I thought this was a pretty good show - but I've been an on and off viewer (rather than a weekly one) of West Wing, so I'm not sure how those die-hard fans felt.

I DO like Goodman as the President...I hope they keep him around for a few weeks before Sheen gets his old job back. Goodman does a cross between Ronald Reagan and Lyndon Johnson that is really entertaining to watch. His "I'm going to blow the hell outta something" line was a classic!

i think it was a good episode. Yeah it was no season 2 opener but that one was just great.


btw, since i just started watching season 4 and the reruns on Bravo, I hadn't gotten to the episode where Ms. Laningham dies. You guys spoiled it

I actually liked the episode. Like everyone has stated it wasn't the S2 premiere but it was still solid. Granted there wasn't any witty banter but if there had been it probably would have felt forced and out of place given the storylines (though Josh's commenting that none of Republicans like him was amusing). I'll go out on a limb and bet there won't be any witty banter next week either.

It was nice to see John Amos but I'm guessing since he has a show on UPN that he won't be around much longer. Also nice to see Anna Deavere Smith back as well. Through the whole Qumar thing she was AWOL which I thought was unusual.

Even though it's not at it's best, it's still better than most of the other shows on network TV.

I didn't watch last season at all, but was a diehard before that. I don't know why I left, but I just couldn't be bothered anymore.

But I tuned in last night, and thought it wasn't as tight as other WWs, but it was still good. The cast is really the reason to watch. So much talent.

I do think, though, that Sorkin left them with way too many plot lines going for this episode.

First of all, Annabeth Gish is HOT!

This episode was, by all objective standards, excellent, and the acting was superb. I agree with whoever said early in this thread that Brad Whitford was at his best last night.

Subjectively, for those of us who have become used to Sorkin's unique rhythym and fast-paced witty dialogue, something was missing. I'm not sure this is because the current writers are incapable of it, or if the storyline and situation in which the characters find themselves are the reason. Bartlett's staff has been effectively "deposed": the republicans are in charge, if only temporarily, and they're going to make the most of it. Toby, Josh and CJ are being kept out of the loop, so they are floundering. The world seems upside down, so of course the usual flow of life in the White House is going to be disrupted.

While not the style we're used to, this episode was great drama. I'm willing to let the storyline play out and see what happens when things get back to "normal".

BTW - I like that I have no idea whether Zoey will live or die. I think the writers are bold and confident enough to kill her off if they believe it will best serve the story. That why I care about the story - there doesn't seem to be any foregone conclusion.

And I'm really looking forward to seeing what Bartlett will do when he resumes office with a Republican VP.

Well technically, that is an incomplete answer. If the VP (if one were to be nominated and confirmed) and a majority of the cabinet say that the Prez is unable to discharge the powers of the office, then they can ask the Congress to not accept the President's declaration that no inability exits. This would require a 2/3 vote. Of course, that is unlikely to happen in this case (the majority of the cabinet saying Bartless is unfit) since a member of the opposing party was elevated to the Presidency.

Decent episode, but as has been said, the witty banter was definitely missing. It was good to see Zeljko Ivanek from Homicide: LOTS fame (as ASA Ed Danvers) in this episode playing Goodman's chief of staff.

i think if they kill her off, that will dominate story lines for a long time and will box in the writers. It would be a bold move, but would hurt the series

I believe it says in the episode that it's Hour 9 since the kidnapping, meaning that the episode takes place around 7am - hence, just after sunrise-esque shots. I noticed and thought it was a nice touch that they remembered that little detail. Many shows will just assume that the viewer won't notice and not bother with those small details.

There have been episodes before that were light on the wit. Within the space of one day:

The President's daughter was kidnapped
The President resigned
News broke about the US assassinating a foreign official
A terrorist attack killed US soldiers abroad in retaliation
The economic forecast was abysmal

When would Toby or CJ have occasion to crack wise? I'm willing to give them a chance to recover from AS leaving - after all, it's not like the writing staff hasn't been paying attention all this time, and the cast is still intact (save Rob Lowe).

It was spoiled for me too, but you can't come in here and not expect to find out about things in the past that you haven't seen yet. Besides, you probably would figure it out when she doesn't turn up on the show any more...kinda like Sam Seaborne.

I need a spoiler since I didn't watch any of last season. What happened to the Vice President? That was driving me nuts the whole time. I'm guessing that appointing a new VP was high on their to-do list before the kidnapping and the seat hadn't been empty for all that long.

As for the witty banter, I think there was a window open for them to make some wisecracks about "President" Walken

• Quoth Roto •<HR SIZE=1>I need a spoiler since I didn't watch any of last season. What happened to the Vice President? That was driving me nuts the whole time. I'm guessing that appointing a new VP was high on their to-do list before the kidnapping and the seat hadn't been empty for all that long.<HR SIZE=1>

He was nailing a reporter and telling her stuff he shouldn't be to impress her. She was in turn making phat bank of the info. When they found out about it, he resigned to spare his family a public fight over the whole thing.

While not a summary, I covered some of the stuff in my Top 50; it's episode #23 'Life on Mars'. http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/showthr...postid=3947252

das

Ahh thanks. That answered my question perfectly. I don't think I'll ever get why he would've been VP anyway since they never agreed on anything, but it made for good drama.

he was VP cuz he delivered the South in the election

There was also a moment when they considered dropping Hoynes from the ticket, but the president wanted to keep him because he had confidence in him.

I sometimes feel like they pack too much melodrama into the WW - I mean, the MS thing, the shooting, Hoynes, Zoey, etc. all during one presidency? But then I pick up the paper and read about a tainted election, terrorist attacks, a recession, a controversial war, etc. and I think it's not so far-fetched.

The whole episode took place around 7AM? If that was the case I missed that.

no, there were little tags that said "Hour 9" "Hour 16" etc.

That's what I thought but I watched a couple different episodes last night.

Did anyone else find the lighting dark throughout?

The show is nearly always pitch-dark. Don't know why they insist upon the constant low light level (no matter where the scene is being shot), but it is. Are the White House corridors REALLY that dark?

It makes me wonder how the upcoming November 18th Season 1 DVDs will look. Having never seen the show in full Digital quality, I wonder if it'll look "brighter" on disc. (I'm hoping so. It's always too dark, IMO.)

Or in other words, he was written off the show so they could pull the Speaker of the House-as-President shocker.

The last episode was the first I can recall thinking that. Have been watching the Bravo airings and haven't noticed that to this degree before. I figured it had to do with the new season and change of creative input that they were giving it a different look or just going for something with this particular episode (the previous season finale didn't spark the same observation for me).

The show has always been dark, but it was darker so this week. Several reviews I read actually took the time to point it out.

Maybe it was to reflect the dark situations, but the DP remains the same, so I'm not really sure why the change.