Reviewed by Colin Jacobson (October 14, 2024)
A much-celebrated NBC series, The West Wing debuted in 1999 and focused on a fictional presidency. That first season becomes the subject of this discussion.
We get all 22 of Season One’s episodes in this four-disc Blu-ray set. The plot synopses come from IMDB.
Pilot: “West Wing staffers gradually learn that President Josiah Bartlet (Martin Sheen) suffered a bicycle accident.”
That plot concept exists largely to give us a tour of the president’s staff and introduce them to us. “Pilot” speeds through the main characters and gives us rough outlines of their jobs and personalities.
The episode does so in a reasonably efficient manner, if not one that makes Wing feel like “must-see TV”. Still, it creates a vivid enough launch to the series to do its basic job.
Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc: “Deputy Chief of Staff Josh Lyman (Bradley Whitford) trumps potential Democratic challenger Lloyd Russell (John Bedford Lloyd) in a masterful political move and then hires the challenger's chief of staff - and his ex-girlfriend - Mandy Hampton (Moira Kelly). Communications Director Toby Ziegler (Richard Schiff) tries to warn Deputy Communications Director Sam Seaborn (Rob Lowe) away from his friendship with call girl Laurie (Lisa Edelstein), but to Toby's horror, Sam seems intent on reforming her.”
Though it doesn’t need to do all the pipe-laying of “Pilot”, “Hoc” nonetheless maintains the same rapid-fire pace. It also comes with some fairly silly plot points, especially as it pertains to the Sam/Laurie thread, along with some cheap melodrama connected to a character who I suspect exists just to milk some tears.
None of these factors make “Hoc” a bad episode. Still, it doesn’t make me thrilled about the series’ direction.
A Proportional Response: “After being offered ‘a proportional response’ to the Syrian military's downing of a US military plane on a medical mission - and carrying his newly named personal physician - the president demands an option that will have greater impact. Chief of Staff Leo McGarry (John Spencer) gradually must talk him down, while Bartlet snipes at everyone, including First Lady Abbey Bartlet (Stockard Channing).”
The cheap melodrama to which I alluded in “Hoc” continues to become a topic, as that event prompts Bartlet’s aggressive fury here. It makes Bartlet look like a hot-headed nut, which seems like a bad path to take three episodes into the series.
This theme also feels like it pushes Wing too hard toward A Big Military Event too soon. This feels a bit desperate, as I think the series should’ve stayed with smaller scale domains while we got to know the characters.
Five Votes Down: “After a speech touting the success of a gun control bill, the team learns they are actually five votes short. The fight to get them back puts a strain on Leo's marriage and Josh's relationship with numerous senators. Toby finds out he may have accidentally participated in insider trading.”
It feels like Wing should become most interesting when it goes with “inside baseball” tales like “Votes”. Given that the series emphasizes the work of those behind the president, these machinations feel as though they can fare the best.
Of course, this comes with some melodrama when we see the personal price the staffers experience given the demands of their jobs. Still, “Votes” shows a pulse missing from the first few shows and gives me some optimism matters will improve from here, even though some moments devolve into moralizing lecturing.
The Crackpots and These Women: “Staffers meet with reps of various causes, The president has everyone to the residence for a homemade chili party, we learn about Mrs. Landingham's (Kathryn Joosten) past, and Bartlet’s daughter Zoey (Elisabeth Moss) meets the group.”
I never took note of Moss until her role on Mad Men, so her presence on another – and earlier – iconic TV series comes as a surprise. Only 17 at the time, her career actually started seven years earlier.
“Crackpots” involves another actor who’d earn fame later. Nick Offerman plays a small role here.
Outside of these pre-stardom appearances from Moss and Offerman, does “Crackpots” stand out from the crowd? Yes and no, as it comes with peaks and valleys.
On one hand, the scenes with the “crackpots” amuse. Sure, they seem predictable but they still offer amusement.
On the other hand, the episode leans too much toward the lecturing and moralizing that the series occasionally adores. There’s more good than bad, at least.
Mr. Willis of Ohio: “Ohio middle school social studies teacher Joe Willis (Al Fann) filled the brief remaining term of his late wife in the House and joins two other reps (Charley Lang and Kenneth Tigar) to meet with Toby and Mandy about changes to unfair rules in the US Census written into the latest federal budget.”
Once again, the series’ desire to offer civics lessons makes a program a bit of a chore. Not that the episode’s desire to educate us about various domains tanks it, but this pedantic material does get tiresome. Some highs appear but the “school marm” side turns this into a less than stellar program.
The State Dinner: “While preparing for - and enduring - a state dinner for the newly-elected president of Indonesia (Ariono Suriawinata), the staff deals with a multitude of other problems.”
That “multitude of problems” seems like too much, as it makes this a cluttered episode. A show that focused entirely on the challenges of a state dinner would’ve fared better than this more contrived program. I could also live without the continued silly subplot of Sam and the call girl as well as a dreary burgeoning romance between CJ and journalist Danny Concannon (Timothy Busfield).
Enemies: “A crucial banking bill is at risk when political rivals of environmentally sensitive President Bartlet attach a land-use rider to it that would allow strip-mining some of the Montana wilderness.”
On the negative side, the contrived interactions between CJ and Danny continue to annoy. I don’t much care for the continued friction between Josh and Mandy, at least partly because Moira Kelly creates such a relentlessly unlikable character. The aspects related to politics fare better, but the interpersonal stuff becomes a drag.
The Short List: “When Supreme Court Justice Joseph Crouch (Mason Adams) retires, President Bartlet has a golden opportunity to impact the court's composition by nominating favorite judge Peyton Cabot Harrison III (Ken Howard). However, when further study reveals the candidate's conflicting ideology, the President might change his mind and opt for another judge (Edward James Olmos).”
Though we still get some of the usual dreary interpersonal nonsense – Danny doesn’t seem like he’ll go away anytime soon – “List” works better than usual. It focuses more on actual politics and behind the scenes maneuvering, so these elements allow the show to go pretty well.
In Excelsis Deo: “When a homeless veteran (Paul Austin) dies on the National Mall and his body remains uncollected for hours, Toby becomes fixated on getting him a proper burial.”
That main plot sends Wing down its tendency toward smug lecturing, as does a domain about hate crime legislation. Not that I disagree with the series’ POV on these topics, but I don’t like the condescending way it tends to pursue them. These elements make “Deo” a less than engaging episode.
Lord John Marbury: “When India sends troops into Kashmir, President Bartlett calls for a British former ambassador to India (Roger Rees) to help out over Leo's strong objections.”
Despite some of the usual nonsense between CJ and Danny, “Lord” develops into a better than average show, mainly because most of it focuses on diplomacy and politics. It comes with a spark that makes it enjoyable.
He Shall, From Time to Time…: “When the President collapses on the eve of his State of the Union, it's diagnosed as the flu. But when the First Lady cancels a trip and rushes home to look after him, Leo suspects the first family is hiding something about Bartlet's medical condition.”
Inevitably, the elements that focus on Leo’s troubles as well as Bartlet’s health ensure that “Time” leans toward melodrama. That said, the episode manages to avoid too much sappiness, so it becomes a decent show given the subject matter.
Take Out the Trash Day: “In preparation for the Friday night briefing for the Saturday papers and news broadcasts -- nicknamed ‘take out the trash day’ because it disposes of all the stories the White House doesn't want heavy coverage on, and because Saturday is the least read paper of the week - the staff take on a variety of chores.”
This synopsis implies “Trash” will offer an episode of the sort I prefer: one focused on political machinations and not on the staff’s dreary personal interactions. That holds true to some degree, although we get too much of the series’ usual moralizing.
Also, it makes no sense that Toby claims he was raised on Sesame Street given Richard Schiff was 14 when it debuted and I see no indications we’re meant to see Toby as 7 to 10 years younger than the actor. Still, even with too much of the painful CJ/Danny relationship, “Trash” does fairly well for itself.
Take This Sabbath Day: “A drug dealer's appeal of the federal death penalty is rejected by the Supreme Court, which upholds the death sentence with execution scheduled for the following Monday. One of the defense lawyers (Noah Emmerich) on the case is Sam's old high school bully, and he appeals directly to Sam to involve the president.”
The coincidence that an attorney on a hot-button case just happens to have a connection to Sam – and that Sam doesn’t seem to hold any grudge about the fact that lawyer was a jerk to him in high school – feels awfully contrived. Some interesting moments arise but the episode seems more pedantic than I’d prefer.
Celestial Navigation: “In a lecture at Georgetown, Josh recalls the previous week at the White House, during which he replaced a dentally impaired CJ in the press room and gave a memorably disastrous briefing.”
The “Josh Looks Back” framework seems fairly cliché and not especially useful. Sure, other events occur “in real time” to mix up matters, but nonetheless, the structure feels like a clumsy gimmick.
20 Hours in LA: “The President meets Zoey's new bodyguard (Jorja Fox) on a 20-hour trip to California. Josh tries to keep a fundraiser from being canceled. Leo needs the VP (Tim Matheson) to break a 50-50 tie in the Senate.”
On one hand, the trip to California feels like an excuse for a few celebrity cameos. On the other hand, we get a great turn from the ever-solid Bob Balaban. The latter factor pushes “Hours” over the edge to make it pretty good.
The White House Pro-Am: “When the Federal Reserve Chairman dies, Bartlet must quickly choose a successor in order to avoid financial chaos. However, he is reluctant to pick the obvious choice for Fed Chair, who used to be Abbey's boyfriend. The matter worsens when Danny Concannon receives a quote from the First Lady saying she supports her ex-boyfriend, leaving Bartlet more irate.”
If that’s not a cheesy plot concept, what is? The series could find all sorts of interesting ways to take on the replacement of a Fed Chair, but “POTUS is upset the prime nominee used to date his wife” isn’t one of them. This becomes a big problem for the episode.
Six Meetings Before Lunch: “The morning after Mendoza's confirmation, various staff members are brought back to earth by difficult meetings.”
With five more episodes in Season One and six more years to go, I won’t claim that the sight of Allison Janney’s performance of Ronny Jordan’s 1993 jazz/rap song “The Jackal” exists as the most embarrassing moment in the history of West Wing. However, this seems like a strong possibility, as Janney’s supposedly show-stopping rendition defines “cringe”.
Beyond that awful moment, “Lunch” becomes marginally more interesting, though it still sputters when we find ourselves stuck in Zoey’s dreary college life or the standard West Wing pedantic lecturing. Some good moments arrive but not enough to redeem the episode’s weaknesses.
Let Bartlet Be Bartlet: “The West Wing staff are feeling malaise as it seems they never get anything accomplished. Meanwhile, a leaked memo is a land mine that could embarrass the administration.”
We’d not seen much of Moira Kelly’s annoying Mandy, but she returns to the semi-fore here. That said, she proves less irritating than normal.
I should like “Let” because it focuses more on politics than personal shenanigans. Unfortunately, the series’ love of pedantic lecturing makes it mediocre.
Mandatory Minimums: “A newly energized administration prepares to take on soft money, increase addiction treatment, and remove mandatory minimum sentencing.”
The ending of “Let” pushed toward a POTUS who paid less attention to political outcomes and more to speaking his mind. That fits Frank Capra movies more than the supposedly reality-focused West Wing.
Not that I think creator Aaron Sorkin ever really intended the series as a truly accurate view of its subject. West Wing always comes across as an idealized fantasy of the presidency – well, from the liberal POV, at least.
Most of S1 showed the expected compromises that exist as part of an administration, but “Minimums” launches us into Capra Land. Throw in some of the usual dreary interpersonal nonsense and “Minimums” sputters.
Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics: “The staff waits for a poll to tell them if their new activist policies are moving them in the right direction. CJ feels like her opinions are being discounted.”
Oh no – the return of Sam’s contrived relationship with Laurie the escort! We also get more of the annoying CJ/Danny dynamic.
Outside of those domains, “Lies” musters a fairly good episode, mainly because it delves into the nuts and bolts I enjoy. Still, the amount of time we spend with the contrived Sam/Laurie thread makes the show spotty.
What Kind of Day Has It Been: “When a stealth fighter gets shot down over Iraq, Bartlet orders a military rescue as Toby worries about his brother trapped on a space shuttle orbiting the Earth. CJ deals with the ramifications of misleading the press about the rescue as the staff prepares for a town hall meeting that night. The town hall meeting goes well until the President leaves and shots ring out.”
Season One concludes with a cliffhanger related to the last sentence of that synopsis. Which seems like an intensely cheesy way to finish the year.
Much of “Day” leans toward heartstring tugging anyway, what with various unseen/previously unknown characters in peril even before the violent climax. These factors make “Day” an unsatisfying ending to an erratic season.
