West Wing Ended
May. 18th, 2006 09:43 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quaggyI've worked on this all week. (And have mostly avoided other people's commentary for the same amount of time. So, I'm not entirely sure what people have been saying.) My thoughts on the subject haven't changed, but it has taken me a while to able to articulate what I’m feeling. Not too surprisingly, this turned out to be long. So, I’ve divided it into three sections.
Sigh. My show has ended.
On my show ending…
I knew I was going to be sad, but I never expected to be so miserable and heartbroken. I didn’t feel like this after Sports Night or Homefront ended. This was deeper. I think, maybe if I had been old enough to appreciate it, I would have felt like this for M*A*S*H. West Wing has been such a big part of my life that saying goodbye is just wrong.
But I realized Monday morning as I walked to work that I have felt this way before… about books. But I felt it when I finished Philip Pullman’s His Dark Material trilogy, Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park, Dorothy Sayers’s The Nine Tailors and just about anything Garth Nix has wrote. I don’t know how to describe the feeling. Sometimes I will finish a book and have to just put it down and let it wash over me. I won’t reread it until I’ve fully processed it.
So I wasn’t too surprised that I turned off the Bravo repeat after the teaser. And lest you think it was the quality of the finale, Someone Is Going To Emergency, Someone Is Going To Jail was playing right before and I could only watch it for moments at a time. It won’t always be like this. In a couple of weeks, you’ll be finding me happily curled up on my couch watching my DVDs. But not now. Now I need to mourn a little.
I knew I was going to be sad, but I never expected to be so miserable and heartbroken. I didn’t feel like this after Sports Night or Homefront ended. This was deeper. I think, maybe if I had been old enough to appreciate it, I would have felt like this for M*A*S*H. West Wing has been such a big part of my life that saying goodbye is just wrong.
But I realized Monday morning as I walked to work that I have felt this way before… about books. But I felt it when I finished Philip Pullman’s His Dark Material trilogy, Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park, Dorothy Sayers’s The Nine Tailors and just about anything Garth Nix has wrote. I don’t know how to describe the feeling. Sometimes I will finish a book and have to just put it down and let it wash over me. I won’t reread it until I’ve fully processed it.
So I wasn’t too surprised that I turned off the Bravo repeat after the teaser. And lest you think it was the quality of the finale, Someone Is Going To Emergency, Someone Is Going To Jail was playing right before and I could only watch it for moments at a time. It won’t always be like this. In a couple of weeks, you’ll be finding me happily curled up on my couch watching my DVDs. But not now. Now I need to mourn a little.
On the finale…
I liked it. Tomorrow didn’t set the world on fire, but it did its job an ended the show in a way that was very in keeping with the rest of the series. It didn’t look like a mockery of itself after following the Pilot. Trust me this was a big deal. Word was, last year, that NBC cancelled showing Law & Order’s pilot because they were afraid how bad the current episodes would look in comparison.
Series finales are notoriously difficult and the bar was set ridiculously high by M*A*S*H. Most fumble the dismount. Seinfeld was a major disappointment. Ally McBeal was rather stupid. Friends wasn’t too bad, but even the good ones… Could you really call them classic episodes?
Going into this, I wanted lots of Jed, Charlie, Josh, Donna, CJ, Toby, Debbie, Abby and Sam. Will, Kate, Annabeth and Matt were allowed to be there. But only if they promised not to say too much. Apparently Sam got Matt’s memo. Two lines!? And Toby decided not to show at all. (A few seconds of him watching the Matt being sworn in would have killed them?)
I was annoyed with how much Matt Santos was on my screen until I realized two things. First, Matt Santos was the only original Wells character that any amount of time was devoted to in the finale. We didn’t even find out what Kate was up to. (And don’t think I’m not grateful!) Every other character spotlighted was Sorkin’s. I suppose I can’t begrudge the man for wanting to saying goodbye using one of his own creations. Especially considering the reverence with which he treated the original crew. Wells didn’t need to bring back Bartlet for America napkin. It was a Sorkin plot device from ages ago. To me, the fact that he did shows that Wells loved this show and has tried to do right by it.
Second, Matt needed to be somewhat featured to correspond with Jed saying goodbye. One of the things that I liked about the episode was the parallels between the outgoing Bartlet administration and the incoming Santos staff, whether direct or merely alluded. Bartlet and Santos. Debbie and Ronna. CJ and Josh. Charlie and Bram. It gave a nice sense of the legacy being preserved. The only downside was that it meant more Helen on my television screen that I could be expected to stomach. She is no Abbey Bartlet, and though I like her staffing choices, I have no use for her.
Speaking of I liked that Annabeth was going to be the First Lady’s Press Secretary. She will help Helen find her voice and be Donna’s right hand. But how much you want to bet the conservative talking heads are going to be making all sort of blond jokes? “Blond Ambition.” “Blond Brigade.” The possibilities are endless… until Annabeth gets a hold of them. I’m counting on her to smack them down… and Donna to then cut them off at the knees. (But more on my girl later.)
Debbie and Ronna was the best out of all the Bartlet/ Santos pairings. Ronna made me love her all over again. (And it’s nice to know what she did after all this time.) But, for me, it was Debbie that made the scene. I utterly adore Lily Tomlin and she kicked ass the entire episode. Her anxiousness as Jed took his time. The look of heartbreak on her face when the maelstrom was dismantling the Bartlet Oval Office. I'm ready to make Debbie for America signs.
I loved that they used the napkin. I loved that Charlie is going to Georgetown Law. I loved the look on Josh’s face as he mentally prepared to start his time as Chief of Staff. I loved the look on Donna’s face when she saw her office. I loved the look on CJ’s face when she let herself be happy about Toby and I love seeing her behind the podium again. I loved how Matt knew that Jed was talking about pardoning Toby and, though he didn’t say a word, approved. I loved every single scene with Abby, I loved every single scene with Debbie. I loved every single scene with Jed. And I loved, loved, loved, loved, loved the teaser. (One part in particular, but more on that later, too.)
I hated that Sam had two lines. I hated that we didn’t see Toby, though his presence was strongly felt throughout the episode. I hated that we didn’t find out for sure that Toby was the leak. (I’m pretty sure it wasn’t Bartlet, though.) I hated that we don’t know if Charlie is with Zoey or not. I hated, hated, hated, hated that we didn’t get a finally scene with Josh and Jed.
The lack of Josh and Jed interaction was the part that pissed me off the most and could have ruined the entire episode for me… until I realized we had that conversation in Requiem. There just isn’t enough time to see everything that you need to in one hour. The nice thing is that, in the previous episodes, Wells and Company made sure to tie up most of the loose ends. Not everything… obviously, but did anyone really expect to get nice little bows? If you look at the last five episodes (from Requiem to Tomorrow) as one complete work, it is powerful and moving… and a wonderful finale to an incredible show. And that is exactly what I’m going to do from now on.
I liked it. Tomorrow didn’t set the world on fire, but it did its job an ended the show in a way that was very in keeping with the rest of the series. It didn’t look like a mockery of itself after following the Pilot. Trust me this was a big deal. Word was, last year, that NBC cancelled showing Law & Order’s pilot because they were afraid how bad the current episodes would look in comparison.
Series finales are notoriously difficult and the bar was set ridiculously high by M*A*S*H. Most fumble the dismount. Seinfeld was a major disappointment. Ally McBeal was rather stupid. Friends wasn’t too bad, but even the good ones… Could you really call them classic episodes?
Going into this, I wanted lots of Jed, Charlie, Josh, Donna, CJ, Toby, Debbie, Abby and Sam. Will, Kate, Annabeth and Matt were allowed to be there. But only if they promised not to say too much. Apparently Sam got Matt’s memo. Two lines!? And Toby decided not to show at all. (A few seconds of him watching the Matt being sworn in would have killed them?)
I was annoyed with how much Matt Santos was on my screen until I realized two things. First, Matt Santos was the only original Wells character that any amount of time was devoted to in the finale. We didn’t even find out what Kate was up to. (And don’t think I’m not grateful!) Every other character spotlighted was Sorkin’s. I suppose I can’t begrudge the man for wanting to saying goodbye using one of his own creations. Especially considering the reverence with which he treated the original crew. Wells didn’t need to bring back Bartlet for America napkin. It was a Sorkin plot device from ages ago. To me, the fact that he did shows that Wells loved this show and has tried to do right by it.
Second, Matt needed to be somewhat featured to correspond with Jed saying goodbye. One of the things that I liked about the episode was the parallels between the outgoing Bartlet administration and the incoming Santos staff, whether direct or merely alluded. Bartlet and Santos. Debbie and Ronna. CJ and Josh. Charlie and Bram. It gave a nice sense of the legacy being preserved. The only downside was that it meant more Helen on my television screen that I could be expected to stomach. She is no Abbey Bartlet, and though I like her staffing choices, I have no use for her.
Speaking of I liked that Annabeth was going to be the First Lady’s Press Secretary. She will help Helen find her voice and be Donna’s right hand. But how much you want to bet the conservative talking heads are going to be making all sort of blond jokes? “Blond Ambition.” “Blond Brigade.” The possibilities are endless… until Annabeth gets a hold of them. I’m counting on her to smack them down… and Donna to then cut them off at the knees. (But more on my girl later.)
Debbie and Ronna was the best out of all the Bartlet/ Santos pairings. Ronna made me love her all over again. (And it’s nice to know what she did after all this time.) But, for me, it was Debbie that made the scene. I utterly adore Lily Tomlin and she kicked ass the entire episode. Her anxiousness as Jed took his time. The look of heartbreak on her face when the maelstrom was dismantling the Bartlet Oval Office. I'm ready to make Debbie for America signs.
I loved that they used the napkin. I loved that Charlie is going to Georgetown Law. I loved the look on Josh’s face as he mentally prepared to start his time as Chief of Staff. I loved the look on Donna’s face when she saw her office. I loved the look on CJ’s face when she let herself be happy about Toby and I love seeing her behind the podium again. I loved how Matt knew that Jed was talking about pardoning Toby and, though he didn’t say a word, approved. I loved every single scene with Abby, I loved every single scene with Debbie. I loved every single scene with Jed. And I loved, loved, loved, loved, loved the teaser. (One part in particular, but more on that later, too.)
I hated that Sam had two lines. I hated that we didn’t see Toby, though his presence was strongly felt throughout the episode. I hated that we didn’t find out for sure that Toby was the leak. (I’m pretty sure it wasn’t Bartlet, though.) I hated that we don’t know if Charlie is with Zoey or not. I hated, hated, hated, hated that we didn’t get a finally scene with Josh and Jed.
The lack of Josh and Jed interaction was the part that pissed me off the most and could have ruined the entire episode for me… until I realized we had that conversation in Requiem. There just isn’t enough time to see everything that you need to in one hour. The nice thing is that, in the previous episodes, Wells and Company made sure to tie up most of the loose ends. Not everything… obviously, but did anyone really expect to get nice little bows? If you look at the last five episodes (from Requiem to Tomorrow) as one complete work, it is powerful and moving… and a wonderful finale to an incredible show. And that is exactly what I’m going to do from now on.
On Josh and Donna...
When I saw the teaser, I had this sneaking suspicion that this would be all that we would get… But I was thrilled anyway. This was the scene I had been dying for since King Corn!!! Josh, waking up in bed, seemingly alone, until he turns over and we watch him cuddle up with Donna. And that was exactly what I got!!!! I remember wishing for it over at TWoP, but I’ll never be able to find the entry. Talk about looking for a needle in a haystack!
I know that a lot of people have been disappoint with the lack of J/D conversation, but I wasn’t. For all of their talking, some of the deepest moments between the two have been silent (for example, the look at the end of Night Five) , or less about what they were saying and more about how they were saying it (during the snowball scene, Josh understands what happens before the words actually leave Donna’s mouth). The fact that they can communicate without words has always been one of the most intimate things about them. When they are in tune, a look can speak volumes.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I was forlorn when I realized that the lobby of the building was our last Josh and Donna scene. (But I was still enraged about Jed and Josh not even being in the same room.) The thing is I don't need things spelled out. I know they are going to be happy, just by the way they moved to the advance class in relationships, the way they looked at each other when they first woke up, the way Donna brushed Josh’s arm has me far more confident in their future than I could ever have for CJ and Danny, baby notwithstanding.
But even though there was no final interaction, I loved Josh and Donna’s last scenes. Josh was sitting in Leo’s chair giving counsel to the new president. Donna was in an office bigger my first apartment! Both have grown far beyond what could be expect of someone even of their caliber… especially at such a rapid rate.
I think they’ve had the idea of Donna and the big office building for quite sometime. Not wanting to see her old desk… her comment to Charlie about never rising above a cubicle… That was the build-up. The pay-off was her standing in her gorgeous, new office. What I was expecting was the scene would somehow be tied back to Josh. In my brain, what happens right after we cut away, is that the phone rings, Donna answers it and starts to laugh. It’s Josh, on the other end, wanting to hear how she likes her big, new office..
When I saw the teaser, I had this sneaking suspicion that this would be all that we would get… But I was thrilled anyway. This was the scene I had been dying for since King Corn!!! Josh, waking up in bed, seemingly alone, until he turns over and we watch him cuddle up with Donna. And that was exactly what I got!!!! I remember wishing for it over at TWoP, but I’ll never be able to find the entry. Talk about looking for a needle in a haystack!
I know that a lot of people have been disappoint with the lack of J/D conversation, but I wasn’t. For all of their talking, some of the deepest moments between the two have been silent (for example, the look at the end of Night Five) , or less about what they were saying and more about how they were saying it (during the snowball scene, Josh understands what happens before the words actually leave Donna’s mouth). The fact that they can communicate without words has always been one of the most intimate things about them. When they are in tune, a look can speak volumes.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I was forlorn when I realized that the lobby of the building was our last Josh and Donna scene. (But I was still enraged about Jed and Josh not even being in the same room.) The thing is I don't need things spelled out. I know they are going to be happy, just by the way they moved to the advance class in relationships, the way they looked at each other when they first woke up, the way Donna brushed Josh’s arm has me far more confident in their future than I could ever have for CJ and Danny, baby notwithstanding.
But even though there was no final interaction, I loved Josh and Donna’s last scenes. Josh was sitting in Leo’s chair giving counsel to the new president. Donna was in an office bigger my first apartment! Both have grown far beyond what could be expect of someone even of their caliber… especially at such a rapid rate.
I think they’ve had the idea of Donna and the big office building for quite sometime. Not wanting to see her old desk… her comment to Charlie about never rising above a cubicle… That was the build-up. The pay-off was her standing in her gorgeous, new office. What I was expecting was the scene would somehow be tied back to Josh. In my brain, what happens right after we cut away, is that the phone rings, Donna answers it and starts to laugh. It’s Josh, on the other end, wanting to hear how she likes her big, new office..
Sigh. My show has ended.
