In the sixteenth episode of the fifth season of The West Wing, an NIH probe appears to be a direct attack on Ellie Bartlet, and SESAME STREET OH MY GOD. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch The West Wing.
I still think this season is all over the map in terms of quality and characterization, but lord, when they get it right, they get it right. I loved this exploration of the importance of health and science, which was done through two parallel stories involving the National Institute of Health and Sesame Street. (Which was not the Muppets? I was very confused about why these people kept mixing the two of them up.) SO LET’S TALK ABOUT THEM.
The NIH / Ellie Bartlet
Can I just let the record state that I asked for more Will Bailey and this is how season five ROSE TO THE OCCASION? I really need to learn not to do this, I swear. This was a liberating episode to watch because so many characters fervently defended the existence of a lot of these studies, effectively combating the idea that we need to only care about the diseases the affect the most people and that we can’t care about two things at once. Funding HPV research in sex workers is not mutually exclusive with pursuing a cure to breast cancer. Of course, this episode addresses more complex issues than this, including some pretty volatile moral objections to the government caring about anyone deemed to be morally bankrupt by certain religious groups.
It’s not an uncommon act in the real world, either. Initially, we’re meant to see the exploration into Dr. Foy’s work as an attack on Ellie Bartlet; Toby is convinced that someone believes that Ellie’s project got more money because of her father. Hell, that seemed to be the case, and the list that Congresswomen Layton read fit the pattern. Ellie was just a bonus to her, a means to call attention to a ton of cases she didn’t understand, nor cared to understand. And really, that’s what becomes so frustrating about what we see play out here: willfully ignorant people legislating against things they’ll never bother to comprehend. Now, I don’t think that people need to have a full understanding of all the complex mechanics behind certain scientific procedures to be able to engage with the more problematic aspects of scientific research. (I think there’s an entirely separate narrative that this episode could have brought up regarding American scientists using other cultures/people for their scientific work, and how that’s imperialist/racist.) The scientific community is certainly not immune to criticism at all, but I don’t think that’s what happened here. As Ellie would say at the end of the episode, this was about ideological rejection. The Traditional Values Alliance (and those who supported them) was opposed to projects that concerned “high-risk behavior” or studied people they considered morally bankrupt. Sex workers, homosexuals, premarital sex… oh god, I’m kind of glad the episode didn’t really go into too much detail on this because IT WAS MAKING ME SO ANGRY.
So, while Toby did his damnedest to uncover what was at work here, I found myself more drawn towards the character study of Ellie Bartlet. Much more so than Elizabeth and Zoey, Ellie is deliberately withdrawn from public spectacle. I know I’ve had a few criticisms about out-of-character writing in this season, but Ellie is beautifully written here. The writers understand her canon prior to this, and they expand on it. In many ways, this is Ellie’s worst nightmare. Accused of being the product of nepotism, thrust into the national spotlight and expected to speak on it, she’s prevented from doing her work. I found it very telling that all she wanted to do was go back to her office and work. She didn’t want to be in the public eye, even when it came to defending the very work she was doing. “The work speaks for itself,” she tells her father. And while I don’t doubt, this episode addresses the idea that sometimes, people need more than that. Isn’t that part of the reasoning for Abbey’s journey here?
It’s frustrating for Ellie because the world of the media and press conferences comes so much easier to the other Bartlets, but not for Ellie. It isn’t until Debbie opens up about her sister’s death from cervical cancer and watches her mother star on Sesame Street (!!!!!!!) that she realizes that there is something she can do to combat the aggressive forces that aim to stop the pivotal and necessary research that she’s doing. Oh god, IT WAS SO AWESOME TO SEE HER SPEAK TO THE PRESS. We know how hard this is for her, and yet, she still went up there in front of all those reporters to defend her work and the need for studies like hers. LOVE YOU, ELLIE.
It’s through this that Will finally gets more screen time, and GOOD GOD. Like most of season five, he spends the first half of “Eppur Si Muove” contributing a line here and there and being offscreen doing… I don’t even know. It’s not until Rena figures out that Layton’s list is an internal effort that Toby figures out that Will must have been the one to write it and release it. Y’all, I didn’t need another reason for Toby and Will to hate one another!!! I really don’t like this bit of continuity in season five because I don’t feel like it’s going anywhere. Toby and Will fight, and that’s it? No hope, no growth, no change.
That being said, this episode introduces something else for Will’s character that is DEEPLY, DEEPLY UNCOMFORTABLE. Will didn’t leak the list to Barbara Layton; Bob Russell’s wife did it. She works for a big name breast cancer charity, and appears to have done so to help herself out. Which the Vice President is all in favor of because it’ll help him distance himself from the President in the next election! Y’all, seeing Will so upset and disturbed by this is not okay. I’m really hoping that this is addressed in future episodes because it’s about the first thing done with this character this season that’s intriguing at all since he took the job working for the Vice President.
Abbey and Sesame Street
OH MY GOD, I WAS RAISED ON A HEALTHY DOSE OF SESAME STREET SO THIS EPISODE WAS LIKE THE VERY BEST CROSSOVER IMAGINABLE. I admit to getting teary-eyed as I watched Abbey Bartlet perform a check-up on Elmo because I LEARNED SO MUCH FROM THAT SHOW. It helped me to become a better reader. It taught me that there were people who lived all over the globe with different customs and different color skin. Oh god, Oscar the Grouch taught me IT WAS OKAY TO BE GROUCHY SOMETIMES. So yeah, the image of C.J. Cregg sitting next to Big Bird kind of destroyed me? IT’S TOO MUCH.
I love Abbey’s attitude in this episode, and I thought this was a brilliant way to address a different side of public health. Like Ellie, Abbey just wanted to do the work without the media parade surrounding it. The reality is that there really wasn’t a way she could do that, you know? More so than Ellie, there was a need to address her behavior, given her past as a doctor. This was one of C.J.’s best ideas, not just because it was entertaining to watch, but because it was a fantastic way of keeping Abbey’s work in the spotlight on her terms.
OH GOD, SESAME STREET.
C.J. / Ben
I still think it’s weird that this plot has been spread out over what feels like ten episodes. (I think it’s less? I can’t quite remember when Ben was first mentioned.) At the same time, I recognize that by dragging this out, the writers are able to convey the difficulty C.J. has had in making time to be with Ben. So, when she finally decides to make time to start some sort of relationship with him, it makes sense that Ben balks at the suggestion. He manages to point out that they hadn’t seen one another in six years, so C.J. saying that she’s “in” doesn’t exactly make a lot of sense. Of course, every time she tries to have a more in-depth conversation with Ben, she’s pulled away from him. Once again, there’s no resolution. Also, I don’t think Ben is attractive at all? He’s just not my type at all.
Josh
Unconnected to the larger narrative, “Eppur Si Muove” also begins a new plot thread regarding Josh’s attempt to address the problems in the 6th Circuit federal court. Given that the news of Governor Christie’s possible backlash against New Jersey democrats for blocking court nominees is very relevant right now, I was particularly interested in seeing how Josh would solve the problem of all the vacant seats in the court. Well, I also love a good bet, and his with Leo was fun to watch. But the writers also openly addressed how this innately political process was failing everyone involved. Hayden had to put his life on hold for a year for the confirmation process, and this whole dilemma comes about when he’s offered the position of Dean of Law at Georgetown. Should he have to pass up the opportunity of a lifetime because of the confirmation process? And when Josh goes to Lisa Wolfe to try and broker some sort of deal, she points out that this isn’t her doing; she was given this nightmare when she started. (OH MY GOD IT’S RHONDA PERLMAN YAY.) So whose fault is it? How do you fix a broken system when everyone’s just trying to do what’s best for them?
Seriously, right when Josh has it all figured out, he is smacked down by PLOT TWISTS. God, I admit that it’s frustrating to know that Josh got the ball rolling, only to be completely sidelined by the coincidental death of an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. So…that’ll be addressed in the next episode, yes? Please?
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