Season 3, Episode 9
Aired December 12, 2001
Directed by Thomas Schlamme
Written by Aaron Sorkin
Synopsis: It’s December 23rd, and while President Bartlet is planning to spend an early day at the White House for a change, but Leo has something a little bigger planned- today is he having his first hearing regarding the President’s health. Switching between the hearing and flashbacks, we see more of the early days of the Bartlet campaign, starting with Leo’s impromptu meeting with Governor Bartlet, where he shares a sticky note sharing a simple idea he can not get out of his head- “Bartlet for America.” We don’t see Jed’s initial decision, or their next meeting at Leo’s Marriott room, but rather follow-up with an earlier part of the Bartlet campaign, where his staff suggests that he release his tax forms and has a physical. The former is no problem, but Jed checks in with his wife to clarify if his MS will be detected. She suggests that with it being in remission, this won’t be an issue, but before she can approve of the idea, the future president says he intends to. And this is all well and good as the hearing soon turns to Vice President Hoynes, the first person on the campaign to learn about Bartlet’s condition, and we finally see when this was disclosed, on the Super Tuesday where Hoynes turned from the most likely incumbent to out of the running. The Bartlets meet with John in private as Jed reveals his condition, as a way to prove his trust, as he asks Hoynes to become his running mate. While Jed wants an immediate answer, Hoynes refuses to until he has a decision.
All is going well until Congressman Gibson starts his hearing, when he asks if President Bartlet had been incapacitated ever since his campaign. While we know about one time as President, Leo shocks the council by revealing that Jed Bartlet did, in fact, have an episode during his campaign. Meeting with his attorney in private, we flashback to the evening in question, where Leo and a couple of potential donors, including Gibson, talk over glasses of Johnny Walker Blue. Although Leo is initially wary of having a drink (his alcoholism remaining a secret at this point), he eventually has a sip, and later a glass of the legendary scotch with the two. While telling the story, Leo suggests that he only gets drunk in private, which we see is true enough as he raids his hotel room’s minifridge in private, rather than joining a weakening Governor Bartlet and crew for a speech. Josh calls to inform Leo, who haphazardly prepares himself, only for Gibson to return to reclaim his briefcase, noticing the empty bottles on the hotel table. Not being in his best state of mind, Leo reveals that the Governor has fainted as he rushes out. While Gibson plans to use this to further his point, Cliff Calley (the Counsel member Donna has been seeing) advises against this, suggesting that this will only make the right look worse to prove their point. The Republican Senate Majority Leader stays quiet, but ultimately agrees after their recess wraps up, as he calls for the hearing to reconvene after the holidays. Leo, who dodges a serious bullet and is able to secure a date with his attorney, returns to the White House to do some work as he’s greeted by President Bartlet, who thanks Leo with a special gift- the “Bartlet for America” cocktail napkin in a gorgeous frame.
“This is why good people hate us.”
Give me a fucking break. This is the same party where Marjorie Taylor Green keeps sharing nude photos of the Democratic President’s son to counter from her involvement in the January 6th insurrection and her guy’s frequent issues with the law. If the GOP had something half as juicy as Leo’s bender to use, they absolutely would, nor would they care about “good people” hating them. As far as the right are concerned, anyone who leans even the slightest way blue is not a person, period.
I appreciate a good Sorkin spiel as much as anyone, but this is where his biggest faults tend to show up. Most people don’t have, or want, the awareness to accept when they’re bested by logic. While it’s fun and sometimes even charming to see a good speech have someone change their mind, this isn’t the real world and it’s juvenile to think otherwise.
So yes, the ending bugged me a little, but otherwise, I really liked “Bartlet for America”.
What can I say, I’m a sucker for flashback episodes. While prequels tend to make the worlds of their original properties feel smaller, I think Sorkin does a fine job of building onto The West Wing’s lore, pushing for character development instead of contriving every story element together into one neat package. Sometimes it feels like he’s learning more about these characters on the fly as we, the audience are, as he makes the story behind the Bartlet campaign feel richer.
While the big story is saved for last, I like that we got to see Bartlet reveal his disease to Hoynes here. This is a story that I’ve been curious to see how it played out, and it’s done in a risky fashion by Jed, who is seriously jumping the gun with his test of faith. There’s a serious chance that Hoynes could have taken the reveal of Bartlet’s condition as a way to have him disqualified from the primaries, and knowing the character as we’ve seen over the course of the show’s run, it’s not an unreasonable assumption. The framing makes it possible, even know we know what happens. This is what makes a good prequel work, when you’re able to doubt the eventual outcome of what you already know to happen.
Yet the Hoynes story feels more like a footnote, as he doesn’t appear during the rest of the episode. This is Leo’s story, after all, as it’s his faith in Josiah Bartlet that not only made their campaign and presidency possible, but what drives the series. While we don’t see their first meeting, or how they officially became friends, it becomes clear from the first flashback, when Leo shares his now-iconic cocktail napkin, just how much he believes in this one man. Leo is seldom the smartest person in the room, but he’s more than capable of working with smarter people and getting them to work together. He does this because of trust. He trusts in the President and his staff to do what’s right for himself, the country, and the world at large.
Although the one person Leo does not seem to trust is himself, as evident by the story of his bender. John Spencer delivers some of the best acting in his career as Leo candidly reveals one of his darkest missteps (I hope this is the episode he won the Emmy for). This brings up another aspect of the show that I think gives The West Wing its edge, how even its most noble characters have flaws. President Bartlet isn’t the only person in the White House who has kept a secret, and we learned about Leo’s struggles with alcoholism and pill addiction before Bartlet’s multiple sclerosis.
While Leo’s argument that alcoholism is not a matter of intellect, recalling his family’s history of addiction, he was indeed stupid for reverting back to his past. Leo’s spiel about not understanding how someone can take “just one drink” rings too close to comfort for me, and even just the image of seeing Leo reach for his hotel room’s minifridge sent a shiver down my spine. Kudos for Schlamme for some excellent framing here.
The thing is, this is a very bad look for someone with a history like Leo. Even though Jed is who this trial is about, his fainting doesn’t look nearly as bad as Leo returning to the bottle. He knows this, as does Congressman Gibson, which is why he was saving this as his trump card. And these are the kinds of stakes you want in a courtroom drama, which the episode handedly delivers.
The ending may have rubbed me the wrong way, but I’m still in favor of “Bartlet for America”. Hell, I wish I could vote for the guy, myself, MS be damned.
Season 3, Episode 10
Aired January 9, 2002
Directed by Vincent Misiano
Story by Eli Attie, Teleplay by Aaron Sorkin
Synopsis: Before the hearing returns to court, Leo and his attorney Jordan Kendall meet with Cliff Calley, who offers Leo a deal- in exchange to not have to testify about his drunken episode in court, he agrees to a Concurrent Resolution, which censures the President. Leo refuses immediately, but Jordan asks him for one day to make up his decision. The next day comes and Leo still hasn’t made a decision, so Jordan meets at his office with a list of similar resolutions made. Leo still won’t hear about it, refusing to let the President take a bullet for him when it’s his job, but Jordan is adamant, noting that the repercussions for him will be greater.
While the White House is surveying a tell-all someone who briefly worked with the White House is publishing (or really, Sam is), Josh is still on an Amy Gardner high and asks for Toby to come up with a reason for him to meet up with her again. Toby brings up paid family leave, which is a nonstarter, and he works with that to call up Amy to meet up. She has a date that evening, but agrees to go for drinks afterwards. As Josh arrives to meet with Amy, Donna receives a call from Cliff, asking to meet her at a local library. Cliff asks for a meeting with Josh, insisting that it’s important for Leo but won’t go into detail. While Donna doesn’t know exactly why, she realizes that this has something to do with the hearing, and calls Josh right away. At a good time, too, as Josh’s attempts to woo Amy aren’t working out. We don’t see Josh and Cliff meet, but he does catch up with Leo, suggesting that taking the deal isn’t the worst idea, but he stands firm. While Josh does get a happy ending with Amy, who meets him on his stoop as the two kiss, President Bartlet tells Leo that he’ll accept the censure, noting that he was in the wrong. While Leo remains steadfast in not approving, the episode ends with audio of the censure being read.
First I want to talk about the book subplot. Exposes on the White House are nothing new- hell, the Trump administration seemingly had a tell-all released every other week- but these seldom made a wave or changed many mindsets. A few modern historians may buy a copy for record keeping, but the world will largely forget about this photographer’s brief history with the White House the week after his book drops.
Everyone seems to know this but Sam, who keeps digging his foot into the ground about it, not seeming to realize the time-honored rule that the best way to fight bad press is by not acknowledging it at all. Even if it’s outlandishly false. Just shut up, mind your business and lay low for a couple of days, and this will blow over. Grab a pint or something while you’re at it.
So anyway, that’s a nice deal Leo was offered, and while I’d be similarly unsure about taking it in his position, I understand why others are encouraging him to. Even if he loses reelection, President Bartlet will be set for life, he’ll never have to work again. Leo, not so much. This is pretty damning information, and his integrity may not recover. Keep in mind that this happened after his time in rehab.
And as much as the senior staff care about and support their President, Leo is just as important to them. This is why Josh gives up his (awkward) attempt at a date with the lovely Amy Gardner when he learns that Cliff Calley knows one of his boss’ most damning secrets. If anyone else on the crew knew about this, they’d do the same thing.
Once again, credit must be given to John Spencer, who makes Leo convincing as the most capable man in the White House. He may not have Toby’s quick wit, Josh’s gift for recollection, Sam’s dedicated righteousness, or C.J.’s reasonable empathy, but Leo is able to get the best out of his crew by simple determination, largely thanks to Spencer’s acting gifts. He has made the past two episodes stand out with serious conviction.
“H. Con-172” keeps the show’s ongoing momentum going strong as the attention remains on Leo, who has, only to eventually lose, the difficult decision to protect his career in exchange for the President’s reputation. It makes for good drama that he has the decision, and for a good person that he couldn’t make the decision himself. As entertaining as antiheroes like Tony Soprano or Walter White can be, and as much as I’d like Sorkin to give his world a little more of a spice, it’s for the best that his White House isn’t remotely comparable. It’s good that while President Bartlet and Leo McGarry have edges and have made mistakes, they’re decent people at the end of the day. While this is sometimes frustrating, I understand that part of The West Wing’s appeal is how appealing this White House staff is. And it’s what I usually want from the show, as well.
The rest of the episode is also pretty good, especially now that Josh finally got to kiss a woman. Frankly, he deserves it, and it shouldn’t be Donna, either. If Josh Lyman is to be as good of a person as Leo and the President, hooking up with his assistant is not going to achieve that.
Presidential Records:
Oh hey, that’s Clark Gregg- Marvel’s Agent Coulson- playing Special Agent Casper. Neat!
“No, the First Lady has known the President the longest”… but even she would have been surpassed by the late Mrs. Landingham. Don’t forget that, Leo.
Speaking of Mrs. Landingham, it was nice to see her again in the first flashback. Kathryn Joosten’s role in Joan of Arcadia never went beyond semi-recurring, so her death may not have been necessary. It sure did land a punch though, right?
“Feministas?” What the bloody hell, Josh?
If you’re not familiar, President Bartlet’s favorite movie is The Lion in Winter, which he seems to have memorized. It’s a damn fine movie, one of Katharine Hepburn’s best performances, and her only Oscar winner that I fully stand by.
Oh god, I really can’t get away from Israel, can I? It’s a nice map, at least.
Next Week(ish): Sam is working on what may be the most important State of the Union of the President’s career, while we learn a little more about Jed’s father. Fun!