West Wing - "Internal Displacement" - 1/15/06

[Animgif]

CJ : Come here
Will : What's wrong?
CJ : Close the door
Will : I didn't do it
CJ : Clooooose the door
Will : Toooooby did it

I had to pause and laugh for a while...VERY well played =)

PS - Yes, I'm watching it live to avoid studying...

[Animgif]

Spoiler from the preview, but not really since it came up in the VERY last scene:

Well, that's one sure way they can end the series without worrying about the new administration...just make the whole US a nuclear wasteland, hee hee

[David Platt]

Okay, anybody else think this episode is going to be Alison Janney's Emmy submission for this year? She was phenomenal in this episode. She can say so much with just her eyes.

[RegBarc]

Very good episode. Fanagling with the security counsel was a great story line.

[cheerdude]

For those of use that don't have dual tuners (come on Series 3) and were watching/recording 24, anyway to get a synopsis on what happened?

[dswallow]

Spoiler from the preview, but not really since it came up in the VERY last scene:

Well, that's one sure way they can end the series without worrying about the new administration...just make the whole US a nuclear wasteland, hee hee
Buried in this forum someplace at least a few times is my suggestion for that end-of-series scenario.

[Animgif]

Buried in this forum someplace at least a few times is my suggestion for that end-of-series scenario.

I'm too lazy to look it up, care to share? Does it correspond with my decision here?

[Peter000]

Eh. I just didn't enjoy this one as much as I'm enjoying the campaigning episodes. All my favorite characters (other than perhaps Will) are outside of the West Wing.

[dswallow]

I'm too lazy to look it up, care to share? Does it correspond with my decision here?
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=3410548&&#post3410548
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=2241150&&#post2241150

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http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=3410548&&#post3410548
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=2241150&&#post2241150

While I seriously doubt this will happen, they have certainly set that possibility up here =)

[JETarpon]

For those of use that don't have dual tuners (come on Series 3) and were watching/recording 24, anyway to get a synopsis on what happened?

Let's see.

Danny asks CJ to dinner and tells her that Bartlet's son-in-law who is running for congress in New Hampshire is banging the nanny. Bartlet has a campaign appearance with him next week, and CJ calls the s-i-l in to tell him he needs to cancel that appearance, with the excuse that he wants to run on his own merit. They don't tell Bartlet the truth. He's surprised. Liz comes in and wants CJ to convince s-i-l to change his mind and reschedule the appearance with Bartlett. CJ says the date has already been given away.

CJ told Josh that some new biotech plant will be built in Austin, but don't tell anyone because they don't want to piss of the democratic Senator from Kentucky who wants it in their state. Santos makes a speech and says something along the lines of "good news coming to Austin." CJ is pissed at Josh. The Senator from KY is pissed at the WH. But then CJ tells Josh that the president is going to announce that the plant is opening in Austin, and will then go to Kentucky to campaign for the senator there. Would Santos like to join? "I don't know, I'll have to check with him." "Go to hell, Josh."

Something to do with the Sudan and the Chinese and the security council.

Danny asks CJ to dinner again. Says he wants to give up being a reporter. The whole banging-the-nanny thing made him realize he's tired of it. He's about to ask CJ to marry him (something about jumping off the cliff holding hands) when CJ's pager goes off and she has to run out. Back to the White House where the national security advisor chick says there's been a nuclear incident. Weapon? Power. Russia? California. Fade to black.

[barrettd]

I really enjoyed this episode and the dialogue within the episode. I liked Will and Kate a lot, and am always glad to see Danny. I noticed this was written by Bradley Whitford and wonder if that has anything to do with the quality of the dialogue.

[bdlucas]

Great scene with Will and CJ about the nanny. Paraphrasing a bit (maybe somebody can come up with the actual lines):

Will: He's banging the nanny.
CJ: But he's got children!
Will: Good thing, if you you're gonna have a nanny, particularly one that looks like that.

:D

[busyba]

I liked:

Danny: "He's banging the nanny"
CJ: What?!
DC: "He's banging the nanny"
CJ: "Is that a euphamism?" (or was that "metaphor"?)
DC: "No... well, I guess 'banging' is."

:D

[busyba]

Actually, lots of good 'banging' exchanges in this one :) (paraphrasing):

CJ: "He's banging the nanny"
Kate Harper: "Get... out!"
CJ: "No, really"
KH: "Is she cute?"
CJ: "What does that matter?"
KH: "I grew up around uniformed men; biology kicks virtue's ass everytime"
CJ: "She's 26"
KH: "Right... so she doesn't have to be cute"

when Kate said "get out", I totally wanted her to shove CJ, a la Elaine in Seinfeld. There's prboably a gag reel out there with her doing just that. :)

[jgerry]

I watched the entire episode and thought it was very well done. I really enjoyed the quality of the writing -- it had subtlety and an interesting, complex plot that set up numerous plotlines that all came together nicely. I felt that it was a lot like the old Sorkin episodes. It made me really miss the old West Wing.

Then I went back to the beginning to find that Bradley Whitford wrote it. Nice. He should write more of the eps! Great job in my opinion.

Ironically, I found Bradley's character to have the least compelling dialogue in the entire episode, though. Josh was kinda boring! It's interesting that he wrote an episode that had very little to do with the election stuff (which his character is so involved with) and more to do with White House stuff. I wonder if that was a concious choice or if he was asked to do it that way.

[porges]

I "liked" how CJ got a pager message that had her running back to the WH muttering "oh my god..oh my god..." and then arrives and seems to have no idea what's happened. The pager can only say "nuke accident" and has no room for "in California"?

[pendragn]

Yup, great episode. I knew that the wife knew about the affair as soon as she came to see CJ. It's too bad Doug didn't tell CJ about that himself. And I really loved the "I didn't do it! Toby did it!" exchange. Very funny.

tk

[jsmeeker]

Yup, great episode. I knew that the wife knew about the affair as soon as she came to see CJ. It's too bad Doug didn't tell CJ about that himself. And I really loved the "I didn't do it! Toby did it!" exchange. Very funny.

tk


would it have really mattered? She still would have told the President not to go and campaign for him.

[pendragn]

would it have really mattered? She still would have told the President not to go and campaign for him.
Maybe, maybe not. Tough to say. If everyone knows about the affair it's not really a secret. Sure the press will run with it, but if the wife comes out and says she knows about it, they're working through it, etc, it loses a lot of its power.

I guess I'm not sure. It just seems like something CJ would have wanted to know. If for no other reason than to see if who she had to lie around.

tk

[Bananfish]

I "liked" how CJ got a pager message that had her running back to the WH muttering "oh my god..oh my god..." and then arrives and seems to have no idea what's happened. The pager can only say "nuke accident" and has no room for "in California"?

Not to mention that she wouldn't have some communications device (like, say, oh, I don't know, a cellphone) to call with and find out what happened on the way?

[mrmike]

Potus. 911. Come.

;)

[Redux]

Not to mention that she wouldn't have some communications device (like, say, oh, I don't know, a cellphone) to call with and find out what happened on the way?With Condy Rice listening in?

[mrpantstm]

I really liked this episode because a) it was about the West Wing oh how I miss it and b) it was more dialogue and character interaction than overbearing drama.

but next week looks to be 'OH NOES!!! We're all going to die' episode. sigh.

[iceturkee]

i did enjoy the danny/cj scenes. you gotta figure tptb are going to hook them up at some point this season. they will probably get married in the season/series finale.

love josh malina. he and mary mccormick are too cute together. and his exchanges with allison janney were priceless.

[lpamelaa]

I really liked CJ's line about realizing that she was living the first line of her obituary.

[Bananfish]

With Condy Rice listening in?

That's what Al Gore invented encryption for! I feel very confident that the White House Chief of Staff carries around a communications device capable of talking with personnel at the White House about national emergencies. If not, I fear for our republic.

[newsposter]

Eh. I just didn't enjoy this one as much as I'm enjoying the campaigning episodes. All my favorite characters (other than perhaps Will) are outside of the West Wing.

amazing we are 100 percent opposite. Kill the others and keep all the original WW cast and bring back Lowe :) I hate the campaign trail Seems like such a waste of time/money/ other resources on this getting elected thing and bugs me to no end as does worrying about polling grandmas over 80 who live in the northeast corner of timbucktoo and get haircuts on fridays. You get my point i'm sure.

Will just annoys me.

Sheen is looking bad. I sure hope he not joining John anytime soon.

I do like how china is helping the USA more than ever now. (via the other show if you know what i mean...but dont wanna spoiler it)

[madscientist]

IDanny: "He's banging the nanny"
CJ: What?!
DC: "He's banging the nanny"
CJ: "Is that a euphamism?" (or was that "metaphor"?)It was euphemism (not euphamism ;) ).

You beat me to it: this was BY FAR the best bit of dialog I've heard on WW in many, many episodes. I had to pause until I could stop laughing. Their expressions during this exchange were so perfect, too--just reading it can't do it justice. Plus I just had to laugh thinking about what "banging the nanny" could be a euphemism for :p

A very good episode; I agree it was reminiscent of the Sorkin days. Great stuff!

Some pedantic corrections to the episode recap:

Re Josh/Santos plotline: CJ didn't tell Josh the plant was going to be built in Austin: Josh already knew (he told CJ and Will to look into it when they acted surprised that he knew). No one was supposed to know. Josh wants Bartlet to come to Texas and announce it with Santos to help Santos win Texas. The WH had promised the Kentucky senator that they would not announce it until after the election, because the other possible site was in Kentucky and they didn't want to hurt the senator's chances of getting re-elected. This seemed dumb to me: as Josh points out, what's the over/under on one Democrat senator vs. the presidency? CJ again tells Josh very specifically that no decision has been made and he couldn't do anything with it. Then, Santos hints at a decision "within a few days" in a Texas speech. CJ goes ballistic and calls Josh and tears him a new one (she's having a bad day). Josh is the one who suggests the solution of having Santos and Bartlet go to Kentucky to stump for the senator. She uses the day Bartlet's son-in-law gave up at CJ's urging.

Re the Sudan: Danny is chiding CJ for not doing anything with the rest of the presidency. Then CJ and Kate are talking about the horrible situation in Sudan. CJ decides to try to get a UN resolution through embargoing Sudanese oil until the government fixes their problem. Kate says China will block it, since China needs the oil. CJ thinks she can get them to abstain instead, by promising that Kazikstan will deliver oil to China. She needs someone else to propose the resolution, not the US, so that the US can be seen as neutral arbitrators and it won't jeapordize our standing in the Kazikstan situation (remember China and Russia are facing off over the border; the US is providing neutral observers for the Kazikstan election and needs China to trust them). CJ tries to get the French to do it which gives an opportunity for them to chastize the US for being bad. She then gets the Germans to do it, promising them they can start selling weapons to China again (opposed by the US since Tieneman Square) and some other construction projects. Also, she baits a human rights lobbyist that she normally wouldn't ever even see, so he goes on TV and lambasts the US government for not doing anything... giving more cover to the idea that the US was not involved in the resolution at all and it's those crazy Europeans who are making a stink. CJ is soooo tricky!

I hate the campaign trail Seems like such a waste of time/money/ other resources on this getting elected thingYes, yes. We get that you think politics is boring and useless, newsposter: you've made that abundantly clear. It is, however, a show about politics.

[busyba]

Also, she baits a human rights lobbyist that she normally wouldn't ever even see, so he goes on TV and lambasts the US government for not doing anything... giving more cover to the idea that the US was not involved in the resolution at all and it's those crazy Europeans who are making a stink. CJ is soooo tricky!
A-ha!!! So that's what the lobbyist thing was all about. That was the one part of the complex tapestry CJ was weaving that I didn't completely understand. Thanks!

Excellent summary. :up: :up: :up:

[barrettd]

The other thing I just remembered that I thought was cool...Technical thing. When Josh is talking on his Treo and CJ hangs up on him, the screen lit up, which is exactly what happens on mine when a call ends. At the beginning of the call, his screen was lit up, it went to sleep, then lit up again when CJ hung up. I thought that was interesting to see. But I guess I'm a nerd.

[busyba]

Spoiler for 24, Day 5, Hour 3:
But can Josh's Treo remote-detonate terrorists bomb-vests? Huh???

He's got nothing on Jack Bauer. :D

[malutchen]

I was gone for the night and had my one and only tivo..tivo 24 during the West Wing...So I was really hoping someone could hook me up with this episode..thank you!