The summit at Camp David goes haltingly. Makram Khoury (FREE ZONE) lends a nuanced, understated touch as Palestinian Chairman Farad (he has a particularly beautiful scene with McCormack). Armin-Mueller Stahl (AVALON), as israeli Prime Minister Zahavy, is thoughtful gravitas embodied. Leo continues to strongly urge a different path, and in a moment of high tension, Jed fires him. He then walks into the woods and has a massive heart attack. It's starkly-rendered, and made more chilling with the knowledge that John would die of the same cause himself little more than a year later...and he was also, like Leo, an alcoholic. His work in this episode will stay with you long after the credits roll.
2 Reviews
Leo
Sonatine9720 May 2020
Warning: Spoilers
5 days of Middle East peace talks at Camp David come to a tentative agreement, although I still find it hard to believe that the likes of Toby, Will, Kate and Josh would be the brokers.
The other point of interest is the ongoing conflict of aims & intentions between Bartlet and Leo, over whether or not to bomb Gaza. Things come to a head when Leo hears of Kate's plan and asks Bartlet for a quiet word outside.
Both are implacable opposed to each other's solutions to the point where Bartlet has finally had enough of Leo's hawkish sentiment and fires him. Whatever bluff Leo was trying to play it clearly didn't work and Bartlet's response totally took him by surprise.
What is fascinating about this ongoing conflict is that in season one and episode "A Proportional Response", a US military plane is shot down by Syrian forces despite being on a medical mission. Jed demands instant military reprisals short of "blowing them off the face of the earth with the fury of God's own thunder!"
In this scenario it is Leo who acts as peacemaker, and tells Bartlet that such actions are inappropriate and an over-reaction for a first time president.
But now we have a similar scenario with US officials killed or seriously injured due to a terrorist attack, but it is Leo playing the hawk to Jed's dove. And the final couple of minutes is incredibly heartbreaking not only to see Leo summarily fired, but also suffering a major heart attack, but with no one really noticing until the following morning.
A decent episode but the resolution to the Middle East peace talks just didn't play out well for me.
The other point of interest is the ongoing conflict of aims & intentions between Bartlet and Leo, over whether or not to bomb Gaza. Things come to a head when Leo hears of Kate's plan and asks Bartlet for a quiet word outside.
Both are implacable opposed to each other's solutions to the point where Bartlet has finally had enough of Leo's hawkish sentiment and fires him. Whatever bluff Leo was trying to play it clearly didn't work and Bartlet's response totally took him by surprise.
What is fascinating about this ongoing conflict is that in season one and episode "A Proportional Response", a US military plane is shot down by Syrian forces despite being on a medical mission. Jed demands instant military reprisals short of "blowing them off the face of the earth with the fury of God's own thunder!"
In this scenario it is Leo who acts as peacemaker, and tells Bartlet that such actions are inappropriate and an over-reaction for a first time president.
But now we have a similar scenario with US officials killed or seriously injured due to a terrorist attack, but it is Leo playing the hawk to Jed's dove. And the final couple of minutes is incredibly heartbreaking not only to see Leo summarily fired, but also suffering a major heart attack, but with no one really noticing until the following morning.
A decent episode but the resolution to the Middle East peace talks just didn't play out well for me.
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