The West Wing Well, the theme...

The West WingWell, the theme of tonight's episode is "housecleaning," I guess. First, the Santos campaign decides to fire some staffers (sorry, Ted/Ned), then it's time to bid farewell to one of the show's best characters. Godspeed, Toby Ziegler. Not only was Toby the moral compass of the Bartlet administration for seven years, actor Richard Schiff was brilliant as the often sullen, occasionally sanctimonious, but always lovable Toby. Frankly, I'm a little disappointed with his departure. America's favorite liberal lion not named Kennedy went out like a bit of a lamb. I really expected more of a full-throated defense of leaking the shuttle info. The whole episode was more of a whimper than a bang until Toby headed into the Oval Office. Now, we knew the meeting with the president was going to be brutal, but wow! I half-expected Bartlet to rip off Toby's epaulets and punch his hat. And that final zinger about not thinking Toby is a hero? That's gonna leave a mark. The final sequence of Toby being wordlessly escorted out of the White House is an absolute heartbreaker. A TV character hasn't made a more ignominious exit since Chuck Cunningham wandered off the set of Happy Days. And I guess Ellie picked a good night to tell her dad she was knocked up, huh? 

In the end, I think Oliver Babish is right: If the president won't do it, somebody should thank Toby. The same goes for Richard Schiff. I know I speak for West Wing fans everywhere when I say, "Thank you for your service."  Jon McDaid

Desperate Housewives
At last! A poker-game scene with all the housewives together. Well, all but Lynette, who certainly had her hands full. Taking her crabby boss Nina out every night to the pickup bar certainly was taking its toll. At least getting Nina laid temporarily resolved her crabbiness problem. Loved when Lynette finally came out of her shell, showing us what a sexpot Felicity Huffman actually is. Her transformation scene totally reminded me of Sandy at the end of Grease. I was waiting for her to say, "Tell me about it, stud!" And I must say I love Joely Fisher on this show. Her comedic talents weren't exactly up to their potential on Ellen since she sort of had to play the "straight" man, even when Ellen wasn't out yet. While I'm on the subject of loving, I'm also loving Adrian Pasdar as David, Gabrielle's lawyer. That man has really aged well since the underrated Profit. Maybe being married to one of the Dixie Chicks makes you look younger? Nice effort to convince Carlos to hire him back: "I can't sleep with clients." But how stupid can Carlos be? Definite highlight of the episode was Bree's triumphant Steel Magnolias-like monologue at the cemetery, when she was chastising Rex for thinking that she was trying to murder him. Definite lowlight was Wallace Shawn's Lonny trying to kiss Susan. He looked like Wilbur from Charlotte's Web. Meanwhile, we finally got to learn why Betty Applewhite is locking away that man in her basement. But all this time, I thought it was her husband. Her saying to Matthew "They're not gonna care how slow Caleb is" instead of calling him "your father" makes me think Caleb is her son and Matthew's brother. The fact that Caleb innocently murdered a woman named Melanie Foster answers the question of why they moved away from Chicago. (I moved because of the weather.) Speaking of my hometown, go White Sox!   Dave Anderson

Grey's Anatomy
I knew this would be an especially good episode since series creator Shonda Rhimes wrote it. And I've been fond of Shonda ever since the show began, but I've never admitted it. What I have been verbal about is that George is my favorite character and he was at his very best tonight, both as a serious doctor and as his hilarious self. Best moment was George performing open heart surgery all by himself inside the stalled elevator (with the aid of Burke, who was instructing him through the top of the elevator door like the "Who rang that bell?" guy in Wizard of Oz). Burke's complimentary "O'Malley, you just flew solo!" gave me chills. Funniest moment was all of them watching the porno that the patient needed to watch to release endorphins in his brain to help manage his pain, and then George walking out of the room with his lab coat covering his crotch. I laughed so hard I had to rewind that scene. Of course, a close second in the funny department was Cristina talking dirty to the same patient after the power outage. Of course, Bailey had to be the one to catch Cristina doing it. Speaking of Bailey, she certainly "cleaned up good" at the end. Who knew she had a husband of ten years? First Nina on Desperate Housewives, now Bailey all the crabby people are getting laid, thus making them less crabby.  And why is Alex acting so weird? Why didn't he at least kiss Izzie on their date and why did he freak out during the elevator surgery? And they're certainly keeping us waiting on the "Will Derek sign the divorce papers?" question. Enough already. At least Meredith poured it all out to him, declaring her love, making his decision even more difficult.   DA