Even with a Bush in the White House there has been a beacon of hope for liberal TV viewers in the shape of President Bartlett (Martin Sheen), the safe, paternal Democrat ruling the seductively fast-paced, fictional West Wing. Alas, even writers must observe the maximum term requirements of American politics and so the final season sees us in the midst of a wide-open presidential race between right leaning marine reservist Democrat Matt Santos (Jimmy Smits) and moderate pro-choice republican Arnold Vinick (Alan Alda).
Whilst the West Wing has always been very highly regarded for its fast paced, socially conscious dialogue it has slightly lost it's way since creator Aaron Sorkin left the show 3 years ago. The show still has a great deal of charm and humour along with some terrific actors both in the permanent cast (most of which are unchanged from Season 1) including Sheen, Stockard Channing, Alison Janney, Marlee Matlin, and John Spencer and this season's endless rotation of election related guest and recurring actors.
Season 7 is a curious beast in many ways. Rather than centering the activities in the West Wing, (with the notable exceptions of the investigations into a security leak over a secret military space shuttle and the wedding of Barlett's daughter) the show moves on the road to a pair of candidates who appear to form policies on the fly. This takes the show into some odd directions and involves the appearance of a wealth of new characters almost exclusively cast with recognisable faces, which can be a little distracting as the writers too often seem to rely on our connection with the actors rather than their characters. Alda in particular is a strange choice for the role as it appears Hawkeye has merely decamped from M*A*S*H and somehow walked into a Republican candidacy by accident. Though this has an interesting humanising effect on the normal Republican caricatures it can sometimes seem jarringly bizarre. Janine Garofalo may not be out of place but her role is even more reliant on our knowledge of her standard on-screen persona. The same could be said for Oliver Platt, Ron Silver, Lily Tomlin, Teri Polo, ER's John Aylward, Jon Bon Jovi(!). They are great actors (well maybe not Mr Jovi) and they don't do a bad job in characters which often reappear for a long sequence of episodes but both their profile and the dizzying volume of new characters introduced right up to the closing episode make this a slightly incoherent final series.
For all of the strangeness of taking the show on the electoral road and rarely entering the West Wing or even the White House, the pacing becomes intoxicating and there's a genuine sense of suspence about the outcome of the election. That such tension and pacing remains even after the unexpected death of core cast member John Spencer (playing Leo McGarry) mid-way through filming is testament to the fact that the quality of acting and writing is still there when it really needs to be.
The West Wing has always been primarily character driven and, even with all the new faces, our emotional attachment to the original few remains very strong which makes the series' marking of McGarry/Spencer's death all the more affecting. CJ (Alison Janney) is our emotional barometer in the White House (with able help from perky new cast member Kristin Chenoweth as new Press Secretary Annabeth Schott) but it is really Bradley Whitford, as Josh Lyman, who carries this final series. He is also a welcome voice of policy and PR reason in what would otherwise be a rather tiresome compilation of campaign preaching from Jimmy Smits' Matt Santos
However flawed this final series may be, the West Wing remains, to the end, always worth watching with a grounding in witty and intelligent writing, some great acting, and a reassuringly optimistic view that the right thing will happen in the end. It's just a shame the real West Wing doesn't seem to be populated with such well-informed believers in the democratic process.
Whilst beautifully presented this DVD is certainly short on features boasting only English and, curiously, Dutch subtitles. The actual tranfer to disc is good in cinematic widescreen and Dolby Stereo. Since the main attraction is the show itself the lack of extras is diappointing but not a major niggle. If you are desperate for extras there is a full box set of all 7 series available with a few extras per series in the set. Alternatively hit The West Wing Website, the IMDB, Google and YouTube and you'll doubtless have as much West Wing trivia and trailers as you can handle.
Copyright © Nicola Osborne 2002-2005
