OTH: The West Wing- "War Crimes" / "Gone Quiet"
Despite not serving, the President sure gets close to some bombshells.
Season 3, Episode 5
Aired November 7, 2001
Directed by Alex Graves
'Story by Allison Abner, Teleplay by Aaron Sorkin
Synopsis: It’s Sunday, and the White House shouldn’t be active, except C.J. is in the press room answering questions about a shooting at a Texan church, where a gunman and a church goer exchange bullets and a nine-year-old girl is caught in the crossfire. After learning that the girl had died from her injuries, Leo suggests to the President that VP Hoynes, a Texas native, go over to speak on her behalf and for stricter gun control, although they both recognize that he probably won’t want to do it. Still, it’s the right thing to do and Bartlet calls Hoynes in, who strongly opposes the notion as expected. Hoynes doesn’t want to represent such a controversial viewpoint in his home state, especially as he’s not entirely pro-gun control himself, while also noting that he is Bartlet’s ticket to reelection, something he can’t deny. At the same time, if Hoynes wants the presidency, his hope is to stick around as Vice President, which results in him reluctantly agreeing. Meanwhile, Leo meets with General Adamley, an old war buddy who’s meeting with his fellow Vietnam veteran to discuss a tribunal the President is considering supporting in hopes to shut it down. While Leo is initially opposed to the idea, the General pulls out a file about a mission Leo participated in during their time together where he shot at civilian territory, which could charge him with war crimes. Adamley’s point is made, and Leo promises time to speak with the President.
C.J. meets with Will Sawyer, a well-traveled reporter who returns to the White House beat to give her an interesting bit of information he’s recently learned- according to an unnamed source, Toby is on record saying that the President is riding on Hoynes’ coattails to win reelection. C.J. meets with Toby, who admits that the quote is his, and he now is spending his Sunday doing something he didn’t plan to- call in the junior staff members and having a discussion on loyalty.
Also happening today, Donna starts her testimony and answers the council as truthfully as she can, with one notable exception- when asked if she keeps a diary, Donna says no, although Cliff, who is on the council and has been in her room, knows she’s lying. Cliff even confronts her after the fact, but Donna feigns innocence and reminds her loverboy that it would be a bad look if he came forward with the information. Donna later comes clean to Josh, insisting that there’s nothing remotely incriminating in there, but he remains furious and demands that she does and says nothing. Instead, the two plan to have Cliff skim through her diary, for an hour at a nearby coffee shop. If he finds any incriminating information, he has the right to issue a subpoena, but if not, he’s expected to return it, no questions asked.
I have to say, digging up potential war crimes to be charged with is a new tactic against the White House, but it’s one that I can see be pretty effective. And this is another side of Leo’s character that hasn’t been heavily explored. It’s been discussed that unlike the President, the Chief of Staff has credible military experience, which may explain why Leo tends to be more at home in the Situation Room than Bartlet.
Yet despite that subplot taking the episode’s title, Leo doesn’t have the biggest storyline. President Bartlet and Vice President Hoynes’ friendly argument takes bigger (apologies for the repetitive word) precedent as the show continues to stay indecisive about gun control (“they both make good points!” I can see the writer’s room arguing).
To be fair, it’s apparent that this isn’t about guns as much as it is about each politician’s need for each other. As pointed out by at least one other person this week, it’s clear that if Bartlet wants to win reelection, he needs to double down on his support for the Vice President, who appears to skew that dream balance across the aisle that so many Democrats have tried and uniformly failed to come close to. However, this isn’t all in John’s hands, as his unlikable nature behind the scenes makes him unappealing to work with, like many a popular guy who in actuality is a shitty boss. He needs the President’s approval, which Hoynes can only get if he plays ball. Even if that means delivering a speech about gun control that he isn’t 100% on board for.
The Donna story is also a big one, as she proves a classic mistake and lies under oath. This proves to have understandably serious consequences as her new boyfriend, who happens to be part of the investigation she’s testifying for, is willing to rat her out. While it’s easy to root for Donna, she was in the wrong here and should have told the truth when asked if she carried a diary, even if it contains admissible information. I mean, duh.
What makes the story more appealing is how furious this makes Josh, who, like us in the audience, is rooting for Donna. His willingness to go the extra mile for his and our favorite assistant is what endures the character, and the resolution of letting Cliff take, well, Cliff Notes of her diary is a solid one.
This all results in another busy episode of The West Wing which doesn’t shake the foundation, although it does offer to take us to some interesting places for the characters. And this is why you shouldn’t work on a Sunday.
Season 3, Episode 6
Aired November 14, 2001
Directed by Jon Hutman
Story by Julia Dahl & Laura Glasser, Teleplay by Aaron Sorkin
Synopsis: A U.S. submarine has gone quiet in the ocean deep of North Korea, a compromising situation that will prevent President Bartlet from traveling to New Hampshire to sign for his primary campaign. Not ideal, nor is it ideal that this particular President has no military experience, but he needs to roll with the punches, and after a briefing in the Situation Room gives no updates, it’s decided that Bartlet needs to speak with someone from the State Department. Since his usual guy is recovering from heart surgery, that means he’s meeting with Albie Duncan, a long-serving member who considers the President his junior. Duncan does just this, as he condescends the President with his advice that contacting North Korea could be an aggressive action, and that they should wait four hours for updates instead. While waiting, the two butt heads once more, and just before the time has passed for the President to call in, they hear from the submarine, which has been able to avoid contact from North Korea.
Oliver Babish meets with the First Lady, who is currently wheelchair bound after a hiking expedition gone wrong, as he shares the list of a few names on the witness list for the Congressional Committee, who all happen to be former patients of Dr. Bartlet, or their family members who have sued her for malpractice. According to Dr. Bartlet, the statistics are on her side- of seven malpractice suits, four were dismissed, she won against another two, and one was settled. Still, Babish insists that she is the President’s biggest liability and that they go over each case. Even though Abbey was ultimately cleared of her charges, she’s still likely to be pressed for these cases, and more importantly the violations she broke while administrating her husband’s medicine, as they realize that this is going to distract the President from his case and his governing. Dr. Bartlet suggests making a deal to have her license suspended in hopes to take this load off of him, which sounds good on paper, but Babish disagrees, stating that the only way to make things right is to testify in court and tell the truth.
While C.J. wants the White House to gloat over the Majority Leader’s recent bombing of “the question”, i.e. why he wants to be president, Toby is trying to figure out the importance of $105 million granted for the National Park Services, which he learns is the same amount promised to the National Endowment of the Arts. He meets with an adviser who wants to take the money out of the arts and to spend it on park security instead, which despite Toby’s indifference to art, the idea doesn’t sit right with him. In truth, she wants the head of the Endowment fired and will find another way to earn the money, which also sounds wrong. Oh well. Toby then checks in with Sam, who is meeting with Bruno and Connie from the reelection campaign who are coming up with a slogan and a way to use soft money for the campaign. He suggests that they focus on a real issues ad instead.
In “War Crimes”, Leo nearly faces having to answer for touchy tactical decisions during his time in ‘Nam, while “Gone Quiet” has another of President Bartlet’s closest confidants have to potentially reckon with their past, although this instance might be far more damaging to the President.
While discussing her history of malpractice suits with Oliver Babish, Dr. Bartlet brings up how this is more or less part of the job. Even the finest in medical practice deal with touchy losses, and Abbey is no exception. While her own track record- four dismissals, two wins and a settlement- is impressive, ANY suit is going to look bad when her history with her husband, who she illegally injected medication to in three different states, is involved.
In hoping to make her husband’s case run as smoothly as possible, Dr. Bartlet is willing to suspend her license, which I don’t think is the worst idea if it will take the load off of his recorded lying. Oliver, meanwhile, doesn’t appear to agree and thinks her best hope is to testify in court, which I don’t think is wrong either, especially if Abbey’s innocence is as clear as she suggests. All in all, a real tricky situation.
While the First Lady and the White House Counsel are meeting, meanwhile, the Situation Room has their own crisis with a silent submarine. As mentioned previously, one of Bartlet’s more distinguishing factors as a President is his lack of military experience, which isn’t entirely a deterrent- 15 of 46 real-life Presidents, including our most recent three and Clinton, who was Bartlet’s real-life contemporary at the start of the series, did not serve- but is a point of contention for various Americans, particularly those with experience. Such as Albie Duncan, who spends his time in the episode belittling the President for not signing up to die for his country as a young adult. It makes for a welcome dynamic, the long-standing veteran who continues to scold against the fresh-faced (by comparison) leader of the free world. Giving us someone who doesn’t stop to a halt at the presence of the President always makes for a fresh challenge for the show, and legend Hal Holbrook is more than game for the role of Assistant Secretary of State.
This helps to make what almost feels like a routine geopolitical situation feel fresh. The show has dealt with many of such issues over the show’s run, but such is the life of the White House. We’ve seen how President Bartlet struggles to make peace with multiple nations who are resilient to the notion on what seems like a daily basis. “Gone Quiet” is a good reflection of this, making something that should seem frightening feel almost mundane, while also turning a precedented situation into something almost fresh. I think that’s pretty good.
Presidential Records:
Apologies for missing the past couple of weeks, been having a lot going on. Hopefully we’ll go back to our regular schedule come 2024.
“You make me egg foo young…”
Bartlet says that he’s having a beer because it’s a tradition of sorts for Sundays post-church, but is he really drinking one to make Hoynes, a recovering alcoholic, uncomfortable?
C.J. singing Right Said Fred feels very 2001, in that “I’m Too Sexy” would be too old at the time to be relevant, but too young to be any sort of nostalgic, especially for her. A perfect choice.
Next (Two) Weeks: Two Native-Americans stand in the White House lobby during Thanksgiving, and a rising case of mad cow disease causes distress among the staff.