OTH: The West Wing- "Galileo" / "Noël"
1.1 Million Cards?
Season 1, Episode 9
Aired November 29, 2000
Directed by Alex Graves
Written by Kevin Falls and Aaron Sorkin
Synopsis: President Bartlet is excited to give an online seminar on the Galileo V, a spaceship expected to land on Mars, and he hopes to spend the evening reading about Mars and Galileo, but his busy day is ending with a performance of the Reykjavik Symphony Orchestra, a date he can’t get out of in fear of further upsetting the Icelandic ambassador after rebuffing him the previous day. He requests that C.J. and Sam join him to discuss a broader theme for their seminar, even though they both have objections that don’t matter, especially as pressing news comes out of an explosion at an oil refinery in Russia. The thing is, there is no oil refinery located here, but a missile silo, which the government has tried to keep under wraps but has clearly failed. Leo asks to have a briefing about the explosion to determine if it happened at a missile silo, which they discover did indeed happen. He asks to meet with the Russian ambassador, right before learning about another piece of pressing news- Galileo V’s signal has been lost. As the President, C.J. and Sam prepare for their evening at the symphony, Leo meets with Russian ambassador Nadia Kozlowski, who begins their meeting by flirting with him before he cuts the crap and tries to talk to her about the incident. While she tries to keep the truth mum, Leo offers the US government’s help. At the symphony, just before being seated to his box, President Bartlet receives news that the explosion took place while liquid hydrogen was being drained from the missile. He has a lot on his mind during the performance, and has more to say when he returns to the White House, first stopping at Leo’s office and stopping Nadia from increasing demands for their help and demanding that they accept it. That solves one problem, while C.J. later tells the President that regardless of what happens with Galileo, he should keep the seminar open. Also, there’s stuff about green beans and stamps, but none of this matters.
So, green beans. President Bartlet doesn’t like green beans, and he might lost Oregon’s vote because of it. That’s pretty ridiculous, which is partly why I didn’t cover it above. At the same time, however, people are stupid, and Oregon is, indeed, a big supplier of green beans.
As you can tell, I’m not a huge fan of the side plots in “Galileo”, which feel almost like cliches of what you’d expect a standard West Wing episode to contain at this point. The green bean bit is a notable example, as something that lingers on the surface but isn’t taken especially seriously, but I think a better example comes from Josh and Donna’s argument over Marcus Aquino, the man who called for Puerto Rican statehood (in the show’s universe anyway) to receive a stamp. The show likes giving Donna a strong argument to contest when it has nothing else to give her, and while it’s kind of a waste of your Janel Molony, at least she gets something to do, period.
The rest of the episode is standard stuff, kind of meat and potatoes compared to the green bean debacle. I’m not a fan of the return of the Laurie the Call Girl drama, although at least Sam and Mallory seem just tired of this as we do. At this point in the show, only the President is allowed a happy relationship, and we’re forced to handle plenty of melodrama in between, which is not Sorkin’s forte. Writing for relationships or women, that is.
He’s better at political strife and intelligent people trying to one-up each other to stay in the conversation, which “Galileo” offers plenty of, but the most memorable part comes at the end, when President Bartlet offers a lovely little speech regarding the night’s performance. While The West Wing is often a showcase for the rest of the less-established cast, Martin Sheen will occasionally remind audiences of why he’s among the most-acclaimed actors of his generation, and why he fits so well with Sorkin’s dialogue. And moments like these can make even the most tedious episodes, which “Galileo” isn’t but is close to hitting, worthwhile.
Season 2, Episode 10
Aired December 20, 2000
Directed by Thomas Schlamme
Story by Peter Parnell, Teleplay by Aaron Sorkin
Synopsis: It’s Christmas Eve and Josh, with a bandaged hand, is meeting with Dr. Stanley Keyworth and Kaytha Trask, representatives of the American Trauma Victims Association. Josh isn’t very happy or interested in the appointment, but Leo insists on him taking it. Dr. Stanley first asks Josh about being shot, but he doesn’t have much to say, noting that one moment he was conscious, and the next he wasn’t, so Stanley switches course and asks about three weeks ago. Josh isn’t sure what he’s referring to, but recalls “the pilot”, and starts going in detail as we flashback to earlier in the month, where Josh and Toby discuss how the Assistant Energy Secretary suggested that drilling in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) had merit, something to look into, obviously. C.J. is asked about this statement at a press briefing, but doesn’t have an answer, and their chance to talk to the President about it is blocked as he’s currently in the Situation Room. We then see President Bartlet in the Situation Room, where he’s learning of a pilot who has broken off from his group with unclear goals. They’re sending additional pilots to find him, but it’s not looking good thus far. Josh looks into the pilot’s personal records and notices, among other things, that they share a birthday. He learns this right as the White House receives an update on the pilot- he crashed into a mountain in Mexico City. According to a radio report from the pilot, this was intentional, a suicide. And that’s a reason why Josh is here, but not the only one. Later that week, we’re seeing Josh get more unhinged, lashing out at his coworkers, his friends. Things come to a halt just five days before this meeting, when we see Josh in the Oval Office with the President, Leo, and Sam, as the others argue over the merits of drilling the SPR, which he adamantly opposes. Josh loses it and raises his voice at the President, something he traditionally knows better than to do. Leo demands that Josh waits in his office as he and Sam finish their discussion with the President. When Leo comes out, he brings up ATVA, and tells Josh that he’s going to meet with representatives. That’s one part, but Stanley still has more to delve into, and asks how Josh broke his hand. Josh has answered this before and says so again- he broke his hand making a drink at home and breaking his glass, but Stanley doesn’t believe this and asks Josh to recall the Congressional Christmas party from the other night. The Christmas party is a big deal, featuring a performance from Yo-Yo Ma, which of course is lovely. Everyone in the audience is moved, including Josh, who is visibly tense. Stanley notes that Josh had another episode at the performance and asks him to recall the shot. It’s unpleasant and causes the two men to argue, but soon Josh is able to recover the memory- recalling the comparison he had with the pilot, Josh punches one of the windows in his apartment. That’s how he broke his hand. From here, Stanley thinks that they’re able to scratch the surface of Josh’s PTSD, stating that it’s the music which triggered him, recalling the sirens from his shooting. Stanley and Katyha he advises to meet with a therapist, just not him. Josh walks out of the ATVA office, where he meets Leo, who was waiting outside the entire time. Leo tells Josh that as long as he has a job, so will Josh, and he tells his deputy to go see a doctor. Donna comes out to take him to the ER as the two head out.
Christmas episodes tend to be impactful for the White House senior staff. With “In Excelsis Deo”, Toby branches out of his comfort zone to give a homeless veteran the memorial service he deserves, and that earned Richard Schiff an Emmy and became an unforgettable early highlight. “Noël” tries something similar with Josh, and largely succeeds.
This is a welcome addition to the series, even if Josh had seen a therapist earlier in the series (who we see in “The Crackpot and These Women”), although he’s likely not qualified to handle PTSD the way Dr. Stanley Keyworth is, whose stern analysis adds to the episode. He understands what’s going on and what Josh needs and refuses to let him off easy despite his political importance, which is exactly the right thing to do.
The series typically does well when it has Josh anchor the story in an expository manner, recalling the previous season’s “Celestial Navigation”, which is a combination of the character’s strength and Bradley Whitford’s commitment to his performance, and he does even better here. This is partly thanks to Schlamme’s tight direction, not allowing us to escape the tight grip of the ATVA’s office or its poorly-lit shelter. The office contrasts well with the White House’s splendor, which no other director has managed to detail as well as Schlamme, who returns home like a hungry and broke college student.
Sorkin and Peter Parnell do a fine job of weaving the West Wing’s typical sense of humor and drama into an episode delving into Josh’s psyche while giving him an honest and tasteful experience of PTSD, before it became a buzzword among millennials and zoomers after dealing with one slightly rough experience. Using a brilliantly improvised performance from legend Yo-Yo Ma (not sure if you know this, but YO-YO MA RULES!), there’s incredible editing as his panic attack is detailed and later when we get to the source of his episode.
Really good stuff, yet another high point for the season. “Noël” ended up being quite the hot episode during awards season, gifting Thomas Schalmme a DGA Award and cinematographer Thomas Del Ruth the American Society of Cinematographers Award. Arguably most notably of all, “Noël” was one of Bradley Whitford’s submitted episodes for the Emmys this season, winning him the award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama. A deserved win, as evident by his meltdown in the Oval Office.
Presidential Records:
Ha, I try to have these reviews posted at 11 am sharp, but life got in the way and I hope you don’t mind reading about your White House drama at 11 pm instead. If these seem a little rushed, that’s why.
“Do you want to mock people, or do you want to let me talk to Toby?” “I want to mock people.”
You can see a picture of President Clinton in the Situation Room, which is… huh? I’m pretty sure that he’s not supposed to exist in this world.
President Bartlet is right that it’s not classical music if it was finished being written this afternoon. As for his take that music made after 1860 sucks? I’ll get back to you on that. Dave Brubeck’s Time Out was released after that window and it’s pretty darn good. Meanwhile, C.J.’s example of modern music is… Jackson Browne?
A great bit of what I hope was improv- Sam throwing away his champagne glass after seeing Mallory.
It’s not surprising that Jed is crazy about white ties, but tails on a tux are Sorkin’s preference.
You can hear Dulé Hill tap dance in rhythm to Yo-Yo Ma when we focus on Charlie during the performance. Before acting, Hill practiced ballet and tap.
Next (Two) Weeks: The plan is still to miss next week to recover from my time off, but when we return, a bipartisan breakfast goes astray, but nearly as astray as a test missile.