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west wing
Well, that was 100% better, wasn't it?
Watching tonight's episode made me wonder all the more why they gave us such a piece of shit last week. It's just kind of amazing, really. Especially since we still don't have real closure for everyone and you know that half of next week's finale is going to be long establishing shots of motorcades and other pointless nonsense.
But I digress.
So I was starting to think that Brad Whitford was the only writer currently on staff who "got" CJ, and I am pleased to find that Debora Cahn gets her, too. Because for the past couple seasons most of the writers have been trying to present CJ as some kind of Superwoman, and, you know, she's not. She fucks up, a lot, and so it was reassuringly familiar to see her fuck up so spectacularly with Danny tonight. Especially since, let's face it, Danny is pretty much the perfect guy. She has the perfect guy standing right in front of her begging her to let him be perfect for her, and her first instinct is still to throw it away. What I love, though, is how Danny may be head over heels in love with CJ, but he has his dignity, too, and while he's willing to bend over backwards for her, he has a breaking point. He's not clingy, or pathetic, he's just in love, and sometimes I wonder if CJ doesn't always see that distinction.
And that final scene between them is just amazing, and was so perfectly played. CJ saying she missed her window, well, that's a fear many of us single women have, and it felt so true to me, that it makes me wonder about Debora Cahn's love life. ;) Seriously, though, it felt true to the character and that's the best we can ask for these days. (Also, when CJ asks him if she should take one of the board of directors jobs instead? That's, like, exactly what I would have said in that situation. Sigh. I feel you, CJ.) In any case, I'm so very glad that Danny was able to talk her through it.
It was an interesting parallel, which I of course must mention, to the Josh/Donna relationship. Josh and CJ are very much the obsessive political animals, while Danny and Donna are both people who seem to be better at balancing their lives, who go out of their way to pursue pleasure instead of having it forced upon them. What's particularly interesting, of course, is the way in which Danny and Donna are different, and approach their respective situations differently, in ways that they know will work on the manic person they are trying to reach. Donna refused to let Josh see the depth of her feelings because she was afraid it would scare him away; Danny wears it like a badge because he knows that's the only way to break through. Good stuff.
And it has me thinking about how most of the characters' storylines are being tied up in ways in which they are forced to acknowledge that they want personal lives as much as they want their professional lives. The idea of your job taking over your life was always a theme of the Sorkin years, but quite frankly, it was also at times presented as a job that was *worth* having it take over your life. It makes me wonder for the umpteenth time how Sorkin would have had these characters come to an end. Alas, we shall never know.
The Toby/CJ scene was, obviously, wonderful. Perfect. Toby made a chicken! Heeeee. I adored Toby's discovery of a typo in the Constitution and could all too vividly picture him harraassing this poor woman on the phone to check the original. I loved CJ's line about working the ski lift, and how she would learn the lingo first. Toby's calling CJ on why she came over to see him on that particular night was eyebrow-raising, and I'm sure made my CJ/Toby shipper friends very happy. ;) It feels real to me that CJ is so angry with him, but at the same time I think it sucks that she never contacted him, after. And because it bears repeating, I love Toby in casual wear making a chicken. Not so much to say about this scene other than I adored it.
And I loved Andy going over his head and behind his back (heh), because that is exactly what the mother of his children would do, and what a wonderfully awkward scene that was, played excellently by both actresses.
Will and Kate -- I continue to not care about Kate at all, but I very much enjoyed the Will story. I love the idea of Will winning a Congressional seat and being on the Hill all the time. On the other hand, I think Will is probably better at running campaigns than being the one doing the running. It was great to see him get passionate about a real cause, again, instead of the soul-sucking endeavor to get Russell elected president. I love passionate Will! Woo hoo.
Also, they at least said Josh's name this week, which automatically makes it an improvement over last week. Ha. I assumed he wasn't going to be in it this week, either, which is sad, but as the trade-off is having him on Studio 60 I am very okay with that.
I would have liked some Charlie stuff, though -- I'm annoyed that there wasn't any. Too bad we wasted that whole hour last week, eh?
Oh, and I heart Xander Berkeley and think the job CJ is probably going to wind up taking is completely awesome. Oh, and the bit with the Secret Service checking out every place she visits has me snorting with laughter as I picture Josh coping with that sort of thing. Poor Danny, man. That is love. ;)
Overall, a great episode, and I am SO SAD that next week is the LAST EPISODE EVER. If I think about it too closely I will start crying, and so, I end it here. Sniffle.
Watching tonight's episode made me wonder all the more why they gave us such a piece of shit last week. It's just kind of amazing, really. Especially since we still don't have real closure for everyone and you know that half of next week's finale is going to be long establishing shots of motorcades and other pointless nonsense.
But I digress.
So I was starting to think that Brad Whitford was the only writer currently on staff who "got" CJ, and I am pleased to find that Debora Cahn gets her, too. Because for the past couple seasons most of the writers have been trying to present CJ as some kind of Superwoman, and, you know, she's not. She fucks up, a lot, and so it was reassuringly familiar to see her fuck up so spectacularly with Danny tonight. Especially since, let's face it, Danny is pretty much the perfect guy. She has the perfect guy standing right in front of her begging her to let him be perfect for her, and her first instinct is still to throw it away. What I love, though, is how Danny may be head over heels in love with CJ, but he has his dignity, too, and while he's willing to bend over backwards for her, he has a breaking point. He's not clingy, or pathetic, he's just in love, and sometimes I wonder if CJ doesn't always see that distinction.
And that final scene between them is just amazing, and was so perfectly played. CJ saying she missed her window, well, that's a fear many of us single women have, and it felt so true to me, that it makes me wonder about Debora Cahn's love life. ;) Seriously, though, it felt true to the character and that's the best we can ask for these days. (Also, when CJ asks him if she should take one of the board of directors jobs instead? That's, like, exactly what I would have said in that situation. Sigh. I feel you, CJ.) In any case, I'm so very glad that Danny was able to talk her through it.
It was an interesting parallel, which I of course must mention, to the Josh/Donna relationship. Josh and CJ are very much the obsessive political animals, while Danny and Donna are both people who seem to be better at balancing their lives, who go out of their way to pursue pleasure instead of having it forced upon them. What's particularly interesting, of course, is the way in which Danny and Donna are different, and approach their respective situations differently, in ways that they know will work on the manic person they are trying to reach. Donna refused to let Josh see the depth of her feelings because she was afraid it would scare him away; Danny wears it like a badge because he knows that's the only way to break through. Good stuff.
And it has me thinking about how most of the characters' storylines are being tied up in ways in which they are forced to acknowledge that they want personal lives as much as they want their professional lives. The idea of your job taking over your life was always a theme of the Sorkin years, but quite frankly, it was also at times presented as a job that was *worth* having it take over your life. It makes me wonder for the umpteenth time how Sorkin would have had these characters come to an end. Alas, we shall never know.
The Toby/CJ scene was, obviously, wonderful. Perfect. Toby made a chicken! Heeeee. I adored Toby's discovery of a typo in the Constitution and could all too vividly picture him harraassing this poor woman on the phone to check the original. I loved CJ's line about working the ski lift, and how she would learn the lingo first. Toby's calling CJ on why she came over to see him on that particular night was eyebrow-raising, and I'm sure made my CJ/Toby shipper friends very happy. ;) It feels real to me that CJ is so angry with him, but at the same time I think it sucks that she never contacted him, after. And because it bears repeating, I love Toby in casual wear making a chicken. Not so much to say about this scene other than I adored it.
And I loved Andy going over his head and behind his back (heh), because that is exactly what the mother of his children would do, and what a wonderfully awkward scene that was, played excellently by both actresses.
Will and Kate -- I continue to not care about Kate at all, but I very much enjoyed the Will story. I love the idea of Will winning a Congressional seat and being on the Hill all the time. On the other hand, I think Will is probably better at running campaigns than being the one doing the running. It was great to see him get passionate about a real cause, again, instead of the soul-sucking endeavor to get Russell elected president. I love passionate Will! Woo hoo.
Also, they at least said Josh's name this week, which automatically makes it an improvement over last week. Ha. I assumed he wasn't going to be in it this week, either, which is sad, but as the trade-off is having him on Studio 60 I am very okay with that.
I would have liked some Charlie stuff, though -- I'm annoyed that there wasn't any. Too bad we wasted that whole hour last week, eh?
Oh, and I heart Xander Berkeley and think the job CJ is probably going to wind up taking is completely awesome. Oh, and the bit with the Secret Service checking out every place she visits has me snorting with laughter as I picture Josh coping with that sort of thing. Poor Danny, man. That is love. ;)
Overall, a great episode, and I am SO SAD that next week is the LAST EPISODE EVER. If I think about it too closely I will start crying, and so, I end it here. Sniffle.