The West Wing Re-Watch, Seasons 1 & 2
You couldn't possibly reboot The West Wing today. I know there's been chatter about it now and again and they did that dramatic presentation of an episode ("Hartsfield's Landing" from Season 3) a couple of years back to benefit 'When We All Vote' featuring the original cast and key recurring cast from the episode in their original roles. (With Sterling K. Brown stepping in for the deceased John Spencer to play Leo McGarry.)
But you couldn't possibly reboot it today. It would be dismissed as cringe centrist fanfiction almost immediately. The past is another country and The West Wing proves it conclusively. You watch the show and it's like staring back into an America that doesn't exist anymore. The politics seem positively quaint compared with today's noxious environment.
*deep sigh*
All that being said, as we all sit here, on our little rock, falling through the Universe, I'm left with the inescapable conclusion that our festering, fetid Culture War is a cul-de-sac we're all trapped in together. Both sides seem to want to keep us on the never-ending hamster wheel of outrage and ideology and it's mentally exhausting. Various horrible bills are currently working their way through our state legislature in Des Moines. I've written on vouchers, but there are parents that seem convinced now that if schools don't teach social and emotional learning, they won't discover their sexual identities. There are parents that think if kids don't hear the word 'transgender' they won't be transgender. (Whether or not these parents allow their children cell phones with access to the internet is a question nobody wants to ask because guess what? If they have the phones with the TikToks and the Snapchats and the social media, they're going to be finding out about all the shit you hate... on their own. So, game over either way.)
Our current time of nonsense is exhausting and even if The West Wing represents a politics and an America that no longer exists, it sure is nice to remember when it wasn't a toxic waste dump, so there's some nice escapism you can wallow in if that's your thing.
*ok, tangent over.*
The First Season of The West Wing is... well, you can tell it's a first season. Sorkin is, of course, infamous for using the same phrases over and over again and I'm pretty sure parts of 'A Proportional Response' show up in 'The American President' and of course, every show he's ever done has the inevitable first season finale of 'What Kind Of Day Has It Been' (and I don't know why, either. If there's an explanation for that, I've never seen it.)
But, mixed in with the inevitable 'finding of the sea legs' that every show seems to go through, you've got some really excellent episodes that peek through. 'The State Dinner' introduces Abbey Bartlett (Stockard Channing), 'Take This Sabbath Day' is a really excellent look at the politics of the death penalty (another issue that's just a non-issue in today's political discourse, but very much a cogent issue in the 90s.)
I know everyone likes to cite 'Let Bartlet Be Bartlet' for this season and it's a good episode, a nice hinge episode that sets up the last few episodes leading up to the season finale, but the one that really stands out to me is 'Six Meetings Before Lunch.'
In general, it's not a particularly memorable episode, but one subplot between Josh (Bradley Whitford) and a nominee for the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department, Jeff Breckenridge (Carl Lumbly) stands out because there's a bit of a kerfuffle about Jeff because he commented on a dust cover for a book advocating reparations for slavery. This episode aired in the year 2000. And I don't know if people would call it a comprehensive discussion of reparations, but it seems like a pretty balanced one to me- well ahead of its time.
The West Wing has a few moments like that- in general, it's fairly straightforward 90s liberalism, heavily influenced by the late 60s progressivism (obviously, because people in the 90s couldn't shut about the 60s). But on occasion, some prescience peeks out.
Mandy (Moira Kelly) departs the scene after the first season and I always thought it was a shame they never managed to bring her back in some capacity- and whether that was because of hard feelings or just general luck I don't know. But to be fair to her, it seemed like Mandy was a character they didn't really know what to do with, so if the break-up was mutual, I think it made a lot of sense.
The second season is probably one of my favorites. (In fact, you could sell me on Seasons 2-4 as being The West Wing at the peak of its Sorkin-powers quite easily.) The season picks up in the aftermath of the shooting in Rosslyn and the fallout that followed. The introduction of Ainsley Hayes (Emily Proctor) as a Republican Lawyer hired as Associate White House Counsel early on in the season features one of the best encapsulations of the gun control debate that I have ever seen and one that still holds up today and explains why we can't get anywhere on that issue. (The workplace harassment subplot seems very jarring back then, but the tribalistic behavior the two disgruntled staffers display fits the politics of today lamentably well.)
'Shibboleth' is a standout episode in the early going- but really, it's 'Noel' that just about steals the whole season in many respects. But there are so many great episodes to choose from in this season! 'Ellie', 'Somebody's Going To Emergency, Somebody's Going To Jail' (which features a nicely Sorkin-esque critique of performative leftism that holds up today.) 'The Stackhouse Filibuster' is undoubtedly still used in high school government classes to teach about the concept of a filibuster even though the actual filibuster hasn't worked like that for years now.
The slide down to the season finale is just a run of episodes that do not miss. The last six episodes are building towards something and with the season finale of 'Two Cathedrals', the payoff is sublime. It's perfect. Even now over two decades later, I defy anyone to find me a show outside of like 'The Wire' that has had a seven-episode run leading into a season finale like The West Wing does here.
You can love Sorkin or you can hate Sorkin but right here, the man was at the height of his powers in a way that I don't think I saw again until possibly The Social Network or Molly's Game.
Even after all these years, 'Two Cathedrals' still SLAPS. Just fucking perfect. Fight me in the comments if you disagree.
Apparently, this is the year when I rewatch old shows, so welcome? Come along for the ride?
