kevin75

ok, for me, this was easily the best episode of the year so far. it seems that we may have some payoff for the 'let bartlett be bartlett' rehash from the past few weeks. he stood up to congress and said 'fine, shut it down.' and next week looks to be good to.

we also had the characters being civil to each other again, which seems to be few and far between this season. i hope that tonight was the beginning of josh being allowed back in the game again. if the president can't get along with congress, then josh may not be in such hot water.

also, when friends is over, i would gladly support matthew perry as a permanant addition. he plays the role so well and i think might be a good plus. kinda like ainsley hayes but not as good looking.

Kal-El

was Perry on tonight? shit and i missed it.

the big train

That last scene would have been one of the very best ever if not for having that goofy music of doom and a Parkinson's case on the handicam.

PeMo

I agree... best episode of the season. Perry does do a fine job as Joe. And it was strange that all characters seemed to magically bury any grudges they held from weeks' past.

Was Josh holding the camera at the end? I think the cameraman took a few too many cold medicine tablets himself. And what was with the cheesy closing music?

"Then shut it down!"
Cue: 1970's cheesy drama sound.


edit
LOL big train... you beat me to it.

davidvp

I was thinking after that scene that possibly it was supposed to go hand-in-hand with the lightning flashes outside and the flickering lights that we encounter during the final few minutes of the episode. (Perhaps we're supposed to have the feeling of "swaying in the wind of the storm outside" or somethin' like that there. Although why we'd be swaying in the breeze while INSIDE a building, I cannot fathom. But I was definitely getting a tad seasick there.)

By-the-by .... Would the REAL Oval Office lights flicker on & off like that, even in the worst storm Washington can muster? I would think the lights would never waver in intensity no matter what....what with multiple back-up generators probably in place at the White House. Of course, on the TV West Wing, there's rarely ANY lighting to dim in the first place.

lisadoris

Good episode overall. I too could have lived without the jerky camera movements at the end. Having the lights flicker for the last ten minutes of the show got the point across nicely - no need to over do it. And no, the lights in the Oval Office probably wouldn't waver like that but you have to give them some creative license.

Still like Perry's character though I'd perfer not to have him as a regular. This show already has more good characters than they can provide decent regular storylines for. If the character shows up every-once-in-awhile I'll be happy.

The witty banter still isn't there but I think the writing is starting to improve. Nice of the writers to remember that Barlett does have a backbone - hopefully they'll keep this up.

kevin75

yeah, look at how they have reduced will bailey and mrs. bartlett.

Red Dog

Definitely the best episode of the season.

I like the storyline with the Chief Justice. It would parallel the current fight over judicial nominations. He was right - it is almost impossible to get anyone on the ends of the judicial spectrum confirmed - instead, we see wishy-washy O'Connor-like nominees.

Meatpants

Matthew Perry did more acting in that hospital room than he has his entire career on Friends.

Wasn't wild about this episode. Already the Will storyline is annoying to me. Why was he in the senior staff meeting? Because he's the VPs right hand man? No, because he's still listed in the credits.

Zoe's storyline was pretty useless. Not taking full advantage of Allison Janney every week =

Are we ever going to see any reaction from Charlie? He was heavily featured up through last season's finale, and since then all we've seen is him sitting outside the residence.

Enjoyed seeing the guy who played Bobby Kennedy in Thirteen Days playing the SOH.

jhiter24

I missed the last 15 minutes, could someone spoil the end for me. I don't know what happened to the chief justice or shutdown

Red Dog

The Speaker wanted a 3% budget cut (on the continuing resolution) even though they had previously agreed to a 1% cut. Bartlett said no way, so shut it down.

The Chief met with the President. He offered a few suggestions for replacements and asked whether they could be confirmed. The Prez said no. The Chief did not want to retire only to see a middle-of-the-road ambulance chaser replace him, so he did not offer his resignation.