And lost time.
The main reason I got it was because I had a hankering for certain episodes, certain shining moments when I really wished Bartlett was our president. Now, I think the whole series is excellent, but here are a few of my favorites, in no particular order:
"Game On"; Season Four--was the debate between Bartlett and a rather "folksy" governor from Florida, Robert Ritchie, played by James Brolin. While the characters clearly compare to the idea of Gore and Bush, the writers made it so that the debate ended the way it could have ended, if Gore had embraced his intelligence and went after Bush with it, instead of trying to come across as appealing. Bartlett kicks Ritchie's ass.
"Posse Comitatus"; Season Three--The final episode of Season Three, the juxtaposition between Shakespeare's Henrys and the situation Bartlett is dealing with is fairly impressive. More, though, is the emotional climax, accompanied by an excellent rendition of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah."
"Shutdown"; Season Five--Some may wonder why I like this episode so much, but it comes down to the big scene when Bartlett decides to go to Capitol Hill to negotiate the budget. It's a moment of political theater (which is basically what "The West Wing" is anyway), and at the point where the Speaker of the House, played very well by Steven Culp, realizes his grandstanding may have failed.
"Isaac and Ishmael"; Season Three--I'm sure this makes a lot of "favorite" lists, but I like the way Aaron Sorkin reacted to 9/11 (in fact, the whole way the show dealt with it was both creative and, I think, respectful--never cashing in on it or trying to rewrite history with its own characters), with a smart discussion of the issues people were talking about (and are still talking about). Very powerful.
"The Debate"; Season Seven--This was about, well, the debate between Santos (Obama) and Vinick (year 2000 McCain--you know, reformer, different-kind-of-Republican McCain). When it first aired, it was live, and although it was obviously scripted, it made for innovative, interesting television. Even better, though, is that the writers didn't just make Santos destroy Vinick, but rather made it a thoroughly fair debate. Since my personal politics are a little odd, I pretty much found that whoever "won" the topic gave the answer I agreed with.
"The West Wing" was probably one of the best television shoes ever, because it was a complete story, with a great balance of drama, humor, and enjoyable characters. I did think the final season was the worst one, but I also think that "worst" is relative. Mostly I didn't like that it wasn't as much about the West Wing, and that the character of Josh--who works in doses--took a lead role. Also, I thought it was stupid that they would give away who won the election in the first episode of the season, especially since the season tries to put the election in doubt. Were we just supposed to forget what we saw in the first episode? Not likely.
Still, though, I found the weeks of my television viewing life that I lost because I was watching DVDs well worth it.
Bartlett for America: Yes we can!
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