The West Wing- Season Premiere on Now!

[tritsofme]

NBC

turn it on!

[huskerlaw]

1. SQUEEEE!

Danny and CJ??? YEEESS!!

[huskerlaw]

2. And are we supposed

to read something into the fact that Josh was the one who knew the President was there? ;)

[deadparrot]

3. I don't know!

I hate that they had to flash forward. Now I'm like "Where the hell's Donna? And Leo!?"

But Josh looked happy. Whether that's for personal or professions reasons, or both, I'll take it that a) either he and Donna hooked up, or b) Santos won.

Both would be nice, too. :)

I can't wait 'til March to find out who wins. :argh:

[huskerlaw]

4. I'm just thrilled that

it appears CJ's not the leak. Or if she is, she doesn't go to jail, since she's busy making babies w/ Danny and all. ;)

[deadparrot]

5. Yeah, I know who the leak is.

I'll shut my mouth on that. You'll find out soon enough. :)

My question is, Santos/McGarry is down in the polls by a significant amount. To make it a race, they're going to have to make it closer than it currently is, no matter who the winner is. So what's going to happen to Vinick to make his numbers drop? Or what happens to Santos to make his numbers going to move upward?

[huskerlaw]

6. Good point.

Though it seems that the Santos/McGarry campaign is just really getting going. And Josh is thrilled shitless with the 9%...Joey's not, but she's the poll girl...who knows!

[tritsofme]

7. I think something is going to happen to Leo

whether he dies or leaves the campaign.

This obviously isn't working, and they're making that painfully obvious.

[huskerlaw]

8. Sadly, I agree

any theories on who his replacement would be?

[tritsofme]

10. Looking at it practically its like putting Karl Rove or Carville on the

ticket, and was doomed from the beginning.

They're strategists, not politicians.

I don't think they really have developed a character in the show that could replace him though...

[deadparrot]

9. Since the election isn't until March,

I think there's time for Leo and Santos to bond, and for some intra-campaign inspiration. :shrug:

My take on it is that they showed a teaser that was certainly suggestive of a Santos victory. Then we cut to the current campaign, and it's mass chaos. I think they're trying to misdirect us, play with our minds. It *looked* like a Santos victory in 2009, but back in 2006, they're happy being 9 points down.

[huskerlaw]

12. Hmmm

Now I'm not so sure. It's not their style to talk about it before it happens, given that convo between Santos and Leo...I don't think he leaves. Or has a heart attack. They don't spoon feed us storylines like that.

[tritsofme]

14. I guess I should have known better

lol

Good way to end the episode...

[deadparrot]

11. Praise GOD!

Josh and Donna! Woohoo! *dances*

[deadparrot]

13. See, look...

Santos/McGarry love. :D

[huskerlaw]

15. Yeah, now I'm not so sure...

see post #12 :shrug:

[deadparrot]

17. Like I said in post #9,

I think it was misdirection.

Expect the first several episodes to be kind of a blur. I'm thinking we're gonna start seeing things even out in November sweeps, but it's gonna be rough going for Santos/McGarry these first couple months.

They're trying to contrast the pro-Santos teaser with the mess of a campaign to make viewers wonder what the hell's going on.

At least that's my admittedly pro-Santos view.

And Josh said he missed Donna every day. Holy. Crap. :D:D:D

[mb7588a]

16. poor donna! :( That was sad.

[Lavender Brown]

23. What happened? I missed the second half

What happened to Donna?

[deadparrot]

24. She...

came in to ask Josh for a job as his deputy. He pulled out a file of her quotes as PS for Russell's campaign, and started reading them off (all anti-Santos). There was a lot of awkwardness (Donna shooting back that Josh made fun of Bingo Bob)...Josh is like, "But I won."

Then it gets weird and awesome and Josh says something along the lines of, "We can't do this," offers to make some calls and find her a position somewhere in the campaign, then says, voice cracking and all, "If you don't realize how much I miss you every day..." :wow:

At that point, Donna gets up and walks out in tears. Josh watches her go, all lost.

It was an awesome scene, and guaranteed some movement in their relationship eventually, hard as it was to watch.

[Lavender Brown]

25. Oh...

:cry: I love them.

[deadparrot]

26. It was painful,

but him grabbing her and making out (like they would in my mind) just wouldn't make sense.

It's done in a way that you know there's something there still, and you know that it'll be revisited at some point. Unfortunately...I'm not very patient.

[tritsofme]

18. I wonder if there's more focus on Vinick next week? nt

[huskerlaw]

19. The preview

made it look like they get back to Vinick...and not entirely in a positive way.

He looked pretty pissed off, right as they said, "...campaigns fall apart..."

[deadparrot]

20. They way they're framing it makes it look very pro-Santos.

The teasers. NBC's West Wing site--just look at the positioning. Even the credits--sliding Smits into Sheen's spot at the end. Reserved for the president. Unless of course they're trying to stage some massive conspiracy. :)
Though I do know...
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The Santos campaign will run into trouble in the coming weeks. Obviously, they're going to have to catch up eventually to make it exciting, but it'll be rough for a while.

[LeftyDarthBrodie]

21. My thoughts

I really didn't like the flash forward at the beginning.

The rest of the episode was good, getting right back into the action with the quick changes from West Wing activity to campaign activity which lifted the show in terms of quality towards the end of the last season. I wonder how much time they are going to give Vinick and if that will also be like the end of last season in which Santos and Vinick switch episodes in terms of who gets a majority of screen time.

I think Leo will stick to the ticket. When he got together with Santos at the end of the episode they seemed to be getting a feel for eachother and what there roles will be. If WW goes on long enough Leo may leave the Santos administration due to his health.

The highlight of this episode was the exchange and tension between Josh and Donna and besides who wins the election the resolution to this relationship is one of the most intriguing aspects of the show.

[bluestateguy]

22. Bartlett has a 66% approval rating

and yet Santos is down 9 in the polls.

Hmmmm? This sounds familiar.

[Borgnine]

27. I really, really liked it.

It felt like a return to form. Not quite up to the first two seasons, but more along the lines of the middle of Season 4. It was on par with the worst of the Sorkin episodes, and that's pretty damn good in general.

I liked knowing that at least some of the characters will get happy endings, and besides CJ/Danny and Congressman Will, they didn't elaborate too much. For the record, I hope Charlie wound up with Zoey and that Toby reunited with his ex-wife, but I doubt it, especially since neither character has many episodes left.

[GalleryGod]

28. Good Solid Premiere ! I rather enjoyed the "Flash Forward"

FWIW:shrug: I loved the New Time Slot ! :loveya:

Much more convenient for us..our old American Dreams slot.