Review of The U.S. Poet Laureate
Written by Toniann
You know, this episode reminds me of something or other I learned in a Poetry course in college... or maybe it was a history seminar, I don't know. Point being, I seem to recall being told that the position of Poet Laureate (or its equivalent) is more exalted in Britain than it is here in the U.S. Anyone have anything further on that?
Though, oddly, for an episode title "The US Poet Laureate", we heard little poetry. What I mean to say is, I was surprised the Laura Dern storyline was just a subplot, hardly the main thrust of the episode. Seemed odd that was the title.
Warning! Negative comment ahead! :) I was a little disappointed with the Poet Laureate story. I guess I expected something else; I thought Laura Dern's character would be a little less flighty, I thought she'd interact with more of the staff than just Toby, I dunno. I like her, generally. And I certainly like Toby. Though, out of curiosity, I wonder if Sam would have handled the situation in a different way? Or a better way?
Well, color me not one to make leaps of logic: it never occurred to me that Bartlet saw the green light was on and knew what he was doing the whole time. Not until CJ accused him of just that -- whoa, man, Old School indeed. Talk about a smart move.
For some reason, I got a big kick out of Toby holding up the cue card that had "INNOVATION" scrawled on it in big letters. Not sure why, but it cracked me up.
What's b-roll? I can get the gist from context, but wondered about the technical definition.
So, here's my question: was Josh not bothered by the fact that his fan site is called "Lemon" Lyman? I'm sure someone has already mentioned this, but doesn't that name make you think of bad used cars?
Hey, you know, at one point Leo was standing in the Oval Office and he picked up one of what looked like a bunch of really pretty paperweights for a second, and then POTUS came in. There's no real reason to mention that, but the paperweights looked nice, like the clear kind with a flower-thing inside. My grandmother had one like that. Anyhow. I do tend to tangent needlessly.
Has CJ gotten terrific at handling that press room, or what? Not to mention handling Josh. You go, girl.
Hey, that reminds me (tangentially!), I saw the preview for next week's "Ed", and Timothy Busfield (Danny) is guest-starring. If he's got time for that he's got time for TWW, doesn't he? Bring Danny back! And Zoey, while you're at it!
Congressman Wachtel (in Sam's office briefly) was the dad on 90210, Jim Walsh. Just FYI.
Is Ainsley wearing flip-flops or something, walking out of Toby's office near the end of the episode?
Last but not least, Sam and Ainsley's conversation about (amongst other things) the "Evil Eight" reminded me of a scene in "The American President" where the Bad Opponent refers to the Good President as being Ivy League-educated; "I went to Stanford, you blowhole!" was the response. Does Sorkin think no one knows which schools are Ivys and which aren't? Maybe he's right, I dunno. I could name all eight now, but I leave that as an exercise for the reader. :)
"Knock 'em dead, de Bergerac."
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