“The West Wing” hit another new low in its already wretched season last night; I guess if I weren’t such a political junkie I might have to stop watching it altogether. The show has had bad episodes before, but never one with a premise so ridiculously, utterly implausible.
Some background- the show devoted a whole episode (during sweeps, and guest-starring Matthew Perry!) last fall to the case of the current chief justice of the Supreme Court, an 80-something Brennan-like paleolib who refused to step down from the bench despite his failing health. It was never mentioned again until the episode before last, when we found out that a justice had passed away- not the 80-year-old, but rather a younger, Scalia-like conservative who had a heart attack.
This week’s show began with the staff scrambling to come up with a nominee, with the president at one point interviewing a circuit court judge played by the guy who was Coach Cutlip on “The Wonder Years” (always nice to see him get work, even though I don’t know his name). The staff wants to nominate a liberal judge (Glenn Close) but is afraid she she’s too lefty to be confirmed, especially since she once struck down a parental-consent law, and (horror of horrors of all) also had an abortion herself. No word on whether her screenname is partialbirth20@hotmail.com.
Anyway, it goes on like this until Josh comes up with a compromise: they persuade the old liberal chief justice to step down, leaving two vacancies, allow the Republicans to pick a “strict constructionist” (William Fichtner) to replace the conservative who died, and then nominate the star of “Fatal Attraction” as the first female chief justice. Which is, of course, exactly what happens.
So for us to believe this scenario, we have to suspend our disbelief on just a few minor points:
1) That the Republicans would allow a woman who had had an abortion to become chief justice of the Supreme Court. I mean, what would Sean Hannity say if that happened?
2) That a Democratic president would be willing to appoint an ultraconservative to the the court, rather than filling the two vacancies with two liberals.
3) That such a deal could be struck before any hearings could be held, thus circumventing the constitution and allowing easy passage to two judges on the fringes of their parties. And, worst of all,
4) That the 80-year-old liberal justice, whose refusal to resign from the court was the subject of an entire episode just three months ago, would accede to the above plan after a 15-second conversation, even though it resulted in the elevation to the court of a Scalia clone who looks like he’s about 35 years old.
Other than that, good episode. I never thought I’d say this, but I want Aaron Sorkin back.
Posted by Stephen Silver at March 25, 2004 01:59 PMRobert Picardo, who also played the mildly annoying "Emergency Medical Hologram" on Star Trek: Voyager.
I liked the interaction between Fichtner and Glenn Close, but there is no way these two would ever get on the court.
Posted by: Bill McCabe at March 25, 2004 10:32 PMThis is a television show--a television show wherein a man who never graduated from high school(Martin Sheen)plays a president who is apparently the font of all knowledge. The show has become a soap opera short on substantive ideas. Any attempt to examine its plots for accuracy or realism is an act of futility. That it has been said by many to resemble the Clinton White House is a charge worse than any Ken Starr could devise, and truly frightening if at all accurate.
Posted by: DBrooks at March 27, 2004 01:09 AM