The West Wing Seasons 6-7

[selenak]

Or, the ones where a lot of people get new jobs and the credits keep changing. I've only just seen Tomorrow, so forgive me for being a bit misty-eyed right now. No more West Wing for me to watch!



I think the crucial change between the last two seasons and the fifth one isn't just the two campaign storylines - the primaries in s6, the national election in s7 - but the decision to make them the main plot, with the White House plots gradually fading in the background. In s6, every second episode takes place in the White House, but even those have a campaign subplot; in s7, it's only every third or fourth. By and large, I think this was the right decision, not just because the number of stories you can write about an administration is ultimately limited before the problems it faces get repetitive but also because it offered the writing staff the chance to get out of Aaron Sorkin's shadow by bringing in their own characters without this feeling articial.

This being said, I was always torn. On the one hand, I really liked most of the newbies - Kate, Annabeth, Arnold Vinick especially - but on the other, I felt regretful and melancholy about some dynamics and characters that disappeared or at least didn't get any scenes together anymore because of the changed screentime. One good example of this give and take is that where season 4 had left us with Abbey Bartlett being friends with CJ, having just hired Amy as her chief of staff, the rest of the series saw Amy leaving (hooray for her return at the end, more about that later) quickly and CJ, when she did get scenes with Abbey at all, being back to calling her Ma'am. But even while I bemoan this loss of female relationships I declare myself delighted about all the CJ and Kate scenes (and a great many of them dealing with the two of them solving political problems, just as their positions deserved, which I loved) in the last two seasons, and also about CJ establishing her own rapport with Margaret.

(One loss we didn't get something in exchange for in season 6 was the complete lack of Jed Bartlet and Toby interaction; in season 7, of course, what we did get was spare but crucial. More about this later, as it deserves some character analysis. But in s6, I really missed these scenes, because theirs is a pretty unique relationship neither of them has with anyone else, and I think that particular season 7 subplot would have had even greater impact if we had gotten some of their discussion scenes of yore in s6.)

(And while we're speaking of Toby, there also was no Andi in season 6, aside from a brief glimpse in the opener. I felt bereft.)

I remember reading inlovewithnight's posts about starting to watch The West Wing and her devout wish Josh would be devoured by bears, and am not surprised the reviews stop after s5, because if you don't like Josh, you're pretty much screwed in the last two seasons, given that he becomes the closest thing the show has to a leading man there. I like Josh, but I confess I occasionally wished there would have been a bit less of him and a bit more of, see above. I also can't help suspecting that CJ's promotion after Leo's heart attack was solely in service of Josh's storyline - if Josh had been promoted to Leo's position, he couldn't have credibly quit to become Santos' campaign manager - instead of being a follow-up to her own. This being said, it did get me those CJ and Kate saving the world scenes on a regular basis, so I'm not really complaining.

Speaking of Kate saving the world: I was very amused that in the Cuba episode in s6 after her CIA past came up, no sooner had I thought "so, basically, Kate was Sydney Bristow" that we actually saw her in a flashback as a brunette looking exactly like Jennifer Garner in s4 of Alias. Is there a crossover where she's revealed as Sydney's SpyCousin? We still have an unaccounted for niece of Irina...

(And since I'm talking hair colours: what is it with the invasion of the blondes? In late s5, we get Kate who's blonde. (In the present at least.) In s6, we get Annabeth and Helen Santos who are also blonde. And there is no red-haired Andi, black-haired Amy doesn't show up again until late in s7, and Abbey Bartlett shows up less and less, too, leaving CJ as the only brunette holding the fort in a sea of blondes. What is it with the blonde agenda, show?)

If you compare the two compaigns, I think the national one in s7 is better written. The one in s6 slightly suffers from the fact that of Santos' two rivals, Hoynes got the Dukat treatment (though at least here he's early s6 Dukat instead of post-Waltz Dukat), and there never is any question of Russell being someone the audience could take as a serious contender to succeed Bartlet. Yes, Will and Donna work for him, but this is presented as a bit of a sell-out on Will's part and on a necessary stop to independence on Donna's. Whereas the show goes out of its way in s7 to show the Republican Vinick campaign as every bit as motivated by idealism and people devoted to their candidate as Democratic Santos campaign, with the sole dislikable Republican only becoming a part of the campaign very late in the game, and not in a way that makes the rest look bad. If you compare the way Bruno (about whose return I squeed a bit - hello, Bruno, good to see you again!) and his decision to work for Vinick are presented to how Will and in a different way Donna's decision to work for Russell are presented, it's as noticable as in the presentation of Vinick as a worthy rival and smart, honorable man versus the presentation of Hoynes and Russell both.

Santos himself caused me some weird disconnect because watching Jimmy Smitts in the role is a bit odd if you watch him simultanously as Miguel Prado on Dexter; I also think he probably was the trickiest character for the writers to get a hold on. They clearly didnt want to make him Jed Bartlet, Mark II, only younger, and they successfully avoided Latino clichés. But they didn't move beyond "charismatic leader", either. If you look at s1, the way Sorkin managed to make Bartlet a real character instead of of some noble but not that interesting figure was both through the quirks - the geeking out, the endless fondness for trivia, what Toby once called his absent minded professor routine, the inability to quit smoking despite knowing better - and through some genuine flaws along with the virtues. And with flaws I don't just mean "good" flaws like, say, intellectual arrogance (which he has), but something like the ability to be genuinenly petty and hold a grudge (which I think we see for the first time mid-s1 when Hoynes finally asks him about the reason for the constant put-downs and Bartlet frankly replies they're because Hoynes made him beg (to accept the VP nomination)). After two seasons, I couldn't tell you what Matt Santos' flaws are, and I don't recall any quirks, either.

After having something of a problematic time in terms of writing in s5, Leo got a great last and a half season. I knew John Spencer died before the show was over, but I didn't know when, though I figured out it couldn't be directly after the heart attack (they wouldn't have made him play that if he had been that sick at this point). Still, the end of s6 with him getting the VP nomination did come as a surprise (not in a bad way). It's interesting to compare his story in s6 to Toby's in s7 in one particular regard. The argument between Leo and the President at the start of s6 has been prepared by their disagreement re: Palestinians at the end of s5, which only got intensified through the season opener. I briefly wondered whether or not the show was being fair or taking the easy way out by the way Jed Bartlet's guilt trip after Leo's heart attack immediately patched over the initial argument but then decided that due to the BFF type of relationship they have after such a reconciliation the instant reconciliation is true to character. On the other hand, the argument itself was also in character for both, not just the different positions on the "to bomb or not to bomb" question but a bad reaction to what was perceived as an ultimatum. (Plus, let's face it, next to politics Jed Bartlet is the love of Leo's life, and there isn't much he wouldn't forgive instantly.) All of which leads to hugs and domesticity in the second half of the season, including tv watching on the sofa together, and then a mirror/contrast imagine in the s6 finale to the flashback in the s5 finale where a newly elected Jed Bartlet, just before facing reporters as President-elect for the first time, turns and says to Leo "it should have been you"; in the s6 finale, we see them both in profile and this time Leo goes out to be presented as candidate for VP on the Democratic ticket.

Now, the difference between this and any given Jed Bartlet/Toby argument even before s7 isn't just nearly 40 years of friendship but the fact the disagreements between Leo and the President are about things he should or shouldn't do, including the big "how to deal with the Palestinians" argument that leads to the break-up/heart attack/reconciliation events. They're about individual actions, but no more. Whereas arguments between Toby and the President might be triggered by individual actions but to my mind aren't really about them; they're about who Jed Bartlet is, who Toby thinks he should be, who Jed thinks Toby thinks he should be (not always the same thing), and about who Toby is. Hence the recurring of them. (In seasons 1-4, and somewhat in 5, where they have at least the social security episode, but not much more, and one assumes they did go in s6 OFFSCREEN, which I am still sulking about, see above.) In a way, it strikes me as a not even that metaphorical writer-and-muse relationship, with neither of them being completely clear as to who the writer and who the muse is, which also contributes to the struggle.

Honestly, I wasn't spoiled, and yet I knew even in the s6 finale, let alone subsequent s7 episodes, that the White House leak had to be Toby. For one thing, CJ was an obvious red herring, given that suspicion of her was almost instant, and also that she already had an episode where she was tempted to leak information but ultimately didn't back in the Sorkin era. And for another, the big hint was the President's angry "I want to know who thought he could make the moral decisions for me". Which isn't a CJ thing - not that she doesn't argue with him on ethical grounds at some points in the show, but she ultimately defers to him, plus she's both too professional and not nearly self destructive enough to leak classified information, again, see earlier - but it is a Toby thing. Or not. Because in this particular case, there were a lot of factors, Toby's dead brother the astronaut, the three astronauts in danger, the question of arming space, etc. On the other hand, it's likely Bartlet would have given the order to save the astronauts despite the secret military shuttle being not secret anymore as a result; probably not for another half an hour or so, but before the time frame was over. So it wasn't a clear-cut case of it only being about saving the astronauts, either. But however mixed Toby's motives were, Jed Bartlet takes it entirely personally, and as a result we get one of those rare cold and hence incredibly wounding displays of anger. There is a difference here to, say, angry and immediate temper outbursts when the media or someone else goes after his daughters. Or even the kind of anger he showed very early in the show when his doctor was killed. The episode deliberately lets time pass between the President being told it was Toby (though I had the impression he at the least suspected this already in their brief scene earlier together, with the pointed remark about CJ) and their confrontation at the end. And the crucial act here isn't the firing itself (which under the circumstances is the law) but that Jed Bartlet very deliberately first does a Toby; i.e. he makes an eviscerating analytical statement not about this particular action but about Toby's psychological and emotional nature in general. Is the kind of remarks Toby makes towards Bartlet himself in earlier seasons and in this one towards Josh and CJ. And then he follows it up with "there are a lot of people who will think of you as a hero; but I don't want you to imagine, not even for a moment, that I am one of them". And there you have it. The argument about nature, not individual actions; about the ideas of each other.

Toby takes everything personally. Will leaving to work with the VP, Josh leaving to work with Santos, those are all not career moves in his eyes but desertions aimed at himself and reasons for pointed Et tu, Brute type of remarks. (Conversly, Ann Stark is able to dupe him because he doesn't think someone who has a personal good relationship with him would stab him in the back politically.) And of course words are his medium, his weapon and his defense, and the element that connects him with the man he writes for. Which makes this scene so painful and effective.

We see Toby only intermittendly during the rest of the season, but enough to get how he feels, and also in scenes that cover his relationships with Josh, CJ, Andi and his children. But we have to wait until the finale for a follow-up on Toby and the President. (Other than the brief and cryptic acknowledgement during Leo's funeral.) Given that the season opened with a scene set three years later, an epilogue set at the start of the last chapter, so to speak, a scene that tells us three years from now the gang, including Toby Ziegler and Jed Bartlet, will be on friendly terms with each other again, I did guess that it somehow wouldn't end with Toby in prison. The presidential pardon possibility hadn't occured to me, but when Andi asked CJ it seemed inevitable and yet the idea felt as not satisfying enough a follow up to what had happened before. Then the show did something very clever. Because what made the gesture work in the end was that CJ didn't ask the President for it, or Josh, or anyone else. (And of course Toby wouldn't.) But that he put Toby's name on the list himself. (Judging by reactions to real life presidential pardons, including my own, I guess in the West Wingverse the general assumption now will be Toby had leaked the information with the silent or verbal approval of the rest of the administration and/or the President.) And leaves it till the end so Jed Bartlet's last act as President of the United States is writing his name under a document about Toby Ziegler. The symbolism seems eminently fitting.

HOWEVER: a look at the National Library archive of WW fanfiction leads me to the conclusion that fandom fails me. Because if something demands a follow up and exploration by fanfic, it's this, the gap between the pardon and the three years later scene. For starters, I can't imagine this being bridged by a hug a la Leo and Jed, because the relationship is so very different. What I can imagine is Toby being incredibly mad and driving up to New Hampshire to launch into a rant about make-yourself-feel-good sentimental gestures, leading to a counter explosion about self righteous martyrdom. Which is when Toby intends to make a grand exit, but that canonical snow storm in New England lets him be stuck in Manchester for the next week. Leading to more arguments and eventual chess games. Also, you know that when the MS eventually claims limbs permanently, Toby is the guy you can rely on to show up and still argue instead of speaking in hushed tones, which I imagine will be incredibly important for the former President, and they both know it but it won't ever be an easy relationship.

So why has no one written that yet? Or did they and I haven't found it? I did find an ensemble story post-Tomorrow and pre-season opener flashforward, Fruits of Communion, which is good but not quite what I have in mind.

Lastly: as was remarked in several media, there are some parallels between those last two seasons and real life, made a bit eerier by several characters being loosely based on their real life counterparts. Still, I don't know whether they would have struck me if I hadn't been told about them in advance. (And they don't seem to stop, with the most recent one being the making-one's-former-rival-secretary-of-state thing.) Other than that, I was spoiled for Josh/Donna eventually happening, Kate/Will I had heard nothing about but found them fun together, Unexpected!Kristin Chenowitch as Annabeth was unexpected but aww on her teasing Leo and slightly crushing on him, hooray for Santos' main secretary being lesbian, but I have to say that the people finally coming together which really touched me were CJ and Danny (whom I believe when he says he has no problem being Mr. CJ Cregg, and how many guys exist like that on tv or in real life?). I do hope CJ took that gold fish with her to California. And hey, good to see Ainsley again, albeit briefly, and to know she's back being lawyer for the administration. God knows these people need one!

Comments

[nomadicwriter]

Whereas the show goes out of its way in s7 to show the Republican Vinick campaign as every bit as motivated by idealism and people devoted to their candidate as Democratic Santos campaign, with the sole dislikable Republican only becoming a part of the campaign very late in the game, and not in a way that makes the rest look bad. If you compare the way Bruno (about whose return I squeed a bit - hello, Bruno, good to see you again!) and his decision to work for Vinick are presented to how Will and in a different way Donna's decision to work for Russell are presented, it's as noticable as in the presentation of Vinick as a worthy rival and smart, honorable man versus the presentation of Hoynes and Russell both.

Apparently, the original plan was for Vinick to actually win the election, but they changed direction after John Spencer's death because they thought it would just be too much of a downer.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

The Santos flaw is (briefly) pandering a little too much to popular opininion, e.g. the thing about gasohol where only Vinnick has the courage to say that it's a boondoggle - the other Democrat knows but really doesn't care because he knows it'll get him votes, Santos knows that it's wrong and reluctantly caves in.

[violaswamp.livejournal.com]

Interesting--I didn't think of Toby and Jed in the 3-years-later scene as friendly, but more as at peace and not completely hostile. There's a certain stiffness and heavy politeness there, an unwillingness to take each other for granted: I believe Toby says "thank you for inviting me" or some such thing, like he hadn't expected to be.

For me CJ and Kate Harper saving the world was fun, but also a little tough to believe given the previous characterization of CJ and Kate's newbie status. OTOH TWW was never made to be realistic.

[kangeiko]

I'm so glad you finally saw those two seasons! I have so much I want to discuss with you, I don't know where to start.

John Spender died mid-way through S7 - on my DVD box set at least, there's a tribute paid by Martin Sheen immediately following his death, and before the screening of the last few episodes he filmed. I recall someone mentioning that they felt simply awful about the S6 heart-attack, in light of how he actually died - that they never would have gone in that direction if they'd know he was at risk, etc.

One thing Richard Schiff said re: Toby - he wasn't happy about Toby being the leak, and so he decided to play it as though Toby wasn't the leak, but was coming for someone. He wouldn't say who the someone was... and for a while I've wondered if it was Leo. By that point, Leo wasn't White House CoS, he wasn't the VP nominee, he wasn't anyone in a firm position - which I think may have allowed him to think that he could leak it, while not involving the White House in it. Then, when he became VP, he couldn't own up without sinking Santos. And Toby only confesses when Leo is subpoenaed. Now, I know there's loads of holes in that, but I think it's interesting the way Richard Schiff chose to play it.

Annabeth wasn't crushing, btw - she did get together with Leo by the middle of the season. :)

S6 had me in a rage the first time I watched it, I confess:
- Review of 'Drought Conditions'
- The Indictment of Will Bailey

I've mellowed a bit since then, mainly because S7 Will improved my opinion of him, and allowed some genuine process stories to happen. But I maintain my initial observation that S6 primarily *told* us the characters were clever; they didn't *show* it.

Mostly, S6 = CJ!love!!!

Santos it took me a while to warm up to, mainly 'cause I agreed with Toby on that - he didn't want to run, he wanted to get out of the game, he had to be coaxed back in - but given the alternatives... Anyway, S7 I liked him, mostly because he honestly didn't have much of a chance. S6 he was a genuine underdog, and so I felt that he'd scrape by with the skin of his teeth because it would be 'dramatic', but S7 there was no need for him to win, especially as Vinnick was being so awesome. And in fact Vinnick was supposed to win, but then with John Spencer's death apparently the feeling was that the Democrats shouldn't suffer such a body-blow.

Oh, one more woman for you - although I forget her name - the head of Vinnick's campaign, I loved that she was basically a long-distance mother, managing her family and a Presidential campaign with equal efficiency. And her kids seemed to like Vinnick a great deal. Also, Jeanene Garofolo, although, again, the name of her character escapes me.

One thing that kinda blew in S7 was the nuclear thing. (Although it does allow the best line in existence, which is "I thought a degree in economics was plenty for this job; my kingdom for a plumbing license" - hee!) It felt like more DRAMA!!1!! and was a way to swing the vote around wildly. Would have preferred the candidate, rather than external events, driving that decision. It was partly saved by 'The Last Hurrah', with Vinnick as Secretary of State.

Totally with you on CJ/Danny, it made me squeak madly. (And d'you see where the CJ/Toby contingent were coming from, now? *g*)


edit: forgot to say - I love your thoughts on Toby & Jed, yes, EXACTLY. Pls to be writing in fic format??

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

Hurrah! I'm still watching the re-runs of the primaries, but I have seen most of the final season, so I reckoned I could risk the occasional spoiler here for the chunks I managed to miss first time round.

Re Santos: do you believe his explanation of the cheques to the ex-maid-now-single-mother? Because I wasn't sure Vinick did, and my guess was that the question of whether Santos was a lying father or a noble uncle would have returned if the show had continued into his presidency.

The person I was most conscious of missing in the final stages was Charlie. I barely remember him doing anything beyond helping to carry the coffin (though I was quite pleased by the idea of "Charlie and a couple of Presidents carry a coffin").

In a funny way, it was a good thing that I missed the start of the final season first time round, because I gather it shows CJ and Danny together. If I'd known that, I wouldn't have had the suspense of "Will Danny keep his nerve and hold on to her this time?" which had me on the edge of my seat for several weeks. I like Josh/Donna, as it happens (and given their respective jobs, wouldn't that have got interesting if Santos turned out to be lying?), but CJ/Danny was the relationship I was rooting for throughout the run.

Have you seen Studio 60 yet? It's an interesting failure, and I thought one of the reasons why it was unsuccessful was that they ended up foregrounding the romances because (the other reason everyone cites) no one cared as much about "will they get the show finished in time" as "will they save the world". Whereas in The West Wing, the romances were important, but not as important as the work the characters were doing, and they usually developed naturally out of the working relationships.

[mamculuna.livejournal.com]

I just wish the real-life parallels had been true in one case: I wish McCain had been much more like Vinick. The past year would have been a lot less icky if McCain had been as honorable as the fictional character. Of course, I wouldn't have voted for him anyway.

[skywaterblue.livejournal.com]

And then he follows it up with "there are a lot of people who will think of you as a hero; but I don't want you to imagine, not even for a moment, that I am one of them". And there you have it. The argument about nature, not individual actions; about the ideas of each other.

To this day, this line guts me with its precision.

You really should write this Toby fic, I would beta it for you. For some reason, what happens to Toby is not very popular within the fandom, mainly because Richard Schiff himself didn't believe Toby would ever have gone this far. (Even though it seems patently obvious to me that he would and did. But I'm also fond of the conspiracy theory which says he was covering for Leo, even if you then have to explain why Leo leaked it.)

I'm pretty sure the reason there's no fic goes deeper though; you have to be a nutty author to be the one who wants to take on the relationship between Toby and Jed, ;)

I thought it was VERY obvious what was being paralleled in S6 and S7, but I am both an astute watcher of American politics AND a Barack Obama fan. *g*

I also can't help suspecting that CJ's promotion after Leo's heart attack was solely in service of Josh's storyline - if Josh had been promoted to Leo's position, he couldn't have credibly quit to become Santos' campaign manager - instead of being a follow-up to her own.

Am I imagining it, or doesn't Leo flat out say that was his reasoning behind the decision at a certain point in the series. It could be just some fic, but I'm fairly sure they actually say it in canon. Anyway, all's well that ends well with CJ, even though they did sorely test me on liking her for several seasons. I will always like how she ends up with Danny and the graceful parting scene between her and Toby.

[thepandorarose.livejournal.com]

This was a joy to read. :) And of course CJ took the fish with her to California. It was nice of CBS to let Ansiley back and my friends and I always felt like it looked like she was flirting with Danny - which was funny since she said in the past he was cute.

I do agree on Santos, it was hard for me to get a feel about him and I was never jazzed on him, I just wanted to believe in him because I believe in Josh - but I always wondered if that was just me never being a HUGE Smits fan.

And as a CJ Danny shipper when he just looks at her in that apartment scene I want to die. I blame the show for my crush on Timothy Busfield, via Danny. I should digress before I go on too much about Danny and CJ. I wrote way too much fan fiction about them.

[silverweave.livejournal.com]

I'm so pleased you enjoyed The West Wing; it's just so extraordinarily brilliant. The writing is just so unasshamedly intellectual without being smug (which although I enjoyed it I did find Studio 60 to be more than once). The conversation where Toby is screaming about setting the bar out of fear and complaicency is so arresting and wided-reaching about society.

Now you have to go back and watch the whole shebang again, because it's fascinating how much you can get from it third, fourth time round.

Oh CJ and Danny, how I love thee. The fish, the beard, the dressing up as Santa. Every home should have one.

Last thing, on the subject of fic, I share your "there's not as much quality out there as I'd like" there's a great crossover out there, that really gets the characters down well:

No Flying In The House (http://tangleofthorns.livejournal.com/280130.html?mode=reply)by Tangleofthorns in which Will Bailey has a chance encounter with Nathan Petrelli.

But for sheer out and our barking canon / RPF Twilight Zone weirdness, look no further than Aaron Sorkin writing a post season 7 piece in which Bartlet meets presidential nominee (as was at time of writing) Barack Obama... earlier this year in the New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/21/opinion/21dowd-sorkin.html?_r=1&oref=slogin).