The shift on President Bartlet’s face at 3:35 is heartbreaking. It’s that moment when he realizes that Harold and the rest of his crew are going to die. He may be the most powerful person in the world, but even he is powerless in the face of nature.
Oof, yes. I remember the first time I watched the episode, I chuckled a bit when Harold didn't answer after Pres. Bartlett introduced himself. I thought it was shock that he was speaking to the President. Then, "I hit my head on..." and the laughter was gone. No, he's literally in shock. And to this day, listening to him talk about the conditions and how, even as someone who knows little about ships, they were minutes at most from sinking... I still tear up listening to it, and seeing the dawning anguish on their faces. Then the upbeat credits theme smacks you with mood whiplash.
When Bartlet vents at God during Mrs Landingham's funeral, he mentions that the storm sank this ship. That means they stayed on the radio with him until he died when they ship went under. I remember when that episode aired, my jaw dropped. THAT is the power of good writing
speaking as a (ex)catholic who has ranted at god (so basically any catholic beyond tradcaths), you focus on the most prominent things on your mind, what troubles you the most, what keeps you up at night. what that implies is that, despite everything he went through, all the fucked up shit he saw as president, one of the things that kept jed bartlett up late at night most was this small, strategically unimportant ship going down. jed bartlett is someone who genuinely cares so much about the people he talks to, that talking to this kid more than anything else, keeps him up at night. for such a larger than life character, it grounds him so much it blows me away
To those that don't know much about the ocean, green water over the bow is bad. 80 foot seas are fairly self explanatory I would think. It's called green water is when water comes over the bow unabated. It's not the normal ocean spray you see when ships hit the wave, it's when the water is so much higher than the bow that the ship digs in and the actual wave carries straight over the bow and hits the superstructure as a solid wall of water. It's a lot like diving from somewhere high and belly flopping. The water has mass and surprisingly little give to it. It can rip and tear the metal the top of the ship is made of.
Well, getting off to a running start is a skill good actors must have. And she had a couple of decades acting on Broadway before getting this part, so I'd say a lot of it was just sheer talent. Plus, you know, Martin's no slouch himself.
Not to make it even more depressing, but judging by the end of this scene, he probably listened to the poor kid die as well. Or at the very least was the last conversation the kid had
The first appearance by the First Lady, Dr. Abigail Bartlet MD. I fell in love with her the moment I saw this scene and understood instantly why Jed married her. Man, what a president SHE would make. On the front of reality, Martin Sheen's and Stockard Channing's chemistry is so tangible it leaps off the screen. And their acting! Flawless. All the more astounding when one recalls that the two first met just the day before shooting this scene.
Watched a clip about the 1st Lady selection, someone said "Do you think we could get Stockard Channing? so they asked and she said yes, she arrived on the set a couple of hours before shooting and she said they "poured me into the dress" right from the 1st scene it was obvious it was an inspired choice, Stockard Channing was magnificent
This was one continuous take with a slow roll-up, starting at 1:30 through the end of scene, a full 2min, 50sec. That's an eternity for a static shot. Not as impressive as the dinner gala walk-through to the motorcade, and all the moving parts from that scene, but impressive nonetheless. The periodic lightning strikes perpetuate the build up to the final reveal that the President is talking to a dead man walking, and will likely be the last voice he hears in his life. Incredibly well acted, obviously. The direction to pace the dialog against the music overdub that the actors can't even hear during the build-up is as pro as it gets. Just brilliant at every turn.
We know the depth of his compassion, remember that hurricane that hit Puerto Rico? What did drumpf do? Man a mobile kitchen station and give words of comfort? Talk to a field hospital patients? Nope!! Like an ancient Roman emperor he threw rolls of toilet paper at the despairing crowd so he could show how much power he had. Dude should have thrown golden coins at least. God Watching that made my blood boil. I would have seriously yeeted one back at him.
there are so many little details in the end of this scene that make it so emotional: josh wrapping his arms around mandy, sam and josh looking at each other and just knowing, jed kneeling down and joking with the boy :(((
This was the scene that really hooked me on the series. I enjoyed the shows up until then. This one made me want to follow the series through to the end. Thanks for posting it.
Got to be one of the greatest scenes of television, my dad a gunner in an LST in WW2, battle of the Philippines, Kamikaze warfare, he never talked about it much but this scene makes me relate to what I did hear ..
My father's and grandfather's names are Harold. My grandfather served on the Essex. This scene still cuts like glass, more than 20 years after I first watched it.
This scene breaks me every time. Anyone that has served in the military or in police department or fire department knows the helpless you feel when you are on the radio with someone that isn't going to make it. It will gut you to the core.
It’s a heart wrenching scene….but I couldn’t help laughing when President Bartlett said “Well I don’t know man sounds pretty bad” cause it just reminded me of the debate scene where he dresses down his opposition for saying “Crime well I don’t know” 😅
Never did like the politics of the show, but the dialog, the humanity, character development, writing and direction were some of the best in TV. Doubt we'll see all the above and more in quite some time.
@@faolan1686 - A midshipman is what students (officer candidates) are called while attending the US Naval Academy at Annapolis, MD. Upon graduating, they become an ensign, a commissioned officer in the US Navy. The sailor in the scene was a third class petty officer, which is a non-commissioned officer, or in short, someone who enlisted in the service and then went to basic training. Now, a petty officer COULD go to Annapolis and become a midshipman, but in that case, they'd be in class at Annapolis, not out to sea in a hurricane.
>In one day, an FBI diplomat was shot and 12,000 naval marines were all killed from one of the worst and tragic wastes of life in human history That is Designated Survivor levels of horrific metaphorical outcomes.
