OTH: The West Wing- "Bartlet's Third State of the Union" / "The War at Home"
Not a multi-parter, but a continuation.
Season 1, Episode 13
Aired February 7, 2001
Directed by Christopher Misiano
Story by Allison Abner & Dee Dee Myers, Teleplay by Aaron Sorkin
Synopsis: As the title suggests, this is President Bartlet’s third State of the Union, and everyone is under a lot of pressure to assure that he delivers a memorable, coherent speech, one that Sam keeps finetuning up until the last minute. Given the President’s gift for public speaking, it goes off without a hitch, but the senior staff is not done stressing out. First of all, C.J. is the first of many special guests for an extended episode of Capital Beat, but she has to arrive sans pants after sitting on wet paint, but she has bigger problems to deal with- it turns out that Jack Sloan, an officer invited to the union as an example of excellent police force, has a notable black mark on his record, and she needs to nip this in the bud. Meanwhile, Josh and Donna are in charge of monitoring polling results about the union, which means that Joey Lucas is returning from California to run the show, and Josh still has unrequited feelings for her. Unfortunately, before they could pick up results from the west coast, the polling center Josh and co. are at has a power outage. We then go to the First Lady, who keeps rewinding back to the speech and has a bone to pick with Toby. But Leo has the biggest dilemma going on when he discovers that five DEA officers have been kidnapped in Colombia. So yes, a busy night.
Fuck it, let’s get to the important stuff. Abby is upset with the language used in the speech that indicates his intent to run for a second term, noting that they agreed to him only serving one term. While she initially lashes out at Toby, she really gets at it with her husband, who insists that their initial deal was only three years ago and that he’s confident in continuing his candidacy. Abby remains unconvinced that he can keep his position as leader of the free world with MS.
The title is a misnomer- if this is President Bartlet’s third year in office, this should be his second State of the Union. The President traditionally doesn’t have their first until their second year. But also, election years in The West Wing happen on alternate years than ours do, so things are clearly different here.
I don’t think audiences quite knew this at the time, but “Bartlet’s Third State of the Union” would be the first of an ongoing narrative that won’t be resolved until the following week. Despite some (mostly) solid continuity, this isn’t a common thing for The West Wing, which likes to have its episodes themes resolved as quickly as possible. The latter episode makes the former matter more and rewards audiences for sticking around week in and out,.
Does that make for good TV? Not on its own, but I do think that this is a solid episode, if maybe a little silly when it shouldn’t be. There are heavy themes being addressed this week- an international hostage situation as well as the President’s looming multiple sclerosis and even a dash of police brutality- and unlike last season’s “Celestial Navigation”, which handled both sides of the coin splendidly, I’m not as crazy on the running gag involving sitting on paint. We know the show can do better.
“Bartlet’s Third State of the Union” is also noteworthy for bringing Ainsley Haynes back into the fold after taking a few episodes off. I do like Emily Procter’s performance, so it’s nice that she hasn’t permanently moved to Mandytown just yet, although Sorkin and co. don’t seem to quite know what to do with the character besides embarrassing her as much as possible. Still, it’s better than just throwing their hands up in the air like what happened with Mandy’s character, and seeing her dance in a bathrobe is at least memorable.
Part of the problem I have with talking about this episode is how it feels like part of a bigger piece, even though the small pieces we get here are noteworthy- hi, Joey! The show functions well when it has the crew deal with a couple of curveballs in different games, only sometimes interlinking, but what I think audiences will prefer to see is how they connect at the end.
Season 2, Episode 14
Aired February 14, 2001
Directed by Christopher Misiano
Written by Aaron Sorkin
Synopsis: Following the previous episode, President Bartlet is forced to give an answer on the Colombian hostage crisis, and while he’s advised to wait for more negotiations, he decides to take action and rescue the DEA agents. Before the night is done, C.J. convinces Officer Sloan, who explained his side of the story as to why he was tried for misconduct to her, to do the same on Capital Beat tomorrow night to America, while Josh has no choice but to call his polling a night.
The next morning, Jed meets with his wife, hoping to resume their argument from last night, but the First Lady insists that they put a pin on it until he resolves the hostage crisis, not wanting to give him anything else on his mind. This turns out to be the right call, as President Bartlet learns distressing news later that day- it turns out that the intel they received was wrong, and one of the Blackhawk helicopters sent to rescue the DEA officers was shot down, killing nine men. The President demands that the President of Colombia appear on the phone, with a translator, and the two reach a questionable impasse- the President of Colombia will release the hostages in exchange for President Bartlet releasing a noted Colombian kingpin. An enraged Bartlet meets in the Situation Room to come up with any kind of solution to not only save the hostages, but to wipe out the CRF, but is told that the only option is to start an intensive war, where they would be lucky if half the American troops sent would survive. Leo suggests a way that the kingpin could be freed without any culpability on the President’s end, and he agrees, while asking to see the bodies of the shot down soldiers who are currently located at Dozer. Bartlet also meets one more time with Abbey, who remains incensed that her husband, who suffers from a condition that eats from his brain, is agreeing to run for a second term.
Following “Bartlet’s Third State of the Union”, a couple of stories established from the previous episode, most notably C.J. and Officer Sloan, are largely dropped early on. C.J. doesn’t get much to do after the first act, in fact, while the show’s initial attempt to discuss police brutality is all but forgotten. It sounds like this particular officer had some kind of necessity to attack, but he still aimed lower than what seems traditionally necessary, and it feels like Sorkin wasn’t comfortable with delving further into systematic violence from the force, which is a shame. This is a conversation that we’re still having, and looking like the crew doesn’t want to expand is a coward’s move.
I don’t like that, but I am otherwise a fan of the rest of the episode, which puts President Bartlet in an uncomfortable position. His top priority- the safety and rescue of his citizens- never escapes, but the only option he’s given to save them, by releasing a dangerous drug lord from one of their prisoners, is as unenviable as you can get. What kind of message will you send if you release one person responsible for countless deaths in exchange for just a few men? But abandoning any American citizen sends just as bad of a message, that the individual doesn’t matter. Basically, Bartlet has to cut one arm to save another. He just needs to make sure he picked the right one.
Meanwhile, Bartlet has another big issue that is increasingly needing to be addressed- his MS diagnosis. Abbey, a well-renowned doctor on top of his wife, has the job of reminding her husband that his condition is expected to worsen as he gets older, most likely around the time a second term would start. She’s understandably furious that he’s agreeing to run again, but this is a theme that the show has established from the beginning- the top of the President’s mind is always meant to be reelection. They’re meant to perform so exceptionally at their job that a second term is all but guaranteed, and after that second term is won, their next job is to ensure that their party keeps the highest position in the free world. With all of the crisis’s and assassination attempts that we’ve seen President Bartlet deal with over the show’s run, he forgot to cut a step and is planning to make it to reelection no matter how dangerous. The thing is, Abbey is likely right, his condition will not improve with age- the reverse is expected to happen, in fact- but dammit, if Martin Sheen isn’t inspiring in a suit and with Aaron Sorkin’s crackling dialogue. He even makes the character’s quiet, yet understandably tense breakdown following the bad intel revelation sequence almost seem as charming as it is rough.
I’m less of a fan of the newly-found Josh-Joey-Donna love triangle, although at least this appears to be somewhat one-sided, and luckily Bradley Whitford and Janel Molony have undeniable chemistry with each other. I gather that Donna has the classic mantra “don’t shit where you eat” on her mind, which is what is stopping her from pursuing her boss. Frankly, I don’t blame her, although I also like Josh with Joey. The thing is, Marlee Matlin is a busy film actress and Joey is based on the west coast, while Donna will always have her position at the White House- she’s immune from being fired, after all- so it seems likely to expect one side to win this quiet battle, right?
“The War at Home” isn’t The West Wing at its most exciting, but it has a little bit of everything that fans crave- domestic and international affairs, internal strife, and a little bit of screwball comedy romance topped by Sorkin and Schlamme’s trademarks (even though the reliable Chris Misiano is responsible for directing both episodes this week). It’s clear why the show was only growing in popularity at this point.
Presidential Records:
Sam finds it outrageous that the White House’s women’s locker room has bathrobes, but not the men’s, while there’s only 50 women working there vs. 1000 men.
I’m pretty sure Ainsley met the President in her first episode. That’s kind of a weird gaffe.
Speaking of gaffes re: Ainsley, she wasn’t namedropped at all as a guest on Capital Beat.
Something I thought of- during the season premiere, Abbey mentioned that a handful of people are aware of the President’s MS diagnosis, which included the Vice President. Is this why Jed is unwilling to step down, that the initial plan was to support Hoynes as the next Democratic nomination, but he realizes that this will be a mistake?
Next Week: President Bartlet is at odds with his daughter. No, not Zoey. And after that, it’s time for Big Block of Cheese Day!