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May 19, 2004
Political show seems to be Winging it
by David Hinckley
New York Daily News
"The West Wing" is finishing its first year without creator Aaron Sorkin, and whatever happens with injured White House aide Donna Moss' medical cliff-hanger tomorrow night, it's been an uneven season.
That's not a good sign.
Yes, "The West Wing" still has interesting characters and actual ideas. But the writers aren't conveying them as clearly these days, and that's not a good sign, either.
Sorkin conceived the show as an ambitious view of power from the inside. He obviously liked liberal-tilting President Jed Bartlet, but he found good and bad guys across the ideological spectrum.
Around the time we didn't expect it, he'd throw a sharply breaking curve ball.
The pace was fast, sometimes manic, the stories often complex and only partly resolved. Sorkin's first "West Wing" seasons were studded with sparkling gems like communications director Toby Ziegler's battle to get a homeless veteran buried with honors.
This season, unfortunately, too many moments made the viewer simply say, "Huh?"
Deputy Chief of Staff Josh Lyman, cold-shouldered by Congress for screwing up a deal, jumps out of a car, shakes his fist at the Capitol and yells, "You want a piece of me?"
The Bartlet administration works out a way to get a liberal Supreme Court justice confirmed by pairing her with a conservative, wrapping up a fascinating drama in one way-too-quick "That's that!" episode.
The White House is locked down for the sole purpose of trapping characters together and forcing them to have conversations that set up the next round of plots.
Press secretary C.J. Cregg is such a good character that, sadly, the writers have inflated her into the least realistic. Are we already setting up a "C.J." spinoff?
Too often as well, the show has brushed aside the great little interwoven human dramas of the White House to spotlight glamour guests like John Goodman and Matthew Perry, who then leave just about the time they get interesting.
Now for the season finale, the show is killing and maiming major characters, which is not only redundant but, for "West Wing," feels just plain lazy.
If the idea is to make a splash, let's hope it isn't the sound of another good show running out of ideas and reaching the end of its run.
Originally published on May 19, 2004
Posted by Jo at May 19, 2004 06:39 AM