Let Down

The West Wing

Only three episodes remain in this season of The West Wing, and after watching this week's episode on tape last night I was a little worried about how they're going to be handled. The tease for next week doesn't help:

RELIGION BECOMES A DOMINANT ISSUE WITH THE CANDIDATES - Vinick (Alan Alda) wins the Republican nomination for presidency and begins working on his campaign. He gets political advice from Bruno (Ron Silver) about choosing a vice president and how to deal with the latest controversy of Vinick's church attendance, or lack thereof. Meanwhile the Democrats are stuck in a three-way race for enough delegates to win the Democratic nominations; Russell (Gary Cole) barely leads Santos (Jimmy Smits) and Hoynes (Tim Matheson) is a distant third. Bartlet (Martin Sheen) tries to show unity in the party by wrangling the candidates. Also starring Allison Janney, Bradley Whitford, Joshua Malina, Janel Moloney.

First, this description is unrealistic. No one would win the Republican nomination without some churchgoing bona fides. Second, I smell a Josh fest. By imploding, Hoynes has turned himself into a kingmaker; I'm guessing his votes at the convention will be the ones that decide which candidate (and we all know it will be Santos) will get the nomination. And who has Hoynes known longer than anyone else? That would be Josh, who just happens to be the campaign manager for Santos. Will the outcome of the entire convention and election swing on Josh's charisma? Bet on it.

But how will Donna feel about this? She's working for Russell, getting her first real experience as a powerful gal. Is she going to land on her feet in the Santos campaign when this is all over? How will she feel about losing to Josh even though her campaign got more votes? Will they ever give in and admit they're in love?

At least any of these intrigues will be more interesting than this week's non-starter of an episode. Leo's little mission to Cuba, and the startlingly unrevealing reveal of him with Kate Harper back in 1995 at the episode's end, were almost boring. We were strung along for an hour, waiting to find out how Kate and Leo were connected, and it turns out to be another "Remember when Leo was a drunk?" moment. Thank goodness for the campaign episodes this season. The ones that focus on the White House are useful as mirrors on some of the characters--Margaret's little foibles and Debbie's exchanges with the President always tickle me, for instance--but the plots themselves have been pretty dull.