The West Wing - Josh Gets Shot Supercut 

Frankly, he's the best President the US never had.

He wasn't actually that good Palmer was better. All the ADMINISTRATIONS good ideas (peace deal, soc security funding fix, college tax write off etc) came from his staff and he poi pood them at first He picked an awful VP and could b an asshole at times embodying what outsiders hate in liberals

Fictional leaders are always better than the real ones. Martin Sheen said that he, Martin Sheen could never run the country as well as Josiah Bartlett.

It should change off between president Palmer and president Bartlett

@@timbredan3476 And when they're term-limited out, Tom Kirkman from Designated Survivor.

Toby wasn't completely out of his depth. When Josh started collapsing, Toby still had the awareness to catch Josh's head before it hit the ground. That was a nice little touch, thought I suppose that Josh's actor was glad that his head didn't have to bounce off the ground.

It's not just that he's out of his depth. This is his friend, his brother, and the man is DYING and there's nothing he can do about it.

In the show hes a Vietnam vet so i doubt this is new to his character.

Toby is a Vietnam veteran in the show. I think it's a little less out of his depth and more "holy shit not again I can't lose another friend like this"

@@SomethingWittyRW I don't think Toby was ever a veteran. He helped a homeless veteran once, but that and getting shot at is as close as Toby has ever gotten to war.

She's probably my favourite character

She’s my least favourite character. I found her so annoying all the way through.

Perfect blend of pretty and smart. Donna getting with Josh restored my faith in humanity. Thanks Aaron.

And that scoundrel (Josh) treated her like poop.

She's great the whole series. It's fun to watch her develop and eventually get the respect she's earned.

In college I volunteered for a bunch of MCI/Active Shooter trainings with local emergency services. And we were told the same thing. Don't find the screamers, find the quiet ones. They're the ones who need help the most. After all the stuff I did, fighting wildfires and being with my local SAR teams, that lesson still hits me hard.

Except Toby said Josh had been shot in the chest when he hadn't.

@@timothyfavasoli7224 Yes, he had. When they were wheeling him into the hospital, one of the response team calls out, "Entry, left fifth intercostal space." This means bullet entry on the left side between the 5th and 6th rib, or about halfway down the rib cage. This is a point just above the abdomen, which falls in line where Josh's hands were when he was found by Toby.

I mean it would've been nice if Toby had led with the fact that he's still alive.

@@toddjh Toby wasn't going to lie to Donna. She needed to know that they could lose Josh. He's on the operating table - they won't know if he'll live for another several hours. Josh is in medical limbo.

In the DVD commentary, Janel Moloney said that she insisted she not wear makeup for this scene to show that Donna had been at home and rushed to the hospital as soon as she heard.

Never noticed that!

And yet another reason why this show is at the absolute top of my list of favorite TV shows. These subtle moments are in virtually every episode, sometimes many times. And why all these years later, I can still see something I don't think I saw at the first showing on TV. So much was going on all the time - this show required you to be present in the moment to keep up.

Thank you for posting that!

That's funny, I was thinking that, too!

Oh gosh yes. I start bawling every time I see this scene. It's so powerful.

Sam jumping up and down right before that so Josh sees him and yelling that he's there. Their friendship was so great.

especially having lost two sons to gunfire in Vietnam...

That 4 seconds is the most emotional moment of the entire episode

It moves almost to tears every time I see this scene, when the camera shows Donna, then moves to show Mrs. Landingham holding her hand.

Not to mention her long history with the Bartlett family. She’s known Jed most of his life.

She really was the den mom. I remember the first time I saw "18th &Potomac" (the episode where we find out about her death)--I was 11 and I cried so hard. She was one of my favorites, and I was so mad and sad that they killed her off.

from the imdb trivia page: In the DVD commentary it is mentioned that when shooting the scene in which Donna learns about Josh's serious injury, Richard Schiff, instead of using the line in the script, told Janel Moloney, playing Donna, that "Bradley Whitford died", prompting her absolutely devastated expression in the scene.

You know how they got that? They couldn’t get a good enough reaction so Richard Schiff told Janel that “ Brad was hit.” instead.

I also like how everyone went silent when she arrived; they knew she hadn't heard the news. Toby stepped up to be the one to tell her.

The look of horror that crept over her face as she heard the awful news, right on the heels of her relief on hearing the President wasn't badly hurt, was astonishing good acting

I read Janel chose to act without makeup to lend more realism to the moment.

@@donlapham1265 it’s not at all because they couldn’t get a good enough reaction, it was just a choice Richard Schiff made while filming.

He looked like he was going to pass out from shock, fantastic acting

Toby is a smart and capable man, who knows enough... To know that he doesn't have the first idea what to do in this situation. Plus the comparative calm of the opening, Toby probably thought, just as we the audience did, that the worst was over, that everyone was still alive, CJ took a bump on the head and that was it... Then he finds Josh trying to hold his insides in.

Supposedly, Richard Schiff (Toby) was told to tell Janel Moloney (Donna) that "Brad was hit" (referring to Bradley Whitford, the actor who played Josh), to illicit a more "real" reaction from her. Still an impressive scene (and series overall)

Agreed!

Seasons 1-4 were television perfection. It remained good, but the rest of the series just didn't have that magic.

I think Donna immediately went into shock. The way she so innocently said hit with what?? Her brain was not with her mouth at that moment. Then she said I don’t understand, twice. She was trying to comprehend what Toby said but could not. I completely understood Donna’s reaction. My late husband collapsed in the mall with a massive heart attack. When the ER Drs came out & said they did everything they could to try to save him my reaction was what does that mean, even though they were very clear & deliberate.

Like so many I love that whole speech, but that line, man... the emphasis Sheen places on "son"... the slight waver in his voice... makes one teary...

"What did I ever do to YOURS but PRAISE HIS NAME AND HIS GLORY?"

@@aussiejed1...he doesn't have an Oscar for his politics See "The Way" for what I think is his best role, and a fine film.

In that scene Mrs. Landingham had just died as well.

best line in the series

And also Josh going to Germany when she’s wounded.

And as believable as Spiderman.

Your comment regarding Donna - Same here! Of all the folk to break *that* kind of news, no one could say it like Toby. Yet, Kudos to Janel Moloney conveying that range of emotion/disbelief/confusion at what she is hearing but unable to process. 🧅🧅🧅 Drat! Onions! Stay Safe! 👍

They are using the ER sets as well, smart save since its a hospital set they had access too.

I have the box set of DVDs and I binge watch it every couple of years....

@@ZATennisFan Same

As someone that watched it when it aired....IT WAS A CRAZY WAIT for the new season. The "Whose been hit? Whose been hit?" ending was haunting.

In Excelsis Deo is another moving episode

In Excelsis Deo is another moving episode

That was the longest summer of my life. Best show ever!

My parents and I had taped it for some reason, and I remember us rewinding it several times to figure out where everyone was and who was most likely to have been shot. Since Josh was over by himself we put him know the safe list. I've talked to my parents about this in the last couple of years and neither of them remember, but it was a huge deal for me.

Mrs Landingham was such a presence! Whatever scene she is in is great.....

Perhaps for this generation. Back in the 70's Mash and Dallas were the two most popular well written shows on TV. JR was shot at the end of one season and the whole world had to wait until next season to find out "Who shot JR." Who Shot JR made the cover of Time Magazine. The evening of the next opening season (in the fall) people left football, baseball stadiums, basketball arenas, movie theaters, any and all entertainment houses to go home and watch the opening episode to find out Who Shot JR. Mash lasted 11 seasons where West Wing lasted 7. It was as well written as West Wing. Mash reruns are still being watched today. That's 50 years after it started. Dallas hasn't had that kind of popularity. West Wing was taken off of Netflix after being there for years. Let's just say West Wing has had a good 20 year run. I don't know if it's still being watched anywhere else. Yes indeed, West Wing, Dallas, and Mash are the three greatest shows in TV history. If one HAD To narrow it down to one show/first place, the award would go to Mash. I forgot to mention All In the Family. But that is for another comment. Needles to say the two chairs and table from that set are in the Smithsonian Institute. I don't recall any item from West Wing to receive that honor. A bit of disclosure: I love the series West Wing. I've probably watched the whole thing 10 times. I wish Netflix carried it forever. It would've been a nice distraction during this whole pandemic no fun lock down.

It is certainly up there with one of them, ER would be in my top three!

That’s an excellent way to describe her reaction

Every time I watch it I notice new things. Incredible writing and acting. It lost a lot when Sorkin left.

You have to love the scene in West Virginia when the skin head leaves the bar so full of himself that they succeeded, and then the sky lights up when half the world of law enforcement descends on the kids. Very exciting.

You have to love the scene in West Virginia when the skin head leaves the bar so full of himself that they succeeded, and then the sky lights up when half the world of law enforcement descends on the kids. Very exciting.

It's what actually happens when you get that kind of news. At least it was in my experience. It just doesn't compute. "We lost C." "What do you mean lost?" And then when it finally does compute, it's like all the breath has been knocked out of you.

It hits me in the pit of my stomach every time and I have watched it many, many times

Well that's more hours than the entirety of the Star Wars Saga and people are far more attached to those characters.

We're also talking about a man who made most of us weep when Simon Donovan was shot after 4 episodes. But a lot of credit goes to the actors as well.

@@aalikane Oh yeah, because everyone was crying over Shoop dying like an idiot.

Agree

It was a less pussified time.

It's so cold upon rewatch.

Excellent point, but I think everyone was in complete shock & still trying to absorb all that had happened & how quickly. The President is shot and Josh is critical. A lot to take in at once. Donna really could’ve used a hug at that moment. Everyone knew what she & Josh meant to each other, platonic, professionally & all.

I think I might kill for that

Unrealistic yes (in real life, that couple surely would have reacted), but obviously it had to be that way to get Toby's reaction, and to leave us unaware of the severity until the last moment when we the viewers walk around in front of Josh and discover him ourselves. What an amazing show from top to bottom. The concept of filming it to incorporate our POV into the show changed television.

You’d honestly be surprised how much people just don’t notice when they think of themselves. I was once near an accident involving multiple people, it was a good hour before anyone noticed the unconscious guy sitting on a park bench whose head was bleeding. (He was fine). People just assume when something is obvious that someone knows about it.

Not at all unrealistic. People miss bodies everywhere doing a disaster like a mass shooting, let alone a guy right next to them. Between the chaos, the adrenaline, and finding your own loved ones, spatial awareness can go out the window

@@mikemartin5749 No. that's plenty realistic.

Shock does a number on the brain and on one's awareness

That's what made this episode completely and utterly scary. A bunch of white supremacist Nazi garbage fires tried to kill Charlie (who was like a son to Bartlet) and ended up shooting multiple innocent people including the president and Josh.

Hugh: Scenario is a textbook Load/Go. Field Dx: Thoracic GSW (through/through), collapsed lung (flail chest) with major arterial compromise. Rapid transport is optimal course of action, and packaging his wounds (occlusive dressings/direct pressure/asherman seals) enroute. Couldn't observe if he already had IV mains PTA, but would've pushed crystalloids as time/protocols allowed. Sometimes, pretty just doesn't cut it. Retired tactical paramed.

It's my political fantasy escapism show, for sure

I believe it's Sam.

It struck me how even as they have the shattering experience that brings them so viscerally together, they are all so deeply uncomfortable, confronted in the moment by how vulnerable they are in the face of raw violence and how much they stand to lose in spite of their powerful positions, that they all rush back to the refuge of their roles, leaving Donna isolated in her emotional shock with just one person to stay by her. Our capacity to sit in the truth of our ultimate powerlessness is limited. To move closer to Donna would be to move deeper into that realization. No hugs. No judgement, just our naked humanity. Brilliant writing.