TV Review: The West Wing, Season 3

(My reviews of seasons one and two can be found here and here.)

The third season of The West Wing provides perfect examples of the shows strengths as well as its weaknesses. The writing is as engaging as ever, the performances are never less than three dimensional and the directing maintains - in many instances surpasses - the cinematic style it had established in the first two seasons.

Where the third season falls down is simply in being hamstrung by the realities of weekly television production. The absence of certain characters is conspicuous; Admiral Fitzwallace (John Amos), for example, after being a huge presence in the first two years of the show is absent from all but the last few episodes of the third, despite being referred to constantly. Other characters enter scenes to deliver information and have interactions that feel like they should be Fitzwallace scenes, and its hard not to think that his absence is due to a practicality (actor unavailability? Salary dispute? Disappearing to sleep with an Argentinian woman?) rather than a creative reason.

This isn't unusual for television, or even for the West Wing - a season two episode introduces us to Seth Gillette (played by Ed Begley Jr),a rival politican and antagonist for Toby, who is only ever in one scene (that seems to exist solely to set up his character) but referred to frequently, and that can't be intentional - but it is disappointing. When a television show is well crafted enough to completely envelop us in a fictional world and have us believe in it as much as our real world, as The West Wing is, those moments that make the viewer aware of the reality behind the show can ruin that immersive experience. Nobody wants to know how the magician performs his tricks. Or, to paraphrase a metaphor the show itself uses more than once; Nobody wants to know how the sausage is made.

Season 3 also starts slowly. The early episodes, while never being bad (The West Wing doesn't produce a bad episode until season 5, merely some that aren't quite as good as others), lack the pace and playfulness of which the show is more than capable.

Those disappointments aside, season 3 presents to us some of the finest writing of the show's seven-year run. This season, more than the first two, explores the character of President Josiah Bartlet, and exactly what it takes for him to run for - and then succeed at - the presidency. At times early in the show's run, the show occasionally makes it seem that the senior staff are the ones who got the president elected, and he's just a kindly old man that they propped up onto the world stage. Season three goes deeper than that, and the question of whether Bartlet can succeed at running for a second term comes down to whether he can reconcile the two halves of his personality; the lovable, folksy old uncle and the aggressive and formidable world class intellect.

It is this conflict which defines the season and informs its central arc. It is perfectly defined in episode 12, "The Two Bartlets", in which Toby confronts Bartlet, articulating Bartlet's inner conflict in a way that no character has before. The climactic scene between the two, in which Toby suggests that Bartlet masks his intellect with a less threatening demeanour because his father resented his intelligence, is powerful stuff as written but is elevated to the level of greatness by the performances of Richard Schiff and Martin Sheen.

Everything in season 3 from that scene onwards is richer and deeper for it having occurred, as we have a much greater insight of who Bartlet is and what it takes for him to put everything on the line and run for office.

Season 3 is also notable for how it maintains and builds upon the show's strong roster of recurring characters. An interesting contrast that exists in the show's casting is that while its regular cast is predominantly male, its most memorable recurring players are the females (think of Joey Lucas, or Ainsley Hayes). Season 3 contains perhaps the best example of this in Amy Gardiner, played by Mary-Louise Parker. Amy is initially introduced as a romantic foil for Josh, but the character's sexiness, staunch idealism and deadpan sense of humour, brought to life by Parker's consistently engaging performance, quickly make her a vital part of the show's chemistry.

It's also worth noting that the last batch of Season 3 episodes contain one of the show's most memorable male supporting players; Agent Simon Donovan, played by Mark Harmon. Donovan, a secret service agent assigned to Press Secretary CJ Cregg after she starts receiving death threats, provides the show with one of its most romantic and heartbreaking story arcs.

These last few episodes of the season also deal with a moral ambiguity not present - or at least not present to the same degree - earlier in the show's run, when Bartlet is faced with the decision of whether or not to assassinate a foreign national who is threatening American lives. He knows, as does the audience, that to do so is to cross a line that cannot be uncrossed.

The entire season feels like it is building to this storyline. It's this storyline which crystallises the some of the show's pet themes; that there's not always an easy answer. That sometimes doing the right thing feels like the wrong thing, and the line between the two is forever getting murkier. Stan Lee made it a cliche to say that With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility, but its never felt truer than when watching the last few episodes of The West Wing season 3. After these episodes the show feels a little bit darker and a little bit more mature, but while the characters sacrified some of their beliefs, they never once sacrificed their commitment.

The West Wing grew up quite a bit in Season 3. And its all the richer for it.