S1.E6

Mr. Willis of Ohio

Name: Mr. Willis of Ohio
Genre: Drama
Released: 1999-11-03
Duration: 44 min
Rating: 8.6
Cast: Rob Lowe, Moira Kelly, Dulé Hill

Episode aired Nov 3, 1999
TV-14
44m

IMDb RATING

8.6/10

1.6K

YOUR RATING

Martin Sheen, Moira Kelly, Richard Schiff, and Bradley Whitford in The West Wing (1999)

Drama

In the first of several episodes throughout the series' run that portrays ordinary Americans and how they interact with and ultimately affect the W.H., an Ohio middle school social studies t... Read allIn the first of several episodes throughout the series' run that portrays ordinary Americans and how they interact with and ultimately affect the W.H., an Ohio middle school social studies teacher, a widower who has recently filled the brief remaining term of his late wife in the... Read allIn the first of several episodes throughout the series' run that portrays ordinary Americans and how they interact with and ultimately affect the W.H., an Ohio middle school social studies teacher, a widower who has recently filled the brief remaining term of his late wife in the House, joins two other reps to meet with Toby and Mandy about changes to unfair rules in ... Read all

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

8.6/10

1.6K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Photos3

User reviews5

8.61.5K

Featured reviews

lor_

Just the right tone

Sorkin amazingly keeps the tone mainly light, but shows how to zero in on fundamentally important issues, all while centering his show on the characters' deep humanity. This juggling act is truly amazing, and a secret to his series' success.

Title refers to an understated but warm little performance by Al Fann as a substitute Ohio congressman (filling in after the death of his wife), who votes on principle regarding a troublesome amendment that could hold up a key House appropriations bill. Toby goes through a clever and tricky argument to try and get the votes, but is shocked when Mr. Willis is won over on principle, not the expected partisan politics or some special pleading. Fann brings true heart to the scene and the episode, and it's nice to know that the unsung actor is from Cleveland in real life (my home town).

Elisabeth Moss shines in the other key plotline here, as it's brought home dramatically how her protection as the prexy's daughter is no trivial matter but one of actual national security. Sheen gets to make an agitated, over the top speech to her on just that fact -brilliantly writtten and even better in his delivery.

All this plus a true sense of camaraderie among the White House staff members, as symbolized by their tongue-in-cheek banter during the poker games with the president that bookend the episode.

10Hitchcoc

So Touching/So Frightening

There is a lot here, including a bar scene where the President's daughter gets accosted by a group of racist students and has to be rescued. Before that we see a vote on the census and reapportionment. The hero is a man named Willis who is filling his late wife's seat in Congress. It is a touching scene as he butts heads with his colleagues.

10bkvalsvik

Why don't we have a president like Martin sheen?

A startling start of the episode.

A monetary discussion about sorta everything.

And the wrongful unsuccessful attack at Zoey.

But the highlight of of the episode is Mr Willis of Ohio.

Talk about stamina.

He was just there by default. But ended up being the serious spokesman for the black divide and in a way that really blowed my mind.

A serious steadfast supporter for civil rights and wow the way he did his argument. Surely there were discrepancies in the way those votes were counted but the way Mr Willis pointed this out in his humble way really made me think. And think hard. Of course he was right and hopefully his views will have some future impact.

Trivia
Mr. Willis has replaced his deceased wife in Congress as part of a real life practice called widow's succession. Although rare in modern times, this has occurred regularly in the early 20th century. Only members of the Senate are appointed in such circumstances; members of the House of Representatives stand for a special election.

Goofs
Charlie tells one of the men in the bar that, to buy 19-year-old Zoey a drink, "you'd have to take her to Maryland". The legal drinking age in Maryland has been 21 since 1982.

Quotes
[the President's daughter chafes at her Secret Service protection]
President Josiah Bartlet: My getting killed would be bad enough, but that is not the nightmare scenario. The nightmare scenario, sweetheart, is *you* getting kidnapped. You go out to a bar or a party in some club and you get up to go to the restroom and somebody comes from behind and puts their hand across your mouth and whisks you out the back door. You're so petrified you don't even notice the bodies of a few Secret Service agents lying on the ground with bullet holes in their heads. Then you're whisked away in a car. It's a big party with lots of noise and lots of people coming and going, and it's a half hour before someone says, "Hey, where's Zoey?" Another fifteen minutes before the first phone call. It's another hour and a half before anyone even *thinks* to shut down all the airports. Now we're off to the races. You're tied to a chair in a cargo shack somewhere in the middle of Uganda and I am told that I have 72 hours to get Israel to free 460 terrorist prisoners. So I'm on the phone pleading with Be Yabin and he's saying: "I'm sorry, Mr. President, but Israel simply does not negotiate with terrorists, period. It's the only way we can survive." So now we got a new problem because this country no longer has a Commander-in-chief, it has a father who's out of his mind because his little girl is in a shack somewhere in Uganda with a gun to her head. Do you get it?
Zoey Bartlet: Yes.