I'll start this review with a necessary disclaimer: I don't like Aaron Sorkin dialogue all that much. I'm not really a fan of the style personally. I couldn't pinpoint exactly what it is that annoys me: the overly fast talking, the constant repeating of words, and the nearly always moving camera. I guess I don't mind the fast talking really: I mean I've never seen people talk so fast in my life, but given the setting I can accept that. The camera usually works and is creative, although sometimes I consider it a bit of a distraction.
There's something about how he constantly has characters saying something, the opposing character repeating that line, and then the original character repeating it back and so on in some cases. Who does that? It probably wouldn't bother me as much if he didn't use it - oh - every single episode. I'm not even sure I'm exaggerating. So anyway, I felt it necessary to point out that I'm not really an Aaron Sorkin fan.
I feel the same way about The West Wing's first season as I did about Sports Night: a weird state of neither disliking a show or really liking it that much. Both shows had great casts and good writing that I nonetheless had to struggle to watch. It's not that I disliked the episodes - I just had very little desire to watch a new episode. At the end of the episode, I'd leave pleased, but not overly so and with little desire to watch the next one.
Even as I say that, I can also say there is not a single bad episode in the first season. I would argue the show didn't really surpass it's B+ to B range - and I'm positive people would disagree with me on this - until the latter half of the season. On episode nineteen, I was slightly converted to this show and every successive episode seem to build on that. The finale had a hell of a twist and I could leave the first season optimistic as I've ever been about the show.
The West Wing is both made for me and not made for me at all. In terms of politics, I probably hold every viewpoint that the Bartlett administration does. However, I'm also not into politics. I'm not apathetic, but averse to politics in general. I can't honestly follow along if I don't believe a word anybody is trying to sell me. So what I'm saying is that I'm not passionate about politics which seems to be helpful in loving this show.
You're probably wondering why I kept watching the show if I couldn't muster up any feelings about it for the longest time. The answer is simple: the cast is phenomenal. It's difficult to single out any one performer as pretty much all of them are fantastic. Bradley Whitford is probably the break-out star of the first season. But that's being a little unfair to Rob Lowe, who basically reinvented his career with The West Wing... but that's being unfair to Martin Sheen and well you get the idea.
Don't think I forgot about John Spencer or Allison Janney, who both create fully-formed sympathetic character. Richard Schiff is sort of underrated among this cast as his character first appears one-note, but soon becomes an actual character. Lest I forget, Dule Hill is extremely underutilized, but when he does get a noteworthy scene, he knocks it out of the park. (I'm a Psych fan so perhaps I'm biased on this one)
The one exception to this wonderful cast is Moira Kelly, who I'm not sure is to blame. She's poorly written at first, then underwritten, and by the end basically disappears. Sorkin has a lot of strengths as a writer, but writing women is not one of them. Speaking of which, by far my least favorite part of this show is the potential, hinted, or actual romances. Sorkin is TERRIBLE at writing those scenes. I'm probably alone on this, but I don't like the hinting of a potential relationship between Josh and Donna. But since it's really obvious it's going to happen, I guess I better just deal with it or hope it gets better.
Lastly, for those of you wondering, I did happen to continue onto the next season for just the two-parter and if that episode is any indication, the second season will get a way better outlook from myself. Because that episode is the best in the show's run so far in my viewing.
I'll preemptively explain my grade and say that my feelings toward the first eighteen episodes would warrant a C+, but I'd push that up to a B purely because of the acting and writing. The last four episodes naturally elevated that grade. Which is to say that this was an above average season of television that took a little longer than normal to click for me.
Grade - B+
Playlist
1. "14th of July" - Shout Out Louds
2. "Hunger of the Pine" - alt-J
3. "Get Me Golden" - Terraplane Sun
4. "Astronomy (8th Light)" - Black Star
5. "She Bad" - Bad Rabbits
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