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Celebrating 1,000 NCIS-franchise episodes

The West Wing Season Six: Lame Duck

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Guest

Guest

First of all, way to almost give me a heart attack.

In light of the fact it might not be taken off, I'll save my Ebeneezer Netflix jokes I was formulating.

You guys. My kids won't go to sleep. I need to see the convention. This is not okay!

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Guest

Guest

Did CJ leak that story about the space people? The look on her face as it was on the news made me wonder if that was what I was supposed to infer? If so, I don't think that was a good move!

I'm finally to the actual convention! I didn't love Leo trying to strong arm Josh into making Santos accept the VP slot.

Oh, Josh is criticizing delegates. I feel that will backfire!

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betsyboo

betsyboo

What I enjoy is that no matter where you live, Deaja, you were up at midnight or 3 am watching. Welcome to the dark side!! Also, I went to your profile to see what time zone you are in, and while that wasn't there, it *did tell me you were active "41 minutes ago." You really are a wingnut!

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Guest

Guest

What I enjoy is that no matter where you live, Deaja, you were up at midnight or 3 am watching. Welcome to the dark side!! Also, I went to your profile to see what time zone you are in, and while that wasn't there, it *did tell me you were active "41 minutes ago." You really are a wingnut!

 

I'm kind of embarrassed. lol.  Not really though.  I really wanted to see through the end of the convention, and my kids decided to not sleep when they're supposed to!  And then I just somehow ended up watching The West Wing from about 1:30 a.m. to 4 a.m.  (I'm in the Eastern time zone.)

 

By the way, I loved the awkwardness when Jed caught Charlie leaving Zoey's bedroom.  It wasn't overly done, but it was nicely done.

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Guest

Guest

I just realized that my beginning Season 6 and finishing it were only a week apart.  I work full time and have 2 toddlers.  I'm not sure what this says about my priorities in life.  

 

I'm dreading finishing the series but then I'm also so excited to go back and rewatch.  It's a sickness for which there is no known cure.

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BizBuzz

BizBuzz

I'm dreading finishing the series but then I'm also so excited to go back and rewatch.  It's a sickness for which there is no known cure.

 

Now I am convinced you are a Wingnut ... you have come over to the Dark Side.

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Guest

Guest

I mean, it wasn't until episode 7 that I got hooked on the show.  I can't wait to see episodes 1-6 again with my new love for the show!  

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BW Manilowe

BW Manilowe

I just realized that my beginning Season 6 and finishing it were only a week apart. I work full time and have 2 toddlers. I'm not sure what this says about my priorities in life.

I'm dreading finishing the series but then I'm also so excited to go back and rewatch. It's a sickness for which there is no known cure.

"Been there, done that, bought the T-shirt", as they say... Many times over. As others have said, welcome to the dark side.

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Guest

Guest

Oh, one more Season 6 thought - that was a weird scene when Josh walked in on the Santos making out.  Like... what? Why were they just making out right then and there? Why didn't they lock the door?  Why doesn't Josh knock?

 

So many questions.

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eyebleach

eyebleach

I think that was to highlight the idea that these 2 (the Santoses) were not really prepared for what was to come.  Remember during the MS coming out story, CJ tells Abbey that she walked in on her giving the president an injection.  

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SingleMaltBlonde

SingleMaltBlonde

Oh, one more Season 6 thought - that was a weird scene when Josh walked in on the Santos making out.  Like... what? Why were they just making out right then and there? Why didn't they lock the door?  Why doesn't Josh knock?

 

So many questions.

In the porn version it ends differently.

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Melancholy

Melancholy

That was pretty cheap. I don't get what the whole "If a Leo falls in the woods, does anyone hear it?" (bad taste...) did for the plot other than generate a BIGGER cliffhanger between the second and third ep. I dunno- maybe this is its own flavor of soapy but I think it'd be more logical and effective for Leo to have his heart-attack IN FRONT OF Jed after Jed all but fired him. It's more logical- Leo wouldn't be wandering into the woods when it was already established that he felt like crap before the fight even happened. And if it'd be melodramatic in terms of the Jed/Leo relationship, it was already plenty melodramatic and I think Martin Sheen emoting the shock and guilt would be enough meaningful acting to overcome any soapiness. 
 

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Eeksquire

Eeksquire

 

can I just reiterate how much I hate that Leo wandered into the woods, where there wasn't even a PATH, to have his heart attack?

Word.  And also so unnecessary - there seemed to be plenty of places where he could have logically wandered to, collapsed, and no one would have noticed him.  If he stopped behind a bench and collapsed, it'd still be plausible that no one would see him.  

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BigBeagle

BigBeagle

And absolutely no one seemed to miss one of the most powerful men in government for hours and hours??

Well, I fanwank it as Jed had just fired Leo, so it wasn't as if he was worried about his immediate whereabouts (probably figured Leo arranged his own transportation, etc.) ...

 

I admit that's not the strongest argument to be made ...

 

OK, you're right ... it wasn't handled well.

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rippleintime17

rippleintime17

They do seem to start wondering where he is before they even leave. And since it was super early in the morning when he collapsed, it's possible no one realized he was missing until then. I'm just curious how they even found the poor guy given he was in a patch of dense forest.

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BW Manilowe

BW Manilowe

(edited)

I liked her well enough, but I missed Anna Deavere Smith's Nancy McNally character after Mary/Kate was brought onto the show as what was supposed to be the Deputy National Security Advisor. I liked that talk she & Leo had, to kind of "settle things between them", or whatever, after she started offering her opinions on things in staff meetings--at Jed's instigation, as I remember--& they clashed with Leo's take, seeming to cause problems in Jed's & Leo's relationship (or sort of older gentlemens' "bromance", if you will). I thought some stuff that involves Kate & another character--which I don't think Deaja has gotten to yet (I don't think it happened until S7), so I'm trying to be vague about it--came out of left field, but it ended up working for me.

I follow Mary on Twitter. She used to post sort of a lot. Then her husband--a TV producer/director--was found to be cheating on her with Katharine McPhee (who was on American Idol, then on Smash--which is when all this happened--& now she's on Scorpion), & she hasn't been posting much since (by the way, Mary's marriage apparently survived the scandal; Katharine's apparently didn't).

She did, however, post about a cute "reunion" video she & a bunch of her ex-TWW co-stars did, in character, encouraging people in Michigan to elect Mary's sister, Bridget, to the Michigan State Supreme Court a few years ago (yes, Bridget won; I think she's still on the bench). The video was on YouTube; it probably still is.

I still remember the nickname a lot of posters at "the other place" gave the Kate character: "Bangsy". That was for the hairstyle with bangs Mary wore in her first season. She was pregnant with her first child during that season &, supposedly, the bangs helped camouflage the weight gain in her face.

OK... Way back in December, in the bolded paragraph I referred to a "reunion" video--of sorts--some members of the cast participated in, encouraging Michigan voters to be sure NOT to miss the "Non-Partisan" issues section on their ballots in the then-upcoming election & to be sure to, while they're in that ballot section, vote for Bridget Mary McCormack for a seat on the Michigan State Supreme Court. Bridget is the sister of Mary McCormack, who plays/played Deputy NSA Kate Harper in TWW.

And I mentioned that video was probably up on YouTube, after which BizBuzz was kind enough to post & link to that video (only I've looked all over the threads I thought that link was in & I haven't been able to find that post--I wanted to use that post, instead of my original, as my reference for this post).

Anyway, last night I was back at YouTube, looking some other stuff up, & I happened to notice that there's a video there of *bloopers* (which are really funny--like how many times it takes Mary McCormack to actually catch the little ball Josh Malina, as Will, is bouncing off a wall like Toby would do) from the filming of the Bridget McCormack campaign video. If anyone's interested, here's the link to this video:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WBH5ZOms1aM

They also have a "Funny or Die" produced video (& either a companion "Making of" or "Bloopers" type video for it) where there was another, partial, cast reunion to talk about the health benefits of walking at least a half hour a day. Unfortunately, since I'd already copied the link to the McCormack blooper video, I couldn't copy the links to those. Sorry! Just go to YouTube & search, like, The West Wing Funny or Die. Those videos should come up.

Edited by BW Manilowe
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betsyboo

betsyboo

I hope this isn't inappropriate, but I am reading TWOP recaps of some of my favorite episodes and I chortled at this.

My double secret probation link to TWOP recaps is no longer working. What will I do at lunch!?!?! <sob>

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Guest

Guest

My double secret probation link to TWOP recaps is no longer working. What will I do at lunch!?!?! <sob>

WHAT DID THEY DO!?!?!?!?!?! EVEN MY SAVED LINKS AREN'T WORKING?!?!?!?!?!?!? THIS IS NOT OKAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I'm sorry to yell, but this is an emergency!

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Eeksquire

Eeksquire

OMG, I am so glad I'm not the only one.  ALL of the recaps I had saved links to are dead.  For all the shows.  Even the recap I HAD OPEN wouldn't move to the next page.

 

On a separate note, did you all see that Josh Molina is starting a West Wing rewatch podcast? That might - if it doesn't suck - slightly assuage my angst over the TWOP recaps disappearing.  Only slightly though.

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BW Manilowe

BW Manilowe

(edited)

OMG, I am so glad I'm not the only one. ALL of the recaps I had saved links to are dead. For all the shows. Even the recap I HAD OPEN wouldn't move to the next page.

On a separate note, did you all see that Josh Molina is starting a West Wing rewatch podcast? That might - if it doesn't suck - slightly assuage my angst over the TWOP recaps disappearing. Only slightly though.

We've been talking about Josh's podcast in the Media thread. It also has a website (I think they're just posting links to the episodes there, at least for now; there's a short teaser podcast up now & the 1 dealing with the Pilot is scheduled to be posted on Wednesday of this week, the 23rd). The website is at http://westwingweekly.com . Josh Tweeted today that he's talking to Dulé Hill, related to the podcast, this week.

Edited by BW Manilowe
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AriAu

AriAu

(edited)

WHAT DID THEY DO!?!?!?!?!?!

 

The thing that I am amazed at is that they had to actually DO something. It was sitting there in cyberspace, minding its own business and now....just a stupid title page and no ability to move past it. I wonder if they had it set to go into this mode when they put it up since TWOP was shut down at about this time of year.

 

ETA

From Wikipedia

On March 27, 2014, it was announced that operations would cease on April 4, 2014, with forums remaining open until May 31, 2014.[4] It was later confirmed, however, that the site's already published content would remain available as an archive.[5] The forums closed as scheduled.[6] However, only the first pages of recaps are currently available, other pages no longer redirect properly.

 

The full archive of recaps has since been transferred to http://www.brilliantbutcancelled.com/shows/

 

I tried the link and it worked so maybe there is now someone actually watching out for the recaps.

Edited by AriAu
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betsyboo

betsyboo

WHAT DID THEY DO!?!?!?!?!?! EVEN MY SAVED LINKS AREN'T WORKING?!?!?!?!?!?!? THIS IS NOT OKAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I'm sorry to yell, but this is an emergency!

 

DEAJA! see AriAu's post above!!!

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Eeksquire

Eeksquire

Oh thank the gods! This is the best news I've seen in a long time.

 

... It's possible there's some stuff going on in my life that makes things like this seem very very important, even though I know it's only, well, not only tv, but tv recaps that are years old at this point.

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betsyboo

betsyboo

Oh thank the gods! This is the best news I've seen in a long time.

... It's possible there's some stuff going on in my life that makes things like this seem very very important, even though I know it's only, well, not only tv, but tv recaps that are years old at this point.

No judgment here!! :-))

Also: do you think this spurred whoever (whomever?) submitted the Dance of Joy to KODM?! Lol. (Big week for Balki - he got a shout out last week on Fallon!)

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alexvillage

alexvillage

As with season 5 I think I didn't watch most of season 6. I am watching it now. A lot of hate watch really.

Two things from he recent episodes I watched.

Zoe is 25 years old (I think?). She gets a birthday party where the main attraction are magicians? And the media and everyone else refers to a "kid's birthday party?" Oh, FFS! By the way, any mention of Zoe working, ever?

Donna is back working, mightier than ever, and she has a motorized wheelchair. The President, who everyone knows will need a wheelchair some day, it might be any day, travels with one but it is a manual wheelchair? 

All this to show the "will power" of a man wheeling himself with great effort because "POTUS!". I hate cheap drama.

Plus the blatant sexism towards CJ, who is badass, and the need the writers saw to not deal with it by making her male peers find something else, or engage in treason. You know, Josh is not CoS, so he is SO NEEDED! in the campaign for the next savior of the free world. 

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GHScorpiosRule

GHScorpiosRule

(edited)

Oh lord, is this season taking me back to the Carter Administration. Except that Carter managed to get the two sides to sit down and speak to one another. But here? I swear, I did so much face palming, and holding my breath, and trying not to throw stuff at my television as the show tried to tell me the star-crossed twu wuv of Josh and Donna.

LEO!!! NO!!!!!!!!! I remember that I may have watched this season sporadically, because I do remember seeing or rather, hearing that Leo had a heart attack. I've loved John Spencer since I first saw him in L.A. Law, and then saw him in the official pilot of Law & Order, "Prescription for Death" where he played the victim's father. A Vietnam medic.  I just loved the way he pronounced antibiotics. I've always said it like antee-bye-otics. He said it antee-bee-otic.

Ahem.

It was heartbreaking to see Leo have his heart attack, knowing a year later, the same thing would happen to John Spencer. I still miss him. I loved him oh so, so much! And that last scene between him and the President just broke my heart.

I can't stand Annabeth. That is to say, her voice. Chenowith's voice is like nails on a chalkboard for me and HOLY HELL, just what the fuck did she do to her face? Because she's attractive and normal looking on this show.

I'm loving seeing CJ come into her own as Chief of Staff. I miss the humorous insults that she and Josh would throw at each other.

Donna can shut the fuck up about why Josh went through her desk and read the note from Colin, when she pulled the same shit when Josh would get gifts/flowers, etc.

Can you tell I'm not a fan? Of her or this gag-inducing romance? And I didn't see Josh holding a gun to Donna's head about stifling her own career or climbing up the ladder. She chose to stay. I think she really liked getting to attend all the black tie functions and doing the travelling that she would emotionally blackmail/whine Josh with.

I'm liking Will less and less as the season is progressing.

Oohh! It's Eddie! Urmm... Victor Sifuentes! Er, I mean Bobby Simone! I mean Jimmy Smits!

I see annoying researcher Rena is gone...with no 'splanation.

Okay, something nice. I really loved the blue dress First Lady was wearing in "A Change Is Gonna Come."

Will really thinks he can make that buffoon Russell the President he needs to be? Will wants to be President, right?

I want Sam to come back.

I really don't like the fracturing of my our team! And that they have to bend over and get fucked and compromise, and that they never seem to get a win. 

I don't know if he's Penn or Teller--the big loudmouthed obnoxious one--he has a very punchable face and I want to smash it.

ETA: HAWKEYE!!!!!!!

Edited by GHScorpiosRule
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GHScorpiosRule

GHScorpiosRule

Oh, this is just painful. Painful. To see the President struggling after losing the loss of feeling in his legs. Though I admit, shamefully, I laughed a little bit when his new personal aide, Curtis lifted him in his arms and carried him down the steps of the plane.

Now, I've read all three pages of this thread, and I have to say, I cannot believe the level of unprofessionalism of Donna--I'm speaking of her quitting without giving any notice whatsoever. I get that she had been trying to pin Josh down to talk about her future and what she wanted to do, but this is The WHITE HOUSE, not some small company, where she could get away with this. Everywhere, that I know of, private and public sector, the standard is two weeks. Then there's the "temp," Marla. Could she be more obnoxious or unprofessional herself? Her first day, she didn't know who she was working for? Whoever placed her, did they NOT tell her who her boss would be? I didn't find her attitude funny. And the way she treated him, well, would be more understandable if she'd worked for him for years and knew him.  But as someone who just started? I've been a temp. And temps don't act as if they own the place they work, if you will.

The campaigning of the next President is boring as all get out. I'm tempted to fast forward. But I won't. I'll stick it out.

And back to painful.  Watching Bartlet fall down, and yelling he couldn't do the job. It was so visceral, and Sheen was so very, very good in that scene, as well as when he took those crutch thingies and walked to his desk, while Santos announced his candidacy for President.

And ugh, barf bag time, with Josh and Donna making googley eyes at each other in New Hampshire, when the other isn't looking. She has every right to move up and do what's right for her career-wise, but I find her so fucking ungrateful. And I hope she falls flat on her face.

And I hate Liz. And her husband is a petulant whiny jackass. They deserve each other.

So good to see Leo back! And the Leo I recognize!

I literally CHEERED when CJ told the press corp it was none of their business what her sexuality was. Go CJ! And can I say, Allison Janney has the most beautiful eyes?

I don't like Josh...not...succeeding.

Ooh! An ally! Joey Lucas!

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GHScorpiosRule

GHScorpiosRule

(edited)

Did someone or several someones say that this season was better? Because it wasn't. I was interested in the West Wing, you know, the premise of this show, being marginalized.

I'm all for good people. But not PERFECT people, and Matt Santos is a Gary Stu/PERFECT character--the kind I don't care for. Bleah.

If I didn't know what happened to John Spencer already, I would have been on my feet, cheering the choice of Leo as Vice President.

And I'm totally with Vinick, when he said that Bartlet's MS was none of anyone's business.  And how he brought up past Presidents who were ill/had handicaps/we didn't know, etc. Because I also suffer from MS, though it's mild, I've always kept quiet about it and never revealed it to any potential employers. Whenever I had relapses, you couldn't see it, but I always took sick days when they did.

And I will be honest, I saw read when I saw Nathan* Vinick's VP passive aggressively using Bartlet's MS as some kind of betrayal to the voters, because I, myself, suffer from a mild form of it that is very similar to Bartlet's, and mentioned it in the season five thread.

That said, I did snicker when Bartlet said how Vinick praising Bartlet just cost them five million votes.

Who was the leaker???? Onto season 7...

*Those that watched Person of Interest know what I mean!

Edited by GHScorpiosRule
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Zola

Zola

Can I just ask what some may perceive to be a rather silly question?

Season 6, Impact Winter.

It's Christmas and Josh decides to fly down to Houston, Texas from Washington, in order to have an impromptu chat to Matt Santos.

What kind of person would do that? Just turning up on a guy's doorstep and hope that the Santos family are actually in! Why not use the phone?

Anyway, I am being rather picky.

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Melancholy

Melancholy

(edited)

It's entirely correct that Josh would fly down there. It's a big task to convince a man to run for President- it requires face-to-face communication. Josh was hoping for a "yes" from Santos, meaning their work would begin immediately which is all the more reason that Josh becomes a physical presence in Santos's life. If Josh was already willing to upend his life managing a dark horse political campaign, he'd be willing to spend the costs of traveling to Texas to make it happen. It's also not a perfect bet but it's a good guess that a father with two young children will be at home at Christmas. 

Heh, I'd actually love to read fanfic on the subject. I can picture Santos turning Josh down at first and then, Josh being all, "I can't just leave or get a room somewhere. It's Christmas. Can I stay here?" with every intent to buy more time to badger Santos to run in close quarters. Josh spends Christmas Day convincing Santos to run and there's some comedic bits of annoying Jewish city slicker workaholic Josh butting into the Santos's family wholesome Christmas. 

Edited by Melancholy
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Zola

Zola

@Melancholy. Yes, that would make sense I guess. But then again Josh offered Santos a 9 point plan when he arrived on his doorstep, which Santos wasn't overly convinced by. Moreover, it wasn't until Santos met Josh in his office and said something like "I'd like to add a ten to your nine-point plan. You! I'm in if you're in with me."

I think that's the part that made me wonder why Josh would go all the way down to Houston just to tell a guy to run, but without actually giving him his full support (ie to become his campaign manager). It was only until this scene whereby Santos asked Josh to become part of the "ten" point plan that Josh came on board. 

I think the point I am trying (but probably failing) to make, is why bother going to Houston, tell a guy to run, and then more or less go back to his office and continue as Deputy CoS and let someone else manage Santos on the campaign? Didn't Josh even consider Santos might want him to come on board? Josh looked very surprised when he asked him to.

 

<honestly, don't worry too much about it. It's just me being too anally retentive on certain things - like an itch that you can't quite reach out and scratch, lol> 

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Zola

Zola

(edited)

Have just re-watched S6 again (well actually, that isn't strictly true! My definition of starting s6 begins at episode 09 - "Impact Winter"., and Josh's decision to support Santos in the Democratic nomination. Episodes before that I really couldn't care less about. 

However, i find myself becoming more allured to the arrival of Arnold Vinick full-time in S6 (E13 - "King Corn"). He just comes across as more statesman-like compared to Santos' constant stereotyping of himself, along with his political naivety/tantrums

I loved Josh as Santos' campaign manager, but I found myself more and more drawn to Vinick and his campaign manager in Sheila. Perhaps it was because they were believable, rounded individuals compared to Santos and his incredibly irritating wife, Helen!

Edited by Only Zola
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