Review of Enemies Foreign and Domestic
Written by Toniann
Drat. I missed the first ten minutes -- late meeting. Thank goodness I remembered to set the VCR. In any case, though, I may have missed a few of the early finer points.
Fitz, you old polecat... you old horse thief, you old muckety muck. I'm right there with Bartlet -- boy, it was great to have him back. Thank you Sorkin and Company, for hearing our pleas.
Toby with nothing to do is pretty funny. I think Janice the security guard didn't think so, but I thought his whole ramble about scuba diving with Ludmilla Koss was downright comic.
You know, I thought it was just quirky that the Russian guys knew onomatopoeia but not frumpy... not being Sam, it certainly never occurred to me that this would prove to be part of a major plot twist later. Nice catch, Sam, indeed. I guess putting him at the helm of foreign policy wouldn't be an altogether ridiculous idea.
And it's a good thing that the President is going to Helsinki after all, because Sam spent all that time negotiating about the overcoat and the earmuffs and all. The earmuffs are even optional, I mean, who could ask for anything more?
Actually, though, for the record, I'm quite willing to believe that Bartlet doesn't know how to operate a VCR.
I think I caught on to the subplot with Charlie and Alan Tatum's letter, despite missing the initial scene. I thought that was a very nice bit and enjoyed the way it played out, kind of the nice little feel-good bit for this episode. But for some reason I thought Charlie looked sad, or troubled, in that last bit where he and Tatum sort of nodded to each other in the Oval Office. Am I just imagining things? This is, of course, entirely possible.
So, CJ. I'm not so sure why she's so resistant to Secret Service protection; I heard what she said about being a woman in a man's job, and it didn't seem like enough, not when her life is on the line. Of course she relented when shown the surveillance pictures of herself, but she was mulish with Agent Simon Donovan (more on him later) a few scenes later. I don't know. I think I'd be scared enough to do whatever was necessary.
And as for the being in a man's job thing... well... not to start a Great Debate on this or anything, but, really? Am I being naive to think that this would not be such a problem in the West Wing, given the people CJ works with? Is it really a male/female thing, the times CJ has felt shut out by the staff or there has been conflict? I'm not convinced that's so, I think it's more that her position as Press Secretary means that she has the closest tie to the public, and *that's* where the concern has been. Anyhow, I'm kind of rambling on around this topic, but I'm mulling it over a bit. I certainly know first-hand about prejudice against women in the professional workplace. I'm not denying it exists. I'm just not convinced we've ever actually seen CJ subjected to it.
And as for Agent Donovan... whenever I see Mark Harmon in anything, I still remember him as the guy Maddie (Cybill Shepherd) hooked up with in "Moonlighting". :) My mother, as a side note, is convinced he's going to turn out to be her stalker (she said he looked "villainous"). I find that pretty unlikely, but geez, if somehow it turns out that way, Mom's sure going to make me eat my words. I think she's just got long-buried "Moonlighting" shipper issues.
"I knew I'd get screwed by a computer one day."
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