Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.

Definitely high on the list of my favorite shows of all time is the series The West Wing.  The show featured quality writing and terrific acting that was coupled with a message of hope that we often don’t see from our government: the thought that people would actually work together to make our country and this world a better place.

The third season DVD set opens with the special episode put together following the 9/11 attacks.  It didn't fit in anywhere in the series - it was something to illustrate what it was like to be in the White House in the days following 9/11 when everyone was jumpy at so many things.  The producers and writers of the series didn't think they could just continue with the show without acknowledging these events in some way.  I had trouble watching it for the memories it brought back - the subject is handled in a very sensitive and poignant way without detracting from the series integrity.

Once the “real” season starts, it picks up where the second season ended.  President Bartlet (portrayed by martin Sheen) is coping with the revelation of his medical condition (he has multiple sclerosis) as well as the issues surrounding the non-disclosure of the condition for so long.  He has also made the decision to run for a second term, and his team is in the middle of the re-election campaign.  Abby Bartlet (portrayed by Stockard Channing) isn’t too happy about this decision for a variety of reasons.  She is also caught up in the investigation as to how she as a physician helped to conceal the President’s condition.

The staff is being subpoenaed to testify and a variety of issues come out of that.  Just as a reflex of keeping something private, Donna (portrayed by Janel Moloney) denies keeping a diary.  However, someone on the congressional committee knows different and the way this works out is pretty compelling.

Issues tackled throughout the season are gun control, the repeal of the estate tax, and terrorism, among others.  I love how they raise the fact that there are no absolutes on issues; that things that seem cut and dried when argued by the pundits or even those of us on the streets often are more complicated than we realize.  Such is the case as the season is winding down and the President grapples with what to do with a terrorist financing attacks on Americans and American soil who happens to be an official for another nation.

There are notable episodes this season, it’s not just the overall stories that are memorable.  Bartlet for America is a terrific episode that gives background to how the team came together on the campaign trail initially.  Night Five has the President coping with a bout of insomnia that might be rooted in his past and also creates deep animosity between the President and Toby (portrayed by Richard Schiff) which began with the revelation of the President’s medical condition.  The Indians in the Lobby was a terrific Thanksgiving episode that combined humor and poignancy on the holiday.  The season finale isn’t a cliff-hanger this time, but it ends on a somber and sad note just as things seem to be going better.

Throughout the season, it’s not just what goes on in the White House that propels the stories forward, but also what’s going on in the personal lives of the staff.  Almost all of them suffer to one degree or another with relationships throughout the series run.  This season, Donna copes with few prospects in her love life and those that she does embark on seem to come back to haunt her. Sam (portrayed by Rob Lowe) encounters his former fiancee during a foray into the art of speech-writing.  Near the end of the season, CJ (portrayed by Allison Janney) finds romance with the Secret Service agent protecting her from a stalker, only to have it come to a tragic end.

Perhaps the worst relationship, though is that of Josh (portrayed by Bradley Whitford) and Amy Gardner (portrayed by Mary Louise Parker).  Amy is supposedly an women’s issues specialist and I just couldn’t like her in the role, plus there isn’t all that much chemistry between her and Josh.  Most of her time on screen seems to be her purring around like a sex kitten and I just found her not to be someone I would listen to - and I am someone on the same side of the aisle on these people.  Their relationship is complicated by their positions, and I think with another actress in this role it would have worked well to talk about the difficulties experienced by these staffers in trying to have anything resembling a personal life.

Series creator and writer Aaron Sorkin along with the various directors who work with the series are so good with the pacing of the episodes and creating an effect by leaving the characters silent when necessary, such as when an opposing point is successfully made during an argument or discussion.  It’s a terrific technique that keeps the show from being bogged down in having to explain every little thing, when there’s already so much explaining going on.  The show is character and dialogue driven, and there’s little said on screen that’s a waste.  Something that seems inconsequential now can crop up later in the season or even several seasons down the road.

The discs have some special features, including commentary on certain episodes.  I really likes that in the commentary on the episodes set in New Hampshire, the producers fessed up that they filmed in Virginia for convenience.  I really wanted to know where in NH they had filmed these pieces.  Living here, all of the New Hampshire references had a good feel, even if they were inauthentic at times.  Another NH related reference is when the President is being sued for a remark he made about seatbelts and Leo points out that the first in the nation Primary state (NH) is the only one that doesn't have a mandatory seat belt law.  Live free or die baby!  NH is also the supposed location for the episode Hartsfield Landing - it's actually Hart's Location they are talking about (not far from my own home) where they hold the midnight balloting on election day.

Also included in the Bonus Material are interviews with the two men who were the personal assistants to President Clinton as well as President Carter, President Ford, President Clinton and various members of their staffs.  These interviews across party lines really serve to show the length the series producers went to so the series would feel authentic to those in the know.

The third season of The West Wing seemed to lose a little bit of the sharpness of the earlier seasons.  Whether it was because they had to reach a little more in trying to make the series more compelling or due to some characters who didn’t work as well as those in the earlier seasons, I can’t say for sure.  I think some of it had to do with them being careful on the ideas presented after 9/11.  I don't think Sorkin et. al. was shying away from the political philosophy, I think it had more to do with sensitivity to what had been experienced in this country.  What I can say is that I would still rather watch The West Wing: The Complete Third Season on DVD than most other television shows out there.  There are few shows out there that don’t dumb themselves down and stay intelligent to the audience.  This is one of them.



Disc One, Side A

Isaac and Ishmael
Manchester: Part I
Manchester: Part II (available with commentary by Aaron Sorkin, Thomas Schlamme, and Allison Janney)
Ways and Means

Disc One, Side B

On the Day Before
War Crimes
Gone Quiet
The Indians in the Lobby

Disc Two, Side A

The Women of Qumar
Bartlet for America (available with commentary by Aaron Sorkin, Thomas Schlamme, and the late John Spencer)
H. Con-172
100,000 Airplanes

Disc Two, Side B

The Two Bartlets
Night Five
Hartsfield's Landing
Dead Irish Writers

Disc Three, Side A

The U.S. Poet Laureate
Stirred
Enemies Foreign and Domestic

Disc 3, Side B

The Black Vera Wang
We Killed Yamamoto
Posse Comitatus (available with commentary by Aaron Sorkin, Thomas Schlamme, and Director Alex Graves)

Disc 4

Bonus Material:

A Property Master's Story
The Chief of Stuff
Documentary Special
Deleted Scenes




© 2009 Patti Aliventi

Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD