Review of The Long Goodbye
Written by Toniann
I wish I could say I enjoyed this episode, but I didn't. I think it's
fair to say that straight off -- and while I'm planning to be fair in
my comments at well, if you loved it and don't want to hear criticism
of it, well, then, move on to the next post.
I scanned through some of the earlier posts on this episode and I saw
a lot of mention of ER in comparison -- but surprisingly, not the one
storyline I think most relevant, the one which centered around guest
star Alan Alda's character, a couple of seasons back, a brilliant
doctor suffering the onset of Alzheimer's. I'm sorry to say, I think
ER did a fantastic job with the topic while The West Wing, in my
opinion, came close... but no cigar. I do say, hats off to Allison
Janney, and to the actor playing her father, Donald Moffat. The scene
where they went fishing, and he forgot who she was - dark and
powerful. I was stunned. Overall, though, it just didn't pull it off
for me as well as I've seen this difficult topic broached elsewhere.
It was the plot I had trouble with -- the reunion we all knew CJ
would skip out of at least part of (I was surprised she actually gave
the speech), the quick hook-up, the abrupt ending. That, and frankly,
I missed the rest of the cast. The interaction. The relationships. We
learn a lot about characters through their interaction with others --
I feel like I've gotten a clearer understanding of CJ through how she
interacts with Toby, with Danny, with Bartlet, than from an episode
where she was away from them all. But that's just me.
Did you see how disappointed the WH Press Corps was when they
learned they weren't going to get Josh for the briefings? Well, who
can blame them -- that was just downright fun, last time around. For
them, anyhow.
Who travels in heels that high?
I don't have an opinion about Matthew Modine either way, but any
character who was once in a band called the Mollusks of Love has to
have something going for him. You know, though, the advance press on
this show kept saying he was going to be some rich, successful guy or
something -- far as I could tell, he was an ex successful stock guy
who now fixes watches. Which is great, and all (well, not the prison
part) but not exactly what I expected.
Archimedes is a great name for a cat.
You know what Toby really needs for his next birthday? A hands-free
headset for walking in the hallways. I know, I know, he'd probably
never want to use it, but the way he was holding the phone, neck all
scrunched up, just looked really uncomfortable.
Speaking of Toby, though, wow, that press briefing he did... I
liked the part where things were stated clearly over and over again.
Yeah.
Was that "I Wanna Be Sedated" playing as CJ & Marco sat in the
parking lot outside the reunion? Ironic.
"Stop it, both of you -- I'm very upset and I don't want to laugh."
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