Twenty Five
- Episode aired May 14, 2003
- TV-14
- 43m
In the wake of his daughter's kidnapping, Bartlet must make a decision between being a father and being President.In the wake of his daughter's kidnapping, Bartlet must make a decision between being a father and being President.In the wake of his daughter's kidnapping, Bartlet must make a decision between being a father and being President.
Photos
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaWhile Toby is in the hospital room with his babies, the television is playing what is supposed to be home movie footage of Zoey as a child with her father. Even though the younger Jed Bartlet in the home movie is only seen very briefly, he is played by one of Martin Sheen's real-life sons, actor and director Emilio Estevez. This is the second time in their careers that Estevez has played a younger version of the same character that Martin Sheen was playing; the first time was in Nightbreaker (1989).
- GoofsThe presidential oath is not taken by the Vice President or Speaker upon the 25th Amendment's incapacity provision being invoked. An Acting President is not the same as President. The former merely exercises the powers and duties of the President, without actually holding the office of President.
- Quotes
Glenallen Walken: Franz Ferdinand, who was the nephew of the Austro-Hungarian emperor, was killed by a group called the Black Hand. And because they were a Serbian nationalist society, the empire declared war on Serbia. Then Russia, which was bound by a treaty, was forced to mobilize, which meant that Germany had to declare war on Russia. Then France declared war on Germany, and that was World War I. Because the emperor's nephew was killed.
- Crazy creditsTypically West Wing episodes open with a title credit using white lettering on black background. This episode, and the previous episode's ending "created by" credit have black lettering on white background.
- ConnectionsFeatured in The 55th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards (2003)
Outside of this we get some nice character-specific episode which are decent despite the show not really being one for strong character development – but at least it gives the cast something else to do apart from hitting their marks as the cameras move around the hallways. The result though is that the season feels fragmented because it doesn't seem to have a consistent stride to it – and at times it sinks back into sappy smugness. Plots and characters don't go anywhere and some characters just seem to not be around anymore with too much real reason – I understand with a big cast that trimming is needed and people may drop out, but the way it is mostly done is rather annoying and made me feel like I was supposed to be fine with it and that the writers took the easy options when they could. The final few episodes are almost hilariously over the top as we get an obvious plot twist towards a season finale – it is all very dramatic and worthy but it feels like a whole new show is happening out of nowhere.
The cast continue to be good but in many ways the writing lets them down this season. The character moments throws some good "out of office" moments to them but mostly they are at work and the lack of a consistent tone and thread limits them by throwing them around a bit. Sheen, Janney, Spencer, Whitford and others remain good but some new cast members struggle to make their mark, with Malina being given too much too soon while Parker tries to do crisply droll but doesn't quite pull it off and never feels like a real person. The parade of guest stars are a distraction rather than a bonus – Slater, Perry and others don't bring much to the show other than their names and faces. Goodman makes a dramatic showing towards the end of the season, hopefully season 5 will make good use of him and not just see him out the door with minimal fuss.
It isn't that the fourth season is bad (it isn't), it is just that it seems inconsequential. The plot threads aren't really made the most use of and it doesn't ever feel like it is going anywhere. This feeling is made all the more obvious by how nuts the final few episodes go as it seeks out a dramatic finish to bring people back for the next season. It will still please those looking for the show to do what it has always done, but it is disappointing that it seems to step backwards here rather than becoming stronger.
- bob the moo
- Apr 22, 2013