Review of Debate Camp


Written by Toniann

  • As a former debate team member, I have to confess: there's always a time when what you really want to say to your opponent is "Bite me". It's understandable. Not generally effective unless the people judging the debate are about fifteen years old, but you never know.

  • Leo walks into debate prep and it's like Doom walking in -- it reminds of of that time someone said that every time that Leo takes the president into the Sit Room they want to start buying canned goods. Speaking of the Sit Room, I wasn't sure which I liked better, the on-the-go caravan walking through the wooded grounds, or the temporary setup in a barn. Whatever works, as long as we don't upset the Joint Chiefs by arguing in front of them.

  • All of that, though, pales before the nuclear missile underneath the Eisenhower putting green. I'm going to admit it: Donna and her co-conspirator Michael didn't just have Josh going, they had me going as well. She has something of a habit of doing this -- that woman has a much better poker face than I do. It was awful nice, though, to hear Josh say he'd trust her with his life. That's sweet. Even if he did kick a little too much joy out of that "Bambiesque" line.

  • I hate to say it, but CJ had really bad hair four years ago. Then again, didn't we all? I'm speaking for myself, at least.

  • Team Toby (which I am so a member of) has an early lead: wow. Andy's pregnant. That's just... amazing. Nice. Great development, character-wise. Though I'm puzzled about a couple of things with that story. Toby was still married to Andy during the first election? It didn't seem that way, in "In The Shadow of Two Gunmen", with all the flashbacks. They didn't say anything, but he seemed divorced. That scene in the bar. But okay, it doesn't contradict anything, really. Why is Andy there at Debate Camp, though? I mean, aside from having Toby's kids, it seems. Why is she a member of the Bartlet campaign? Is it customary for a Congresswoman to be so?

  • Only Toby would specify that the nurse at the Fertility Clinic (the place with the room with the Not-Out-Loud Named Room) was Welsh. Funky. I also liked the bit about trying to convey that it's not you, with body language, which is impossible to do.

  • That computer screen thingee they had for Electoral Math, that was pretty neat. I mean, that was a big old screen with good resolution and touch-screen capabilities. I want one of those. Though I'm also partial to Tim Russert's chalkboard, used on Election Night 2000. Which I heard, at one point, was going into the Smithsonian. It certainly got a lot of use, all that erasing and recalculating.

  • Hey, nifty Mrs. Landingham appearance. Those offices certainly needed some decoration -- I got the "we just moved in" message they were hitting us over the head with, no problem. Being able to pick your wall decor from the collections of the National Gallery and the Smithsonian is a pretty neat perk, if you ask me. And I would've asked for Apollo 11 too. Fruitlessly, I know. Still. No harming in stating a preference, albeit an unwieldy one.

  • The Campaign to Make Me Like Amy Gardner (well, and to make all of you like her too, I suppose) is still hard at work, I see -- giving Team Toby a run for its money. In my case, at least, I reluctantly, again, admit it's working. She still has a nasal voice thing going on, but I thought her little monologue on the bike was pretty funny. As was Josh's comment about Sonny calling Cher. And, anyone on that bad a date is always going to get my sympathy.

  • Ah, the genesis of walking and talking in the corridors: we should've guessed all along that it's just that Josh & Sam can't find anything. Plus, I think Josh sort of likes finding an impromptu pickup meeting.

  • All these mentions of Danny, albeit in the flashback scenes only, make me sort of nostalgic. Honestly, where'd the guy go? For awhile we kept hearing that Timothy Busfield was busy directing, or working on other projects. That still the case? I'm not giving up hope, though. We got Fitz back, after all. We can do this too.

    "The autumnal equinox is usually good to me."


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