In the twentieth episode of the second season of The West Wing, the staff learns of Bartlet’s secret, and it overshadows everything else they try to do. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch The West Wing.
I hurt.
Donna
I think it should be enough of a sign that no matter what anyone does in this episode, no one can escape the oncoming storm. The revelation of Bartlet’s disease to the public hangs over all of these characters, even if they don’t know it. I think it’s easy to see this in Donna’s story, as silly as it is, for a couple reasons. First of all, Donna can’t seem to get anyone’s attention about the Chinese satellite falling to earth. No matter how many times she speaks of the severity of the situation, people make jokes at her or ignore her. Obviously, these people have much bigger issues to deal with; plus, they all know how routine these satellites de-orbiting actually are.
However, at the end of the episode, when Josh reveals to the audience just how common this is, the joke is barely funny. In another episode, in another context, I would have laughed much harder. Instead, it feels like Josh was desperate for any sort of distraction from the stress of his job, even if that came from Donna. She still has no idea what’s about to go down, and it’s like he’s having one last bit of fun with her before everything gets awful.
Wow, I’m sad.
Joey Lucas
I’m simultaneously super happy to see Joey back on the show and sad that it has to be in this context. God, now I’m worried that someone will figure out that the poll was run before Bartlet announced his MS to the public, and that is going to be a hot mess. Actually, everything will be. LITERALLY EVERYTHING. What I wanted to bring up, though, is the incredible feat that the writers, actors, and crew pull off in that brilliant scene in the airport. It’s one of the more suspenseful sequences in this show, and it’s literally two people speaking quietly at an airport while writing on napkins. Obviously, I’m exaggerating how simple it is, but that’s sort of the point. There are no explosions, no massive plot twists, no overstated swells of dramatic music. It’s just Josh revealing a secret to someone else, terrified by the possibility of disaster. Much praise to Marlee Matlin, of course, who was able to portray Joey in a much more serious nature than before, and it was a pleasure to see her use such subtle facial expressions in order to convey her reaction.
Honestly, I don’t think the results of the poll are going to be all that positive. In fact, given what we experience through Oliver Babish, I really think all of these people involved (aside from C.J.) are grossly underestimating the response that Bartlet will get.
Sam/Josh
As I said in Donna’s section, it’s clear that the developments between this episode and the last haunt most of the staff. And yet, that doesn’t mean the day comes to a standstill. These people can’t hide out in their offices forever, so we watch as Sam and Josh try to get other things done. Of course, in Sam’s case, he’s the last remaining staff member who hasn’t been told, and it’s bizarre watching him work without knowing what’s been going on. HE IS FROM A MORE INNOCENT TIME. Well, until the end of the episode.
Also, I was glad the show itself had Sam admit that his comment to the Congressional staffers was offensive, but it’s such a throwaway part of the plot that I almost wish it wasn’t there at all? Because dude. Your comment was HORRIBLE. Way worse than you made it out to Toby! Also, clearly Sam (or whoever wrote that line) has never been in a freshman year creative writing class, because let me tell you: post-teenage dudes are the worst writers in the world. I will die a happy man if I never have to listen to some horrific drivel that worships Hunter S. Thompson or Hemingway or Chuck Palahniuk ever again. NO.
Meanwhile, I’m curious about whether or not we’ll see Josh’s plot involving the lawsuit against big tobacco pop up again. My guess is that it won’t, especially since it served a very specific point: to make Josh think about how poorly people will react to any perception that the Bartlet team purposely defrauded the American public. Again, that speaks to what Babish says to Abigail: This is so much bigger than these people realize. Well, almost everyone.
C.J./Abigail
As I expected, C.J. took the news incredibly poorly, and as Babish continues to question her use of certain language, she becomes even more aware of the fact that she may have been unwittingly drawn into an illegal conspiracy to fraud the public. It’s awful, and despite that Babish chides her for being charming and cute, I really do think she understands what a huge deal this is. It’s Abbey who demonstrates a lack of scope, especially once Babish shows her just how complicated the questioning is going to get. I do get that these people didn’t maliciously go out of the way to commit fraud. It’s not like Abbey signed Zoey’s health form with the intent of lying. But the point Babish is trying to make is that it won’t look innocent once it’s put into the context of some sort of media scandal.
How? How are they going to pull this off? C.J. knows things. She saw Abbey giving Bartlet a Betaseron injection! What else does she know? What other complications are going to come up during the process of coming clean to the public? That’s what scares me, y’all. We can’t predict this. And while the polling might help in some way, they ultimately can’t control how people react. This is one hell of an uncertainty, and I’m afraid it’s going to end poorly. HOW? HOW?
The fall is really going to kill them, isn’t it? Goddamn it, I’m so worried.
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