Sarah's Marathon Diary: A Familiar Momentum And Happy Endings Close Out The West Wing's Final Season

[Primetimer]

Marathon Diarist Sarah Hope reaches the end of the Bartlet administration and looks back on 110 hours inside The West Wing.

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[AndySmith]

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the end of a great American presidency, and the uncertain prospect of a new leader.

At least TWW universe got another potentially good president. Not sure what the US will be getting tomorrow, but either way, ugh.

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It has continued to amazed me that the issues discussed on a political drama that went off the air ten years ago remain so eerily relevant. I don't know what that says about progress in the United States

I don't know if it's so much how prescient the show was, or that progress in the US has just been really, really slow, sadly.

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and oil in Central Asia that Russia and China might start a nuclear war over

Well, it isn't like the US hasn't gone to war over oil in certain parts of the world. And the US and Russia are kind of engaged in a new Cold War over whether or not oil pipelines will go to Europe from the Arabian peninsula via Syria...yeah, I wish Americans did pay more attention.

This show definitely was luckier than others, since they had enough time to wrap things up rather nicely. Wasn't there a rumor that Vinick was supposed to win the election, but John Spencer's death changed that storyline?

[Moose135]

33 minutes ago, AndySmith said:

Wasn't there a rumor that Vinick was supposed to win the election, but John Spencer's death changed that storyline?

Yes, and Lawrence O'Donnell kept trying to peddle it, but I don't really believe it.

[txhorns79]

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I teared up. I knew this was coming (it's impossible to avoid spoilers for a ten-year-old show),

Does it really count as a "spoiler" if the actor dies in real life? 

[Tara Ariano]

42 minutes ago, txhorns79 said:

Does it really count as a "spoiler" if the actor dies in real life? 

John Spencer wasn't so famous that everyone would necessarily know he had died, particularly people who were very young when the show was on. Also, the show might have just written Leo out rather than killed his character.

[Blueeyedgirl]

Reading this the morning after Election Day. Wish we had chosen between a Vinnick and a Santos yesterday. I wouldn't be so in despair with a Vinnick.

[BigBeagle]

Yeah, an Arnie Vinick presidency would have been acceptable.

A Trump presidency will be a full term of Glenallen Walken.

[SingleMaltBlonde]

On 11/9/2016 at 1:02 PM, BigBeagle said:

Yeah, an Arnie Vinick presidency would have been acceptable.

A Trump presidency will be a full term of Glenallen Walken.

So can Martin Sheen (as Pres Bartlett) come read me bedtime stories until I can fall asleep on my own?

[oceanblue]

I have MS's cell number saved in my phone from one time when I got to talk with him about a work project.  I desperately wanted to dial it on wednesday morning so he could talk me off the ledge.  I didn't because it would be weird (for him).

[adam807]

An actor friend who was in a couple of WWs told me that everyone who could showed up for Leo's funeral episode, as if it were a real funeral. :( And that's just one of the reasons reading this in December made me cry!