I watched the "Requiem" ...
Question: I watched the "Requiem" episode (centering around Leo's funeral) of
The West Wing last weekend, because I was a fan of that show back during its first seasons and because you and other reviewers have said that it had finally gotten back to good form in its final days. It was like getting back in touch with an old friend. But why wasn't Sam (
Rob Lowe) at the service? The previews show him returning next week, so Rob Lowe is obviously willing to return to the show. Why didn't they get him back for the funeral episode? That would have been perfect, giving us old-school fans a last glimpse of the original gang back together (albeit with Toby on the outside now).
Answer: I can't say why, but I figure that the show's producers were busy enough just figuring out how to do this salute to Leo (and
John Spencer) right. Finding a way to shoehorn the return of Sam (and Rob Lowe) into the episode might have been too much of a distraction, though I agree it would have made sense. (For my own response to the "Requiem," check out my
Dispatch.) Most of the response I got to this episode was positive, though several complained that they wished they could have seen Bartlet's public oration to his political partner and mentor. No argument here.
On another West Wing matter, Nicky writes: "Do you think that if NBC would have kept The West Wing in its original Wednesday time slot their ratings would have improved this year and the show wouldn't have been canceled? I still think that even the worst episode of The West Wing is better than anything on TV right now."
Answer: Given the competition on Wednesdays and NBC's inability to produce a decent lead-in, West Wing might still have suffered if left on that night, but I'm betting these last strong episodes would have done better and gotten more attention from viewers and the media if they'd aired in the show's longtime original time period. The move to Sundays was a disaster. Even so, I would hope that NBC and Warner Bros. would have done the right thing and let this be the valedictory season. I'm unyielding in my belief that this is the right time to let this show end.
And finally, this from Darren W.: "I'm a huge fan of The West Wing and I'm really not one of those smut Nazis or anything, but one thing I've always enjoyed about the show over the years was its relative cleanliness compared to other shows. Now it's ending and all of a sudden every episode has sex as a recurring theme, with people jumping into bed with each other left and right. Do you think this is just a desperate bid to get viewers for the final few episodes, or have the writers just decided everyone has to get lucky before the series ends? I, for one, am disappointed they took a show that had decent family appeal and smutted it up right at the end."
My answer: Smut? In the "Requiem" episode, at least, the comic relief came in the inability of C.J. and Danny, and Josh and Donna, to hook up, because they're trying so hard not to flaunt these relationships. And really, I think you're being too hard on the show and on these characters. Viewers have been waiting years for these characters to wake up to their attraction and to act on it, so I feel this is just an effort to give these long-in-gestation couples some closure for our own behalf. None of this can be considered a ratings stunt because that's a hopeless cause this season anyway. I don't know anyone who isn't happy for these couples to have finally taken it to the next level.
