Mark Watches ‘The West Wing’: S06E21 – Things Fall Apart

In the twenty-first episode of the sixth season of The West Wing, Josh and Santos face pressure to make a decision that’ll benefit the Democratic party as a whole, and C.J. deals with a horrible moral choice. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to read The West Wing.

Oh, this season’s finale is going to be evil, isn’t it? IT IS. I KNOW IT. Oh my god, what this episode sets up is deeply, deeply unfair, and I’m already upset, and this is going to be too much.

First things first: I was lucky enough to have Things Fall Apart assigned to me as part of my AP Literature course my senior year of high school. It’s a difficult, upsetting book, but there are some fascinating parallels between the idea of chaos and entropy that are in this episode and Things Fall Apart.

ANYWAY LET’S TALK ABOUT THIS.

The DNC

So, I’m fairly confident claiming that the final episode of this season will feature the result of the Democratic National Committee, though I can’t even begin to predict how that will end. The writers have done an incredible job coming up with a believable reason for Santos’s growth as a nominee over the course of this year, and even in terms of pacing, this is some suspenseful shit. God, I can’t even think of how the election itself is going to turn out. I’LL DEAL WITH THAT NEXT SEASON. The main focus of “Things Fall Apart” is on the impending (and inevitable) chaos that the DNC will bring. As the Republicans flaunt their certainty amidst insulting Bartlet every chance they get, the Democrats are all still bickering about who the best possible candidate is. It’s a nightmare, and borne out of this is that shocker of a twist IN THE COLD OPEN: Russell’s camp has offered Santos the Vice Presidency. Which… christ, I never even considered this. Not even once! Once it’s suggested, though, it’s too hard to ignore. It does present the Democrats with a viable path to victory, and it’s in this that I feel like the writers are paralleling Santos with Vinick. In the previous episode, Vinick faced the same option. Does he go after the safe bet that’ll give him the most votes, or does he go after what he wants?

Unfortunately for Santos, everyone around him aside from his wife pressures him to take the offer. It’s for the best of the party! It’s the only way to beat Vinick! Which all had to feel super condescending for Santos, you know? How would you feel if no one else voiced their confidence in you? At the same time, I understood the pragmatism at work here. The Democrats had to get their shit together – and soon – or they’d be handed the Republicans the presidency. But is it really that simple? Leo seems to think so; so does Josh, and so does most of the West Wing, and so does pretty much everyone. It’s Donna who first voices any sort of opposition to the idea aside from Helen, and her point – that Santos would easily outshine Russell – speaks both to her own views of the candidate she’s helping and the political reality of the situation. Oh, who are we kidding? It also shows us that SHE CLEARLY KNOWS WHAT SHE IS DOING. OH MY GOD, that line about having a good teacher? Incredible. Incredible because the truth is that between the two of them, Will has allowed Donna to grow far more than Josh has. Also, COULD YOU TWO MAKE OUT.

I have no earthly idea how this is going to be resolved. Santos shocks everyone when he rejects Russell’s offer. So what the hell are they going to do at the DNC??? Is this really going to be an all-out war? Look, I’m torn. I want to see Santos and Russell go at it because I know it’ll be entertaining, but I also know that means Vinick will inch even further ahead. Plus, speaking of Vinick, that man looks unbeatable right now. I mean, I can’t even talk about his speech regarding Bartlet’s legacy because I’ll tear up again. Here’s the thing: even if Vinick was doing that to position himself as the natural successor to Bartlet (as Toby stated), you know that Vinick meant every goddamn word he said. Writers: STOP MAKING ME LIKE BOTH THESE CANDIDATES SO MUCH. THIS IS TOO HARD FOR ME. Don’t you know I need my television to be easily digestible at all times???

Charlie

WOW, HOLY AWKWARD. So, apparently, the writers are totally fine doing the same thing Sorkin did with Charlie/Zoey back when he was running this show: have their entire relationship happen off-screen. Blah, no thanks. I mean, Charlie is almost completely in the shadows in this season, so I have issues with that. Is he ever going to get a substantial storyline again? I hope so, but I don’t have much faith in that. Still, it was nice to see something involving him, and I am forever thankful that we got both of those mega-awkward conversations between him and Bartlet. They are such men with each other that it’s hilarious. Bartlet being absurdly protective over Zoey? Abbey toying with Bartlet’s patriarchal sensibilities? THAT MOMENT WHEN CHARLIE ASKED IF HE’D HAVE BARTLET’S BLESSING TO MARRY ZOEY? All wonderful. ALL WONDERFUL.

C.J.

I can’t. I CANNOT DEAL WITH THIS. I thought that this episode’s plot dealing with the oxygen disaster aboard a U.S. space station was going to be self-contained, resolved by the end of “Things Fall Apart.” BUT NO. NO. PLEASE TELL ME THIS ISN’T HAPPENING.

I suppose I should have examined how disturbing this story was because good god, it was extremely upsetting. To watch the Secretary of Defense so callously state that they weren’t going to save a non-American astronaut and then state that two American lives weren’t worth the rescue… christ. And I know that Hutchinson is a straightforward, pragmatic person. It’s part of his characterization on this show. But this??? ARE YOU SERIOUS. They’re lives that could be saved if you just…

Well, look, it’s not that I don’t understand the complications at hand. There really are national security issues at hand, and to ignore them would be foolish. But it makes sense to me that out of everyone here, C.J. is the one who is so upset by it. Actually, I suppose Toby would be upset about it as well, since his brother was an astronaut. But C.J. has been the most vocal West Wing staff member in terms of moral conundrums. We’ve seen her deal with moral crises numerous times over the course of this show, haven’t we? “The Women of Qumar” comes to mind, obviously, and I think C.J. has always been a bit more empathetic than anyone else. Still, the idea that these astronauts are absolutely going to die up there invokes a fear in me that is just too much to comprehend. I can’t. I have this terrible fear of dying in space, y’all, so IMAGINE HOW MUCH FUN IT WAS TO WATCH GRAVITY HA HA HA HA.

But goddamn, y’all. That ending is so brutal, especially as the camera pans around to C.J.’s face, and I realize the enormity of this reveal. Well… sort of a reveal? There’s no absolute confirmation that she was the one to leak the existence of the military space shuttle, but… she knew about it. She was incredibly upset about the lack of action from her own government. She had the motive and the means. BUT WOULD SHE RISK NATIONAL SECURITY SECRETS FOR THIS? She’s not a fool when it comes to the press, so if she did this, SHE KNEW IT WOULD BE A BIG DEAL.

Mostly, I’m just worried about C.J. So much. PLEASE LET HER BE OKAY.

The video for “Things Fall Apart” can be downloaded here for $0.99.

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About Mark Oshiro

Perpetually unprepared since '09.
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