In the twenty-first episode of the third of The West Wing, this is your fault. EACH OF YOU DID THIS TO ME. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch The West Wing.
I can’t write about this. I don’t want to do this.
Charlie/Debbie
Can this last beyond this episode? Because Lily Tomlin being on The West Wing would improve everything by 400%. I know this because it’s science and you can’t question science. It’s science. Truthfully, I knew the search for someone to replace Mrs. Landingham was going to be difficult. No one can truly replace her, but then Charlie brings in Lily Tomlin, whose character is high during her first interview, and everything is beautiful? But I’m also interested in her because of her connection to Charlie. I mean, you can’t drop that detail that she was once fired from the White House because she hired Charlie! I NEED TO KNOW MORE. I NEED SO MUCH MORE. Well, and more Lily Tomlin, too. Oh god, NO ONE SPOILED HER APPEARANCE FOR ME! That’s actually been great for this show because I literally don’t know a single future cast member for The West Wing. I don’t! No one told me Josh Brolin was on this show either. It’s so exciting!
Sam
So… what’s going on with his character? Seriously! He just sort of wanders about in “Posse Comitatus.” After “The Black Vera Wang,” Sorkin just does… nothing with him? Please tell me I’m not the only one who sees this. It’s just… weird. Is he going the way of Mandy soon? You know, just one day he won’t be on the show and no one will talk about it. Is there an Island of Misfit Characters out there? Oh shit, I want to go write that. Fuck it, I don’t have time. I have given y’all the prompt; make it a reality.
Josh/Amy
Given that Josh Discovering The Internet was based on real-life events (OH GOD), I think I’ve finally figured out why I can’t totally get into Josh and Amy as a couple: Donna is the best. Okay, that’s not the main reason why but I needed to say it. There’s that moment where Donna is staring at Josh after he gets off the phone with Toby, and all I could think was that Donna is just the best ever. Anyway, Amy feels like a character that Sorkin created to work out his gripes with a relationship he had with an outspoken feminist. That’s exactly what it feels like. I’m guessing this is the case because the story always seems to focus on the wrong elements. I expected “Posse Comitatus” to address the fact that the White House was compromising on its ideals to get a billed passed. (Amy rightly calls Josh out on this, and Josh infuriatingly doesn’t address it. Ugh.) Instead, I got the same feeling as I did in “We Killed Yamamoto”: This is about how hard it is to date a feminist because feminists are so difficult. Clearly, there’s a bigger issue at hand, and it’s the fact that the White House is risking women voters and selling out poor women in the process. And it’s not that I mind the emotional, personal process here. Most of Bartlet’s struggle in this same episode is emotional at the core, and I think that’s pulled off brilliantly. It’s the imbalance that bothers me. It’s the fact that we’re supposed to focus on Josh’s frustration and his irritation and appreciate how hard this is for him that rubs me the wrong way. Given the choice of caring about Josh’s relationship with Amy and the poor women whose lives are going to be made more difficult by what he’s done, I think it’s pretty fucking obvious which one I’m going to choose.
Bartlet
As I said, the way that Sorkin explores Bartlet’s moral absolutism and the political ramifications of a secret assassination is haunting, disturbing, and some of the most challenging television I’ve ever seen. It’s challenging because nothing about this decision is easy to make. With absolute proof that Shareef is a terrorist and has caused the deaths of innocent citizens, is Bartlet morally justified to order the assassination of him? Is the private nature of the order immoral, too? Did Bartlet agree to put aside his own moral certainty on the day he won the Presidency?
These issues are all explored in “Posse Comitatus.” To say that this is an uncomfortable episode is an understatement. Even Bartlet himself balks at the absurd nature of the meetings he has in the Situation Room. Is he seriously considering the authorization of murder? Is he really going to allow Americans to fake a helicopter malfunction, land the helicopter in the Bermudas, and then execute Shareef with the hope that no one will find out about it? It’s pure absurdity, but as Bartlet realizes that he’s actually going to have to make this decision, it destroys him. He just becomes more and more detached over the course of “Posse Comitatus.” LOOK HOW DESTROYED HE IS WHEN HE CAN’T TALK TO KEYWORTH.
But then there’s the scene where Bartlet has to actually meet Shareef and it’s so fucking awful and everything hurts forever, I swear. Leo tells a story early in this episode about how his daughter would name the lobsters in the restaurant, and then he couldn’t eat him. I saw Bartlet’s refusal to shake Shareef’s hand as a sign that he couldn’t bring himself to touch the man he might have to order to be killed later. He refused to “name” him, essentially. But it’s not enough to distance himself. I don’t think it will ever be. I can’t help but think of Bartlet’s scene with Leo at the play because it’s Bartlet at his most confused and most despairing. He knows that there is no way that he will ever see this as the “right” thing to do. Plus, he brings up numerous objections that are good points. What if people find out what they’ve done? What if Qumar declares war? What if this complicates the upcoming election? (Is that ever going to happen? Holy god, it feels like it’s been forever since this campaign started.) But at the end of this, Bartlet concedes Leo’s point and orders the hit. It’s just outright disturbing to think about how the lyrics of the song that’s played over Shareef’s execution scene reflect the irony of finding peace in war. Plus, I didn’t know Shareef’s bodyguards and translator would be shot, too. Oh my god, why???? Why would you do that? Aren’t you making it worse that way?
I don’t think this is the last we’ve seen of this at all.
C.J.
It’s just not fair. I can’t stop thinking about Anthony, who lost his Big Brother. I can’t stop thinking of the tragic irony that just an hour after C.J. and Simon realize that they can see one another, he is shot and killed. I can’t stop thinking about how DEEPLY FUCKING UNFAIR THIS IS. It hurts, and I hate that C.J.’s one chance of romantic happiness has just been taken away from her. This is going to fuck her up, I know it.
Y’all, I just don’t know what to say. Ugh, I just remembered that in the video, I actually fucking said that C.J. and Simon got a happy ending. Just push me off a cliff, I am done. I can’t talk about this.
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