In the ninth episode of the fifth season of The West Wing, it’s Christmastime in the West Wing, so that means the show is waiting around the corner to punch me right in the heart. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch The West Wing.
GODDAMN IT STOP. STOP.
- I don’t necessarily think “Abu el Banat” is The West Wing at its most crushing, but damn it, yet again, I’m left feeling hollow by an episode of this show. It seems that season five is mostly going to center on coming up with the most relentlessly uncomfortable plots imaginable, and this episode? Who isn’t completely destroyed by the machinations of John Wells and his team?
- Well… Josh and Donna, I suppose, though I’m teased once more by the idea that someone running this show or writing these scripts knows they belong together, but refuses to ever publicly acknowledge it. This is gonna be some Mulder and Scully bullshit, isn’t it? ISN’T IT?
- There are two plots at work here that most of the staff is forced to deal with: the issue of assisted suicide (and the federal parameters that comes with that) and the arrest of possible Christian missionaries in Sudan. MERRY CHRISTMAS, HERE’S WHAT YOU HAVE TO DEAL WITH THIS YEAR. What a pleasant surprise!
- Meanwhile, the Bartlets descend on the White House for a Christmas-themed dinner, and with them, Liz brings her extremely uncomfortable husband! Because what would the holidays be without in-laws who upset everything?
- So, let’s get into it. After the sweet, sweet victory in “Shutdown,” you can tell that the West Wing is brimming with energy! Plus, Christmas. So many amazing decorations! Carolers! Everyone is back to work! So what’s next? Not getting involved. Leo advises they don’t get in between Oregon and the Attorney General on the assisted suicide issue, even if the DEA got involved; the same goes for the issue in Sudan. Christian proselytizing is illegal in Sudan, and the missionaries broke the law. There’s nothing the White House can do, despite that two of the missionaries’ Congressman is insisting they’re hostages.
- Except then, Leo’s hand is forced in the opposite direction when the Attorney General reveals that he’s backing the DEA. For personal morality reasons. Which… dude. Okay… you can’t? You can’t do that??? That’s not your job. You’re meant to enforce the law where it is fit, and assisted suicide is legal in the state of Oregon. So… no??? Oh my god, and then Leo is getting angry, and then the AG is angry, and then season five goes right back to being about people shouting a lot. Can this theme stop? Can it?
- No, apparently, it cannot. Because when Leo decides they should use the Vice President on the issue instead of Bartlet, THEN WILL AND LEO START FIGHTING. Oh my god, okay, I get that this isn’t actually a new thing. I get that Toby is resentful of Will for switching teams, so to speak, to help Vice President Russell. But this? It’s… hmmm. Dare I say that it’s out of character for him? I’m not quite sure if that’s the case; he does hold grudges. Loyalty is very important to him. But his vendetta against Will is so personal! I don’t get it because it’s so vicious. It’s bad enough that Toby treats Will like a petulant child, BUT THEN HE HAS WILL MOVED ACROSS THE STREET TO THE OLD EXECUTIVE OFFICE BUILDING. HE PHYSICALLY MOVES WILL.
- what the hell is going on WHAT THE HELL. This better not result in me seeing Will less because I like Will 🙁
- At the same time, I do want to acknowledge that it’s probably grating to Toby that he’s working on crafting Bartlet’s agenda for his remaining years, and Will is worrying about Russell’s chance as the next Democratic nominee for President. I get it! And yet, Toby just comes across as being way meaner than he normally is. Bah, I don’t get it.
- As I mentioned in the video, that little moment where Leo insists that Josh deal with Doug Westin is great. It’s brief, but it’s nice to see Leo putting his confidence in Josh again.
- And then Doug Westin just completely steamrolls Josh. To Josh’s credit, this was a difficult task to begin with: telling the President’s son-in-law that he wasn’t going to get the support of Bartlet or the DNC. But oh my god, Doug is just so certain that in a matter of minutes, he’s reversed the power dynamics between the two of them and it’s like Josh was just giving advice, not a rejection. This is even worse the second time around, when Doug reveals that he’s actually been preparing more than Josh realized. Oh my god, I just felt so bad for Josh because he tried! He gave it a gold star effort!
- Truthfully, though, there was more at hand than Josh could have known. The writers, through Liz’s characterization here, examine what it’s been like for the Bartlets as a political family. There’s a lot of humor here about getting all three daughters at the table, and that scene where Ellie arrives to an empty table is hilarious. But it’s not all a joke, particularly when Liz is furious that her father is not going to support Doug. As it turns out, Liz is actually way more politically savvy than her husband, but she doesn’t want the life her father gave her. She doesn’t want the spotlight, the cameras, the attention, and I saw a bit of resentment in that.
- While this is all going on, THERE’S SO MUCH ELSE HAPPENING, TOO. I mean, we find out that two of the Americans arrested in Sudan were missionaries all along. (The term “Christian spies” is my new favorite thing that this show has given me.) I have issues with missionaries from America going to foreign countries because of the serious white savior overtones that often come with it, especially because these folks’ confirmation biases end up building their prejudice towards people of other countries. Plus, I grew up with tons of Mormons, many of whom traveled to places like Central America and Africa to convert them to Mormons, and IT WAS SO INFURIATING TO HEAR THE THINGS THEY SAID ABOUT THESE PLACES. (It’s a big reason I liked The Book of Mormon, which I just saw for the first time a couple weeks ago, despite that there are some glaring problems with that story.)
- However, I was kind of surprised that the story here never went beyond this. It’s not like how the assisted suicide case affected Bartlet and C.J., you know?
- Which… so I’m not sure how to feel about Toby’s behavior to Will, but I am certain that Toby is totally going to say something viciously uncomfortable and awkward to every character on this show by the end of it. Y’all, bringing up C.J.’s father? WOW. THANKS FOR DRIVING THE KNIFE IN FURTHER, TOBY. Good job bringing up Bartlet’s MS, too! THAT WASN’T UNCOMFORTABLE AT ALL. It was necessary, though, and I hadn’t even considered the ramifications of that. I think that’s why Bartlet is so furious with the Attorney General later in the episode. He knows that this is going to become a national debate and that he and Abbey will most likely be at the center of it.
- Petition: This Show Cannot Have a Moment Like That One At The Dinner Table Where Bartlet Makes The Bedside Syringe Comment. I’ll need 5,000 signatures by the end of the day. Again, while this isn’t the grimmest holiday episode in The West Wing‘s repertoire, that single moment felt like the most emotionally destructive thing humanly possible. ABBEY’S FACE IS NOT OKAY IN THAT SCENE.
- Seriously, the montage of images that closes out “Abu el Banat” highlights the challenging life the Bartlet’s have had as a public family. (I loved the image of the three Bartlet daughters listening to the carolers.) It shows us that C.J. is trying to prepare for the inevitable death of her father. And Gus Westin and Bartlet finally get a moment alone, away from the cameras and the spectacle. At least that final scene is sweet!
- Goddamn Christmas episodes. NOT OKAY.
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