The West Wing is my favorite show of all-time. I’m not sure it’s the best show I’ve ever seen start-to-finish. When Aaron Sorkin left the show after season 4, the show took most of season 5 to find its voice again, but it did rally and finished well. The second season of The West Wing is THE best season of television I’ve ever seen. Ever. Full stop. There are so many great moments and classic episodes that it’s difficult to pick a favorite, so I’ll pick the one that has stuck with me the most in the twelve years since it first aired: the next-to-last scene of the season. (By the way, this is going to be very spoilery, so if you’re intending on watching this on Netflix or DVD, wander elsewhere on the site)
The second season starts with the recovery from an assassination attempt at the end of the first that left the President’s Deputy Chief of Staff Josh Lyman (Bradley Whitford) and surrogate son fighting for his life from a gunshot wound. The season saw the slow unraveling of the President’s attempt to keep his multiple sclerosis from the public. It also saw him fighting with the possible consequences of running for re-election to his family, his health and to the office of the Presidency. As all this comes to a head in the season finale, the President’s beloved secretary, Mrs. Landingham, was killed by a drunk driver. A random, senseless, stupid loss and waste of life and even a President (a good one and a good man as written; one who had studied for the clergy before deciding on politics) can fall victim to shouting to the heavens. This one just did it by sealing the National Cathedral and losing it on the Almighty in Latin. It’s a powerful, benchmark scene for Martin Sheen’s President Bartlett and I’ll allow that it works a lot better in context, but for setting, tone and dramatic impact, this stands among the best scenes Sorkin has ever written.
We’ve all screamed at God. I don’t care if you don’t believe in Him. I don’t care what you might call “Him”. I don’t care if you want to lie about it. I just don’t. You’ve done it. You get to a place in your life where nothing is left but to throw your head back in anger and scream at the sky, “What the HELL are you doing to me?” Of course, that’s a very in-the-moment feeling. The President, later in the episode will hear Mrs. Landingham admonishing him for his behavior telling him, “God doesn’t cause cars to crash, stop using me as an excuse.” The West Wing never talked down to its audience, it challenged them to think; challenged them to sit in the seat where the decisions that make or take lives are made dozens of times a day and make their own call. It also showed that the people who sit in those chairs are human. That they can be good humans; decent humans; men and women dedicated to our nation and its welfare made it a hopeful case for our country. To be honest, I wish I lived in that one rather than the one we do.
Oh hell yeah. I LOVED the West Wing. Still do. I even have the coffee mug LOL I’m English – I live in the US now – and when I say I learnt a lot about American politics by watching WW, I’m not joking.
But yes, by far, this is *the* best scene of the series. Have you watched with the commentary on? Martin Sheen, being Catholic, was very uncomfortable with his lines in this scene… I believe – in Latin – he basically calls God a bastard. (Or does he say it in English? It’s been awhile.)
Love it.
I also love Josh’s Christmas episode where he deals with PTSD following the shooting at the end of season one – in particular, the scene at the end where Leo tells him the “man in the hole” story. I’ve actually used that in real life.
You simply can’t get better writing than the West Wing.
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…plus my last name is Bartlett…. slightly different spelling but a fine name for a President, all the same LOL
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Like I said there were a hundred scenes I can pick but this one stuck with me. He calls God a son of a bitch which yeah for a devout Catholic like Sheen is a big deal. But it’s a big deal for the character as well. The second season deconstructs him to the point where he turns to the place he always goes and finds nothing but confusion and rage. It’s so shocking because of Bartlet and his faith in which he’d always found solace. But it’s a part of the journey he takes in his faith as a President and I love that he conjures up Mrs. Landingham in the next scene basically to tell him he’s being an ass. The literal translation of the Latin portion is:
gratias tibi ago, domine.
Thank you, Lord.
haec credam a deo pio, a deo justo, a deo scito?
Am I to believe these things from a righteous god, a just god, a wise god?
cruciatus in crucem
To hell with your punishments! (literally “(put/send) punishments onto a cross”)
tuus in terra servus, nuntius fui; officium perfeci.
I was your servant, your messenger on the earth; I did my duty.
cruciatus in crucem — (with a dismissive wave of the hand)
eas in crucem
To hell with your punishments!
And to hell with you! (literally, “may you go to a cross”)”
It’s awesome you learned US government through this show ‘s lens. I wish it worked that we’ll in practice. Season one of The Newsroom is out a week from Tuesday and if you want to know if Sorkin still has it, go to YouTube and look up the first five minutes of the pilot.
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