8.5/10. As I’ve said before (as recently as the last episode) if there’s one thing you can count on when it comes to The West Wing, it’s that when someone on the show is presented two options -- one that is practical, pragmatic, and politically expedient, and another that is bold, uncompromising, and favors principle over consequence – our hero(es) will inevitably flirt with the former better committing firmly to the latter choice. It’s engrained in this show’s DNA – doing the “right” thing invariably trumps doing the less right thing that’s more likely to actually work. (Though that’s the beauty of television, you can have your characters rewarded for actions that might fail miserably in the real world.)
So when Santos is presented with the option to end the infighting in the Democratic party by agreeing to become Bob Russell's VP, when his campaign is being leaned on by the White House to accept, when even Josh is advising him to settle for less with an aim toward running as a presumptive front runner in four or eight years, you just know that it’s not going to work that way. You just know that Santos is going to go right to the brink, look Bingo Bob in the eye, and be unwilling to play second fiddle to a man he doesn’t really respect, whom he doesn’t think is a true champion of the party and its values, whom he doesn’t see as a true successor to the legacy of Jed Bartlet.
But at least “Things Fall Apart” makes that choice meaningful but emphasizing the tumultuous, potentially disastrous, consequences of Santos’ choice. We see the campaign managers for Santos, Russell, and Hoynes unable to even agree on seating arrangements for the convention floor, portending a messy, unpresidential DNC in contrast to the well-oiled machine and vision of unity the GOP presents at its convention. At the same time, we see clips of that convention (which so perfectly capture the tone and tenor of political conventions) where the Republicans are attacking Bartlet and his administration with coordinated fury, looking every bit the opposite of the Dems who still seem to have their targets set on each other.
Then, Vinick comes out to accept the nomination, and in contrast to all the partisan attacks on the White House, he gives Bartlet a resounding bit of gratitude, emphasizing that despite their political differences, he appreciates the man whom he hopes will be his predecessor, and whether through earnest appreciation or calculated political move, appears to be following Bruno’s suggestion and positioning himself as someone who can unite the whole country, and as Toby puts, be seen as the natural inheritor of Bartlet’s legacy.
The point is clear. Vinick is formidable. The party is in disarray. By taking the fight to the convention because he can’t get along with Russell, Santos is staying true to who he is and why he and Josh got into this race, but potentially dooming the Democratic party’s chances in the general election. Again, this is The West Wing, where people are rewarded for these sorts of choices rather than punished for them, no matter how disastrous they seem on paper, but it at least serves to increase the significance of the decision, and making what seems like an inevitability still feel meaningful.
(As an aside, I loved the scene between Josh and Toby, where they say very little, but manage to say so much about where their relationship is and finding subtle ways to try to pat one another on the back and apologize without doing it outright. It’s a nicely written moment that had me waiting for the (hopefully) inevitable reconciliation. And I also loved the similarly understated scene between Josh and Donna, where Josh recognizes (far too late, I might add) how capable Donna is, how astute she is, and how much she’s accomplished since leaving the nest. It’s a pair of well-written moments that advance the ball on two of the show’s big relationships with great economy in an episode with a lot going on.)
But Santos isn’t the only person in the episode who makes a hard choice that goes against a consequentialist philosophy. Three astronauts (two Americans and one Russian) are suffocating in the space station, and the only shuttle that can save them is a military vessel, the use of which would reveal to the rest of the world that the USA is militarizing space and potentially launch an inner-orbit arms race. It presents an interesting moral quandary – whether to definitively let three innocent people die to forestall the stars becoming a battleground, or to save them at the risk of the much more uncertain consequences and potential loss of life that could come if this is the first step toward Russia and China, and the U.S. for that matter, starting to build interstellar battleships rather than exploratory vessels.
C.J. cannot abide a choice to let these people die for that, so the implication is that she leaks the existence of the military shuttle to force the US government’s hand. I imagine we’ll be dealing with the fallout in the next episode, but it’s worth noting that we once again have a major character on the show operate from a deontological base—i.e. “this is just wrong on principle”—even if there’s far-reaching, uncertain, potentially awful consequences from doing what’s right on principle. It makes for an interesting parallel with the Santos story, and once again reveals the show’s ethos.
In the midst of all this high drama, there is a much more domestic story about Bartlet catching Charlie heading out of Zoe’s room at the White House, making things awkward for both of them. There’s something kind of adorable, albeit retrograde, about Jed’s grumpiness about it, and it’s great to see Abigail shutting him down over it. Their relationship is one of the show’s hidden gems, and always features a lively and entertaining back and forth between equals.
Charlie and the President’s relationship is a little less equal, but still one of the most vital and endearing on the show, and the prospect of having the President as a father-in-law is an interesting story. To be honest, I always felt like Charlie could do better than Zoe, and that she never treated him especially well, so I’m not necessarily enthused at the thought of him proposing, but I like the story possibilities it opens up between him and the President.
The decision to date your boss’s daughter, when your boss just happens to be the President, is also a bold choice, but again, that’s what The West Wing is – people doing what they believe is best even if it’s not easy and the consequences are, at best, unclear. Sometimes that makes it hard to be on their side – as much as we like these characters, we, or at least I, feel leery about them jeopardizing a lot on a hunch, or sacrificing big things on the ground for abstract principles – but it adds weight to the decisions they make, and with any luck, can help the inevitable victories feel earned.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParent2016-10-02T17:49:33Z
8.5/10. As I’ve said before (as recently as the last episode) if there’s one thing you can count on when it comes to The West Wing, it’s that when someone on the show is presented two options -- one that is practical, pragmatic, and politically expedient, and another that is bold, uncompromising, and favors principle over consequence – our hero(es) will inevitably flirt with the former better committing firmly to the latter choice. It’s engrained in this show’s DNA – doing the “right” thing invariably trumps doing the less right thing that’s more likely to actually work. (Though that’s the beauty of television, you can have your characters rewarded for actions that might fail miserably in the real world.)
So when Santos is presented with the option to end the infighting in the Democratic party by agreeing to become Bob Russell's VP, when his campaign is being leaned on by the White House to accept, when even Josh is advising him to settle for less with an aim toward running as a presumptive front runner in four or eight years, you just know that it’s not going to work that way. You just know that Santos is going to go right to the brink, look Bingo Bob in the eye, and be unwilling to play second fiddle to a man he doesn’t really respect, whom he doesn’t think is a true champion of the party and its values, whom he doesn’t see as a true successor to the legacy of Jed Bartlet.
But at least “Things Fall Apart” makes that choice meaningful but emphasizing the tumultuous, potentially disastrous, consequences of Santos’ choice. We see the campaign managers for Santos, Russell, and Hoynes unable to even agree on seating arrangements for the convention floor, portending a messy, unpresidential DNC in contrast to the well-oiled machine and vision of unity the GOP presents at its convention. At the same time, we see clips of that convention (which so perfectly capture the tone and tenor of political conventions) where the Republicans are attacking Bartlet and his administration with coordinated fury, looking every bit the opposite of the Dems who still seem to have their targets set on each other.
Then, Vinick comes out to accept the nomination, and in contrast to all the partisan attacks on the White House, he gives Bartlet a resounding bit of gratitude, emphasizing that despite their political differences, he appreciates the man whom he hopes will be his predecessor, and whether through earnest appreciation or calculated political move, appears to be following Bruno’s suggestion and positioning himself as someone who can unite the whole country, and as Toby puts, be seen as the natural inheritor of Bartlet’s legacy.
The point is clear. Vinick is formidable. The party is in disarray. By taking the fight to the convention because he can’t get along with Russell, Santos is staying true to who he is and why he and Josh got into this race, but potentially dooming the Democratic party’s chances in the general election. Again, this is The West Wing, where people are rewarded for these sorts of choices rather than punished for them, no matter how disastrous they seem on paper, but it at least serves to increase the significance of the decision, and making what seems like an inevitability still feel meaningful.
(As an aside, I loved the scene between Josh and Toby, where they say very little, but manage to say so much about where their relationship is and finding subtle ways to try to pat one another on the back and apologize without doing it outright. It’s a nicely written moment that had me waiting for the (hopefully) inevitable reconciliation. And I also loved the similarly understated scene between Josh and Donna, where Josh recognizes (far too late, I might add) how capable Donna is, how astute she is, and how much she’s accomplished since leaving the nest. It’s a pair of well-written moments that advance the ball on two of the show’s big relationships with great economy in an episode with a lot going on.)
But Santos isn’t the only person in the episode who makes a hard choice that goes against a consequentialist philosophy. Three astronauts (two Americans and one Russian) are suffocating in the space station, and the only shuttle that can save them is a military vessel, the use of which would reveal to the rest of the world that the USA is militarizing space and potentially launch an inner-orbit arms race. It presents an interesting moral quandary – whether to definitively let three innocent people die to forestall the stars becoming a battleground, or to save them at the risk of the much more uncertain consequences and potential loss of life that could come if this is the first step toward Russia and China, and the U.S. for that matter, starting to build interstellar battleships rather than exploratory vessels.
C.J. cannot abide a choice to let these people die for that, so the implication is that she leaks the existence of the military shuttle to force the US government’s hand. I imagine we’ll be dealing with the fallout in the next episode, but it’s worth noting that we once again have a major character on the show operate from a deontological base—i.e. “this is just wrong on principle”—even if there’s far-reaching, uncertain, potentially awful consequences from doing what’s right on principle. It makes for an interesting parallel with the Santos story, and once again reveals the show’s ethos.
In the midst of all this high drama, there is a much more domestic story about Bartlet catching Charlie heading out of Zoe’s room at the White House, making things awkward for both of them. There’s something kind of adorable, albeit retrograde, about Jed’s grumpiness about it, and it’s great to see Abigail shutting him down over it. Their relationship is one of the show’s hidden gems, and always features a lively and entertaining back and forth between equals.
Charlie and the President’s relationship is a little less equal, but still one of the most vital and endearing on the show, and the prospect of having the President as a father-in-law is an interesting story. To be honest, I always felt like Charlie could do better than Zoe, and that she never treated him especially well, so I’m not necessarily enthused at the thought of him proposing, but I like the story possibilities it opens up between him and the President.
The decision to date your boss’s daughter, when your boss just happens to be the President, is also a bold choice, but again, that’s what The West Wing is – people doing what they believe is best even if it’s not easy and the consequences are, at best, unclear. Sometimes that makes it hard to be on their side – as much as we like these characters, we, or at least I, feel leery about them jeopardizing a lot on a hunch, or sacrificing big things on the ground for abstract principles – but it adds weight to the decisions they make, and with any luck, can help the inevitable victories feel earned.