OTH: The West Wing- "Lord John Marbury" / "He Shall, From Time to Time"
Synopsis: We learn that India has sent 300,000 troops into Kashmir, potentially setting India and Pakistan up for war. As the President briefs for this in the Situation Room, Josh finds himself served, which he thinks is due to his investigation of the White House staff following allegations of drug use among them. He isn’t worried, but both Toby and Sam insist that Josh brings an attorney with him. Speaking of Sam, Mandy comes into his office and tries to convince him to suggest to Josh and Toby why she should take on Mike Brace, a Republican, as a client. He doesn’t like the idea, and he doesn’t think that they will, either. Sam is right, for the record, and he’ll later be seen representing Josh as he’s questioned about Leo’s alcoholism and drug use, bringing up illegally obtained documents regarding his treatment. Sam insists that they postpone this investigation as the two walk out before Josh gets violent. The attack on Kashmir is still on the minds of most of Bartlet’s staff, aside from C.J., who is unaware when quizzed about it at a later press meeting. She isn’t informed until the next day, when Toby comes into her office. C.J. is incensed and demands to know why she wasn’t kept up to date, and Toby decides to not beat around the bush- the staff is concerned that she may look too soft with the press, particularly one Danny Concannon, a notion that infuriates her. Meanwhile, as the staff keeps looking for ways to deal with the attack, the President suggests that they meet with Lord John Marbury, the former British ambassador to New Delhi. Supposedly, he’s a bit of a kook, but that may be what the staff needs right now. Before calling him up, however, the President and Leo meet with the Chinese ambassador (James Hong), who is here to inform them that China might intervene against India. The next day, the President and Chief of Staff meet with Pakistan’s ambassador, who refuses to admit to any kind of wrongdoing that would set off an attack, including sending their own unauthorized troops into India. As he stands firm, Bartlet and Leo later meet with India’s ambassador, who stands firm about the country’s right to bare nuclear arms, recalling Britain’s tyrannical rule over them. Just after the ambassador leaves, Lord Marbury comes in and offers his advice to the President and Leo, suggesting that his sources from the UK suggest that the UN is expected to allow for both countries to agree to a two-week cease fire, and he’ll stay to help the President come up with a solution in time. He is a bit of a character, but he gets the job done. Along with John’s weirdness, the episode ends with Toby and C.J. being briefed on the investigation.
Oh also, Zoey expresses interest in dating Charlie, which he’s receptive to. Since he’s smart, Charlie realizes the dangers of shitting where you eat, he asks the President if he’s okay with the idea, and Bartlet briefly stonewalls him. Not because of race, mind you, but because of the age gap, even though Charlie’s only two years older. He eventually relents and gives Charlie the thumbs up, while reminding him of who he’s talking to.
I knew that I was going to like Lord Marbury when he confuses Leo with “the butler”. We need more wacky British men in, well, everything. Roger Rees has a palatable blast playing Marbury, and I am here for it.
The addition of Lord John Marbury in, well, “Lord John Marbury” adds a welcome and necessary sense of levity towards a rough period during the President’s tenure, where he has to deal with international affairs in a manner that best represents what is meant to be the most powerful nation in the world. Unfortunately, that just happens to involve conflict between India and Pakistan, a very real and fraught strife (the history of both nation’s standings are beyond the scope of this blog, but yeah, they’ve never been on great terms), which shows us President Bartlet trying his best to play level with two different forces who don’t want to play ball. It’s an unenviable position, and it’s not one that he seems to enjoy very much.
Leo appears to be better suited for this kind of conflict, but he has other pressing matters to attend to. I could only wish to have employees who would back me up to the extent that Josh and Sam do, but this is an equally unenviable position as to what the President is going through.
Although frankly, I think the struggle to respect Leo’s privacy about his vices makes for more interesting television than the considerably more melodramatic romantic storylines. Notice how little I wrote about C.J. and Danny or Charlie and Zoey on top, which aren’t nearly as exciting as stories. That said, I do think that C.J.’s material is a little stronger this week, as her flirtations with Danny are starting to appear as a conflict of interest with the other press and the White House at large. This allows for welcome (for the viewer, anyway) stakes in their time together while offering more chances for them to be cute together. Charlie and Zoey though… eh. Dule Hill and Elizabeth Moss are cute together too, but the material just isn’t there, nor are their characters, if we’re being honest.
Directed by TV veteran Kevin Sullivan, “Lord John Marbury” injects a little life into the series as it continues to find its groove and present unique and palatable drama. Let’s keep it going.
Season 1, Episode 12
Aired January 12, 2000
Directed by Arlene Sanford
Written by Aaron Sorkin
Synopsis: President Bartlet is rehearsing the State of the Union, but on the eve of the speech, he starts showing a terrible illness. The President insists that he’s fine, but when his staff find him fainting to the ground, it’s clear that this is far from the case, and they advise him to stay home after a quick meeting in the Situation Room. He goes in to receive an update on India and Pakistan’s actions, where Leo insists on taking him home to bed, where he’ll soon be met by the First Lady, who cancels a trip to keep a close eye on her husband. Is there something more to the President than just the flu? Until we know for sure, our attention returns to Leo, as it appears that information about his Valium addiction has leaked online and will appear on headlines in the following morning. C.J., who learns this from Mandy after seeing her converse with Danny in her office, meets with the Chief of Staff to discuss a strategy for the next day. On said next day, members of the staff meet with Leo in his office so he can rehearse his speech with them and answer questions that will likely be asked. Before they depart, Josh hands Leo a letter of support from the President that he drafted, which incenses Leo. He demands that if he’s going down, no one is going with him. Of course he and Josh don’t listen, as they hand the letter over to the President. It receives a wide amount of praise, including from Mallory, who stops by, surprised that her father made his statement before she and her mother knew. Leo doesn’t have time to catch up with his daughter, though, as he rushes into Sam’s office to berate him and Josh for handing out the letter, stating that this isn’t what he wanted. Somehow, this may be the least of Leo’s worries now, though, as Abbey comes into his office, first to congratulate him for doing such a good job of standing up for himself, but also to tell her how worried she is about her husband, as she has a bombshell of her own to drop- President Bartlet has multiple sclerosis. Leo rushes to Bartlet’s sick bed, where an informed President tells Leo that he was diagnosed seven years ago, has an unimpacted life expectancy, and his case traditionally offers him a full, immediate recovery whenever he gets ill. That’s all fine and good, but more than anything, Leo is upset that Jed kept this a secret from him after all of these years, insisting that they could have still won the candidacy if he knew. Bartlet apologizes, but they have to keep the conversation brief, as Lord Marbury has come over with some advice on how to put an end to India and Pakistan’s crisis- give India something that they want, in exchange for India backing its troops out of Kashmir. Lord Marbury decides to leave, having given satisfactory advice to the President, as he’s now recovered enough to deliver the State of the Union. Oh, and we see both Sam and Mallory, as well as C.J. and Danny, kiss.
The cat is out of the bag- President Bartlet’s MS diagnosis will become an important subject that will factor into the rest of the series.
And yeah, this might be an even bigger issue than Leo’s drug addiction, partly since he’s gone through virtually all of the proper channels to handle his ailment. While President Bartlet insists that he fully recovers quickly, MS is a serious, damaging problem, and it’s never going to go away. Multiple sclerosis is not an illness that only lasts briefly just to return into the void, he’s going to struggle for the rest of his life.
Leo’s addictive personality is far more likely to be forgiven and forgotten, the occasional cheap punchline aside, but having a President with a serious condition, one that he kept a secret from even his best friend and Chief of Staff, is damning stuff. Hopefully we can make some great TV out of it.
Directing duties this week go to Arlene Sanford, another television veteran (who has another OTH credit on her hands, handling an early episode of Friends) who largely gets the feel for the show. It works well enough for me not being sure how to continue this write-up and deciding to stop here.
Presidential Records:
“He wants to go out with Zoey.” “Shut up!”
Should I keep a tab of the movies and books President Bartlet namedrops? I’ll try, but we’ll skip over his purchases last week and the bible. Here, he compares himself to Spencer Tracy in Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.
Bartlet watching Passions- “I don’t understand, don’t any of these people have a job? They seem to have a lot of free time during the day.” I think it would be fun if he watched it with Spike.
Was the President kidding when he said that surgeon general would be the next to watch the Oval Office? Because they’re not in the line of succession for the presidency.
it’s a small world: If Lord John Marbury looks familiar to you, it’s probably because you’re a Mel Brooks fan and have seen his performance as the Sheriff of Rottingham in Robin Hood: Men in Tights… or you’ve seen prolific Welsh actor Roger Rees as Robin Colcord, the scummy, but incredibly wealthy apple of Rebecca Howe’s eye in Cheers. The character will become a notable figure during the show’s latter half, even featuring with the rest of the cast in at least one TV Guide cover as he plays a part of the love triangle between Sam and Rebecca. Unfortunately, the Olivier and Tony Award-winner passed in 2015, but we’ll see more of Marbury over the years. Also worth noting is a face who should definitely look familiar to my OTH readers/watchers- Secretary of Agriculture Roger Tribbey is played by Harry Groener, who along with an impressive resume, will arguably be best known for playing Mayor Wilkins during Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s third (aka best) season.
Next Week: The White House discusses how to administrate a controversial sex education study, while President Bartlet has his own personal debate- whether to execute the death penalty or not.