People criticise season 6 for being weak and not the West Wing of old since Sorkin left. But since the campaign arc began I would heartily disagree!
After 5 seasons of problems within the White House, it was literally a breath of fresh air to see the Democratic nomination campaign come to life in S6. Not only that but it introduced some new characters in Matt Santos and Arnie Vinnick, with some new ideas and dilemmas far removed from the introspection of Bartlet, CJ and Toby at long last.
This episode especially was a highlight, not least for Josh's frustration at trying to get his candidate, Santos, some air time on local and national TV. But also the growing intellectual awareness of Donna Moss, working for the Russell campaign, and how brilliant she was in taking a more objective view of why the Russell campaign was faltering at a resurgent Santos campaign.
I have always admired Donna in the early seasons - she may have been Josh's admin assistant, but she was also finely tuned to policy decisions that sometimes blinded Josh and later on, Russell. Josh underrated and derided her abilities, as did Russell to an extent, but she proved herself to be right on most of the decision-making processes.
As for Bradley Whitford's Josh - well, I have to say Whitford IS Josh! He plays the character brilliantly, and stands head and shoulders above most other characters in the West Wing albeit Leo and perhaps CJ. But I would have to say that 90% of the West Wing show seems to gravitate towards the Josh character, and I have loved every minute of it, along with his maturity & wisdom over the 7 seasons.
After 5 seasons of problems within the White House, it was literally a breath of fresh air to see the Democratic nomination campaign come to life in S6. Not only that but it introduced some new characters in Matt Santos and Arnie Vinnick, with some new ideas and dilemmas far removed from the introspection of Bartlet, CJ and Toby at long last.
This episode especially was a highlight, not least for Josh's frustration at trying to get his candidate, Santos, some air time on local and national TV. But also the growing intellectual awareness of Donna Moss, working for the Russell campaign, and how brilliant she was in taking a more objective view of why the Russell campaign was faltering at a resurgent Santos campaign.
I have always admired Donna in the early seasons - she may have been Josh's admin assistant, but she was also finely tuned to policy decisions that sometimes blinded Josh and later on, Russell. Josh underrated and derided her abilities, as did Russell to an extent, but she proved herself to be right on most of the decision-making processes.
As for Bradley Whitford's Josh - well, I have to say Whitford IS Josh! He plays the character brilliantly, and stands head and shoulders above most other characters in the West Wing albeit Leo and perhaps CJ. But I would have to say that 90% of the West Wing show seems to gravitate towards the Josh character, and I have loved every minute of it, along with his maturity & wisdom over the 7 seasons.
