OTH: The West Wing- "The White House Pro-Am" / "Six Meetings Before Lunch"
In which C.J. does "The Jackal".
Season 1, Episode 17
Aired March 22, 2000
Directed by Ken Olin
Written by Lawrence O’Donnell, Jr, & Paul Redford and Aaron Sorkin
Synopsis: The First Lady is meeting with Jeffrey, a young man who started The Children’s Crusade to stop child trafficking, but this isn’t the news story of the day for the White House, as we learn that Bernard Dahl, Chairman of the Federal Reserve, has died. Even though this is going to be very bad for the market, the President insists on waiting a day to declare a new Chairman rather than pick Dahl’s second-in-command, Ron Erlich, as his successor, wanting to weigh the other candidates. The staff plans to say that this is meant to be out of respect, but when a wire leaks stating that Abbey has a preference for Erlich, the cat comes out of the bag- the two used to date, which is why the First Lady is so gung-ho, and why the President doesn’t want to confirm Elrich so instantly. While the conflict of interest is important, there’s also concerns about an amendment that Congresswoman Reese is adding in regards to child labor, and since the First Lady has a history with Reese, Sam meets with Abbey to ask her help to put a break on the amendment, which she agrees to and pulls off. Abbey then goes into the Oval Office, where she berates her husband for having sent “his guys” to handle a situation like this, finding it ridiculous that Jed is holding off on nominating the best candidate because she used to date him, and is especially annoyed that he tried to get Danny Concannon to leak his source on the wire tap (see below). The two go on with their screaming match, and their first Oval Office fight ends with them going to an event for Michigan women.
Also this week, President Bartlet meets with Zoey and warns her that it will be in her best interest to not go to a party with Charlie, informing her of the white nationalist threats she’s been receiving. He offers to tell Charlie himself, but Zoey states that she will, and she does at lunch with him and her Secret Service staff member, Gina. Charlie doesn’t take the news well, not appreciating that he doesn’t get a choice in regards to his safety. After an off-the-record meeting with Danny, Charlie lets some steam off to the respected journalism, who gives the President’s aide some advice and encourages him to be a shoulder for his girlfriend. The episode ends with Charlie offering roses (and a math book, and popcorn, and videos for the popcorn) as well as an apology to Zoey in her dorm.
I won’t lie, I really like when we get to see the First Lady thus far, it feels like a little treat. Stockard Channing is delightful in the role, and based on their fight at the end of the episode, has very strong chemistry with Martin Sheen.
Frankly, the appearance of Channing as First Lady Bartlet allows an otherwise average episode of The West Wing to stand up to be a pretty good one, moreso than Elizabeth Moss’ Zoey, who is fine but hardly the highlight of the week. Because despite having some of the best writers on the show to date involved, I don’t think “The White House Pro-Am” would notably stand out without that last act.
It’s worth noting that we’re in a recognizable groove in the series as we’re into the last third of the first season (hell, I just got to the third disc, which is weird since these are double-sided discs), and it’s easy to notice the show’s patterns at large. At least one political issue comes up that will make either the White House and/or the Democratic party at large look bad (this week, a conflict of interest with a potential new chairman and a controversial amendment), a certain staff member (in this case Sam for both, the episode is strangely light on most of the other characters this week- Toby has a meeting that doesn’t really go anywhere, and Donna is offered some random tidbits from 100 years ago to bore Josh just to give them something to do) has to resolve it, and we’ll see how President Bartlet feels about the whole affair, since most of these issues tend to be below his paygrade.
And that’s fine, television is meant to offer familiar patterns. We’re supposed to come back to see favorite characters and familiar stories. The Simpsons and Buffy the Vampire Slayer definitely did these, alongside the occasional experiment like “22 Short Films About Springfield” or “Hush”, and The West Wing has also had its own experiments, like last week’s “Celestial Navigation”. The important thing is that the stories are effectively told and the characters and world are worth returning to, and thus far, the series has exceled in those departments. A medium episode should still be a good time, and “The White House Pro-Am” does succeed.
My readers will probably realize that at this point, when I write about the show at large instead of the episode in general, that means I don’t have much to say about that particular episode. And it’s true, the more middle-of-the-road episodes, even when they continue to entertain, tend to be the toughest to talk about. The more unique stories or episodes with especially egregious content tend to be worth discussing instead.
That said, something I can’t help but think of- what makes Leo any less of a conflict of interest than Elrich? He and President Bartlet have known each other for forty years, and now he holds arguably the most powerful position in the White House after Jed, so why would Abbey dating Ron Elrich for nine months back in college be such a ethical dealbreaker? Is it the question of succession? That makes a sliver of sense, as it’s Bartlet’s responsibility to find White House staff members that he trusts, while I can understand how it would look suspicious when information of Elrich and Abbey’s history comes out to the public when he almost immediately takes on the new position.
And I’m also not sure if I like the logic that Charlie needs to be the reasonable one regarding the white supremacist issue, since he’s the one who is being targeted for no reason other than the color of his skin. I can meet halfway and recognize that being the daughter of the President, Zoey is going to have to deal with a lot of bullshit, but I think that Charlie is right to take the news however he wishes. If he’s angry that Zoey and her father makes a decision for him, he has that right. And why shouldn’t he? Zoey will eventually no longer be the President’s daughter, and as she’s already no longer a minor, she will lose her Secret Security protection when her father steps down. Charlie will always be Black, and there will always be people who want the worst for him because of it. I’m sorry, but he has the right to be as angry or upset as he wants to be.
In other words, I wouldn’t take dating advice from Danny Concannon, at least until he backs off on C.J. Or at least until the show is better about writing for Janney and Timothy Busfield’s radiant chemistry.
“The White House Pro-Am” feels like business as usual for The West Wing, which isn’t a bad thing, although it feels slightly underwhelming considering how engrossing the past couple of episodes have been. Not every episode can run at a 10 or even a 9, though, or every episode will feel less impactful. It’s fun to experiment, but returning to reality is just as important sometimes.
Season 1, Episode 18
Aired April 5, 2000
Directed by Clark Johnson
Written by Aaron Sorkin
Synopsis: Mendoza has been appointed as the Supreme Court Justice, and while the White House is celebrating, not everything is bright and dandy. For one thing, Sam’s potential love interest, Mallory, has discovered his stance on school vouchers and is not happy (maybe her dad leaked it to her). For another, the White House’s other major appointee, Jeff Breckenridge for the position of Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, has caused some controversy among one of the leading conservative figures for sharing his opinion on reparations. Josh is asked to meet with Breckenridge, who stands by his position and shares an estimate for the amount owed to the families of slaves- $1.7 trillion. The U.S. doesn’t have that kind of money, no one does. Still, Breckenridge makes a compelling, if tricky argument. Also happening is Mallory scheduling a meeting with Sam where they argue over school vouchers, as to how and why he can be in favor of them, when Sam states that public schools are a dead zone for debate and budget. This goes on for so long that Sam ends up missing some of his own meetings, and eventually ends with Leo confessing that Sam isn’t really in favor, but that he sent Mallory a transcript of a practice debate he had with Toby where he pretended to be in favor. It turns out that Sam cares very much about public schools, which impresses his teacher flame. C.J., meanwhile, has a problem with Zoey, who went to a campus party which was raided due to suspected drug use. Even though she left before the raid, she’s still the talk of the town, and a right wing-journalist violates their code by storming campus to buzz her for questioning, where Zoey states that she didn’t know his friend would be at the party. C.J. has to get to the bottom of this, because there’s evidence that Zoey did, in fact, know that he would be there, and she needs to nip in the bud her response, and more importantly, prevent the President from making it a big story. Needless to say, President Bartlet is not happy with the news, and is even less happy when C.J. tells him that the best thing he can do in this situation is to not respond at all. Also, there’s something about Mandy wanting to bring pandas into the National Zoo, but that’s only really here to give her and Toby something to do.
As you can tell, yes, Mandy returns after taking the previous two episodes off, where she and Toby discuss some plan to “get back” at Josh, which I don’t think we’ll see. I’ve already talked about how the character wasn’t working out, and it only feels even more true here, that her subplot is the least substantive of the episode.
At least her panda debate is kind of cute, but “Six Meetings Before Lunch” is already a light episode, recalling “Celestial Navigation”, and while I don’t think it’s quite as tight or entertaining, I’d be lying if I called it a bad time. I do like that the episode tries to give everyone in the core cast something to do, even if Mandy and Toby’s bits are the least substantive. If anyone else gets the shaft, it’s surprisingly the President, whose most notable scene has him accept C.J.’s advice to back down and not make Zoey’s dilemma a bigger story than it needs to be. She’s right, he knows it, and the world knows it- college students go out to parties and get into trouble, sometimes even the President’s daughter. Some may stretch the story beyond its material, but those are grifters who look for anthills to make mountains out of, and don’t deserve to be counted, anyway.
If one issue stumps me, however, it’s the discussion on reparations. On paper, I support the idea and think that anyone who thinks otherwise is an asshat, but it’s not going to be easy to find the money, especially if it’s expected for the descendants of slave owners to pick up the tag, regardless of their own financial standing. Josh recognizes this, and he’s not fighting with Breckenridge because he disagrees. You can’t just make $1.7 trillion appear, even if you increase or move tax money around, and I think that’s what Josh’s argument is trying to address. Even though he comes out changed and challenged, it’s still going to be an uphill battle to earn even a fraction of that amount to return to Black families who earn some sort of restitution.
Additionally, I do like how discussions of race and the uneasy history of Black people in America is intercepted with a modern and earnest relationship between a Black man and a white woman of considerable power. While I’ve been less enthused about Zoey and Charlie’s relationship in the past, I really love how their kiss in the White House’s office boards is framed. It’s hot to see the two embrace, not too hot to make Zoey and Charlie appear older and more in control than they are, but hot enough to emphasize how their youth and inexperience is a good thing. The two have their whole lives ahead of them, they probably aren’t meant to be, and that’s great. Let them figure out who they’re going to be in time, but let them get there at their own pace and enjoy the little things, like young lust.
Among the most substantial parts of “Six Meetings Before Lunch”, however, is Sam and Mallory’s debate about public schools, especially given the brilliant reveal near the end. It turns out that Sam just likes to debate, his position be damned, and it’s fun to see two people who are clearly into each other nearly at each other’s throats because one likes to push buttons without crossing any lines, and honestly, go Sam.
Shot by prolific actor and director Clark Johnson (whose work we’ll see both in front and behind the camera later in The Wire), “Six Meetings Before Lunch” is another solid episode. We’re definitely still having a good time here.
Presidential Records:
The second episode in a row without Mandy. I get the feeling that her future was already determined, and that it won’t be featured in this show.
Damn, when I finished high school and went off to college, one of the things I was most excited about was not having to take any more math classes. Let Zoey live, Jed.
So here’s “The Jackal”. Is it racist? Yeah, I can see it. A white woman doing a very Caucasian rendition of a rap song by a Black man is not a great look, but who doesn’t love seeing Janney mug?
Bartlet’s take on George Washington’s rules of civility- “What a tightass little priss he must have been.”
Next Week: President Bartlet’s approval rating is in freefall, and the ramifications of his actions regarding that will fall into the next episode. I guess.