r/thewestwing

The most obvious and talked about character assassination in the series is Toby. And while I don't think it's as bad as people say, it's hard not to agree that he was absolutely changed for the worse. However, I wanted to talk about the other, lesser character assassinations of the post Sorkin era. I have a few examples:

Jed Bartlett - We see the president go from a strong serious man with a folksy dad-like side, to a bitter and depressed shadow of his former self.This is an understandable direction to take a character, and I really appreciate the disability representation we get from the progression of his MS (side note: disability rep is something the show does very well, consistently. usually better than anything you'd see today honestly). I find in seasons 6 and 7 any time we cut back to the West Wing it's just a complete drag, constantly wandering around aimlessly. That may be the point, and if so it's artistically interesting I suppose. But it's not what I'm here for, and it's not who the character was.

Leo - I always think of post Sorkin Leo and post book Tyrion Lannister to be similar cases. A brilliant political mind that, after new writers are brought in, makes a series of out of character mistakes and overall loses their edge. Leo goes from a close friend passionately and calmly arguing against an incursion with no exit strategy, to a crazed jingoistic suit yelling at the president that he has to go into a war blind because "we don't always know how it ends." Not to mention going from a paternal figure in Josh's life, accepting him for his PTSD because Josh accepted him for his addiction, a figure who would always have his back... to nearly firing Josh over what is frankly a minor political mistake in the series.

Will - This one may be a little controversial, because I know not everyone is a fan of this character. Frankly, it feels like they never stuck to an idea with this guy. He becomes the dork of the group and sister gets added in but it never really lands so she completely vanishes a la Mandy, he gets put in charge of a bunch of pretty interns in a strange gimmick, then he's randomly ripped (??) and part of the military which only comes up like twice, then he leaves shockingly fast to become captain of the wiener squad with Bingo Bob, then there's some weird dynamics with him Josh and Donna, then... press secretary. Sure. When he was introduced he was this savvy and extremely dedicated political mind who wasn't afraid to get in Toby's face, or the president's for that matter as an intern. For 2 episodes, Will was a very exciting and fiery addition to the main cast, then he's very unfun.

I am loving the balance of humor and drama. It is very well written. The only problem I have is that I really wanna vote for Bartlett in real life and I can’t lol.

Here is my ranking of the five best story arcs in the entire series:

1. Shareef’s assassination, including “The Black Vera Wang” and Agent Donovan storyline.
2. Zoey’s kidnapping. Bonus points because Jean-Paul is so punchable.
3. “Gaza,” the Camp David peace negotiations, and Leo’s heart attack… might be the best post-Sorkin storyline.

All of the Santos primary/nomination and Santos-Vinnick episodes are basically entire seasons, so much more than discrete story arcs. Honorable mention to the “In the Shadow of Two Gunmen” assassination attempt, but (in my opinion) that storyline is too short to be considered with the other arcs.

That was a lot. I want some pie.

What do you all think? What are your favorites?

I am on my umpteenth rewatch. I keep finding myself remembering how much I love watching Alan Alda in anything he's in. He does such a fantastic job with Arnie Vinick. He (the senator) is truly a good man. I LOVE that they played a Republican that is a good man against the entire Democratic party that the show is based on. You want Santos to win, but you aren't necessarily wanting to see Vinick lose. I really love this show!!

Just started another rewatch.

That motorcycle cop should be fired. Mandy clearly started the turn on the yellow. Sure, she shouldn't be on the phone driving but that wasn't banned until at least 2001.

Anyone else feel like this role was miscast, or something? I just don't feel any chemistry between Traylor Howard and Rob Lowe/Sam. 100,000 Airplanes playing in the background right now and about to hit skip, as per usual with this episode.

I’m on my second watch and am at S6E16..I relived my confusion during my first watch during the scenes of Toby and the woman at the bar…Could this possibly be Andy being played by someone else or maybe I forgot what she looks like, though that makes no sense? Thinking this because there seemed to be an intimacy there. Nope a few lines of dialogue proves this to be wrong. Is she his dead brother’s wife that he’s hooking up with? Oops nope he just referred to SIL when talking to this person. Is she a prostitute? Especially when Toby asks what career she would have if she didn’t do what she did. Took a while before the reveal.

I know it’s fiction, and I know the real life circumstances that led to it, but seeing the loss of Leo feels like losing a member of my own family. Such a great character and leader. Cried during Election Night 2, and the funeral just felt heavy…like you knew there was huge void.

I feel sad for every other character and can’t imagine what it was like for everyone at the time of the news and filming that. But especially for Josh and Margaret. I did smile a little when Jed asked her “you know he loved you, right?”

Only four episodes to go. Started in January 2025 and should be done next week as long as my schedule allows. ❤️

On my umpteenth watch of ‘He Shall from time to time’ and I find it hard to believe that over a dozen people knew of POTUS’s MS but he never told his best friend Leo.

It is SNS (or SHS, hard to tell but looks more like an N)

Is it ever revealed or said what his middle name is in the show? Would assume Nicholas or Nathan(iel). But wasn’t sure if there was a definitive answer