MrX

"Tomorrow"

Kal-El

I guess Will really is never going to get to say to Mrs. Santos, "Welcome to the Building!"

I'm gonna miss this.

MrX

Guess they couldn't get Glenn Close back to play the Chief Justice

kdubby

I don't think I am going to watch the finale. I have only missed 8-10 episodes throughout the entire series and I am kinda thinking that if I don't watch the finale then I am not saying goodbye.

I know the show has lost a bit since Sorkin left, but I loved the characters of the West Wing.

I will really miss this show.

MrX

Good episode

My favorite moment was Charlie asking Will and Kate if they wanted to go see a movie

If you blinked you missed Rob Lowe

das Monkey

That series they showed before the finale looked pretty good. I hope it takes off.

Tough finale to watch. I'm not sure the episode itself was particularly special (they overplayed the pardon subplot), but when you combine the memories of the show's former greatness with the awe-inspiring nature of working at the White House, it becomes a pretty emotional hour. The scene with Charlie and Bartlet was beautiful, and I also liked the moment between Debbie and Ronna.

While it lost a lot of steam without Sorkin and direct involvement from Schlamme, I'm really going to miss this show.

das

boogieman03

Good episode.
It was kind of sad that the old crew was just shoved out.
Was that Donna with Josh in bed? I thought it looked like someone else.
Anyways, I sure wish I had a moving crew like that. Holy crap was that efficient.
Well, it's been fun West Wing. Thanks for the memories.

JasonF

Pretty underwhelming. Don't get me wrong -- it was a solid Season 7 WW episode, but for a show like this, I wanted something more for the finale.

So did we ever find out who told Toby about the top secret space ship?

The Valeyard

I'm really gonna miss this show.

Legolas

Anyone surprised Richard Schiff wasn't in this episode, considering it was the last one and all. Even something as small as him watching the inauguration at home for five seconds -- you know, the same amount of screen time Rob Lowe and Alan Alda had tonight.

Daniel-A

Series finale with only 10 posts in the thread, the fandom for this has really dropped off.

Was anyone a bit sad to not see Toby in the finale? He was the only major player from the whole series not in it.

It was wishful thinking, but I really hoped that they would go back to the begining of the season, where they were all at Bartlet's Presidential Library.

I am sad to see the show over, but overall, it was a lacklustre close to a good season after a few weaker ones.

Daniel-A

I was under the impression it was his brother or CJ. I would've swore it was his brother until the big thing with the lawyer earlier this season when he made a major fuss not blaming it on him.

In a previous episode CJ alludes to Toby whether or not he had heard anything about a military (forget the exact word) satelite, and he doesn't say no.

Chew

It felt like the series went out with a whimper. Some good small moments and it makes perfect sense for a finale, but not a lot of interest happened.


Edit: Apparently there was no consideration to a pardon for The A-Team.

wendersfan

It was alright, but the writing is just so poor compared to Sorkin's. The acting and direction are still there, but the dialogue is just lacking.

dstrauss

I'll echo the sentiments. Show was okay, but there was little true emotional depth to it. I expected much more of a changing of the guard vibe.

Since we were discussing the end of B5 in another thread, I wanted to see more of the Bartlett staff handing over the reigns to the Santos staff.

If Sorkin had written this, for instance, we would have known what Bartlett wrote to Santos. And we would have begun a new administration with the reminder that "I serve at the pleasure of the President."

But hey, at least we got a Mallory sighting, with actual dialogue this time! My Allison Smith mojo was satisfied.

Bandoman

I likes that Santos asked Josh "what's next?" at the very end.

lisadoris

That and the scene between Bartlet and Charlie were really the only ones that held much resonance. I did like the return of the Bartlet for America napkin too. No Toby? That just wasn't right and Lowe having two lines seemed like a waste. I guess not all shows can go out with a bang.

Legolas

Maybe they could've just gone all-out and had a scene where Bartlett's plane gets shot down and a sniper takes out Santos, and it's up to Jack Bauer to save the day.

JasonF

Actually, this brings up a point my wife and I were discussing. Let's say it's the inauguration. The President-elect is there and, in a normal inauguration, so is the VP-elect. Suppose they get sworn in and then a bomb goes off, killing everyone in attendance. Who becomes President?

Under the chain of succession, it would go next to the Speaker of the House, and then the President pro tem of the Senate. Is it standard protocol to have one or the other of these guys not attend the innauguration?

Suppose they are both there and get blown up, too. The next person in the line of succession is the Sec. of State, and then it goes through the various other secretaries. But at this point, there are no secretaries. Bartlett's secretaries are gone, and Santos's haven't been confirmed yet. Or do Bartlett's secretaries continue to occupy their posts until Vinnick and the other secretaries get confirmed?

The whole thing is very puzzling. It's a good thing a bomb didn't go off at the Santos inauguration.

Bandoman

Alexander Haig is available in just such a circumstance.

wendersfan

There was an episode of The West Wing about (I believe) the State of the Union Address which dealt with just such a thing. A cabinet member is picked to stay behind, 'just in case'. I guess with an inauguration they maybe have the President Pro Tempore of the Senate hang out at home for the day?

TheStoicPaisano

There's always a member of the cabinet (rotating schedule) who is shipped to an undisclosed location for State of the Unions, so I think it'd be the same for inaugurations, lest Clancy's Debt of Order actually occurred.

EDIT: OK, here's the Wiki entry.

Red Dog

I was wondering what they would do with the Chief Justice considering how much Glenn Close would have required to say a few lines. Their solution was to show the back of her head.

I thought it was a good sendoff for the series. About as much as can be expected from John Wells.

JasonF

But are there any sitting cabinet members at the time of the inauguration? There was some period of time between when George W. Bush was sworn in and when Colin Powell was confirmed as Secretary of State. Did Madeline Albright serve as Sec State during that time, or was the post vacant?

mikehunt

wow
will and grace gets a 2 hour finale and WW got this?