I actually didn't mind it as much as I thought I would from the preview. Though yeah, there were some problems here, namely--(yes, I know, I know, I can't help it)--the women speech, which felt again like a sudden authorial intrusion to me (those damn women who leave and don't take care of me, wah!) and the fact that CJ was gifted with this plot with no acknowledgment of the the fact that it's *always* the female child who gets "stuck" with the caretaking. In general, the writing of this ep was not as strong; CJ's speech was the pits, and usually Sorkin can at least put a speech together.
Frankly, I was glad they gave her hot sex with Matthew Modine as a consolation prize.
No. What I mean is, okay, I wasn't really paying attention to much because I went into a glassy eyed lustful 80s flashback over Matthew Modine.
there were some problems here, namely--(yes, I know, I know, I can't help it)--the women speech, which felt again like a sudden authorial intrusion to me (those damn women who leave and don't take care of me, wah!)... In general, the writing of this ep was not as strong; CJ's speech was the pits, and usually Sorkin can at least put a speech together.
Well, part of the problem here is that Sorkin didn't write it, babe. This was guest-written by some friend of his who's a minorly-known playwright. Which is fine, except it sucked. So the authorial intrusion was not Sorkin's, and the inability to put together a speech was not Sorkin's.
Here's what I wrote on a WW list:
here are two major problems for me with last night's episode:
1) It was not set in the West Wing or its environs and therefore didn't include anything that makes WW a wonderful show, which is the banter, the politics, the situations, the characters. (As an aside, proof positive that Aaron Sorkin's dialog isn't just fast -- it's also good.) A radical change of tone is not always a bad thing, but this one was done very, very badly.
2) Even supposing an all-one-character, all-the-time episode could work on The West Wing, this one didn't. That wasn't C.J. It was Allison Janney trying hard to make an unfamiliar character feel like C.J. And if this had been an episode about one of the males going back to a high school reunion? Tell me the script would have included a subplot about some girl they knew back then where they go to a motel and have sex. Bullshit. No - but anything about a woman's life has to be about A) her family (check) and B) her body (check).
What a waste of my 43 minutes. I'd rather have watched a repeat.
You know, I didn't twig on either of those things, although in hindsight you're right. My biggest problem with the episode was that nothing happened. It didn't go anywhere. Nobody grew, nobody learned, nobody changed. It felt like seeing the same scene over and over again. CJ's father is going mental. CJ is sad. Rewind. CJ's father is going mental. CJ is sad. Rewind. Brief interlude with Matthew Modine for no particular reason. Lather, rinse, repeat.
I'd have bought her getting horizontal with Matthew Modine had they given me any slender reason to do so-- because hey, he was looking pretty hot. But Not-Sorkin didn't even bother to set anything up, no matter how small and worthless. Has Not-Sorkin even ever watched WW?
My dog could have written a better CJ than the CJ that appeared in last night's ep.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2003-01-15 07:30 pm (UTC)Frankly, I was glad they gave her hot sex with Matthew Modine as a consolation prize.
No. What I mean is, okay, I wasn't really paying attention to much because I went into a glassy eyed lustful 80s flashback over Matthew Modine.
Hey, I'm only human!
no subject
Date: 2003-01-16 09:09 am (UTC)Well, part of the problem here is that Sorkin didn't write it, babe. This was guest-written by some friend of his who's a minorly-known playwright. Which is fine, except it sucked. So the authorial intrusion was not Sorkin's, and the inability to put together a speech was not Sorkin's.
Here's what I wrote on a WW list:
here are two major problems for me with last night's episode:
1) It was not set in the West Wing or its environs and therefore didn't include anything that makes WW a wonderful show, which is the banter, the politics, the situations, the characters. (As an aside, proof positive that Aaron Sorkin's dialog isn't just fast -- it's also good.) A radical change of tone is not always a bad thing, but this one was done very, very badly.
2) Even supposing an all-one-character, all-the-time episode could work on The West Wing, this one didn't. That wasn't C.J. It was Allison Janney trying hard to make an unfamiliar character feel like C.J. And if this had been an episode about one of the males going back to a high school reunion? Tell me the script would have included a subplot about some girl they knew back then where they go to a motel and have sex. Bullshit. No - but anything about a woman's life has to be about A) her family (check) and B) her body (check).
What a waste of my 43 minutes. I'd rather have watched a repeat.
no subject
Date: 2003-01-16 10:22 am (UTC)Bored now.
no subject
Date: 2003-01-16 03:17 pm (UTC)My dog could have written a better CJ than the CJ that appeared in last night's ep.