The Last Hurrah - TWW S7E20

 

Original airdate: April 30, 2006

Written by: Lawrence O'Donnell (16)

Directed by: Tim Matheson (1)

Synopsis

• As Senator Vinick faces unemployment, a surprising offer from Matt sends him in an unexpected direction. Matt and Helen deal with big decisions on schools, staff, and renovations.

"You can enter the history books as maybe the last honorable Senator and a great Secretary of State. Or, you can be the guy who just didn't know when to quit."

You really gotta feel for Arnie Vinick.

 

Here's a guy who spent decades in public service, ran and won multiple campaigns, dedicated his life to politics, served his constituents for many years as Senator from California - and if it weren't for a couple of stuck valves at a nuclear power plant a couple of months ago, he would be preparing for his first term as President. Instead, his time in the Senate will be ending in a few weeks, and he's got, well ... nothing but time on his hands.

Vinick (on the phone with Sheila, waiting to see Goodwin): "Just keep talking to me, as though I'm too busy to sit."

Sheila: "Okay."

Vinick: "What do I have tomorrow?"

Sheila (looking at planner): "Uhhhh, you have a haircut at ten."

Vinick: "Okay, then what?"

Sheila: "That looks like it."

Vinick: "For the rest of the day?"

Sheila: "For the rest of the year."

For a guy like Vinick, this will not stand. Knowing how razor-thin the election was, and knowing the reason he lost wasn't his campaign or his proposals but just because of an uncontrollable outside event, he immediately puts his mind towards going after the Presidency again in four years. When he's offered seats on boards of directors, he turns them down because "it wouldn't look good." When a list of university lecturer offers is given him, he says he'll take only the jobs in the electorally important states of Ohio, Florida, and Pennsylvania. He's calling Republican donors and governors and elected officials, ostensibly to thank them for their support, but also to lay the groundwork for trying it all over again. His staff is concerned.

Annie: "Who's gonna tell him?"

Sheila: "What?"

Annie: "That the campaign is over."

But there are gears turning in places other than Vinick's soon-to-be-vacated Senate office. Matt is still finalizing his Cabinet nominees, as well as a Vice President to replace the recently departed Leo. His choice for VP, Pennsylvania Governor Eric Baker, might prove to be a problem with Congress, if Matt asks them to confirm his pick (Barry and Amy think since Baker would be a strong, obvious choice to replace Santos in eight years, congresspeople who want a chance themselves might not want to put him in the VP position - a situation we saw play out once before in Jefferson Lives). And the option to just give Baker's name to the Electoral College for their approval in a week might not seem the open, transparent, democratic way to fill such an important post.

 

Matt asks to see Vinick. The Santos staff and Vinick himself think this is just a photo op, a "unifying moment" after a bruising campaign and election. But Matt has other plans ... he brings up the Vice Presidential dilemma to him, asking if he'd consider the role if Matt offered it.

 

Vinick knows that's a gambit, an offer Matt would never actually make, and it's a play to try to help Baker's nomination get through Congress. But Matt has another offer up his sleeve.

Matt: "I'm going to need another cop when Bartlet leaves office. (pause) How about Secretary of State?"

Vinick: "You gonna go with Reynolds?"

Matt: "Maybe. If I don't get my first choice."

Vinick: "Who's that?"

Matt: "That would be you."

It's a brilliant move. Both Matt and Vinick agree for the most part on foreign policy, the idea of a strong Republican serving in an important position in a Democratic administration can only help bring the country together, and it gives Vinick a sense of purpose and motivation again. (I mean, it also helps reduce the chances of Vinick trying to run against Matt in four years, but I don't believe that's a major motivation for the offer.)

 

As the idea rolls around Vinick's head, he's reluctant. So Matt switches gears, showing him the latest intelligence report from Kazakhstan and feeling Vinick out over ways to approach negotiations with the Russians and Chinese. This is right up Vinick's alley, and as the two stand before the fireplace in Matt's office and talk out matters of international diplomacy, we know in the end Vinick is going to take the job.

 

 

It's a tour de force for Alan Alda, who - let's face it - has been knocking it out of the park all season as Vinick. Alda earned the final Emmy Award in West Wing history for this episode (along with Two Weeks Out, but he was so great in The Cold and Message Of The Week too, plus others). Just to see his face when he's alone in Matt's office, as he looks around at the desk - you can read the emotion in his eyes, the knowledge that this should be his office, it should be him as President-elect. He doesn't need to say a word, it all plays out in his expression. Great stuff.

 

In addition to the primary Vinick plot, Matt and Helen (after seeing the Secret Service impact on keeping a split household through the spring) make the big decision to pull the kids out of school in Houston and move to the White House. They tour some high-priced private schools, but none of them feel right to Matt; so they look at a public school, which surprisingly seems just perfect. The notion of Presidential children attending a public school in Washington DC doesn't appear to be realistic to our eyes, but as recently as the 1970s Amy Carter went to Stevens Elementary and Rose Hardy Middle School while her father was President. So it has happened (even though things have changed a lot since the late 1970s).

 

Helen also abruptly faces what life in the White House will look like. She comes to CJ's office when she has a meeting with the decorator; Margaret points her to a door, which unexpectedly leads Helen into the Oval Office. That takes her aback.

 

And then when CJ brings her to meet the White House residential staff, it's another moment that sends Helen's mind reeling.

 

Helen: "This is too much, I don't need all these people."

CJ: "Okay. Which ones do you want to fire?"

So things are starting to get real for the Santos family: the living arrangements, the staff, the schools, and for Matt, choosing the right people to fill the roles to keep his administration humming along. And time is counting down for those currently in the West Wing, as well. The next episode helps move that topic along, so stay tuned.

Tales Of Interest!

- The previous episode was set "ten weeks" before the inauguration, or in mid-November, probably the week of November 12 (Election Day was November 7, Leo's funeral in Requiem was three days later, or Friday November 10, so Transition would have been following on a few days after that). In this episode we hear the Electoral College is voting "next week." That vote is always on a Tuesday in mid-December (specifically the Tuesday after the second Wednesday of the month, which would have been December 19 in 2006), which places this episode somewhere in the week of December 10, 2006.

 

- One would think Josh and Sam would be deeply involved in the Vice Presidential/Secretary of State picks, given their critical importance and how the pieces fit together to help get Baker's nomination through Congress. You might also think Donna, as Helen's Chief of Staff, might be deeply involved in her meetings with the decorator and the staff, not to mention the school choice. But Josh, Sam, and Donna do not appear in this episode at all. If you're saying, "Well, in the previous episode Josh and Donna were taking a vacation, that's why they're not here" you're exactly where the episode's creators want you to be ... but Josh and Donna were going away for one week. The previous episode was mid-November, meaning they should have been back no later than Thanksgiving weekend, and as worked out above, we're in at least the week of December 10 here. They would have been back by now! And Sam was supposed to be taking care of things while Josh was gone anyhow - where is he?

- The Secret Service model of the Santos residence is obviously not to scale, but it doesn't look anything like the house we saw in Running Mates.

 

 

- As Vinick mulls over another run for the Presidency, he mentions the "seven dwarfs" he beat in the Republican primary. Methinks he's confused - there was talk of "seven dwarfs" among the Democratic field in Freedonia, but the only Republican candidates we heard about during the primaries were someone named "Allard" (in 365 Days) and former Speaker and Acting President Glenallen Walken (in King Corn and Ninety Miles Away). Vinick had a slow start, not doing well in Iowa, but otherwise we heard he was "sweeping the primaries" in La Palabra and won the nomination fairly easily. We actually did see someone who was described as one of his primary opponents, Rev. Don Butler, in In God We Trust, but we'd literally never heard of him before and only once since (brought up by the American Christian Assembly guy in Message Of The Week). 

- I don't believe we've ever had a mention before of who the Secretary of Education is in the Bartlet administration. We're told here it's Jim Kane.

 

- Amy says they'll need five GOP votes "at least" to get a VP confirmed in the Senate. That must mean the Senate is split 54-46 in favor of Republicans. Five Republicans joining Democrats to confirm would make the vote 51-49.

- Tim Matheson (who plays former Vice President John Hoynes on the series) directed this episode. An actor since the early 1960s, he has a long list of directing credits for TV movies and series since his first directing job with an episode of St. Elsewhere in 1984.

- In Gail's fishbowl there looks to be the White House on a bright green lawn with a For Sale sign in the yard, a symbol of the Bartlet administration getting ready to move out of the White House.

 

- Alan Alda received an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for his performance in this episode (and Two Weeks Out). He'd also been nominated the year before, losing to William Shatner for Boston Legal. Alda's win was the only Emmy going to the series this season (The West Wing won 10 total Emmys in its first four years, but only two in the final three seasons).

- Why'd They Come Up With The Last Hurrah?

A "last hurrah" is defined as a last act, or final effort. We can see this in both the outgoing Bartlet administration with barely a month left in office, and more importantly, Senator Vinick coming to grips with the realization that his losing run for the Presidency is essentially his "last hurrah" (although not without a fight, even if only in his head).

Quotes    

Vinick: "I won't do lobbying, it wouldn't look good."

Sheila: "You wouldn't have to do any lobbying."

Bob: "Wouldn't look good?"

(pause)

Sheila: "Lecturing in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Florida? You thinking about running again?"

----- 

Barista: "What size?"

Vinick: "Uh, whatever's biggest."

Barista: "Name?"

Vinick: "Sen --  (pause) Arnie."

Barista (calling out): "Venti coffee of the day for Ernie."

 

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

• Amy Gardner seems to have taken Matt up on his offer of a job as Director of Legislative Affairs that he offered in Requiem.

• We haven't seen head of the White House Secret Service detail Ron Butterfield (Michael O'Neill) in a while. Here he's introducing part of the Secret Service detail to the Santos children, as well as coordinating the protection plan for the Santos home in Houston.

• Our favorite news anchor Ivan Allen returns. First appearing in A Proportional Response, we've seen him many, many times on the series (sometimes playing a reporter named Roger Salier, sometimes with a network called CND, sometimes at MSNBC, once at a local Washington DC station, mostly at a generic news network). This is actually his 27th and final time with a credit in the cast.

• Vinick's lawyer is played by David Clennon (The Thing, thirtysomething, Gone Girl).

• The Secret Service agent explaining the Houston situation to Matt and Helen is played by Paul Keeley (Romy and Michele's High School Reunion, Desperate Housewives, Mission Impossible III).

• Curtis Schaefer, the White House Head Usher, is played by Van Epperson (The Green Mile, Documentary Now!, The Middle).

• The barista at the coffee shop who calls Arnie Vinick "Ernie" is played by Parvesh Cheena (Outsourced, Barbershop, The Goldbergs, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend).

• We've seen the White House decorator who met with Helen in the Oval Office before. Gail Addison (played by Bonita Friedericy, seen in Chuck, Preacher, and Chicago Med) had ideas to help redecorate CJ's new office after she became the new Chief of Staff in The Hubbert Peak.

• The public school principal showing Matt and Helen around, Cathy Holland, is played by Maria Broom (The Wire).

• We see the President-elect meeting with generals and head military officers, but there's no sign of General Alexander, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Played by Terry O'Quinn, he was last seen in The Birnam Wood, and I don't think has even been mentioned since.
  

• "Royce" is mentioned as the Senate Majority Leader. We first saw Rep. Robert Royce as a House member from Pennsylvania in On The Day Before; by his next appearance on Jefferson Lives he was a Senator, and already the Republican Majority Leader. He's been in that post ever since, apparently (last seen in In God We Trust).

• During Vinick's physical we learn that his hand has healed "faster than we expected." He broke bones in his right hand in Two Weeks Out, which would have been Tuesday October 24 (although we saw no signs of that hand injury in Election Day Part 1 or Election Day Part II). With this episode the week of December 10, this would be seven weeks later, at which time you'd probably expect a broken bone to be healed.
  

• The decision between sending a Vice Presidential name to the Electoral College or having Matt's choice go through Congressional confirmation was first brought up in Election Day Part II. Also, Eric Baker, Matt's choice for VP, was seen originally as the front-runner for the Democratic nomination in The Hubbert Peak, announced he was withdrawing from consideration due to "family reasons" in In The Room, jumped back in when he saw a chance to steal the nomination at the convention in 2162 Votes, but then saw his chances evaporate when word of his wife's treatment for depression was leaked by Will and the Russell campaign.

• The concern over a Republican Congress possibly refusing to vote to confirm a Vice Presidential nominee was a primary plot point in Jefferson Lives, which led to the Bartlet administration meekly accepting a list of names the Republicans were willing to support and eventually naming Bob Russell as VP. This discussion, after Goodwin brings up a possible Senate filibuster against Baker, is nearly a perfect description of what we saw then:

Amy: "Not if you talk to the Majority Leader, give him the feeling he's being consulted, let him suggest some names."

Matt: "No, that'll give him the chance to try to jam me into taking someone I don't want."

Of course, Royce, still the Majority Leader, was actually in the room back in Jefferson Lives and went along with Speaker Haffley's ploy to deny President Bartlet his choice of Berryhill as Vice President and offer up that list. He saw it work once, he certainly might try it again.

• The look on Amy's face when Matt confirms Baker as his choice for Vice President reminds us that in Requiem Amy was pushing hard for a Florida congresswoman to be Matt's pick instead.

• Ray Sullivan is brought up as the presumptive favorite for the Republican nomination in 2010. Sullivan, the governor of West Virginia, was Vinick's running mate in the 2006 campaign.
  

• Vinick and Bob discuss the nuclear accident that cost him Nevada and other Western votes, and therefore the election. The San Andreo nuclear plant, one that Vinick had pushed to open 20 years prior, suffered a serious accident that threatened a massive release of radioactivity over California in Duck And Cover. 
  

• Matt shows off his Naval Academy class ring to Helen when he says he got a paycheck while attending Annapolis. This reminds us that he's a Naval Academy graduate who is still in the Marine Corps Reserves (as seen in The Mommy Problem).

• Vinick brings up the "good cop/bad cop" routine President Bartlet and Matt are playing to try to get Russia and China to negotiate over Kazakhstan. We saw that gambit begin in the previous episode, Transition. 
  

• The combination of Nancy McNally being nominated as ambassador to the United Nations and Vinick getting the Secretary of State offer reminds us that Josh went to Vinick to offer him the post of UN ambassador in In The Room. As Matt tells Barry, Lou, and Amy, "He never leaked that Bartlet offered him that UN job."

• Vinick says he "wouldn't lift a finger" to help Baker get confirmed. In In God We Trust we learned it was Baker who helped Bruno join the Vinick campaign, vouching for him with the Senator. So Baker and Vinick apparently got along well then.
  

DC location shots    

• The shot of Matt outside his car on the street was shot where 15th Street NW and New York Avenue NW meet, not far east of the White House. You can see the Treasury Building in the background, which is located between the White House and 15th Street. There's also a sign for Sun Trust Bank on the National Savings and Trust Company building on the northeast corner of the intersection, which now is Truist Bank.

The "Do Not Enter" signs are in the same place

Google Street View from near the corner seen in the episode

Google Street View looking down New York Avenue

• The exterior shots of the school visits were done in the DC area. It appears the production unit made a trip out east to film scenes for episodes from Requiem through Tomorrow, so these location shots were all from that trip (in February or March of 2006). I haven't been able to uncover the location for the Santos "private school" visit; the public school location was Eaton Elementary, at 3301 Lowell Street NW (near the National Cathedral, not really that close to the White House).

Mystery private school

In front of Eaton Elementary

Google Street View of Eaton Elementary

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

• There's a shot of the Washington Post on Vinick's doorstep.

• Other newspaper/media outlets mentioned include the New York Times, the Kansas City Star, CNN, and the Drudge Report.

• CNN Headline News anchor Chuck Roberts is seen again on a TV monitor in the background. I'm pretty sure the "LANDMARK EVOLUTION CASE" chyron across the bottom of the screen is exactly the same we saw in last week's episode; probably the exact same bit of video being re-used.

• The list of universities offering faculty jobs to Vinick includes NYU, Princeton, Penn, UVa, Duke, Emory, Florida State, Ohio Wesleyan, and William & Mary.
  

• Among the schools mentioned during Matt and Helen's tour are St. Albans (a prep school for boys only in grades 4-12, located near the National Cathedral) and Bancroft - while there is an expensive private school named Bancroft in Massachusetts, the school named Bancroft in DC is a public elementary school, not private.

• Adlai Stevenson is brought up by Vinick, who did indeed win back-to-back nominations to be the Democratic candidate for President in 1952 and 1956 (only to lose both times, as Sheila points out).

End credits freeze frame: Helen meeting the White House residential staff.

Previous episode: Transition

Next episode: Institutional Memory