Tonight, I’ll be watching the final new episode of The West Wing. I’ve enjoyed the past seven years’ episodes. The characters have grown on me, and while there has been some sluggishness over the past couple of years, this season has rejuvenated interest by adding interesting characters and showing aspects of the changing of a politician into a president.
These are things we didn’t see in the original year, though the flashbacks to the first Bartlet presidential campaign have been interesting. I’m sorry the new administration won’t be allowed to develop in television land, but we’ll have to deal with it. Recently, it was "disclosed" that the plan had been for Alan Alda’s Arnold Vinnick to win the presidency (Jimmy Smits disagrees), but the unexpected death of John Spencer changed things. I’m intrigued by the idea of the losing candidate in the race becoming the Secretary of State; I doubt it could happen in our current political world, but it’s food for thought.
I think it’s a nice touch to show the original pilot before the final episode -- a bookend quality that I find appealing. Watch and enjoy.
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