Thursday, April 07, 2005

Stop Short

Nikko Smith Voted Off 'American Idol'

Last night proved that I cannot predict the will of the people or the writers of The West Wing. Who'd have thought Vonzell would be in the bottom three while Anthony sat comfortably in the safe zone, even as he admitted his performance was as hideous as Simon Cowell said it was? And who'd have thought Scott would beat the rap of his bad singing and colored past and outpoll Nikko, whose voice may lack a certain something but who at least puts on a show?

At this point, with eight finalists left, I think it should be noted that only Bo, Carrie, and Constantine have escaped being in the bottom three. Whether this means they'll end up in the top three remains to be seen, but it certainly gives them a leg up for now. A Bo-Constantine finale actually looks possible, but let's all hope it doesn't happen, OK?

As for WW, who could have predicted that Leo would be the Democratic nominee for VP? Yes, Matt Santos has had this presidential nomination in the bag since the day Jimmy Smits joined the cast, but John Spencer looked like he was on his way to a nice retirement, not another four years in the White House.

It's a cute move, but I don't think it's going to last: There's got to be campaign drama, and Leo having to leave the ticket for health reasons or some such nonsense would spice up the months between the season premiere and the November election. If Leo does stick around, he'll be one of the chosen. It looks like C.J.'s headed to prison (and off the show) for leaking info about the secret shuttle--how will that be handled next season? What will Toby do about it? Leave the show, one way or another, is my guess.

The writers certainly have plenty of storylines to close before January. Is Charlie really going to marry Zoe? (A lame duck White House wedding would make a nice Christmas episode for the show.) What role will Donna and Will have in the Santos campaign, and in a potential Santos White House? Will Josh and Donna EVER talk about their feelings for one another?

To find out the answers to those questions and more, I'll be back watching next season. Will I stick with the show post-Bartlet? I'd like to say no, but if Santos wins, and Josh is his chief of staff, and the Donna plotline hasn't been resolved, I'd have a hard time tuning the show out. In a world that will be free of Six Feet Under, Queer as Folk, and, soon, The Sopranos, I suppose I should be happy if the show keeps coming back for more and I'm left with more than The O.C. to watch.

2 comments:

Zaki said...

How awesome has this show been lately? It seems like it's finally found its post-Sorkin step. I was struck last night by the fact that I wouldn't mind either of the two candidates winning, Santos or Vinick, and certainly would prefer Vinick to the the real-life Republican alternatives we're presented with. Here's a WW related blog entry I did recently:

http://zakiscorner.blogspot.com/2005/04/west-wing-declares-war-on-god.html

Richard said...

I agree with you, Zaki--Vinick would be better than any of the real Republicans and some of the Democrats. The speech he gave about religion, which you referenced on your blog, was inspiring to me. (I may have started clapping when he finished.)

And yes, the show has found a bit of a stride, although it's still not the thing of lyric beauty that it was in the beginning. The plots are working much better than they were during season five, but the writing will probably never equal the incredible--and, at the time, ground-breaking--hallway banter and crosstalk that made the first few seasons breathtaking to watch and hear.