Guess I'll start where the show did with Mandy(Moira Kelly), really don't care for her, she had a couple of funny moments but her character is just too out there to be believable(as someone doing the job she has), plus I'm not crazy about the actress in general. Things picked up before the cold open even finished though, with Josh celebrating his victory,
"I drink from the keg of glory, Donna. Bring me the finest muffins and bagels in all the land."
Sam Seaborn just boggles my mind, is he really going to risk his career and risk making Bartlet's administration look bad just so he can be the knight in shining armor to this call girl? Toby summed up my feelings on it pretty well,
"This administration doesn't even need an opposition party, you know that? We do fine by ourselves."
Dialogue stayed sharp throughout the episode. My favorite scene was when Tulliver was examining Bartlet and giving him the flu shot,
"How do I know this isn't the start of a military coup? I want the secret service in here right away."
"In the event of a military coup, sir, what makes you think the secret service is going to be on your side?"
"Now that's a thought that's gonna fester."
I found the plot with the VP going rogue interesting, especially once Leo let him have it. I was beginning to wonder if the drama was going to catch up to the comedy in terms of drawing me in, and that scene helped. As did the end of the episode, when Bartlet hears that Tulliver's plane was shot down. Though the final line was a bit unsettling(as Leo's face portrayed),
"Leo. I am not frightened. I am going to blow them off the face of the earth with the fury of God's own thunder."
I'm all for retaliation in those circumstances, but just mentioning God at that point makes me nervous, because it easily leads to Bartlet thinking he's doing God's will by retaliating. Though I get the impression this will lead to more compelling drama in the next episode/episodes, which is what I was hoping for.
All and all this episode got a lot of laughs while still getting in some well done dramatic elements near the end.
"I drink from the keg of glory, Donna. Bring me the finest muffins and bagels in all the land."
Sam Seaborn just boggles my mind, is he really going to risk his career and risk making Bartlet's administration look bad just so he can be the knight in shining armor to this call girl? Toby summed up my feelings on it pretty well,
"This administration doesn't even need an opposition party, you know that? We do fine by ourselves."
Dialogue stayed sharp throughout the episode. My favorite scene was when Tulliver was examining Bartlet and giving him the flu shot,
"How do I know this isn't the start of a military coup? I want the secret service in here right away."
"In the event of a military coup, sir, what makes you think the secret service is going to be on your side?"
"Now that's a thought that's gonna fester."
I found the plot with the VP going rogue interesting, especially once Leo let him have it. I was beginning to wonder if the drama was going to catch up to the comedy in terms of drawing me in, and that scene helped. As did the end of the episode, when Bartlet hears that Tulliver's plane was shot down. Though the final line was a bit unsettling(as Leo's face portrayed),
"Leo. I am not frightened. I am going to blow them off the face of the earth with the fury of God's own thunder."
I'm all for retaliation in those circumstances, but just mentioning God at that point makes me nervous, because it easily leads to Bartlet thinking he's doing God's will by retaliating. Though I get the impression this will lead to more compelling drama in the next episode/episodes, which is what I was hoping for.
All and all this episode got a lot of laughs while still getting in some well done dramatic elements near the end.