The West Wing: The Mythology Eps

[Gaith]

So, just for fun, I thought I'd take a list of the TWW seasons I've seen on dvd (the Sorkin years), and identify the most important to the show's overall progress. Not necessarily the best, mind, but the ones that either very heavily draw on previous major events (viz., Noel) or those that really drive the macro plot forward (17 People) - the ones that most feel like you're watching one big story rather than an anthology of collected anecdotes. (Not that there were too many of the purely latter types - sod off, The Long Goodbye - but I digress.) Here's what I came up with:


Season One

1-01 "Pilot": duh.

1-02 "Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc": Hoynes intro.

1-03 "A Proportional Response": Charlie intro.

1-04 "Five Votes Down": Leo's wife leaves.

1-07 "The State Dinner": Abby intro.

1-09 "The Short List": Leo's drug abuse past.

1-12 "He Shall, from Time to Time...": Bartlet's MS revelation.

1-16 "20 Hours in LA": Gina intro, Charlie/Zoey death threats.

1-22 "What Kind of Day Has It Been": Season One finale/assassination attempt.


Season Two

2-01/02 "In the Shadow of Two Gunmen": Assassination attempt aftermath/key flashbacks.

2-10 "Noël": Josh's PTSD.

2-15 "Ellie": Ellie introduced.

2-18 "17 People": Start of MS disclosure arc.

2-19 "Bad Moon Rising": MS arc continues – introduction of Babish.

2-20 "The Fall's Gonna Kill You": MS arc continues.

2-21 "18th and Potomac": MS arc continues/Mrs. Landinham's demise.

2-22 "Two Cathedrals": Season Two finale/Bartlet's decision.


Season Three


3-01/02 "Manchester": Introduction of Bruno, Bartlet apologizes to staff.

3-09 "Bartlet for America": Congress grills Leo on the MS question.

3-10 "H. Con-172": End of impeachment-threat arc.

3-13 "Night Five": Bartlet's psychiatric counseling.

3-16 "Dead Irish Writers": Abby's medical license revoked.

3-19 "Enemies Foreign and Domestic": Beginning of CJ threatened/Agent Donovan arc.

3-20 "The Black Vera Wang" Beginning of Qumar/Shareef arc.

3-21 "We Killed Yamamoto": Shareef arc continues.

3-22 "Posse Comitatus": Season Three finale/Shareef assassination.


Season Four

4-05 "Debate Camp": Flashback-heavy ep. First election-season ep.

4-06 "Game On": Second/final election-season ep. Sam's deal.

4-07 "Election Night": Bartlet wins re-election.

4-10 "Arctic Radar": Sam leaves for CA; Will shows up in DC.

4-11 "Holy Night": Shareef assassination aftershocks begin.

4-14 "Inauguration, Part I": Kundu crisis.
4-15 "Inauguration: Over There": Kundu crisis/Will joins the team.

4-16 "The California 47th": Sam's losing his congressional race.

4-21 "Life on Mars": Hoynes resigns.

4-22 "Commencement": Zoey kidnapped.

4-23 "Twenty Five": Zoey missing/Walken becomes acting president.



I was surprised to find so few S2 eps up there, as it's probably my favorite season, closely followed by 4... and I'd be interested in seeing similar lists for the last three seasons; I've always assumed that I'll grit my teeth and muscle through S5 at some point to get back to the good stuff (some of which I caught on TV), but I've never really felt like doing so. So, anyone who'd like to give those seasons a shot, that'd be great.

Or, y'all could just praise/argue with my above list.

 

[TheGodBen]

Or, y'all could just praise/argue with my above list.

Good plan.

Season One

1-01 "Pilot": duh.

1-02 "Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc": Hoynes intro.

1-03 "A Proportional Response": Charlie intro.

1-04 "Five Votes Down": Leo's wife leaves.

Agreed on all of these.

1x05 - The Crackpots and These Women introduces the Big Block of Cheese Day, but that was only referenced once more in season 2 and that episode wasn't vital either. Feel free to drop this one.

1x06 - Mr Willis of Ohio has Bartlet's prophetic speech to Zoey. Not essential, but fascinating in retrospect.

1-07 "The State Dinner": Abby intro.

1-09 "The Short List": Leo's drug abuse past.

Agreed.

1x10 - In Excelsis Deo continues the Leo addiction story. Its not vital, but I'll use any excuse to include this episode.

1x11 - Lord John Marbury introduces... Lord John Marbury. Plus, you need to see this episode to understand the India/Pakistan situation in the next episode.

1-12 "He Shall, from Time to Time...": Bartlet's MS revelation.

Yeah, that's fairly important. Plus, that's when Leo comes clean to the public about his alcoholism.

1x13 - Take out the Trash Day sort of concludes the Leo story (for the time being).

1x14 - Take This Sabbath Day introduces Joey Lucas.

1x15 - Celestial Navigation continues the Mendoza confirmation storyline. It's not vital, but it helps with the complete picture.

1x16 - 20 Hours in LA introduces Gina and the death-threats Zoey and Charlie are receiving. A fairly important development.

1x17 - The White House Pro-Am continues the death-threat storyline, but it's not all that important.

1x18 - Six Meetings Before Lunch sees Mendoza confirmed.

1x19 - Let Bartlet be Bartlet has that important scene towards the end that I consider vital to the show, even moreso than the shooting, but others might disagree.

1x20 - Mandatory Minimums continues some of the stories from the previous episode, and introduces Toby's ex-wife.

1x21 - Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics completes the Sam/Laurie story.

1-22 "What Kind of Day Has It Been": Season One finale/assassination attempt.

I'm not sure if that's needed.


Did I just name every episode of the season except Enemies, the only episode not written by Sorkin?

Season Two

2-01/02 "In the Shadow of Two Gunmen": Assassination attempt aftermath/key flashbacks.

2x03 - The Midterms shows the staff recovering from the shooting, and it explains how the Republicans kept control of Congress.

2x04 - In This White House introduces Ainsley Hayes.

2x05 - And it's Surely to Their Credit has Ainsley joining the staff.

2-10 "Noël": Josh's PTSD.

2x11 - The Leadership Breakfast ends with Leo and Toby agreeing to begin the re-election campaign, without Bartlet's knowledge, and this is a precursor to the MS arc towards the end of the season.

2x13 - Bartlet's Third State of the Union makes his re-election campaign a priority and begins the rough-patch in his marriage with Abbey.

2x14 - The War at Home is the second part to the previous episode.

2-15 "Ellie": Ellie introduced.

2x17 - The Stackhouse Filibuster is when Toby first suspects that something is up with Bartlet, triggering the concluding arc.

2-18 "17 People": Start of MS disclosure arc.

2-19 "Bad Moon Rising": MS arc continues – introduction of Babish.

2-20 "The Fall's Gonna Kill You": MS arc continues.

2x21 - 18th and Potomac, I'm not sure how you missed it, it does contain Mrs Landingham's death.

2-22 "Two Cathedrals": Season Two finale/Bartlet's decision.

You could make a case for this being important, I suppose.

Season Three

3-01/02 "Manchester": Introduction of Bruno, Bartlet apologizes to staff.

(Note: for season 3, my episode numbers go by the DVD order and has Isaac and Ishmael as episode 1, and doesn't include the documentary special.)

3x04 - Ways and Means begins the Congressional investigation into Bartlet's health.

3x09 - The Women of Qumar introduces Amy.

3-09 "Bartlet for America": Congress grills Leo on the MS question.

3-10 "H. Con-172": End of impeachment-threat arc.

3x13 - The Two Bartlets informs the next episode.

3-13 "Night Five": Bartlet's psychiatric counseling.

3x15 - Hartsfield's Landing follows on from the previous episode.

3x16 - Dead Irish Writers resoves the issue around Abbey's actions in concealing Bartlet's MS.

3-19 "Enemies Foreign and Domestic": Beginning of CJ threatened/Agent Donovan arc.

3-20 "The Black Vera Wang" Beginning of Qumar/Shareef arc.

3-21 "We Killed Yamamoto": Shareef arc continues.

3-22 "Posse Comitatus": Season Three finale/Shareef assassination.

Yup

Season Four

4x01/02 - 20 Hours in America shows how Debbie got the job as Bartlet's secretary, and the US enters economic difficulty.

4x03 - College Kids continues several story elements from the premier.

4x04 - The Red Mass begins the debate storyline.

4-05 "Debate Camp": Flashback-heavy ep. First election-season ep.

4-06 "Game On": Second/final election-season ep. Sam's deal.

4-07 "Election Night": Bartlet wins re-election.

4x08 - Process Stories has Sam agreeing to run in the special election in the California 47th.

4-10 "Arctic Radar": Sam leaves for CA; Will shows up in DC.

4-11 "Holy Night": Shareef assassination aftershocks begin.

4-14 "Inauguration, Part I": Kundu crisis.
4-15 "Inauguration: Over There": Kundu crisis/Will joins the team.

4-16 "The California 47th": Sam's losing his congressional race.

4x17 - Red Haven's on Fire is Sam's final appearance (until the final season), implies he lost the election.

4x20 - Evidence of Things Not Seen introduces Joe Quincy, who is important in the next episode.

4-21 "Life on Mars": Hoynes resigns.

4-22 "Commencement": Zoey kidnapped.
4-23 "Twenty Five": Zoey missing/Walken becomes acting president.

So, I have essentially listed 80% of the show as being vital mythology episodes. Go me! I could give seasons 5-7 a go later on, but I'm done with this for now.

 

[Claudia]

Oh, a West Wing- thread. I've just recently discovered this gem in TV-world, so I can't help but chime in here. *g*

I'd include 3x11 "100.000 Airplanes" - it sort of sets up Sam's being disillusioned and his eventual leaving for California. And it ties in due to the abandonment of grand ideas with Leo's round-up of the last 365 days resp Bartlet's final State of the Union in season 6 (6x12 "365 days").

I wouldn't include 2x10 "Noel" - while it's a fantastic episode Josh's PTSD is later on only mentioned in passing. It introduces Stanley, though, which is important for Bartlet's being abused as a child/getting counseling-arc...

I'd include 2x12 "The Drop-In" since it directly follows the events of "The Leadership Breakfast" resp Republican House and reelection - not to mention Toby's attitude/self-rightousness which ends up being quite prominent in season 6/7.

1x22 is needed - it mentions Toby's brother (again, relevant for season 6/7) and sets up the background story in Iraq in ITSOTG.

 

[Gaith]

With respect, TheGodBen, yeah, I was aiming for a far more restrictive count than ~80%. With a few exceptions, one could find some reason for including almost all the eps.

1x05 - The Crackpots and These Women introduces the Big Block of Cheese Day, but that was only referenced once more in season 2 and that episode wasn't vital either. Feel free to drop this one.

1x06 - Mr Willis of Ohio has Bartlet's prophetic speech to Zoey. Not essential, but fascinating in retrospect.

Exactly. I'm not saying they're bad, but one could skip them without missing much if any macro-story.

1x16 - 20 Hours in LA introduces Gina and the death-threats Zoey and Charlie are receiving. A fairly important development.

Hm, that's true... Also, it gets points for being a travel ep...

2x04 - In This White House introduces Ainsley Hayes.
2x05 - And it's Surely to Their Credit has Ainsley joining the staff.

And her overall contribution to the macro story is pretty much nil, which is why I left these out. Ditto for Joey Lucas in Take this Sabbath Day, a great ep and wonderful character, but not vital to the core story.

2x21 - 18th and Potomac, I'm not sure how you missed it, it does contain Mrs Landingham's death.

Which occurs offscreen, we only learn about it in the very last scene, and Two Cathedrals tells us everything we need to know about the accident anyway. A key rule of thumb for my list is that most of the episode should substantially advance the macro plot, not just a beat or scene or two. (Eg., Leo and Toby's CREEP handshake.)

3x16 - Dead Irish Writers resolves the issue around Abbey's actions in concealing Bartlet's MS.

Yeah, I guess that that should go in. Great ep, too.

I could give seasons 5-7 a go later on, but I'm done with this for now.

I look forward to it if you do! You just might save me a lot of time with S5 especially.

I wouldn't include 2x10 "Noel" - while it's a fantastic episode Josh's PTSD is later on only mentioned in passing. It introduces Stanley, though, which is important for Bartlet's being abused as a child/getting counseling-arc...

Yeah, I included it more as a coda to the assassination arc than as set-up for other stuff. And I gave it a wee bit of special consideration due to awesomeness.

1x22 is needed - it mentions Toby's brother (again, relevant for season 6/7) and sets up the background story in Iraq in ITSOTG.

I'm sure TheGodBen was kidding when he said that this wasn't needed.

 

[bigdaddy]

You really need to include a few more from season 1. The death threats are the main thing of the season, besides the episode Leo finds out the president has MS. It leads into final, the first part of season 2 and the end of season 4.

 

[Harvey]

Honestly, it would be easier to produce a list of episodes that can be easily skipped than to produce a list of episodes that are part of the continuing storyline (the "mythology," if you prefer). And, on the top of my head, "Access" (season five) is the only episode I could make a case for without re-watching the series for the fourth time.

 

[TheGodBen]

And her overall contribution to the macro story is pretty much nil, which is why I left these out. Ditto for Joey Lucas in Take this Sabbath Day, a great ep and wonderful character, but not vital to the core story.

And yet you include Ellie for introducing Ellie.

I suppose it depends upon what you think is important to the shows mythology, and I think that the characters, especially major recurring characters like Ainsley and Joey, are more important than some of the story arcs. I mean, the shooting arc was very dramatic and I love it, but it doesn't really add anything to the macro-plot either; it happens, it's followed up in Noel, there's one or two further references to it, but it's otherwise forgotten about. Meanwhile, Ainsley continues to show up throughout season 2 and a little in season 3, and Joey shows up for a couple of episodes each season. I think they're more important to the show than the big events like the kidnapping.

Which occurs offscreen, we only learn about it in the very last scene, and Two Cathedrals tells us everything we need to know about the accident anyway.

I still think that 18th and Potomac is an essential part of that arc and to leave it out while including the other four parts seems a bit silly. A lot of stuff happened in that episode that directly impacted Two Cathedrals, including the Haiti coup plot.

I look forward to it if you do! You just might save me a lot of time with S5 especially.

Here's my slightly excessive list.


Season 5

5x01 - 7A WF 83429 continues the Zoey kidnapping story.

5x02 - The Dogs of War concludes it.

5x03 - Jefferson Lives introduces the new VP, Bob Russell, and new Speaker, Haffley.

5x05 - Constituency of One sees Will start working for Russell while Josh screws up and is put in the doghouse.

5x07 - Separation of Powers has Bartlet getting his mojo back after the kidnapping, and budget negotiations break down.

5x08 - Shutdown follows on from the previous episodes with the federal government shut down, Josh devises a successful PR strategy that gets him out of the doghouse.

5x19 - Talking Points introduces Kate Harper and Donna joins the CODEL to the Middle East.

5x21 - Gaza. The CODEL is attacked by a bomb, Donna is injured, Fitzwallace and two congressmen die.

5x22 - Memorial Day continues on from Gaza.


I deny that I lowered my standards, season 5 just isn't that important.


Season 6

6x01 - NSF Thurmont follows on from season 5 as Bartlet attempts to broker peace in the Middle East.

6x02 - The Birnam Wood continues on from previous episode, peace deal made, Leo has a heart attack.

6x03 - Third-Day Story. Leo is in hospital, resigns as CoS.

6x04 - Liftoff sees CJ become the new CoS, introduces Congressman Santos and Annabeth.

6x07 - A Change Is Gonna Come has Hoynes reveal his plan to run for President, the staff prepare the China trip. Also introduces Governor Eric Baker.

6x08 - In the Room has Bartlet suffer a major MS episode, Vinick announces that he'll run for the Republican nomination, Baker drops out of the race for the Democratic nomination.

6x09 - Impact Winter completes Bartlet's trip to China, Donna quits and Josh tries to get Santos to run for President.

6x10 - Faith Based Initiative sees Josh leave the west wing to run Santos' campaign.

6x11 - Opposition Research begins the Santos campaign arc for real, introduces his campaign staff.

6x13 - King Corn introduces a couple of characters on Vinick's campaign staff.

6x15 - Freedonia has Santos' big break-through moment.

6x16 - Drought Conditions sees the Josh/Toby relationship reach its lowest moment and possibly drives Toby's actions towards the end of the season.

6x18 - La Palabra. Hoynes is embroiled in a new sex-scandal and his campaign falls apart.

6x20 - In God We Trust has Vinnick winning the Republican nomination and choosing his VP nominee. Bruno returns.

6x21 - Things Fall Apart sees Santos and Russell fail to make a deal ahead of the convention, while a problem on the ISS leads to the national security leak.

6x22 - 2162 Votes. Santos wins the Democratic nomination.


Season 7

7x01 - The Ticket sees the campaign get underway proper, new characters and sets are introduced, it's sort of a half-pilot.

7x02 - The Mommy Problem introduces Lou, a major recurring character for the final season.

7x04 - Mr Frost, the President of Kazakhstan is assassinated and Toby reveals he was behind the leak.

7x05 - Here Today. Toby is fired.

7x09 - The Wedding sees the Kazakhstan situation get out of hand.

7x11 - Internal Displacement sees Danny return and ends with the threat of an explosion at a nuclear plant in California.

7x12 - Duck and Cover has Bartlet oversee the nuclear plant situation while news leaks that Vinick helped get the plant opened.

7x13 - The Cold continues the political fallout from the nuclear plant situation, Santos catches Vinick in the polls, Bartlet decides to send troops to Kazakhstan.

7x16/17 - Election Day Parts 1 and 2 has some minor things happen that aren't that important, but I'll include these episodes anyway.

7x18 - Requiem has Leo's funeral.

7x19 - Transition brings back Sam and resolves the Josh/Donna 'ship.

7x22 - Tomorrow. I think this was the episode with the Godzilla attack.

 

[Hunter X]

A list of season 5 without The Supremes? I don't remember much about that season, but I remember that episode as the best by far.

Also, I didn't know there was an overall storyline to The West Wing. Mini-arcs and character arcs, for sure, but it's not exactly Lost or Babylon 5.

 

[Gaith]

I've added "20 Hours in LA" and "Dead Irish Writers" to the list above.

You really need to include a few more from season 1. The death threats are the main thing of the season, besides the episode Leo finds out the president has MS. It leads into final, the first part of season 2 and the end of season 4.

Actually the assassination attempt is, AFAIK, pretty well forgotten after S2, and certainly has nothing to do with the Zoey kidnapping in S4. In the long run, the MS revelation is more important.

Honestly, it would be easier to produce a list of episodes that can be easily skipped than to produce a list of episodes that are part of the continuing storyline (the "mythology," if you prefer).

Maybe I'm not looking for an easy list.

 

[TheGodBen]

A list of season 5 without The Supremes? I don't remember much about that season, but I remember that episode as the best by far.

It was great, but it didn't really add much to the "mythology" of the show. It introduced two new characters, put them on the Supreme Court (presumably) and never mentioned the affair again. I almost included it for being the first episode to mention the CODEL to the Middle East, but that seemed too tenuous. It's an episode that shouldn't be missed, but like a lot of season 5, it's an island unto itself.

 

[Gaith]

Wow, thanks kindly for the list! I'll surely use it whenever I decide to tackle any part of S5. And I agree that The Supremes has got to go up there, comprising two Supreme noms as it does.

And her overall contribution to the macro story is pretty much nil, which is why I left these out. Ditto for Joey Lucas in Take this Sabbath Day, a great ep and wonderful character, but not vital to the core story.

And yet you include Ellie for introducing Ellie.

I admit that, by my own standards, that's an iffy ep for inclusion, but it does not only introduce Ellie but also sheds a great deal of light on the Bartlet family dynamic.

I mean, the shooting arc was very dramatic and I love it, but it doesn't really add anything to the macro-plot either; it happens, it's followed up in Noel, there's one or two further references to it, but it's otherwise forgotten about. Meanwhile, Ainsley continues to show up throughout season 2 and a little in season 3, and Joey shows up for a couple of episodes each season. I think they're more important to the show than the big events like the kidnapping.

I grok your view, and it's at least as respectable as mine, but I do slightly disagree: IMO, insofar as the show is about the Bartlet Administration, anything that threatens to prematurely end that administration (assassination, re-election loss, the threat of impeachment and Bartlet's incapacitation during the kidnapping crisis) adds to/defines the macro plot. Ergo, the assassination attempt is more important than Joey or Ainsley for my current, narrow purposes.

I still think that 18th and Potomac is an essential part of that arc and to leave it out while including the other four parts seems a bit silly.

Fair enough. I initially left it out because I remember it as being the weak part of the chain, but you've swayed me; up on the list it goes.

7x09 - The Wedding sees the Kazakhstan situation get out of hand.

And now ain't ya glad I left Ellie in?

7x16/17 - Election Day Parts 1 and 2 has some minor things happen that aren't that important, but I'll include these episodes anyway.

I watched these as they aired... good lord, ED1 was a huge pile of steaming suck... ED2, however was fantastic. Made me watery-eyed when CJ broke Bartlet/us the news. Heck, I get water-eyed just thinking about it.

7x22 - Tomorrow. I think this was the episode with the Godzilla attack.

Y'know, back when S5 was pissing everyone off with its fail, I repeatedly suggested that the producers turn the show into an Independence Day-style alien invasion show, with all the main character forced to join the human resistance, coordinate relief efforts, etc. At that point, it didn't seem as though they'd be able to give the Sorkin-era series a decent conclusion anyway.

Also, I didn't know there was an overall storyline to The West Wing. Mini-arcs and character arcs, for sure, but it's not exactly Lost or Babylon 5.

No, but there is the overall storyline "assuming he isn't killed or voted out, will Bartlet be able to complete his two terms, or will his MS force him to resign, and will a Democrat or Republic succeed him?" Ergo, I tried to focus on eps that most mattered to those two questions.

 

[bigdaddy]

Honestly, it would be easier to produce a list of episodes that can be easily skipped than to produce a list of episodes that are part of the continuing storyline (the "mythology," if you prefer). And, on the top of my head, "Access" (season five) is the only episode I could make a case for without re-watching the series for the fourth time.

I have never watched that episode on DVD. I start it and it's so bad that I never finish it. Easily the worst West Wing episode, and then the other CJ episode in which she visits home, that was a rather pointless episode.

 

[Harvey]

I like "The Long Goodbye" (season four), but it's definitely off-format (we barely see the White House at all) and easily excised if you don't want to focus on such a side story (even if it builds of a few lines from a previous episode).

 

[bigdaddy]

I like "The Long Goodbye" (season four), but it's definitely off-format (we barely see the White House at all) and easily excised if you don't want to focus on such a side story (even if it builds of a few lines from a previous episode).

If the dad died in the episode it might not be useless. I'm sure the point was to show how hard it is to work at the White House, but it failed.

The fact it builds on a few lines is why I can't stand it. There are a few lines, then 45 minutes, then in the next three years a few more lines. It just doesn't fit. If they did a five minute follow up or anything it would have worked out a lot better.

I disagree with the shooting being pointless after season 2, it really screwed up Josh throughout the show. It also is needed to show that a president with MS doesn't have a strong structure of government. So the reason the shooting happen is important to me, more so because the foreshadowing was handled really nicely.

 

[Gaith]

I'm sure the point was to show how hard it is to work at the White House, but it failed.

The point was to give the gravely overworked Sorkin a break by letting him sit out an entire episode, not only not writing/rewriting a single line but also not thinking one bit about the story and its implications to the rest of the season.

I disagree with the shooting being pointless after season 2, it really screwed up Josh throughout the show. It also is needed to show that a president with MS doesn't have a strong structure of government.

An excellent point, as the alleged "coup" of Leo's control was really the only thing the GOP could possibly have pinned "high crimes and misdemeanors" on Bartlet.

 

[Harvey]

I'm sure the point was to show how hard it is to work at the White House, but it failed.

The point was to give the gravely overworked Sorkin a break by letting him sit out an entire episode, not only not writing/rewriting a single line but also not thinking one bit about the story and its implications to the rest of the season.

Too bad NBC would give him a permanent break just a few episodes later...

 

[Marten]

If we are to include all good episodes, the list will be huge.

 

[Gaith]

Too bad NBC would give him a permanent break just a few episodes later...

Fact is, the Sorkin years were too good to last, and while I'm not privy to the studio's numbers, their claim that his last-minute re-writes caused irresponsible budget overruns aren't at all implausible. Besides, Sorkin would likely have burnt out at some point before the end of S7 anyway unless NBC did something drastic, such as halving the number of eps per season.

If we are to include all good episodes, the list will be huge.

True... which is partly why I'm asking for the "myth" list.

Anyone else have any feedback on TheGodBen's S5-7 list?

 

[Claudia]

I disagree with the shooting being pointless after season 2, it really screwed up Josh throughout the show. It also is needed to show that a president with MS doesn't have a strong structure of government. So the reason the shooting happen is important to me, more so because the foreshadowing was handled really nicely.

I just finished rewatching season 2 yesterday - and the thing I never quite understood is why everyone's pushing for Hoynes, even asking Bartlet to step down prematurely to offer Hoynes the position as incumbent president for the next elections... Hoynes was part of the MS cover up, he knew from the beginning, he even sanctioned it by agreeing to become VP. So wouldn't he be part of the fallout as well?!?

The one thing about the shooting that I don't quite understand is that there was no follow-up concerning perhaps changing the wording of the part of the consitution ruling over the succession if the president is incapacitated and didn't sign such a letter to give over powers to the VP. What if Bartlet had been unconscious before the surgery? He'd never have had the opportunity of signing a letter. And I also don't quite understand why having such a presigned letter lying around somewhere would point to Bartlet's MS, as "17 people" is suggesting when Toby brings up the issue. It's just needed for such an extreme situation like the shooting - and given the wording of the law, such a letter is needed...

I don't quite agree that the shooting screws up Josh for more than Noel.

As for the listing:

7x20 The last hurrah - introduces Vinick as Santos' secretary of state.

 

[bigdaddy]

The current line of succession took place around 1945. Since then no president (that we know of) had a letter in the Oval Office drawer. So if Bartlet did people would then wonder why he did. JFK was most likely killed instantly as half of his head was blown off, however he wasn't instantly called dead. So there was a time in the 1960s, during the height of the cold war where no one was technically running the country. It's just the way the stupid laws are written.

Sorkin I think is happy that NBC fired him, because that's when he cleaned up his act and stopped the drinking and the drugs. So there is a good chance NBC saved his life (he probably would have had a heart attack).