OTH: The West Wing- "Pilot" / "Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc"

Where we start our look into everyone's favorite liberal fantasy.

Season 1, Episode 1

Aired September 29, 1999

Directed by Thomas Schlamme

Written by Aaron Sorkin

Synopsis: It’s 5:30 am, and everybody in the president’s immediate circle- Chief of Staff Leo McGarry, who notes an error in the New York Times crossword, his deputy Josh Lyman, who was rudely interrupted from resting in his office, Press Secretary C.J. Cregg, in the middle of her pre-office workout, Communications Director Toby Ziegler, on a flight back to D.C., and his deputy Sam Seaborn, who has to walk out early on his one night stand- have received the vital news that POTUS was in a bike accident while on vacation. Leo has the rough duty of trying to come up with a reasonable alibi for C.J. to give to the press, but that’s not the only problem he has to deal with this morning- Josh made an ass of himself on TV the other night, quipping to the evangelist he was debating, Mary Marsh, that the only God she prays to is “too busy being indicted for tax fraud”. He’s worried that his job is on the line, as it is, but at the same time he refuses to back down. Toby comes into his office and tells him that if he’s willing to apologize and play nice at a private meeting with her Christian organization later that day, he’s likely to keep his job, but it would be a bad look for the president to keep his job otherwise. Toby has one more piece of information, as word reaches the White House that senator Lloyd Russell is planning a campaign against the president in 2002*, and he’s being assisted by Mandy Hampton, who has a history with Josh and previously consulted their bid. Josh has lunch with Mandy to discuss her plans, and she tries to convince him to join Russell’s campaign, noting that not only is he about to be fired, but the president’s favorables will be down to 48% in an upcoming release. But Josh isn’t the only one having a bad day, as Sam finds out that Leo’s wife, who detests him after hitting on her at a party, asked specifically for Sam to hold a tour of the White House for their daughter’s fourth grade class. Sam isn’t very knowledgeable about the White House, despite working there, but before he can turn it down, he realizes that he swapped pagers with the girl he slept with last night, and also discovers that she’s a call girl. He meets up with her to swap them back and implores her to keep their night a secret, even if Sam didn’t have to pay her. So he succeeds at keeping this night under wraps, until he accidentally blurts out what happened to the teacher of the class he’s showing around the White House, which happens to be Leo’s daughter. We then cut to the meeting between Mary Marsh and her Christian group alongside Josh, Toby and C.J., where Josh profusely apologizes for the crack he made on television, but Marsh doesn’t seem very interested. She’s only willing to move on if the White House speaks out in favor of school prayers or against pornography or condoms in schools, none of which they’re willing to agree with. Marsh doesn’t back down and brings up Josh’s “New York sense of humor”, which Toby, further incensed, takes as an antisemitic insult, an insinuation that Marsh doesn’t approve of. Just as things are beginning to escalate, President Josiah “Jed” Bartlet arrives and refuses to give Marsh and her men quarter, noting how she nor her leaders will condemn more extreme Christian groups like the Lambs of God, who sent his 12-year-old granddaughter a Raggedy Ann doll with a knife slit to her throat after being quoted supporting a woman’s right to choose. He tells them to get out of his office as he calls his staff into the Oval Office for a quick meeting, suggesting that everyone has been taking a little break and focusing on their life. The President says that’s fine, but the break is over and everyone needs to go back to their jobs, including Josh, who’s told to “never do that again.”

God, I do not like the show’s closing credits. The opening music is fine, if cheesy presidential fair, but the outro sounds like it belongs in a hokey Robin Williams comedy from the 90’s. I love Robin Williams too, don’t @ me

Watching the show’s pilot for the first time since my initial run-through a decade prior, The West Wing sets up much of what it will stand for- addressing real-world issues in a concise but romantic manner- but the show’s structure isn’t quite set up. Ideally, we weren’t supposed to see the President at all, but NBC objected to this prospect. Sorkin caved and took producer John Wells’ suggestion to cast Martin Sheen, who played the scene-stealing Chief of Staff in The American President, as their own POTUS, but only occasionally as to not take the show away from the White House’s staff, who were meant to be the real stars of the show.

But seeing Bartlet’s appearance at the end proves why this didn’t quite happen that way- he was too damn good to not appear frequently. Right away, Sheen understands the character and his necessities, which allows him to play Bartlet with the chilling and friendly command required. Does he overshadow the rest of the cast? Maybe a little, although I think they’re still well-matched.

It’s funny that in an episode full of memorable introductions, possibly the most dynamic is for who will ultimately be the show’s most minor main character- Mandy Hampton. Getting a little bit of a breeze through D.C. traffic, compounded by reckless driving and Moira Kelly’s palpable fun with being so out of touch with her environment makes for a clever way to introduce someone who we barely get a feel for in the episode, possibly too clever. It doesn’t help that she only has one other scene a few minutes later, and that only confirms the only two things we know about her at this point- she used to date Josh, and she’s supposedly a good consultant.

The episode does a better job with introducing the rest of the cast and exploring who they are. C.J. gets an equally great intro moment, recalling Allison Janney’s command of physical comedy which lovingly contrasts with the character’s drier sense of humor, which Janney is able to exploit with simply the right positioning of her eyes. Also good is John Spencer’s Leo McGarry, whose frustration with the New York Times’ crossword helps to make him instantly relatable.

Although I feel like the big three personalities this week are Josh Lyman, whose bold choice of words has him in hot water, Sam Seaborn, who made one questionable choice too many over the past 24 hours, and Toby Ziegler, who is caught between all of this and doesn’t seem to have much patience for anything. Toby comes out as the least exciting of the three, but that’s probably because he didn’t get a free night with a call girl or got to tell an evangelical that she’s full of shit on live TV. He doesn’t even have a cute assistant like Josh does with Donna Murphy, played by an early scene-stealing Janel Molony. She’s already so good at the role and has strong enough chemistry with Bradley Whitford that she was gifted an additional scene when the original script came out short on time.

Still, we have some interesting issues that should help to keep audience’s attention as the show premiered. While The West Wing was already poised to be the kind of series that viewers who want to appear intelligent will tune into, stories like Sam’s call girl subplot are what will entice them to actually watch the show. And while geopolitical matters like the Cuban refugees stuck on the Florida coast are sprinkled into the script, political headlines are just as likely to focus on personal matters just as much, and the show has no qualms in pointing that out.

The more pressing matter here is the religious crew that intend to make their feelings known whether they have the President’s approval or not. It’s hard to not notice how relevant this still is, as Christians continue to make themselves look far more oppressed than they are as the most extreme push their right-leaning agenda, no matter how popular it is, refusing to budge that this country was found on religious freedom and should reflect that for every kind of faith, theirs or not. However, the show steers its head away from LGBTQA concerns (ie, their existence) that are most prevalent today and instead focuses on sexual panic. While I can agree that children shouldn’t be exposed to pornography and have my own issues with the porn industry, there are more pressing issues than Playboy being (not so) readily available.

Not bad for a first job. Aaron Sorkin’s script, as mentioned, balances the politically minded with character moments that should help to keep the series impactful, while Thomas Schlamme, a regular in Sorkin’s wheelhouse, does a fine job of bringing the series to life. He frames the episode sharply and is able to pull off tracking shots quite well, which will become a hallmark for the series. The West Wing is hardly the first work to have characters walk and talk with one-take shots, but it’s probably among the first things you think of when it comes to tracking shots.

“Pilot” became a very golden episode of television, winning Emmys for Directing, Art Direction and Cinematography, although it did miss out on the award for Outstanding Writing. Personally, I think the episode looks a little flat, but the direction is admittedly solid. Sorkin shouldn’t feel bad, though, as another episode will take that gold home.

Season 1, Episode 2

Aired September 29, 1999

Directed by Thomas Schlamme

Written by Aaron Sorkin

Synopsis: Mandy Hampton is having a bad day. She finds the senator she’s campaigning for, Lloyd Russell, out in public and drives through a curb at full speed to illegally park and berate her boss for planning to shelve Bill 443, which was meant to be his gateway into a potential presidential candidacy. It turns out that Russell has decided to forgo his presidential run and may nominate Bartlet for re-election himself, conceding that he doesn’t see himself winning against the incumbent president. This means Mandy’slost her only client and is out of a job (one she spent $500K to set up, as well as putting her partner Daisy out of a job), and what’s more, she knows that Josh Lyman is going to gloat about it over at the White House. Russell assures her that this isn’t the case, but she’s right. After we see him briefly celebrate, Josh meets with the rest of his crew in the Oval Office for a quick check-in with the President, where Bartlet is quizzed on his occasionally inappropriate sense of humor. He dismisses the claim and sends everyone off so he can have his weekly physical with Officer Morris Tolliver. His position was only meant to be temporary, but Leo meets with Tolliver beforehand and encourages him to stay permanently, as the President likes him and his work. Tolliver agrees, but notes that he will be heading to Jordan for a week following today’s check-up to work at a teaching hospital. Bartlet is supportive, especially when seeing Tolliver’s newborn daughter. but confides that he feels uncomfortable communicating with the Joint Chiefs and is unwilling to order any violence on his command. Tolliver suggests that once they got to know him, he’ll have nothing to worry about, and until then, he outranks them, which is good advice. Their time together is cut apart, and in between this, alongside some cuteness with Josh and Donna, as well as Mandy sulking in her (now unused) office, we see C.J. at a press briefing, where she’s asked what Vice President John Hoynes meant with his comment regarding A3C3 (which we never learn what this relates to) where he states that “this is a time where the President needs out support.” C.J. has no clue what he’s referring to and doesn’t have an answer, but as we see later with Josh and Sam, this isn’t the first time the Vice President has made a comment that conflicts his interest with the White House. They have something else to discuss, as Sam tells Josh about his night with Laurie, the call girl from the previous episode. Sam is clearly hoping that Josh has a solution to nip this in the bud, but all he can suggest is that Sam talks to Toby about it, a move he’d prefer not to. On his way out, Josh meets with C.J., who is hellbent on meeting with the Vice President to get at him for making her look foolish, but Hoynes has no time or interest in doing so, dismissing C.J. by saying that he has his own Press Secretary. Sam enters Toby’s office with his tail behind his legs, where he tells the truth about his encounter with Laurie. Toby asks if anyone else knows about the encounter, and while he lies about telling Leo’s daughter in the previous episode, he does bring up an interesting point that was only alluded to in that episode- that an editor of The Wall Street Journal was at the bar, hounding Sam for information regarding Josh’s outburst on television, which sends Toby in a frenzy. Even though Sam didn’t pay for her services, this is still bad PR, but it’s okay, since Sam intends to reform Laurie. Great idea, no notes. Until that falls flat on his face, the two meet up with Josh and C.J. in Leo’s office, where they try to convince the Chief of Staff that they need a new media consultant, and he agrees, suggesting Mandy, who he recently learned is out of a job. Josh is not happy with the suggestion, with her being his ex and all, but he has no choice but to give in. While he remains adamant that she answers directly to him and Toby, Josh decides to stop by Mandy’s office and give her and Daisy the news. A drunk Mandy punches him in the gut, thinking that this is a pity offer, but her partner convinces her to take it as Josh takes the two out for either a late lunch or early dinner. Back at the White House, Leo meets with Hoynes, who returns from possibly the briefest trip to New York ever, where he asks the VP about his intentionally avoiding C.J.. Hoynes expresses disinterest in the Press Secretary, Leo, and “his friend”, which causes the Chief of Staff to snap, for how dare anyone, let alone the Vice President, refer to the President of the Unites States in such a dismissive manner. Hoynes insists that he doesn’t have to answer to Leo, and while that’s true, he warns the VP to back off, noting that he will lose. After a busy day of work, Sam returns to the office where he met Laurie and finds her again in the middle of an evening with a client, embarrassing her in the process. When she storms off, Sam follows her and expresses that he just wants to be her friend, expressing no desire for sex in return.

At 3:35 am, the White House is surprisingly active. As President Bartlet walks into the Oval Office, Leo follows and informs him of the bad news- a US military-organized plane with 58 people on their way to Jordan was shot down by the Syrian military, including Officer Tolliver. There were no survivors. Bartlet tells Leo to allow him a moment to call Tolliver’s wife and will meet him in the Command Center. He also tells Leo that this doesn’t frighten him, and the President intends to blow up everyone responsible.

“Post hoc, ergo propter hoc” is Latin for what we refer to as a informal fallacy, believing that because of X, Y happened. An example that comes to mind is when music critics suggest that the rise of grunge and alternative music is what killed hair metal, when in actuality, that style of music was already showing signs of decline and weakened support from record labels for a good while before Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” dropped. If it wasn’t Nirvana and Soungarden, it would have been something else to spearhead the change in direction.

Does this mean that Bartlet’s neutral attitude is what caused Syria to attack a US-operated plane, just to prove that they can? I don’t think that’s it exactly, and I’m not sure if the President does, either, but clearly something along these lines have to be on his mind. He lost a friend, a newly-realized father, and now he’s considering retaliation, which is a big change from a person noted for his firm Christian beliefs. Granted, the Bible isn’t shy about war, itself, but it’s telling how quickly Bartlet was able to change tones after some distressing news.

Being in charge of the free world forces you to make difficult decisions, often multiple times a day, and that’s something I believe President Biden can attest to. Even Trump probably could, as well. As we see in “Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc”, that’s true for much of Bartlet’s staff.

Possibly the biggest plot element revealed in this episode is Vice President Hoynes’ contempt for his boss and his crew, which is best complimented by Leo’s refusal to give into any sort of petulant jealousy. Tim Matheson (who I will always recognize as the voice of Jonny Quest) does a fine job of displaying apathy for the President, his manner of running the country, and the crew that answer him, but he perfectly falls subservient to John Spencer, who makes you feel that his long-time friendship with said president is as real and lived in as Sorkin’s dialogue tells us, yet falls second to his respect for the man in the Oval Office. But this isn’t a game of better performances, but rather meant to show the power struggle being alluded to. While Hoynes may have the flashier title and media presence that the Chief of Staff seldom obtains, there’s a clear winner here, and they both know it. Not just due to the President’s personal preference, but in terms of the title held and their competency at holding it.

“Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc” closely resembles the show’s pilot, which shouldn’t be much of a surprise, given that Sorkin and Schlamme return to write and direct the episode. However, I mean this in terms of how close the show is to its original concept, where the White House staff take center over the President. Bartlet simultaneously factors in more and less heavily here than in the prior episode, as he appears with more frequency, but his stature doesn’t overwhelm the majority of the episode as it did in the pilot. Rather, this episode is more involved with his crew’s personal conflicts, particularly with C.J.’s conflict with the VP and Josh’s resentment towards working with his ex. These do factor in for the President, but his presence isn’t looming all over their subtext.

Same with Sam’s ongoing call girl struggle, which I nearly forgot wasn’t wrapped up in the pilot. It’s worth noting that in the earlier phases of development, Sam Seaborn was meant to be the show’s lead character, which is why Rob Lowe appears first in the credits, and why Lowe (the biggest get in the cast after Sheen at this point) was casted in the first place. Sam is meant to appear as the young, but reasonably qualified figure for the audience to latch onto, but between Bartlet’s increased presence and certain other cast members stealing the show, this doesn’t end up being the case.

It doesn’t help that Sam and Laurie’s material is kind of icky, asking him to try to save someone who doesn’t want or need to be saved. To be fair, Sorkin allows Laurie to stand for herself in the script, noting that she’s using sex work to pay for law school and that she makes more money than Sam, but the show still implies that she’s at least flattered, and possibly interested in his attempt. Personally, I think that Sam has probably watched Pretty Women too many times, but what do I know.

I feel like “Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc” runs into the same dilemma most shows deal with in their second episodes- you’ve sold your pilot hook and now you have an audience who are hoping to see you continue with what you started. You shouldn’t retread water, but it’s too soon to rock the boat and shake things up. This is a fine second episode, one that asks a worthwhile question at the end and introduces a couple of new scenarios, but it’s hardly the most exciting episode of television. But as long as it keeps butts in seats and leaves people wanting more, that’s what it needs to do. And I think it works!

Presidential Records:

• Okay, so I wrote a lot about Sorkin’s pre-West Wing bibliography, but forgot to mention his first show, Sports Night. Which I haven’t seen despite hearing good things about it. Oops!

• Also, it doesn’t sound like Sorkin or director Thomas Schlamme recorded their commentaries together at all.

• Considering how iffy most scripts are about namedropping real liquor labels, it’s surprising that Absolut and Dewar are featured in the show’s very first line of dialogue. Most shows have their characters ask for a couple of martinis and scotch without namedropping a label.

• Which of those men is right about the Dow in a year from this point, Luther or Fred? I don’t think the show answers that, as season 2 has other concerns.

• *In The West Wing’s timeline, presidential elections take place in a different time frame than in the real world. Why? My guess is that Sorkin wanted us to be earlier in Bartlet’s tenure, and didn’t want to set up an election story arc this early.

• It’s really interesting that Leo brings up that Bartlet is pro-life, considering how much of a hot debate that currently is in the states. It’s also worth noting that Martin Sheen is similarly pro-life, despite having otherwise progressive views.

• Leo’s pretty old, did Sam really think that he has a daughter in fourth grade?

• Interesting that Bartlet calls his wife “Annie” here, when it will become Abby when she’s introduced later in the series. A quick look suggests that Ann will be retconned as her middle name, so there’s that.

• For what it’s worth, I don’t think making a joke about not fitting into big hats is what caused Bartlet to lose Texas. Being a Democrat is more likely why.

• I am not a sports person, but even I know that you don’t bet against Notre Dame. At least, probably not in 1999.

• “Things are not that bad.” “Miss Hampton, we are sitting on the stairs drinking wine out of plastic cups.” “I’d like if you called me Dr. Hampton.”

• Next Week: The President weighs his options over intense terrorist attacks and Leo does double duty to pass extensive gun control legislature and save his marriage.