You would have thought that ...
Question: You would have thought that the writers of
The West Wing could have put more creative thought into these final episodes instead of more Santos campaign drivel (as per the March 26 episode). I know we're all in anticipation of the treatment of Leo's death, but the original cast has been largely pushed aside. And those of us who are longtime fans of
The West Wing would have appreciated seeing the original crew hard at work at the end of Bartlet's last term.
Answer: Can't really agree, but then, the ratings bear out the fact that few are all that excited about the election episodes of this final season (which NBC has effectively buried on Sunday nights). For me, and for most others I know who are still watching the show (not very many, admittedly), the election brought some storytelling vigor back to a show that had stagnated in its depiction of life in the lame-duck Bartlet White House. I thought the campaign episodes dealing with the fallout over the nuclear-plant incident, and the potential scandal of Bruno discovering Santos' left-behind briefcase, almost had the zing of classic
West Wing (not to mention the at-long-last acknowledgement of the Josh-Donna flame). Back at the White House, the Kazakhstan episodes have had some oomph, as have Toby's indictment over leaking classified material, but otherwise,
West Wing had been limping along for at least the last season or two. (The biggest problem, as I've stated before, is that Bartlet needed to clean house after his election, if only for creative reasons. Around the time that C.J. was promoted into Leo's job, I was about ready to bail.) I've had no trouble pushing aside much of the original crew in favor of telling fresh stories. But I find myself wishing, even as I enjoy some of these final episodes, that they'd all closed shop a while back, so
West Wing wouldn't be seen crawling to the finish line.
That said, I am looking forward to these election-night episodes, and am steeling myself for the episode (which appears to be set for April 16) that deals with Leo's — which is to say, John Spencer's — death.
