Must see West Wing episodes for a newbie

[bigdaddy]

A friend of mine is coming home for the winter break, thank god. He is a dork and he has never seen West Wing! So I'm hoping to get him to watch at least a few episodes, the problem is I don't know which ones.

Season 1 is good, but a little slow. However you need to watch the episodes because they lead up to the season 1 finale and the season 4 finale. What episodes should I have him watch in season 1? So far I have the pilot, and the one where Leo learns that the president has MS. What other ones should I show him?

 

[Harvey]

You'll obviously have to make time for the season one finale, What Kind of Day Has it Been? Actually, along with that, I'd include all the build-up episodes featuring Jorja Fox's secret service agent.

I'd also include that year's Christmas episode (In Excelsis Deo) as a much-watch.

 

[bigdaddy]

That's the problem, I will probably only have time for him to watch maybe 5 episodes. I don't want him to watch the season 1 finale without watching the build up, but the build up would have to be at least 5 episodes itself. Plus some of the build up episodes are rather boring.

 

[ParticleMan]

Brother...that's tough. I'm looking through a list of titles and I don't know if I can narrow it to only 5...

How about:

Pilot (for the general into to the characters)
A Proportional Response (for insight into Bartlet himself)
The Crackpots and These Women (Big Block of Cheese!)
In Excelsis Deo (for Toby)
Let Bartlet Be Bartlet (for the re-energizing of the staff)

But even looking at this list, there are so many great ones being left out...

 

[Harvey]

Only five episodes? Man. Actually, ParticleMan's list is a pretty good selection, if you only want to see five (good) episodes and not distract your friend with longer arcs.

 

[bigdaddy]

I'm trying to get him to be hooked on the show and then he can find a way to watch the other episodes when he has time.

 

[Harvey]

Why not just watch the first five? The show does a pretty good job hitting the ground running. Plus, if you tell him to fast-forward through all scenes with Mandy, he can probably fit six or seven episodes in.

 

[Emher]

Brother...that's tough. I'm looking through a list of titles and I don't know if I can narrow it to only 5...

How about:

Pilot (for the general into to the characters)
A Proportional Response (for insight into Bartlet himself)
The Crackpots and These Women (Big Block of Cheese!)
In Excelsis Deo (for Toby)
Let Bartlet Be Bartlet (for the re-energizing of the staff)

But even looking at this list, there are so many great ones being left out...

Pretty damned good list. I'd try and squeeze in the finale there as well. But you can not go without the big block of cheese!

 

[bigdaddy]

Why not just watch the first five? The show does a pretty good job hitting the ground running. Plus, if you tell him to fast-forward through all scenes with Mandy, he can probably fit six or seven episodes in.

I need him to watch the show to see if he even notices when leaves for Mandyland! I didn't even notice when she was gone, thank god they never bothered to have her back for the finale season.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

I would also say watch the first five episodes. And no skipping Mandy! I swear, I must be the only person who loved her.

 

[Harvey]

I don't hate Mandy. It's just that she fades away in the second half of the first season. And then is gone without even a mention in season two. And she was second-billed! Nearly every other character's odd exit is explained away in some fashion later on, but Mandy goes to Mandyville.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Yeah, that annoys me, too.

Funny thing about that situation. When I first started watching The West Wing, I knew she only appeared in the first season, so when "What Kind of Day Has It Been?" ended, I just assumed she was one of the people to get hit (and killed). Imagine my surprise she merely disappeared.

 

[Harvey]

That's what I thought, too! I bought seasons one and two together, impatiently read the descriptiong of "In the Shadow of Two Gunmen" and just assumed, since Moira Kelly wasn't listed on the back of season two, that she'd buy it. Of course, her character isn't at the rope line, in fact, she's barely in the episode!

 

[ParticleMan]

I was no fan of Mandy...she wasn't horrible, but she just never gelled with the rest of the cast. I guess she was supposed to be more of an "outsider" but it just didn't click at all. Perhaps that's more of a testament to how ridiculously well the rest of the group works together and not so much an indictment of the character or Moira Kelly as an actress...

 

[bigdaddy]

That's what I thought, too! I bought seasons one and two together, impatiently read the descriptiong of "In the Shadow of Two Gunmen" and just assumed, since Moira Kelly wasn't listed on the back of season two, that she'd buy it. Of course, her character isn't at the rope line, in fact, she's barely in the episode!

She wasn't in the episode was she?

That's the problem with her, and why she disappeared, she didn't fit. She wasn't horrible, but she wasn't very good either. You don't remember nor care that she is gone, at least I didn't, and my grandma didn't at the time.

I think they should have just went "The shootings scared her and she went back to visit family" or something.

Either way, whatever.

He might also want to watch Dexter, but I think his parents get Showtime on Demand, so screw him, I'll make him watch Dexter.

 

[Harvey]

She was in the episode. She's in the audience with the President asking questions during the test run of his speech. I remember that much. But her last major episode during that season was a B-story (and I'm being generous, it's more like a C-story) about the panda bear in the national zoo.

 

[TheGodBen]

Mandy was introduced in the first two episodes as a wild card, someone who wasn't going to play by the rules and who would be a thorn in everyone's side. But even before she joined the staff she was tamed and became just another suit. She wasn't a terrible character, but she clearly wasn't what she was supposed to be.

However, they did that really annoying thing where they gave her a token scene in episodes where she wasn't involved in the plot in order to justify having her in the credits. That was irritating because she'd show up, disrupt the flow of the episode, and then leave after adding nothing of value. Still, it was really pathetic that Sorkin didn't even try to write her out of the show, so I prefer to think that she resigned after Let Bartlet be Bartlet for that damaging memo which was leaked.

 

[bigdaddy]

It might not be 100% Sorkin's fault. He saw that she is a useless character and didn't renew her contract for season 2. The actress might then have went "OK, I'm gone" and didn't want to do a cameo then.

What I find odd is that she didn't even show up in the last season when they got back other characters that disappeared. They brought back Sam and Ansley (sp?) but never really explained what happened to them, they should have done the same thing with Mandy, it's not like the actress is busy with anything else.

 

[IndyJones]

...they should have done the same thing with Mandy, it's not like the actress is busy with anything else.

I would expect that being a regular on a series between 2003-2009, as well as other projects, would count as working.


Besides, she's probably living off of her Lion King residuals anyways.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

There's another reason why Mandy ultimately didn't work: She was also suppose to be Josh's foil, but very quickly everyone saw the incredible chemistry Bradley Whitford and Janel Moloney had.