Aaron Sorkin went out with a bang, didn't he?
The acting and writing were perfect.
Bartlet, seeing that Leo was huffing and puffing, knew something
was terribly wrong.
The looks exchanged between Jed and the First Lady were spectacular.
It would've been so easy to overact that scene, but Sheen and
Channing were perfect.
Jed's inability to concentrate, and Leo's surprise at seeing him
fall apart. Charlie continues to
have a bigger part in the show - that's good. He found
Frenchie, who was too high to talk.
They needed a fast blood sample from Frenchie, and I was surprised
Charlie didn't volunteer
to get some blood from him. The new guy, Will, was the
first to realize they had no Vice President.
I found the Toby/Twins subplot a distraction, but I guess there's
no way to keep the intensity
at that high a level for the entire hour. Then Donna found
the ransom note while going thru
faxes sent by "Josh's hos."
Her "Hang on, ...hang on," was
extra chilling.
Mrs. Bartlet losing her cool, doing exactly what she knew
she couldn't do.
The plane that wouldn't identify itself, causing Jeb's further
slide into non-reality.
It was that moment where Jed decided he had to "invoke
25."
"If they send me a picture with a knife to
Zoey's throat and tell me to point
cruise missles at Tel Aviv, ...I might."
Leo: "We're at your side, Mr. President.
You're not going to hurt anybody."
"You don't have the authority to stop me.
Call the Speaker of the House and
a federal judge. Have them come right
over"
Without a VP, the Speaker is next in the line of succession -
and he's a Republican.
How did the staff feel about turning over the government to a
member of the Dark Side?
"The president temporarily handing over power
to his political enemies? I think it's
a fairly stunning act of patriorism,
and a fairly ordinary act of fatherhood," said Will
...and who is the Speaker-turned-president?
Linda Tripp!
It turns out the Speaker is every bit the prick you might expect
from a Republican.
He managed to alienate the entire White House staff with his
smarmy arrogance.
I'm going to miss Aaron Sorkin.
His four years were an all-time TV highlight.