In the sixth episode of the sixth season of The West Wing, the peacekeeping force in Gaza experiences their first death, while Will and Josh contend with Congressman Santos’s decision to pursue his own career over the good of the party. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch The West Wing.
Seriously, this batch of episodes is GREAT. As the writers push these characters in interesting new directions, I’m left wondering HOW THIS CAN GET ANY BETTER. Don’t tell me.
Donna
The death of one of the US peacekeepers in Gaza hangs over this entire episode, and “The Dover Test” addresses the personal and the political through various character interactions. While the end of Bartlet’s story makes things personal for the five surviving soldiers at Walter Reed, it’s through Donna that the show addresses her PTSD and her own sense of self-worth in the wake of what happened in “Gaza.” Janel Maloney has been playing Donna much more muted than in previous seasons, and I honestly think the subtle changes she’s been making are so brilliant and powerful. Clearly, Donna has been utterly changed by the experience, and she’s struggling to find out where she fits in the world after it. She isn’t quite right in her role as Josh’s assistant; she isn’t quite right as the hero that so many people want to make her out to be; and she isn’t comfortable with whatever role Colin wants her to be. (I’m still guessing that Colin was on the other line when Josh rudely hung up the phone for Donna.)
What we’re seeing is a listless Donna Moss. Her trauma has manifested in her perception that she lacks a purpose or direction, at least in this one instance. There’s that haunting scene where she stares at the news broadcast about the latest death in Gaza, and she’s frozen in place. We know now that she was seeing herself in those scenes, that she was evaluating her own story in contrast with that of the peacekeepers. Should she be celebrated for merely surviving? Is it right for her to direct attention away from the soldiers who willingly chose to go into a dangerous environment? It’s because of this reflection on Donna’s part that Annabeth gets the idea to send Bartlet to Walter Reed. Which is a good thing! It’s meaningful that the attention is paid where it should be paid.
At the same time, I worry about Donna. I think it’s quite mature of her to understand that maybe her story is told too often, that we as a society are far too ready to honor people who haven’t contributed like others have. But I don’t want Donna to go so far as to assume that she doesn’t matter, to devalue herself in the process. Admittedly, the healing process is a messy thing. (As we also see with Leo’s storyline. UNDERSTATED PARALLEL. I LOVE IT.) There’s no universality to trauma and how one deals with it, so I’m interested to see what the writers are going to do next with Donna. All I know is that she hurts my heart.
Leo
MY GOD, I LOVE WHAT THE SHOW IS DOING HERE. There’s an emotional vulnerability to Leo in “The Dover Test” that really hasn’t been seen in a while, and I’m thrilled that throughout this, we get more of Malti Chakrabarty. Her initial role here is to counter Leo’s stubbornness, but in hindsight, it’s easy to see how vital she is to Leo’s development over the episode. Malti is a firm and persistent nurse, and she has to be in the presence of Leo, who constantly refuses her orders or gives her sass or ignores her advice. It’s almost as if he exists just to be contrary to her. However, in that first scene where he leaves his room, we see just how much he’s struggling with his own physical state, so his interactions with Malti are given a new context. It’s not that he’s trying to be difficult; he’s clearly in denial to her face. Is it an ego thing? I wouldn’t be surprised, given what an independent person Leo normally is. It can’t be easy to suddenly have someone compelling you to eat on schedule or telling you to stop socializing, but I think it’s telling that in his private moments, Leo lets go. He huffs near the staircase, intimidated by the physical process of climbing stairs. He sinks into his bed, overwhelmed by the implications of Bartlet’s plan being spelled out on television. And when he finally comes to realize that Malti is doing right by him, he gives in and stops fighting her.
But it’s a long journey to that point. They argue over a job that Leo is offered at a company that ruined the local agriculture where Malti and her family are from. And I love that Malti represents precisely the kind of person who is negatively affected by the free and open market that’s touted by Leo and people like him. As Leo tries to justify his beliefs and his interest in a job with a international agriculture/chem company (I wasn’t quite clear what they actually did), she consistently reminds him of the human cost of that sort of capitalism. That idea – the human cost of politics and economics – is a central feature of this episode, you know? That’s what Bartlet struggles with. It’s the reason why there’s so much furor over the death of one of the peacekeepers, and it’s why Donna is upset. So I think that’s why Malti finds the booklet for the company Leo was approached by in the garbage. I think he actually listened to her.
Y’all, this might be the only episode we see Malti in, and THIS UPSETS ME. She’s fantastic, and it’s so refreshing to see a Punjabi character so prominently on this show who isn’t a giant stereotype, who affects the plot, and who is meaningfully part of the story. LOVE IT.
Charlie
Okay, MARGARET AND DEBBIE TRYING TO FIND CHARLIE AN ACCEPTABLE OFFICE IS GREAT. I LOVE IT. The first one is too far, the second one is too small, and the third one is just right. Well, Debbie is certain that Charlie deserves more, but I love that he chooses to work right alongside his other Deputy Assistants instead of getting special treatment. That dude is so wonderful, I swear.
Josh / Will / Santos
SANTOS CAN’T QUIT. HE CAN’T. His manipulation of Josh, Will, and the Republican party in order to get a patients’ rights bill passed that’s actually not awful is a thing of wonder. In the midst of doing this, though, Santos unknowingly creates a bit of chaos at the West Wing as Josh and Will fight over the future of the Democratic party. It does look like we’ll begin to see more and more episodes addressing the upcoming primaries, and Vice President Russell is going to play heavily into that. Which means more Will! Which makes me happy! But that also means more fighting. At this point, despite that Santos seems like a much better candidate, the Democrats are going to have a hell of a fight just to keep the White House in the next election. So is Russell the best choice because at least then, they’ll have a Democratic president? Right now, he’s the only choice. Will’s always been quite pragmatic about his politics, so I understand why he’s pushing Russell so hard. Yeah, it’s his job, but he also wants to win, you know?
Like or not, then, but healthcare is going to play into this next election, and Santos… UGH. HE’S TOO GOOD! My god, I’m still marveling at how he was able to maneuver all of this so effortlessly. Granted, I am so biased in favor of Jimmy Smits’s existence in general that it’s absurd. I ACKNOWLEDGE THIS. But there’s just so much potential in him as a candidate, and I really think the writers aren’t going to be able to ignore this. He’s nothing like Bartlet, but he’s every bit as exciting. SANTOS FOR PRESIDENT, PLEASE. Literally, I mean. I realize that whenever I ask for someone to become the metaphorical president, they die. So no, literal president in this case.
Bartlet / C.J. / Toby
Truthfully, the story of the dead peacekeeper is deeply entwined in all three of these characters’ stories in “The Dover Test.” After just 15 days in Gaza, the U.S. peacekeepers are attacked, and one of them dies. It’s incredibly discouraging for it to happen at all, but the suddenness of it contributes to some of the vitriol lobbed at the White House. I don’t think the shows claims that the White House shouldn’t be criticized here. Instead, this complicated and messy affair plays out with an appreciation for the layers at work. The father of the soldier who died doesn’t accept Bartlet’s phone call; instead, Debbie gets an emotional and difficult earful from the man, and it signifies just how hard this is going to be. It’s only complicated further as C.J. learns about the projected U.S. casualties for the whole mission, and then it’s really a disaster once she’s unable to reach Toby before the Dover Test is brought up in the press briefing that’s happening at the same time.
While we didn’t get to see the conversation over the Dover Test itself, I still think this episode did a fine job putting Toby into a situation where his own morals were challenged, which is something that C.J.’s had to deal with for seven years. Like, I can’t even fathom how difficult that must be, and so I sympathized with Toby, who gets caught in an endless barrage of questions. It kept getting harder and harder for him to accept that the press should have been barred from the Dover AFB. And I get why! He doesn’t think we should hide these deaths from the public. I understand the counter to that – that there needs to be some privacy for the families, too – but again, this is a deeply complicated issue. Still, Toby can’t control himself behind that podium, at least not at the same level C.J. could. You know, he’s so new at this that it was bound to happen. Granted, the timing of it was… well, not that great.
But that’s why Bartlet’s visit at the end of the episode works so well. It’s a way to keep these people human instead of statistics. It helps Annabeth realize that maybe cameras shouldn’t always be around. And there’s an intimate intensity to Bartlet making his rounds to all the soldiers injured in the line of duty, particularly when Bartlet sees the rosary in Martinez’s hand and begins a prayer. Some things don’t need to be turned into a media circus. Some stories need to be told. There’s a balance between the two of them, and the end of this episode finds the perfect one.
The video commission for “The Dover Test” can be downloaded here for $0.99.
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