The West Wing Revisited: E-Mo-Tion
Welcome back to Kheiro Magazine’s West Wing recaps, where nuclear war is back on the table
I’m not going to lie, gang. There’s a lot with which to contend in this ep (S1E11, “Lord John Marbury”). We’ve got your standard-issue devaluing of CJ, but also a decidedly dicey geopolitical A story, and vindictive partisan politics all over the place. And don’t get me started on the president of the United States repeatedly threatening to throw his daughter in a dungeon. Sure, he doesn’t have a dungeon, but it’s still not a great sentiment. And in the intervening years between when this episode ran and today, we’ve become all too aware of the president’s ability to detain people indefinitely in dungeon-esque locales. “Lord John Marbury” is so pre-9/11 it’s painful. Let’s dig in.
India and Pakistan are beefing. India has just crossed into the neutral zone of Kashmir, and Pakistan is looking to show strength against the incursion. This is something India and Pakistan have done in the past and will most likely continue to do for the foreseeable future. Both countries are capable of going nuclear, and the threat of mutually assured destruction looms heavily over the episode. The boys in the situation room kick into high gear, and Sam is chagrined to find out that Jed has yet to appoint an ambassador to Pakistan. (Pres. Donald Trump has left more than half of the State Department’s top-level appointments unfilled, as of October. This includes the ambassador to South Korea. You know, that place next to the place we’re scared is going to nuke us?)
Everyone gathers in the Oval Office to discuss our coming nuclear annihilation: Prezzie B, Leo, Josh, Sam, Toby. Everybody. Except CJ. The boys make a point of leaving her out of the loop. At her last briefing of the day, CJ is asked about India and Pakistan, and she flatly denies that anything is going on. Then the next day Leo tells her, and poor CJ has to backtrack with the press pool and look like a schmegegge. Why do they wait 10 hours to tell her about India and Pakistan going to war? Because she went to dinner with Danny. Once.
Toby: There is a concern that you’re too friendly with the press.
CJ: Really.
Toby: We know it’s important that you have a friendly relationship with them-
CJ: It’s important for all of us.
Toby: I don’t disagree.
CJ: Does this have to do with Danny Concannon?
Toby: People see you with Danny.
CJ: This is outrageous.
Toby: This is one time, and if we erred, it’s on the side of trying to-
CJ: You sent me in there uninformed so that I’d lie to the press-
Toby: We sent you in there uninformed because we thought there was a chance you couldn’t.
Toby believes that CJ’s personal life may interfere with her ability to do her job. She can’t be a professional because of her feelings. Take note of that.
Meanwhile, Josh got served.
“Freedom Watch” is subpoenaing him under the Freedom of Information Act for any papers relating to that “WH high AF” investigation. Josh’s interrogator is yet another straw-conservative from the Foghorn Leghorn School of Southern Acting. He knows about Leo’s rehab stint. Josh knows he knows. He knows Josh knows he knows. But
It’s a dangerous game of cat and mouse they play, where Foghorn asks Josh who’s on drugs and Josh tells him to cram it with walnuts.
Josh is being deposed for two days. On the first day, he goes alone. On the second, he takes Sam, which is good because one the second day Josh does this:
lost his temper with the right. Much of the pilot focused on whether or not Josh would be fired for mouthing off on TV. And again, CJ is the one who’s too emotional to be professional.
Back to dungeon talk: Zoey asks Charlie out on a date. Charlie asks Bartlet for permission/a night off. Bartlet says no and blames his reluctance to let Charlie date Zoey on the crisis in Kashmir. OK.
Leo: Got a racial problem?
Bartlet: A racial problem?
Leo: It’s okay to admit it.
Bartlet: I don’t!
Leo: Okay.
Bartlet: I don’t have a racial problem.
Leo: Okay.
Bartlet: I’m Spencer Tracy at the end of “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.”
Leo: Okay.
Bartlet: Racial problem!
Leo: I’m just saying…
Bartlet: My problem is not that she’s white, he’s black, it’s that she’s a girl and he’s not. To say nothing of he’s older than she is.
Leo: She’s 19. He’s 21.
Bartlet: Yeah, but a guy learns a lot in those two years.
Leo: Okay.
Bartlet: Tracy was good in that movie.
If your only frame of reference for an interracial couple is Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, you have a racial problem. It’s not the worst racial problem to have, but it’s still a problem.
Bartlet calls in his wacky college friend, Lord John Marbury, to deal with Kashmir. Leo objects.
Leo: You’re really gonna let him loose in the White House, where there’s liquor and women?
Bartlet: We can hide the women. But the man deserves a drink.
WE CAN HIDE THE WOMEN?!?!? Nothing has changed, nothing will ever change. Time is a flat, inappropriate circle.
Possible predator status aside, it’s a ballsy move to bring in a British guy to broker a peace between India and Pakistan. Does Lord Marbury know how to fix it because his dad was the one who broke it? At least he understands the central conflict:
Happily ensconced in the cocoon of your Cold War victory, you are woefully ignorant of the powerful historical agents in Asia. The global triumph of the economic free market has created an illusory assumption that the world is drawing itself closer together. Your Congress has been pathetically inept at halting the proliferation of nuclear weapons in this region, and your intelligence gathering is weak. India and Pakistan have fought three wars in the half-century since they have gained their independence, with God knows how many skirmishes in between. It is about religion.
Weak intelligence gathering, the facade of the free market, and an ignorance of how deeply religion impacts people all over the world. These are very real problems that came to a head in the 21st century. Sorkin saw it coming. We have to give him credit for that. But not for anything else. And that’s fine.
What’s Next: The State of the Union (hint: it’s not great!)
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