The second series of West Wing ends with, in my opinion, the best hour of television ever made. It is why God made moving pictures.
President Bartlet is having to decide if he will run again in the next Presidential Election, after coming clean about the fact that he has MS. Decisions are to be made, under all kinds of political pressure across Capitol Hill, never mind in his own staff team who have given up so much to invest in Bartlet.
The biggest drama of all is going on inside the soul of Bartlet himself. Feeling uneasy about breaking a promise to his wife to only stand once and insecure about what his admission to having MS would do to his career, he has a standoff… with himself… and God.
Adding to the poignancy, and deep emotional drama of the episode, Bartlet’s wrestling with God happens at the funeral of his secretary Mrs Landingham, killed by a drunk driver as she drove her new car home for the first time. Mrs Landingham becomes an angel speaking to Bartlet through flashbacks as his battle with God is played out.
Part of the genius of the episode is taking us back to Jed’s school days when Mrs Landingham worked for his father, a tough school principal. As Mrs Landingham believed in the inspiration of the young Jed and attempted to get him to fight for fair wages for the women staff at the school so God uses the flashback to help Bartlett decide whether to stand for election or not.
I don’t use God poetically. This is a spiritual slice of television drama. Ultimately it is about a man finding his vocation place in the world. God is at the centre of this episode. That the Wikipedia entry on this episode misses that, beggars belief!
Most obviously God takes a barracking from Bartlet in the Cathedral where Mrs Landingham’s funeral takes place. Bartlet asks for the Cathedral to be secured and stands at the altar screaming at God. It is Old Testament Psalmist stuff. He asks why God has taken the life of a woman driving her first ever brand new car and then unleashes his tirade of seeming injustices. It is not pretty. He calls God a ‘feckless thug” at one point. In a repeat of a flashback to those schooldays he lights a cigarette, stamps it out on the altar and walks away shouting, “You get Hoynes”, a reference to his Vice President who will stand for election in his place.
How does God take the rollicking? Well, God is not finished with Jed yet. As if there is not enough going on in this episode, there is a storm creeping up the east coast of America and Bartlett has his spiritually sensitive eye on it. Why is it here? There has been no such weather phenomena in over 100 years? Why now? Is God speaking?
With the wind blowing the door of his office open, the ghost of Mrs Landingham become the angel that Bartlet teases everything out with. She tells him that God doesn’t make car crashes. Back in school, he needed figures before deciding. Then she repeats a phrase from back in this school days… it is the altar call… “If you don’t want to run again I respect that… but if you don’t run because you think it is going to be too hard or you think you're gonna lose… well Jed, I don’t even want to know you.”
Bartlet walks out the open door and surrenders to the wind and rain… to God… and his vocation on earth! Wow!
BUT the genius Aaron Sorkin, writer of West Wing, isn’t done with us yet and as Bartlet walks to the car and from the car to the podium to answer the press, Dire Straits, Brothers In Arms perfectly soundtracks the tension and intention. With his team around him, a team in this TV series determined on fighting the dark with light, the music heightened the mood.
Given guidance about where to find an easy question in the press scrum, Bartlet leaves easy and is asked… “Are you going to stand for another term?” You need to watch it for the most wonderful conclusion of a series ever…
Brilliant summary and insights into a brilliant piece of television!
Thank you Steve!
Posted by: Mervyn Nutley | 21/09/2017 at 03:01 PM