The West Wing: Seasons 3 & 4

For those who don’t know, I’ve been making up for lost time by racing through all seven seasons of The West Wing. Here’s my quick update on season three and four. I’ve been finding myself impressed with the casting and acting of The West Wing way more than the storyline themselves. Don’t get me wrong, I love the sharp dialogue and certain plots, but I have been finding the military actions as confusing as I assumed they would be.

Season three has been my least favourite of the four seasons I’ve seen so far, but it’s still heads and tails above a lot of television that was around at the time. I loved the revelation of Bartlet’s MS in season two but the trials were less interesting for me; and the Qumar situation only started getting interesting for me in season four. What I loved were the guest stars that appeared in season three. Oliver Platt as Babish continued to impress, especially in his dealings with the First Lady. Mark Harmon did a fine job as CJ’s secret service man. But the actress that was truly a delight to see was Mary-Louise Parker as Amy Gardner. Say what you will about Josh and Donna, but I love Amy more. Parker radiates on the screen and is wonderfully cute at keeping Josh befuddled. I am thrilled to still see her appearing in early episodes of season five. I can totally see why this actress was finally given her own series in the form of Weeds.

Season Four was great fun. Not only did it have some thrilling episodes like Batlet’s debate, the Air Force One trouble, Toby & Andy's pregnancy and Zoey’s kidnapping but it also brought the incomparable Joshua Malina as Will Bailey to The West Wing. I loved Malina work when he co-starred in Sports Night and I feel he has brought new life to The West Wing cast. To be perfectly honest, I really didn’t find myself missing Rob Lowe all that much. Season four also had its share of great guest stars like John Goodman as Speaker of the House Walken, Lily Tomlin as the new secretary and Matthew Perry as Joe Quincy the new lawyer replacing Ainsley. After seeing a bunch of Studio 60 episodes (picked up for the full season by the way, woo hoo), it was great fun to see Perry and Whitford have some one-on-one conversations. I think what impresses me most with the cast of West Wing is that they bring people back to make the show more credible. The fact that they can get Tim Matheson as VP Hoynes to appear in the background during the debate or have Harry Groener return as the Minister of Agriculture for only one line commenting on Walken getting sworn in, is a testament to the production in their efforts to make this presidential life seem real.

I’m wary about watching the upcoming Sorkin-less seasons but onto season five I go.