. Dulé Hill plays this role with such quiet dignity. I'm glad the writers didn't just move past Charlie's reaction to the assassination attempt. He is carrying a burden of guilt that goes much further than we the viewers or the staff members of the West Wing knew. His scenes with Andrew Mackintosh and his son were great. My heart was breaking as Charlie admitted that his mother wasn't supposed to be at work the night she was shot. Zoey is right...he has had to deal with more than anyone should at his age.
Toby's anger is understandable. Personally, I don't know why the staff wasn't sent to some therapy, but in the absence of that it's great to see that someone was having a response to the situation. Mind you, I don't agree with what Toby was proposing, but his outrage was understandable.
I started this review shortly after the episode originally aired. I'm finishing it tonight, December 13, as I listen to George W. Bush make his first speech as President-Elect. Somehow Sam's comments at the end, that 150 million dollars was spent on a election and nothing changed. Elections can be funny that way. Of course, I bet Aaron Sorkin is kicking himself that Bush and Gore have stolen his plot idea for Bartlet's 2002 re-election campaign.
Since the episode aired, I've had a number of requests for Bartlet's comments to Dr. Jenna Jacobs. Sorkin has admitted that he cribbed the scene from an anti-Dr. Laura e-mail that as been circulating for the past few months. The "ripped from the headlines" flowed really nicely and fed well into tying up Bartlet's school board obsession and Toby's slow recovery.
Sam is given an interesting challenge tonight. It is here that the West Wing shows again why this show is so good. We see the seedy underbelly of politics, but understand why it has to happen that way. Sam lets his friend down, but he really has no choice. There are only so many political chips to go around and you can't waste them on a loser.
Okay, I must add a nit-pick. I missed the Verizon error in the premiere (Josh is talking on a Verizon pay phone three years ago...Verizon only became a company last summer), but this week Toby said he was going to take something to "Reno." I have to assume he was speaking of the woman, not the city. The Bartlet presidency is an alternative universe, so to inject this was, well... an error.
Finally, it's great to see Josh on the road to recovery. I'm intrigued with what's going on with Donna. I love how she runs his life. The physics joke played well, even catching the ear of the president of Cal Tech, the institution to which Josh referred. Again, this episode concept deals realistically with the reality of Josh's severe injuries while not taking Brad Whitford out of action for an extended period of time.
As usual, a job well-done. Man, why does this show seem so much more tolerable than our reality?
Copyright ©2000 by Rachel Vagts. All rights reserved.
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