Transition - TWW S7E19

 

Original airdate: April 23, 2006

Written by: Peter Noah (8)

Directed by: Nelson McCormick (2)

Synopsis

• An overstressed, overworked Josh faces ultimatums, both for his future with Donna and for his choice for deputy Chief of Staff. Helen tries to work through the adjustment to life as a First Lady. Matt may find himself in hot water over his Kazakhstan remarks to China's President. And is this the return of Sam Seaborn?

"When was the last time you took a vacation?" 

Josh is at the end of his rope.

 

This isn't a new development: during his time as Deputy Chief of Staff in the West Wing, he was always driven, to the point where work always won out over any sort of personal/social life. With the exception of Amy Gardner (and let's face it, that pretty much proves the rule), we never saw Josh in a relationship, or having much of any life outside work. During the primary campaign Josh was on top of everything, making nearly every important decision on the direction of the operation, fine-tuning the ad buys, working on the nuts and bolts of the message; while in The Ticket and The Mommy Problem, we saw him even more overworked and stretched thin after Matt won the Democratic nomination, and Josh continued to micromanage the campaign down to which states to compete in and which to drop out of. Even Leo made the comment that after winning the election, the time commitment for Josh was only going to get worse.

 

And here we are. 

 

Josh, on the plane heading out to California, a pile of folders and printouts on his lap tray:

 

Josh, in the car traveling from the airport, tapping on his Blackberry:

 

Josh, even after a night of lovemaking with Donna, up before dawn to work on education policy:

 

 

Josh, face down in his Blackberry while meeting with a Congressman:

 

 

With the Blackberry literally attached between his teeth:

 

 

With the Blackberry keeping him from convincing Sam to come work with him:

 

 

And even having that damn Blackberry distract him while he's talking to the President-elect:

 

 

The nonstop minutiae of the transition, the neverending discussions, the decisions on who to tap for administration positions, the thinking, the considering, the machinations - it's consuming Josh from the inside out. And everybody notices it. Sam comments on his pallor, his lack of a life. Matt asks Donna if he's doing anything outside of work to blow off steam. Even Louise, while Josh is asking her to join the administration, makes an obvious poke at Josh's monomania.

Josh: "Campaigning's about promise. Governing's about achievement. It's, it's tougher and a lot less romantic, but it's not boring. I already think you're smarter than everyone, that's why I want you down the hall. Come on, it's not like getting a life."

Louise: "That's true, look at you."

Which brings Josh up short to consider, at least momentarily.

 

Then there's Donna, who had a brief phone discussion about "the talk" with Josh while he was in California. Of course we remember the unspoken devotion and connection between these two, all the way from Pilot, the note in the skiing book that make Donna smile in In Excelsis Deo, the "If you were in an accident, I wouldn't stop for red lights" in 17 People, the dashing halfway across the globe when Donna was grievously injured in Gaza, the heartbreak on Josh's face when he turned Donna away from the Santos campaign in The Ticket, the unexpected kiss in The Cold - all culminating finally, finally, with Donna and Josh falling into bed together (twice) in Election Day Part 1. And now both of them are trying to navigate the tricky waters of defining and developing whatever relationship they might be able to build here.

 

Donna comes over after Josh returns from California. Not to talk, but for sex. Afterwards, she lays down her (perfectly reasonable) timeline to Josh:

Donna: "Be still and listen to me. I don't know what this is. And you don't either, which is perfectly fine and understandable. Whatever the buildup, it's all happening at absurdly heightened emotional circumstances, the election, Leo's death, there's been ... no moment to so much as, take a breath, much less figure any of this out. And now this roller coaster's plunging into the transition, with its time-pressure demands, and then the inauguration and it's hit the ground running and first hundred days and before you know it the midterms and the new Congress ... and then we're running again and four years becomes eight, and we've never had the talk. And you can lose that look of panic in your eyes, we're not gonna have it now, we don't ever have to have it. But there's a window. I'd say four weeks. If we can't get it together in that time and figure out what we want from each other, then clearly it's not worth the trouble."

So there's one ultimatum. He soon faces another ... but first, hey, I mentioned Sam! Yes, Sam Seaborn is back! His story with the Bartlet administration began in In The Shadow Of Two Gunmen, when Josh showed up at his New York law firm to convince him to leave the job he hated and come help Josh on the campaign. Of course, Sam was a key part of the West Wing staff until Season 4, when his thoughts turned more to getting his hands dirty making policy instead of writing speeches for those who were making it. He left the White House to run for Congress in a special election in California, losing that election and leaving the series in Red Haven's On Fire. And after that, apparently, he returned to practice law in a high-powered Los Angeles firm.

 

That's where Josh finds him at the start of the episode, giving us all kinds of flashbacks to that first time Sam left the law for politics, as Josh asks him to be his Deputy Chief of Staff, "your me to my Leo." But this time, Sam is less eager to leave. He's making a ton of money, he's gotten the firm to do a lot of good things, and he's engaged. Josh doesn't let up, though - he keeps after him, telling him to just come out to DC and get a feel for the Santos bunch before he decides.

 

Naturally, being Josh, once Sam does arrive, he jumps eight steps and anoints him with the job.

Josh (handing a pile of binders to Sam): "I've got a thing. I've starred which are meetings, I've X-ed out which are blow-offs."

Sam: "I haven't officially said I'm in."

Josh: "Yeah, no, absolutely. (to everyone) Ladies and gentlemen, Sam Seaborn, our new deputy chief of staff. (they applaud) Knock 'em dead, tiger."

Sam's path and Josh's headlong race into exhaustion and collapse come together near the end of the episode. Josh, frantic as the pace of what he sees as his essential nonstop work just keeps ramping up, explodes at Otto, for no reason, and all because of that damn Blackberry.

 

Josh (frantically searching for something): "Otto!"

Otto (enters the office): "There's an intercom."

Josh: "Yeah, if I wanted to use the intercom, I'd use the intercom, I can't find my Blackberry."

Otto: "I've got it."

Josh: "What?"

Otto: "I'm updating it."

Josh: "I've been looking for it for an hour!"

Otto: "I just took it ten minutes ago --"

Josh: "Were you planning on telling me?"

Otto: "You handed it to me."

Josh: "Why would you think it would be okay for me to be cut off from the world like that?"

Otto: "Well, I figured you had your office phone --"

Josh: "Don't figure, okay? Don't use initiative. It's a highly overrated quality when it comes to assistant work."

Otto: "Well, I don't want to be an assistant --"

Josh (yelling): "You want to know how to get to not be an assistant, by doing it great. Not by leaving your boss electronically stranded for ten minutes, it feels like an hour, this isn't a campaign, this isn't airplanes and hotels and 'guess where I am now, ma,' this is grind-it-out time! It's three yards and a cloud of dust, and if you can't hack what I need from you now you sure as hell aren't going to be asked to do anything more, get the Blackberry now. Go."

Otto, who's been trying his best to show his worth and gain a position of responsibility in the administration, is crestfallen.

 

The rest of the staff watches in silent amazement and fear at Josh's outburst. Sam steps in, taking the Blackberry from Otto and laying down yet another ultimatum to Josh.

Sam: "I didn't come here cause you're such a silver-tongued recruiter or cause I got tired of summer in January. Santos may be a future this country wants: for all the partisan noises made on the margin we're a nation of centrists, and he may just be the right man with the right message at the right time and if he is - I want to be a part of it. But he can't do it without you. Liberal Democrats are going to try to force him left, moderate Republicans are going to fence-sit as long as they can, you're the one who's gotta make this go, who's gonna cut through the reflexive demagoguery and timidity and make people do what they were sent here to do - actually govern. Serve the voters' interests. Instead of striking poses and playing gotcha. And it's going to be next to impossible if you're at your best and, what may only be news to you at this point, you are nowhere near your best.

"Take the vacation. I haven't said I'm signing on but I can tell you this: I won't stay unless you go. One of us is getting on a plane tonight. If it's you, you're back in a week, if it's me I'm gone, adios, for good. Your call."

That finally gets through Josh's head. Both Louise's comment and Sam's threat to leave if he doesn't take a break dawn on him, he'll be no good to Matt or to the administration if he stays on the path he's been on. He'll take that week off, if it's okay with Matt (spoiler alert: it is).

Josh (explaining his plan to take a week off): "Lou's right, I have no life. And I don't know if that's really how I want it or if it's just some borderline, or not-so-borderline pathetic pathologic avoidance thing. If it's, you know, okay with you."

Matt: "If it didn't involve a motorcade, I'd drive you to the airport myself."

And quite smartly, Josh also realizes he can meet both Sam's and Donna's ultimatums with the same move.

Donna: "May I just say, a truly excellent notion."

Josh: "Sam's."

Donna (chuckling): "Of course."

Josh: "The vacation. Going with you part was all me."

There are a couple of other storylines in this episode. Helen, overwhelmed by the oncoming rush of what it means to be a First Lady, asks Donna to be her Chief of Staff. And Matt, who has never been comfortable with President Bartlet's military adventure in Kazakhstan that's laid on the new President's doorstep, goes outside the bounds of protocol to complain about Bartlet's move to the President of China - a complaint that's intercepted by the National Security Agency and quickly relayed to the President as a serious breach of international relations and a possible betrayal of the current administration's foreign policy.

It's a neat little trick when we eventually learn Matt and the President have cooked up this little maneuver together. Both of them are frustrated by Russia and China refusing to negotiate, even with American troops in between their forces, and they figured having the incoming President make his displeasure known and hint that he might give those American forces something offensive to do in Kazakhstan might help bring them to the table. Knowing the NSA was listening in on calls to the Russian and Chinese governments also gives cover to the whole deal; any checks by the Chinese or Russian security people to their counterparts in the administration are going to confirm that Matt is being a loose cannon and could mean what he says, there's no chance of someone leaking the fact it's a planned gambit, because they don't know. I like that secret calculated move; it keeps President Bartlet out of it, but gives Russia and China a real incentive to solve their differences before a new President starts pushing their armies around.

But this is all about Josh, and his slow realization that both his political goodwill and his emotional, relationship goodwill can only suffer if he doesn't take a breath, step back from the breakneck pace, and relax while working on what it means for him and Donna. The final shot is inspired - Josh's Blackberry, left behind, buzzing away with messages and calls ... and finally falling off the desk. 

Tales Of Interest!

- The most specific mention we have of a setting is that it's ten weeks until the inauguration. Given that would be Saturday, January 20, 2007, we are somewhere in mid-November. The previous episode, Requiem, was specifically set three days after the election (so Friday, November 10) ... this must be sometime in the following week.

- Sam makes the statement that his fiancée would have to take the bar exam again, if she picked up and moved from California to DC. I only know this because my attorney son passed the DC bar (and California, too, actually) - but the District of Columbia offers what's called reciprocity for all 50 states plus Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. If an attorney is accredited in any of those jurisdictions, they can practice in DC without having to pass the DC bar exam.

- The exterior scenes with Josh and Sam outside of Sam's law firm were shot at Warner Bros. headquarters on Warner Boulevard in Burbank. The Warner Bros. Studio Tour is literally across the street from where this was filmed. The "Wilshire Studio Plaza" sign was added, no such place actually exists.

The Warner Bros headquarters entrance from Google Street View

- We get a fleeting glimpse of Gail's fishbowl when Josh comes to visit. It's hard to see what's in there, except for half a fishbowl of sand ... is that the White House on the sand?

- Why'd They Come Up With Transition?

The obvious meaning is the Presidential transition between administrations, from November's election to the January inauguration, but there's a lot more going on here. Josh is dealing with the transition from the campaign to governing; Helen is dealing with the transition from Congressman's wife to First Lady; Sam is dealing with the transition from private practice to the Santos administration; and of course, there's the whole transition of Josh/Donna from "fling" to perhaps something more long-term and serious.

Quotes    

Sam: "I thought you'd never call."

-----

Donna (as her phone rings): "Excuse me, ma'am."

Helen (reacts): "Did you just 'ma'am' me?"

Donna: "I, I seem to have."

Helen (smiling): "Don't do that again."

----- 

Helen: "You get all the cool names."

Matt: "Mr. President."

Helen: "Hmm."

Matt: "Commander in Chief."

Helen: "That one, that's kinda hot."

Matt: "Yeah?"

Helen: "Mmm ... got time for a little incursion?"

(Matt looks at his watch, Helen pushes his arm down)

Helen: "No."

Matt: "Not even for a surgical strike."

Helen: "I had in mind more of, shock and awe."

Matt: "Oh, yeah? After fifteen years of marriage I'd be shocked if you were awed."

-----

Sam: "When was the last time you took a vacation?"

(Josh looks at Sam blankly)

Sam: "Vacation? Time off from labor? Thought to be restorative, salubrious for body and soul? Not to mention, mental health."

Josh: "I don't remember."

Sam: "Okay, if I'm your boss that's really the wrong answer."

-----

Donna: "One thing I know for sure is I can't work for you. If something's happening with us personally, it won't work, and if something isn't, well, that won't work so good, either."

Josh: "Yeah, about that, um, things are insane, there's no way I'm going to be able to get a handle on what's going on between the two of us in the time frame you laid out."

Donna: "Three weeks, six days to go. We'll see."

Story threads, callbacks, and familiar faces (Hey, it's that guy!)

• Sam Seaborn (Rob Lowe) returns to The West Wing, for the first time since losing his California congressional special election in Red Haven's On Fire.

• Secretary of Defense Miles Hutchinson and (former?) National Security Adviser Nancy McNally are both seen in the Situation Room. Hutchison has been Secretary of Defense through probably the entire Bartlet presidency (his name first came up in A Proportional Response, but he was first seen onscreen in Inauguration: Part I). Before Leo's funeral, McNally was last seen in Liftoff, and was referred to as the "former" NSA in Welcome To Wherever You Are (Kate Harper seems to have taken over for her in the White House, but here's Nancy again).

 

• When Sam tells Josh he's getting married, Josh replies, "I've heard it before." Sam was engaged when Josh came to his New York workplace to convince him to leave and work for the Bartlet campaign in In The Shadow Of Two Gunmen - which also leads to Sam's comment about it having "a nice nostalgic symmetry." We actually saw Sam's former fiancée writing an article about him and the State of the Union speech in 100,000 Airplanes.
  

• CJ tells President Bartlet he isn't going to be happy with the numbers for the San Andreo cleanup. The nuclear power plant in San Andreo, California, almost had a catastrophic release of radiation in Duck And Cover.
  

• Donna working with Helen on finding temporary residences - as well as Helen's offer to Donna to be her chief of staff - reminds us of the connection they seemed to have over the tattoo/thong incident in Running Mates. 
  

• Helen, in flirting with Matt, says she was thinking of "shock and awe." That's a military tactic first outlined in 1996 and made famous by the US invasion of Iraq in 2003.
  

• We have references to both Russian President Chigorin and Chinese President Lian. Chigorin first came to power around the time of Enemies Foreign And Domestic, and has come up multiple times since then. Lian's name first came up in A Change Is Gonna Come, and we actually saw him meet with President Bartlet in Impact Winter. 
  

• Oliver Babish's name is mentioned as a possible Attorney General candidate. Babish first arrived as White House Counsel in Bad Moon Rising, when he had to deal with the legal side of the reveal of Bartlet's MS, and was last seen pestering CJ over the leak of the military space shuttle in Here Today. Matt brings up both the MS (a storyline begun in He Shall, From Time To Time ...) and the Toby Ziegler leak.
  

• Speaking of Attorneys General, Josh says (of Babish) that "it'd be nice to have an Attorney General who didn't hate us." The conflicts between the Attorney General and President Bartlet have been an ongoing thing, brought to a head in Abu el Banat when Bartlet stood up to AG Alan Fisk over contradicting the administration's position on assisted suicide. The Attorney General has been an oddly inconsistent Cabinet position throughout the series: in Debate Camp we saw flashbacks to the problems Bartlet's staff had in their 1998-99 transition, having to withdraw their original AG choice, Cornell Rooker; the AG was referred to as "Black" in A Proportional Response, then we saw a man named Dan Larson, who was definitely not Black (and also definitely not Alan Fisk), introduced as Attorney General in Lies, Damn Lies And Statistics.  
  

• CJ makes an offer to Josh for incoming Santos staffers to stop by and spend some time with the Bartlet staffers who are leaving, to help pick up some tips about their jobs. We saw something similar happening in the flashback scenes of Debate Camp, including Donna getting pranked by her predecessor over a secret nuclear missile silo under the White House.
  

• CJ's flustered kinda-sorta dismissal of Josh's offer of a job in the Santos White House reminds us of Charlie convincing her to look over some job offers from outside government in Election Day Part 1. It seems she really hasn't come to terms with what to do next yet.
  

• Josh makes a callback to President Bartlet's Nobel Prize in Economics. The award for economics isn't technically one included in the original prizes started in 1901, but an Nobel-adjacent award created in 1969 and administered by the Nobel Foundation does exist.

DC location shots    

• We see a scene with Josh on the phone as he walks along Pennsylvania Avenue outside the White House. The scene actually does reflect how Josh might have walked from the White House back to the transition offices in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building (although in reality that walk probably wouldn't be along Pennsylvania Avenue and 17th Street NW - the EEOB is literally across a parking area from the West Wing).
  

They Do Exist! It's The Real Person, or Thing   

• Josh compares his receding hairline to Napoleon being routed out of Moscow. 
  

• The comments about outgoing administrations sabotaging offices for the incoming staffers are based on reports that members of the outgoing Bill Clinton administration engaged in some vandalism aimed at the incoming George W. Bush administration on their way out in January 2001, including removing "W" keys from computer keyboards, cutting phone lines, and gluing filing cabinets shut. Some anonymous Clinton staffers claim they faced similar light vandalism upon taking over from the George H.W. Bush administration in 1993. 
  

• Helen refers to herself as "The Lady Of Shalott," the subject of a tragic poem by Tennyson in 1832 about a noblewoman stranded in a tower. 
  

• After considering staying at homes offered by donors, the Santos family plans to move into Blair House, which is located on Pennsylvania Avenue across from the White House. Called "the President's Guest House," the residence has served as a place for visiting foreign dignitaries to stay in Washington since the 1940s, and has also been a residence for many incoming presidents before their inaugurations.
  

• The situation in Kazakhstan first sprang from an offhand comment by an odd national security adviser to Vinick in Message Of The Week; of course that has grown into a full-blown crisis as armies of both China and Russia have moved into the country, and President Bartlet has sent in US troops to serve as a buffer between them. Matt has made his concerns with the operation known ever since he and Vinick were first told about it in The Cold.
  

• Otto is having a breakfast of a doughnut and a Diet Pepsi.

• Josh is knocking back the Alka Seltzer, along with some Red Bull, a Coca-Cola, and a Starbucks drink on his desk.
  

 

• Josh's talk on economics includes the term "post-Keynesian."
  

• Josh's reliance on his Blackberry is a large part of the plot.

• We can see CNN Headline News anchor Chuck Roberts onscreen in the background.

End credits freeze frame: President Bartlet and Matt meeting in the Oval Office.

Previous episode: Requiem

Next episode: The Last Hurrah

Requiem - TWW S7E18

 

Original airdate: April 16, 2006

Written by: Eli Attie (20) & Debora Cahn (14) & John Wells (9)

Directed by: Steve Shill (1)

Synopsis

• Leo is laid to rest, but all the work still facing the incoming administration goes on. There's a battle for the Speakership that could embroil Matt in political trouble, various names brought up for important nominations (including the Vice President), and tension over who's in charge of the transition. And the love life of some of our characters runs into a few roadblocks.
  

"Leo and I are the past; you're the future. It's up to you now. We're counting on you." 

After all the emotion and stress and tragedy of Election Day Part II, it might be nice to take a breath, exhale, and maybe step back from crescendo of joy and sadness in that episode. Unfortunately, no.

 

We are dropped right into Leo's funeral service, with a cavalcade of characters from past and present, familiar faces we haven't seen in years, all tearful and consumed by grief. And then to see Leo's pallbearers sadly carrying his coffin - including both the President and the President-elect - it's quite the emotional scene.

 

Of course, the business of the government and the changing of the guard doesn't just stop because of Leo's passing. The rest of this episode sees maneuvering and compromising and pushing favored candidates for administration positions and tension between Josh and Matt; and then some old lovers and complications thrown in the way of new lovers for good measure.

 

The main storyline revolves around the battle for Speaker of the House. The Democrats have taken control of the House for the first time in ten years, we're told, and there are two main candidates in the race for Speaker. One, Tim Fields, is an old friend and supporter of Matt's from a neighboring Texas district, holding many of his same policy positions and ready to help push lobbying reform and other Santos priorities through a divided House. His opponent, Mark Sellner, has much different, more conservative views on running the House, and while he'd like to work together with a Democratic President (as long as that President's agenda doesn't hurt the re-election chances of Democratic Representatives), when Matt presents his first goal for legislation on the House floor he has a quick response.

Sellner: "You want me to blow our best chance to hold on to a Democratic House, first one in ten years, first bill out of the gate."

(Sellner looks silently at an impassive Matt and Josh)

"I won't do it."

The problem here is, Sellner has the most support. Fields is losing votes, and won't have a chance to catch Sellner unless Matt steps in to tip the scales. Matt is torn; Fields is a longtime friend, he's stood by Matt over the years, and he knows having him as Speaker would be highly beneficial to his agenda. But Josh insists that having the President throw his weight around in an internal Congressional decision isn't the right political thing to do, and may have serious aftereffects down the line.

There is actually a third candidate in the race for Speaker, Jim Marino, but as Josh says, "You realize Marino's got, like, three votes, I don't think I could get Mrs. Marino to vote for him." Matt meets with him anyway, considering a gambit where if Fields withdraws from the race, perhaps Marino could cobble together enough support to outvote Sellner.

The meeting goes about as well as Josh expected it would.

Marino: "The deficit hawks talked me into this, I'm just running to make a point."

Matt: "What's your point?"

Marino: "Well, I guess it's the deficit hawks who are trying to make a point."

Matt: "About the deficit."

Marino: "I suppose that would be it, yeah."

 

And as far as the fears that Matt's backing of Fields would make the Speaker look like a puppet of the President, Marino turns out to be comically worse.

Matt: "How would you react to a big January push for lobbying reform, a ban on all lobbyist donations?"

Marino: "Has, has Fields got some sort of health problem --?"

Matt: "If you were the Speaker, Jim?"

Marino: "Lobbying reforms? You got it."

Matt: "Even with a razor-thin majority? There could be an issue with the D-triple-C --"

Marino: "I'd do cartwheels on the rostrum."

Matt: "I, I'm not saying that Fields is dropping out --"

Marino: "You name it, I'll do it."

Matt: "--but there clearly is a perception he's a ... White House ... lackey."

So that plan is out. 

Meanwhile, Josh is concerned that Barry Goodwin, former head of the Democratic National Committee, might have Matt's ear on too many issues. Goodwin has agreed to run the transition, and when Matt floats the idea of offering Secretary of Defense to a Republican, Goodwin isn't against it. Josh is, and he starts to worry about being eased out of important administration decisions. Josh also starts facing pressure from Amy Gardner, his former girlfriend who is back on the scene pushing a Congresswoman from Florida as the new Vice President. And she's also got an idea for a girlfriend for Josh.

Amy: "I have a name for you."

Josh: "We already did VP, if you try and staff my Cabinet --"

Amy: "No, for you. For sex, and civilized conversation."

Speaking of girlfriends and sex and civilized conversation, Josh and Donna had (finally) done the deed on election day, after a seven-year buildup of friendship, businessplace interpersonal dynamics, and sexual tension. Also, interestingly, CJ and Danny have found themselves engaging in physical intimacy too, also after a seven-year buildup of Danny yearning after her and CJ brushing him off because of her dedication to her work. When Danny meets CJ in her office after the funeral wanting to talk about, well, having fun the other night, it's hilarious to see them both closing the doors to talk in private (note that CJ is closing the door right in Margaret's face):

They make plans for CJ to come over to Danny's place that night for more ... not talking.

But then a wrinkle. Now that the campaign is over, Donna doesn't have a campaign-paid-for place to stay, and as she's been renting out her old apartment, she's homeless. She asks if she can crash at CJ's, to which CJ agrees - but then tells Danny she has to back out of their amorous plans for the night because she'd be too embarrassed to tell Donna why she was gone all night. Josh (who doesn't know about any of this) asks Donna if she might come over to his place for the night, but, well ... she just wouldn't feel right about backing out on CJ's gracious offer of a place to sleep.

Josh: "You didn't want to ask me if you could stay over?"

Donna: "I didn't know if we were at that point."

Josh: "So it's okay to have sex in a hotel but not in my apartment?"

Donna: "It's a step, some people get uncomfortable, I assumed you'd be one of those people."

Josh: "Uncomfortable with sex in my apartment?"

Donna: "Are you really going to try to convince me that I'm the one who finds this all awkward and hard to navigate?"

Josh (pause): "No."

Donna: "Thanks for asking, though. It's sweet."

Which leads us to Danny and Josh, neither one knowing the other has been stymied in their plans for the evening, yet still sharing their disappointment like bros.

A terrific element of this episode is the performance of Martin Sheen as President Bartlet. He plays Jed's grief and sadness so well, from the funeral to the ride home to the discussions with Abbey before they go to the wake in the White House. He's just so devastated by the loss of his friend.

But as soon as he takes a deep breath of preparation and determination on his way into the gathering, he transforms into a jovial host, telling tales about Leo to liven up the room and bring a smile to every face, including Margaret.

It's like flipping a switch, and it's incredible to watch. Jed calls out for music, regales the room, turning it from a somber place of grief into a celebration of memories about Leo. His mood continues later into the evening, as he hosts the inner circle of Leo's White House crew in the residence - until Abbey, recognizing the toll this performance is taking on her husband (who is still suffering from MS, let's not forget), wraps it up.

The episode comes to a close with Matt taking some firm control. Despite Josh's worries over Goodwin, and his concern about Matt trying to tip the scales of the Speaker's contest, the President-elect does what he knows he needs to do. He meets with his friend Fields again, letting him know there will be no hint of support from him in this contest. Without that, Fields' campaign for the post is dead in the water, Sellner has the votes wrapped up ... and Fields does not take it well.

Fields: "Is there something for me on the Cabinet? SBA, Interior?"

Matt: "We can't afford to lose your seat. Not with just a four-vote majority."

Fields: "Huh. Fill a starving dog's belly, he'll never bite you. The difference between a dog and a man."

Matt also heads off Amy's push for the Florida congresswoman by offering her a job in the White House.

Matt: "I think Baker's the right choice."

Amy: "I think you're scared. That's what's motivating your choice, I think you find Baker reassuring."

Matt (leaning in): "I just got elected President, you sure you want to call me a coward?"

(pause)

Matt: "Josh says that you won't work at the White House."

Amy: "I have an agenda. I pursue it, relentlessly, I've been known to --"

Matt: "Here's what I think - I think it's easier to throw rocks at a house than to build one. And I think you're ready for more."

Amy: "You calling me a coward, sir?"

Matt: "Director of Legislative Affairs. Fix the place from the inside. It's what the grownups do."

Once again, as we've seen countless times since Liftoff, Matt is working the angles of political gamesmanship pretty darn well.

And we're left with Josh, walking out of the White House, taking a look back at the building with a new perspective, of sorts ... no longer the legislative hammer carrying out the policies of the President at the direction of the Chief of Staff, but soon to be deeply involved in shaping those policies as the President's right-hand man - with the guiding presence of Leo no longer by his side.

 

 

Tales Of Interest!

- We hear it's three days since the election; given that was Tuesday, November 7, 2006, that would make this day Friday, November 10.

 

- This is the only episode of the season with all 13 main cast members appearing in the opening credits; while that includes Mary McCormack, Kate Harper does not actually appear in the episode.

- According to a comment on IMDB, the only regular cast members from the entire series that we don't see at the funeral are Sam, Mandy, and the aforementioned Kate. Rob Lowe was filming a movie in eastern Europe when this episode was shot, and he was unable to make the schedule work to fly back (he calls missing this episode one of his great regrets). Moira Kelly was ... well, I don't know - since the show never once uttered the name "Mandy" after her last appearance in What Kind Of Day Has It Been and basically treated her as never existing at all, I guess that fits. As for Kate, maybe there was a national security issue she had to attend to, or something.

 

I might add that comment about these being the only three not seen leaves out quite a few familiar faces, including Jordon Kendall (who was dating Leo pretty seriously a couple of years ago), Lord John Marbury (who is still the ambassador from the United Kingdom, as far as we know), Cliff Calley, Ginger, Bonnie, Ryan Pierce, Rena, Angela Blake (who was Leo's second in command at the Department of Labor, for pete's sake), General Alexander of the Joint Chiefs, General Adamle (who served with Leo in Vietnam) ... so yes, while nearly all of the major, regularly billed cast members from the opening credits show up, there's still a lot of characters whom you'd think would be there that we don't see. Again, doesn't mean they weren't there, just that we don't see them.

 

- As some of the mourners are shown in close-up, we get this shot of a woman we don't recognize:

 

According to the cast list, that's supposed to be Leo's ex-wife, Jenny, played by Barbara A. Fisher. When we actually saw Jenny in Five Votes Down, when she left and their marriage fell apart, she was played by an entirely different actor (Sara Botsford).

 

- I also have no idea who the two children shown in close-up are supposed to be.

 

They are not the Westin children/Bartlet grandchildren; we saw Annie and Gus in 7A WF 83429, and Gus again in Abu el Banat (played by a different, younger actor), and these are definitely not them. They're also not Toby and Andy's twins (we saw them in Welcome To Wherever You Are, about ten days before this funeral, and they're only 3 1/2 years old). So who are they? And why are they being shown?

- Leo's pallbearers are Josh and President Bartlet in the front; Barry Goodwin and Charlie in the middle, and President-elect Santos and, I believe, Mallory's husband (and therefore Leo's son-in-law) in the back. What an extraordinary moment, to have both the sitting President and the President-elect serving as pallbearers.

- The interior scenes of the funeral were filmed inside the First Congregational Church, on South Commonwealth Avenue in Los Angeles. Naturally, filming that scene in California made it simpler and cheaper to have so many West Wing characters/Los Angeles-based actors from the past there, instead of flying them all to the Washington area. An article I found online about the Air Force honor guard chosen to take part in the filming pinpoints that scene being taped on February 9, 2006.

 

- One might wonder why Leo's funeral wasn't held in the National Cathedral, as Mrs. Landingham's was in Two Cathedrals. The in-universe explanation might be that, as a Catholic, Leo's requiem mass would need to be in a Catholic church, and the National Cathedral is Episcopalian. The actual reasons are: first, there's no way the show had the budget to fly all those actors from California to DC for the scene; and second, after Martin Sheen tossed a cigarette on the floor of the National Cathedral and stubbed it out with his foot in Two Cathedrals, cathedral administration actually stopped allowing TV and movie crews to film inside it. 

- Apparently Stockard Channing wasn't available for the full church scene. While we do see her in a couple of close-ups with Martin Sheen, in all the longer shots of the mourners seated in the pews, what we see instead is a woman sitting in her place with her black hat pulled down to hide her face.

- The scene outside the church (as well as the final scene outside the White House) was actually filmed on location in the Washington, DC, area. In the early seasons of the show, the production would fly out to DC three or four times a year, filming a variety of on-location scenes to sprinkle in throughout the course of the season. As budgets grew tighter and ratings began to sink, those trips happened less and less often. In Season 6 there was only one trip to the DC area, the summer before the season started (for the Camp David-set scenes of NSF Thurmont and The Birnam Wood), although the show also made a trip to the Toronto area that winter for the primary campaign episodes of Opposition Research/King Corn/Freedonia. What we see in this episode is actually from the very first, and only, DC location filming trip of Season 7 (and, of course, the last one of the series). That trip was probably taken in February or perhaps March, 2006 (the barren trees outside the cathedral help with the dating); more locations filmed on that trip will pop up in the following final episodes. If you notice, although the inside of the church was filled with West Wing characters from past and present, the on-location outside shots only include Josh, Matt, Barry Goodwin, and Helen (so not everybody had to travel cross-country).

- Vice President Russell tells us Leo was 58. John Spencer was actually 58 when he died in December of 2005 - but for Leo to be 58 would mean the following: We know he served in Vietnam (specifically in 1966, from what we learn in War Crimes); he would have been 18 at that time, which seems awfully young to be flying combat missions. In Pilot he says he's known Jed for 40 years; given Leo was 51 at the time, he would have been 11 years old (in Bartlet For America he revises things to say he first met Jed "32 years ago" or in 1969, when Leo would have been 21, and they've been friends for 11 years, or since he was 42). So having Leo be 58 years old maaaaaybe fits into the storyline we've heard over the past seven seasons, but it's kind of a stretch. 

- Donna says she's had a key to Josh's apartment for six years - so not the entire time they've been in DC, but since 2000 anyway.

- We can see Gail's fishbowl on CJ's desk, but we can't see what's in it. It almost looks like the head of a hatchet, but who can tell.

- Why'd They Come Up With Requiem?

A requiem is a Catholic Mass service for the dead, often conducted in the context of a funeral. With Leo's funeral at the center of this episode, the term is used to mark that event. Leo was referred to as "Boston Irish-Catholic" in The Short List (although he was also called a "man of Chicago" in Bad Moon Rising, so ...); it would seem Leo getting a Catholic funeral mass would be appropriate.

Quotes    

Toby: "Relax, Charlie. Tell CJ I'm not coming. I'd like to but I have other commitments."

Charlie: "Sure. (pause) I'll walk with you. I don't think a picture of you and me makes the front page of the New York Times. Do you?"

-----

Donna: "You talk to Josh? I'm sure he'd be happy to consider --"

Charlie: "What about you? Josh gonna carve out a little corner for you to settle into?"

Donna: "Well, lots on his plate right now."

Charlie: "He owes you big. Anything short of Secretary of Commerce you gotta challenge him to a duel."

Donna: "Pistols or sabers?"

Charlie: "I'm serious. He really hasn't talked to you yet?"

-----

Amy: "Hello, stranger."

Josh: "I thought I saw you."

Amy: "There was a crowd, I didn't want to hover."

Josh: "You could've rescued me."

Amy: "I decided a few years back that was not an efficient use of my time."

Story threads, callbacks, and familiar faces (Hey, it's that guy!)

The list of those characters long unseen who returned for the funeral:

• Mallory, Leo's daughter (Allison Smith), last seen in Third-Day Story.

• The Bartlet daughters Ellie (Nina Siemaszko), Liz (Annabeth Gish), and Zoey (Elisabeth Moss). This is only the third time all three appeared in an episode together (The Dogs Of War and Abu el Banat). You'll also notice we see neither Liz's husband Doug nor Ellie's husband Vic.
  

• Former National Security Adviser Nancy McNally (Anna Deavere Smith), last seen in Liftoff.

• Girlfriend of Josh and (for a short time) the First Lady's Chief of Staff Amy Gardner (Mary-Louise Parker), last seen in Freedonia.

• Former associate White House Counsel Ainsley Hayes (Emily Procter), who hasn't been seen since The U.S. Poet Laureate.
  

• Josh's trusted political pollster Joey Lucas (Marlee Matlin), last seen in The Mommy Problem.

Then there's some people who have been around more recently:

• Danny Concannon (Timothy Busfield), who'd disappeared for a long time but came back in Internal Displacement to offer CJ a proposal (that she's apparently started to take him up on, considering what we learn in this episode).

• Vice President Russell (Gary Cole).

• President Bartlet's assistant, Nancy (Renée Estevez).

• Toby's ex-wife Andy (Kathleen York) is there, sitting with Toby.

• The former Vice President John Hoynes (Tim Matheson).

• And there's the older West Wing staffer with the flat top haircut that we've seen occasionally in the background over most of the entire series!

• The Democrats in the running for the Speakership are all recognizable actors: Tim Fields is played by Chris Ellis (so many appearances, including Apollo 13, Armageddon, NCIS, Murder In The First, and a little independent film called Amelia 2.0 that I actually had a non-speaking role in):

Mark Sellner is played by John Getz (The Social Network, Homeland, Grace and Frankie, Man On The Inside; Getz is an Iowa native who went to the University of Iowa, just down the road from where I live):

And Jim Marino is played by Ken Lerner (The Goldbergs, Chicago Hope, Buffy The Vampire Slayer):

• A few references to past storylines:

+ Toby is reticent to leave the church because of the press photographers; of course he's still dealing with the fallout for his admission of leaking classified information about the military space shuttle in order to save astronauts on the International Space Station (the ISS crisis story began in Things Fall Apart; Toby's confession/dismissal from the White House played out in Mr. Frost/Here Today). The last we've seen of Toby's status was his refusal to take a plea deal in Welcome To Wherever You Are, about 10 days before the events of this episode.

+ Charlie pushes Donna about Josh giving her a post that really means something. Donna's desire to advance in her career (and Josh's reluctance to do much to help her) has been going on a long time, since at least Angel Maintenance. Of course, Josh's pulling strings to get Donna on the CoDel to the Middle East nearly resulted in her being killed (Gaza/Memorial Day), but after her return, his continued diffidence toward her professional situation led to her leaving her assistant post to work with Will on the Russell campaign. She returned to work alongside Josh after Santos became the Democratic nominee, and as far as personal relationships go they finally got intimate in Election Day Part 1 ... but her professional future remains unclear, and that's going to continue to be important for a while.

+ The whole Josh/Amy relationship comes up. Amy and Josh were on-again/off-again for a while between her throwing water balloons at him in The Women Of Qumar and her decision to leave her First Lady Chief of Staff position (and Josh, for good) in Constituency Of One; although their paths did cross again in New Hampshire in Freedonia.

• That there's a "Fields" running for Speaker is an interesting name; the House Minority Leader in 7A WF 83429 and Jefferson Lives was a woman named Sheila Fields (portrayed in a way to make us think of Nancy Pelosi). That "Fields" is no longer mentioned as a leader in the House, and instead we have a different, male Representative named "Fields" trying for the post. 
  

• There's a reminder about how long Matt was a Representative ("I served in the House for six years, I think I can handle ten minutes alone with one of my closest friends in Congress"); as he had decided not to run again in the 2006 congressional race, that means he was first elected in the midterms of 2000 (the election portrayed in The Midterms).
  

• Charlie is seen in what was originally Sam's office, then became Will's, then was empty for quite a while, and lastly belonged to Annabeth. I'm not exactly sure why CJ's "deputy" would have an office in the Communications department, but seeing how there's only about two months left of the administration (and hey, the West Wing set had that office sitting there, waiting to be used), okay.

Speaking of CJ's "deputy," whatever happened to Cliff Calley? Wasn't he supposed to be basically Josh to CJ's Leo? Where did he go?

• Baker's name is back as a possible Vice Presidential pick - that would be Pennsylvania Gov. Eric Baker, played by Ed O'Neill in past episodes. He was the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination the previous year before dropping out for family reasons, but then mounted a convention run to win over delegates until word of his wife's treatment for depression became public.
  

• We also hear about President Bartlet's breakfast with Gov. Tillman, who would be the governor of California seen (played by Ray Wise) in La Palabra. Tillman has been referenced as the governor of California ever since Game On.
  

DC location shots    

• The scene outside the church following the funeral was filmed outside the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Baltimore.

• The final scene of Josh exiting the White House gate and looking at the White House from Pennsylvania Avenue, then walking away through Lafayette Park was shot on location.
  

They Do Exist! It's The Real Person, or Thing    

• The music at Leo's funeral is Dvorak's Mass in D Major, Op. 86 - V. Benedictus.
  

• Charlie says the New York Times won't be interested in a photo of him and Toby leaving the church.
  

• Ainsley is now working at the Hoover Institute (in real life the Hoover Institution and not, as Josh calls it, the Warren G. Harding Institute).
  

• The New Hampshire newspaper the Union Leader is referenced.
  

• Charlie tells us Leo got his suits from Savile Row. And his tall tales included a mention of the Davis Cup.
  

End credits freeze frame: The pallbearers with Leo's casket in the church.

Previous episode: Election Day Part II

Next episode: Transition