The West Wing: The Complete Seventh Season (2005) Review

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(More customer reviews)It wouuld be difficult for me to truly describe the wonderful shock that is The West Wing's final season. I, like so many, had given up on The West Wing when Aaron Sorkin left, wished the show cancelled during its atrocious 5th season, and, honestly, found the show an irritating fantasy during the Sorkin-helmed 4th season anyway. Something astonishing happens during "The Ticket," the season's first episode - you feel, in its incredible pacing, structure, and emotional understatement - that Aaron Sorkin has not only returned but has regained all of his abilities as a writer. That he is not at all involved with the show means that writers like Eli Attie and Deborah Cahn have finally gotten their work as writers to both revive the lightning-quick trademarks of The West Wing while also justifying the often-unswallowable plot maneuvers of its previous two seasons. It occurred to me during "Message of the Week," a nimble and thrilling episode, that campaign-trail politics had never been so accurately represented, if they'd truly ever been attempted at all. That means The West Wing had found a reason to exist again, and that sense invigorated all the stories it surrounded - the White House's "leak" story, or the regional conflict between Kazhakstan and China. And, in a winning surprise, it also revived its still extraordinary cast - Bradley Whitford especially turns the stress of campaigning into a frayed study of stress and exhaustion, and with Janeane Garofalo at his side, he finds a sparring partner of incredible energy. The two's chemistry makes the workplace seem as vital a beast as this White House ever seemed in its prime.

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The seventh season of the West Wing chronicles the transition between the administration of President Josiah 'Jed' Bartlet and the race for the new presidency between Congressman Mathew Vincente Santos of Houston, Texas and Senator Arnold Vinick of California. The season includes the live episode of "The Debate" and ends with a new administration in the West Wing.

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The West Wing: The Complete Fifth Season (2003) Review

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(More customer reviews)Of course Season 5 of The West Wing was different. Losing (or dropping) Aaron Sorkin was a major problem for the series as it was his vision and tone which had guided it through its first four sucessful seasons. However the backlash against the series from some fans was completely over the top. To them Sorkin could do no bad and John Wells & Co. could do no good.
There were problems in style at the start of the season. The main worry expressed by fans at the changeover was that the series would become soap opera and relationship based rather than content/issue driven. Instead the series went the complete other way and became far too heavy and dark, as if the writers needed to prove their dramatic creditenials. A lot of the wittiness and humour of the dialogue disappeared in the first couple of episodes as the new writers struggled to understand the characters and find a level that could be both funny and serious at the same time.
However from mid-season (around the execellent "Shutdown" episode) the series began to find its feet again and began to deliver episodes of quality some of which would have no problem with being matched against their Sorkin counterparts. In particular the standout "Supremes" episode is as good as the show had ever been.
By the end of the season a new level had been found. It may not have soared to some of the dizzying heights that the series had under Sorkin. There were still bad episodes but there had been bad episodes in earlier seasons. However The West Wing was still a damn sight better than practically any other television series around capable of being clever, funny, intriguing and thoughtprovoking at the same time.

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Follow the drama when the government is temporarily passed from a Democratic Administration to the Republican Speaker of the House, as President Bartlet copes with the kidnapping of his youngest daughter, Zoey.

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The West Wing: The Complete Sixth Season (2004) Review

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(More customer reviews). . . a far cry from the first four.
As has been much mentioned and debated in reviews at this website of the 5th season, all West Wing seasons after the first four (after which series creators Aaron Sorkin and Thomas Schlamme who had created the distinctive tone of the show were shown the exit by NBC) have to be considered as almost a completely different show. Even when thought of in this way, the 5th season was something of a disaster, both ratings-wise and creatively.
So this 6th season really had nowhere else to go but up. Yet, more than just going up, by mid-season the series started to hit a bit of a stride and find a new voice (whether you prefer it to the first four seasons is debatable -- personally I do not -- but at least it was watchable and good for what it was). This is the season in which the narrative of the show fractures, as most of the characters exit their original roles and take on new assignments. This includes C.J.'s unrealistic promotion from press secretary to Chief of Staff (quite an improvement for a character who didn't know what the census was for in the first season and is now the President's chief adviser on all policy issues), Josh leaving the White House to manage the presidential campaign of Rep. Matt Santos (unevenly played by Jimmy Smitts), Donna quitting the White House to work on the Vice-President's campaign, Toby doubling as press secretary, Charlie becoming a Special Assistant for C.J., and Leo becoming general wise man for the White House, with no real role except to recover from his heart attack.
The first part of the season deals with the Arab-Israeli peace talks and the aftermath of the death of Admiral Fitzwallace and Donna's injuries in the Gaza Strip. Concluding with a bitter fight between Leo and the President that leads to the aforementioned heart attack by Leo (a sadly prescient plot line given John Spencer's real life death last year from a heart attack) and C.J.'s elevation, this segment segues into the meat of the season, which is the Democratic Primary Season. While providing many interesting campaign episodes and plotlines as a result (an area the show didn't really explore as much when Bartlet ran for re-election), it also means that the amount of screen time for most characters is drastically reduced as the show rushes to cover so many different long-term plotlines. Moreover, the fragmented storytelling also de-emphasizes the West Wing part of "The West Wing," except mainly to do national security issues to give an excuse to include stories for the totally uninteresting character of Mary McCormack (involving Cuba and Castro and whatnot). Why they wasted so much screen time on her stories is beyond me. More interesting in her addition to the cast is Kristen Chenowith as Asst. Press Secretary Annabeth Schott, who becomes an even better character in Season 7.
The final part of the season deals with the Republican challenger, Senator Arnold Vinick (certainly the most interesting and complex character introduced in the post-Sorkin era and very appealingly played by Alan Alda) and ends with a chaotic Democratic Convention that leaves Leo as the surprise VP candidate to (surprise) Jimmy Smitt's character managed by Josh. The season also ends with a ripped from the headlines storyline involving the leak by a West Wing staffer of sensitive national security information . . . all leading to Season 7 -- the final season of the series and certainly the best season since the first 4.
Overall, the season isn't bad and has a narrative drive created by the election season that helps sustain interest even when individual plotlines fizzle here and there. While the dialogue is a pale ghost of what it was, some of the campaign situations are interesting to ponder and several bit campaign players acquit themselves nicely. If you're still buying West Wing DVDs at this point, then this season isn't a bad buy (certainly much more worthwhile than the previous season in which you swear your favorite characters are possessed by pod people) but Season 7 is really the season to wait to purchase.

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During Season Six, the presidential race is on, with Senator Arnold Vinick (Alan Alda) as the Republican frontrunner and a Matthew Santos (Jimmy Smits) vying for the hotly contested Democratic presidential nomination. DVD Features:Audio CommentaryDocumentaryFeaturetteInterviews

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