In the Room

Name: In the Room
Genre: Drama
Released: 2004-12-08
Duration: 43 min
Rating: 8.2

Episode aired Dec 8, 2004
TV-14
43m

IMDb RATING

8.2/10

764

YOUR RATING

Penn Jillette and Teller in The West Wing (1999)

Drama

At a Bartlet family birthday, magicians Penn and Teller burn the American flag in the White House, prompting a publicity nightmare. Aboard Air Force One, Bartlet is stricken by a paralyzing ... Read allAt a Bartlet family birthday, magicians Penn and Teller burn the American flag in the White House, prompting a publicity nightmare. Aboard Air Force One, Bartlet is stricken by a paralyzing episode of his multiple sclerosis.At a Bartlet family birthday, magicians Penn and Teller burn the American flag in the White House, prompting a publicity nightmare. Aboard Air Force One, Bartlet is stricken by a paralyzing episode of his multiple sclerosis.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

8.2/10

764

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

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User reviews2

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Featured reviews

9Sonatine97

We've Got No One Who Can Beat Him!

This ranks as one of my favourite episodes for the rather uneven season 6. And what makes it special is the arrival of Senator Arnold Vinick as the presumptive Republican presidential candidate.

Unlike the presidential campaign in season 3, where the Republican candidate (the right-wing Richie) was barely seen, seasons 6 & 7 change all that by giving some respectable airtime for the feared/revered Vinick character.

The writers also made the senator as a far more appealing moderate conservative, which only makes him far more dangerous in the eyes of the White House, especially when Leo tells Josh how Vinick has such a broad appeal when on the lecture circuit that he could bring in wavering Democrats during the campaign, especially since their own candidates - VP Russell and untrustworthy Hoynes - are not particularly likable and certainly don't have the same intellectual gravitas as Vinick or Bartlet.

Alan Alda, was a great choice as Vinick - tall, imposing, fatherly, self-aware and barely any malice in his observations of the Democratic party. So it was a pleasure to watch Leo & Josh visibly unsettled at how they were going to confront and challenge Vinick should he win the candidacy for the Republicans, and go on to challenge in the presidential campaign.

Trivia
In one of their most thoughtful and politically charged tricks, Penn and Teller (Penn Jillette) make a U.S. flag seem to disappear by wrapping it in a copy of the United States Bill of Rights, and apparently setting the flag on fire, so that "the flag is gone but the Bill of Rights remains." In the episode, the flag remains missing, unlike in the stage version. Penn is quick to point out that, as seen in their stage show, the flag-burning routine "is astonishingly patriotic." It includes his observations about the greatness of being able to perform such a trick in a free country, proceeding to do the same trick but with the "Chinese Bill of Rights" - a sheet of cellophane - and turning around to show what happens to the flag, and finally, the flag not only reappears unscathed, but "up on the flag pole where it started, waving in the breeze."

Goofs
While Vinick is shining his shoes, he remarks that his committee would hold a hearing into "Margrudien" which was reference to "Chad Margrudien" who was fired from his job as advance man for the Vice President back in Season 1 ("Take Out the Trash Day"), which happened five years prior.

Quotes
Leo McGarry: [to Josh on Arnie Vinick running for President] You ever see Arnie Vinick campaign up close? He'll go into those high school gymnasiums in Iowa and New Hampshire and blow them all away. He'll shake every hand in the joint, kiss every baby, hug every widow on Social Security, and sound smarter and more honest than any Republican they've ever seen. Because he is.