Two Cathedrals

Every time I watch the show and I get to see this magnificent hour, goosebumps run all over my body. The show never got any better than this (though keeping a superb level). "Brothers in arms" closes a masterpiece of TV that should be witness by everybody.

Of the whole series, all seven seasons of it, this is the one that stands out from the crowd. West Wing was always about great storytelling, Aaron Sorkin is one of the most intelligent story writers out there, and here, at the end of a season, he gets to show all his prowess. All episodes that comes before this one had been building up to this crescendo, and what a final it is! Everything about this episode, everything, is perfection. Pacing, mood, camera, dialog, music, even the weather is perfect. All the characters do exactly what is needed. It is like watching a great opera unfold. It is, in a word, Perfect!

I have watched a lot of series in my days. I mention this, not that it will give me any credibility since you do not know me, because I think I have some knowledge about what woks and what does not. There are a few series out there that have that special Something.... 'The Wire', 'House', Boardwalk Empire, '24' to some extent, 'Six Feet Under', 'Dexter', 'American Horror Story', all those had something that aspired to be Great, but nothing comes close to West Wing.

Is this the Best Episode Ever! fro0m the West Wing? Well, it sure does come really close.

Is it the Best Episode Ever, any category? It might just be actually.

West Wing had a lot going for it, no matter what political persuasion you belong to (I am not American, just a Swede). Great writing, great characters, engaging stories, fantastic camera-work, and seriously good music and audio.

I HAVE to give this 10/10.

Do NOT watch this episode as a Stand Alone! See all the episodes that comes before this and you will find this one so much more rewarding.

I recently rewatched the first season of this show because it had been many years since I last did and from memory the first season was the only one I had wholly seen as the rest of the show was used to launch Channel 4's new digital service (all those years ago) and I couldn't get that channel at that time. I dipped in and out of it later but never really got back into it but my memory of the show was the same as generally accepted wisdom that it is one of the great shows. So, I was a little surprised then to find that the first season was actually a very simplistic show that never missed a chance to throw on uplifting music and a soft focus to have a character proclaim the rightness of their liberal politics while everyone else looked on misty-eyed with inspiration. Sure it had energy, wit and intelligence in there too, but my overwhelming impression of the show was that it was painfully smug – and I say this as one who shares my political views with it!

I wasn't even sure I would bother with the second season but I did and in fairness it did get significantly better very quickly. The shooting is a very simple affair and it was a bit disappointing to see that it was clearly just an end of season device to get viewers to return. It takes up a few episodes and has a bit of a lingering effect on some characters but generally it is not well used. Fortunately the show does get settled once this is out of the way and this season sees much better plots and scenarios thanks to the introduction of a bit of balance in the writing. I say "a bit" because there is no point in pretending that the show doesn't continue to lean very much to the left but at least we get to see these views having to be compromised, get to see the politics of politics a bit more and also have some decent non-liberal characters in there – it went from 100% to a "balance" of 70/30, which is still an improvement.

As a result of this shift away from total wish-fulfillment self-love, the general sense of smugness is greatly reduced and the show becomes much more palatable and engaging as it seems more interest in telling stories rather than pushing an agenda. I'm not naïve enough to suggest that the agenda has gone away – just that the writing has improved to make it less obviously the reason behind lines and characters' actions. The cast benefit from this despite essentially doing the same performances as before. Sheen benefits from this the most and his "kindly grandfather" now has more meat on it for him to work with. Likewise Janney, Spencer, Lowe, Whitford and others benefit from still having the same slick banter and movement but also having a little bit more substance behind these words. It is telling though that the best episodes in the season tend to be the ones where the main characters are forced to compromise or are shown to be wrong – I guess even the actors tire of staring off into the heroic distance.

Season 2 doesn't change enough to win over those who are totally against the agenda and politics that runs though this show like a stick of rock, but it does change enough to become a better show. The improvement in balancing to a certain degree really reduces the smugness of the show and allows for more interesting exchanges, scenarios and plot threads. Not perfect but a lot better than the first season and I have no doubts this time that I'll follow it into the third season, with the hope that the direction in this second season can be continued.

A thing I've learned about "The West Wing" is that it never goes in the direction that you'd think. I had a completely different vision of this season in my head after the first finale, thinking that it'd tackle vastly different issues that it actually took up. This last half of the season has mostly been about President Bartlet and his disease, with the secret he hoped to keep beginning to spin out of control and landing in the minds of a lot of unintended parties. In the previous episode, it began to really come to a climax as the staff decided to leak the news and hold a press conference where the President himself would disclose the illness. Then, the episode ended with the tragic death of Mrs. Landingham, who had been killed in a vehicular collision while driving to the White House. A lot of things happen to bring Bartlet to a place of complete ruin. There's not a lot that's keeping his presidency together, and with this last episode, a lot of things could have been done to finish up the storyline. And in many ways, it does, but it also spends a lot of time preparing you for what's to come. This episode is definitely one of the best episodes of the show, and one of the best examples of great writing that I've seen in a TV show for a long time. It's hard not to find yourself on the edge of the seat throughout the whole thing, anticipating everything.

There are a lot of storylines to handle in this episode, and if anyone less talented than Aaron Sorkin had been doing this, I'm not sure that they'd have been able to navigate the audience through the episode with such clarity. There are certain things that are being pushed to the sideline to make room for the emotional pull, and without even realizing it, you'll quickly forget everything that isn't related to what the episode conveys to you. The show is built in such a smart way that any storyline can be picked up again, and this episode uses that.

They've never held away from the dramatic elements in this show, and despite its humor, it's so steeped in reality that it can't help but become emotional. The entire service for Mrs. Landingham was beautifully executed and will surely have fans of the show in tears. If that's not going to do the job, then a following scene where Bartlet goes off on God inside the cathedral will get them. They'll at least cheer when Bartlet pulls a boss move at the end and gives a metaphorical middle finger to the man in the sky, leaving me satisfied and pumped.

Sorkin is also good at leaving you frustrated, because he sets a lot of stuff up that he decides not to give to the audience. The ending scene of this episode left me really ecstatic and annoyed, despite the fact that I know what's going to proceed it. He's so good at leaving the audience in a state of wanting more and not feeding them everything. And while that is a bit of a drag sometimes (just go back to the first season's finale), he makes it work very well, especially in this episode, with a little smile and nod.

As always, the acting in this show transcends a lot of other shows of the time. Martin Sheen, especially, has been consistently great as Bartlet, and this episode does serve as his magnum opus as the character. The church scene alone brings a lot of emotions out in him that we've only seen the surface of in other episodes, while a scene towards the end with an old friend shows his ability to restrain himself. I'm not sure how he does it, but Sheen is truly one of those actors who can be everywhere on the spectrum all at once.

"Two Cathedrals" was an emotional rollercoaster and an episode that shows the power of writing, especially when its someone like Aaron Sorkin doing the writing. It takes President Bartlet on the ride of his lifetime and puts him in front of the tough answers, ending the season on a satisfying and really anticipated final note.

Simply, the best thing ever on tv. There isn't really anything close. Perfect in every way.