"And what does chief adviser to the president mean exactly?" *deadpan* "it doesn't specify" "great, because this is one part of constitutional law that we want to be as ambiguous as possible!" "yeah."
: He is also realizing that he urged Bartlett to the action (i.e. the assassination) that at least at the time seemed to lead to all of this. Leo's feeling responsibility.
Or, most likely, he has realized that his best friends daughter is going to die most likely. And the realization that if it were anyone else, jed would probably come to the same conclusion
"They're going to kill her anyway." Such a great line and delivery. It's at this moment in the writing when the plot shifted from concern for Zoey to a demonstration of resolve by the United States.
It's just the perfect line, the resolve in his decision that they might as well show as you said their resolve, knowing that there isn't anything they can do to save her but can still go against them. Just a perfect role played by an amazing actor.
“They’re going to kill her anyway.” Still makes my heart skip a beat. Perfect delivery and encapsulates the desperate, high-states nature of the episode perfectly.
Common sense really if one doesn't let emotions get in the way of reality. From the start the kidnappers were not expecting to live much longer nor let her go probably planned for a very public death of her too. Obviously it's a tv show but it's clear to apply to anything today or in the last oh at least 23 years or so. LOL it's so funny as much as everyone in the room loves or respects the president the only one who doesn't see reality is Leo. It's not that hard to see the whole picture & why this from the start was never a kidnapping for money or demands again you can apply it to Hamas today or ISIS or BOKO. I love when Walken's turns to Leo have putting leo in his place & snapping him back into reality "do you want to tell the president or should I". If you go back & look Leo is the one since telling barlett about it Leo's been the one keeping everyone including bartlett in reality but that changes when bartlett steps aside & walken takes over then Leo starts letting the staff & his own ties to the family cloud reality.
Everyone in the room but Leo knew it but no one wanted to be the one to state it. But he was the President. As the saying goes the buck stops here. It's his job to make the hard decision and have the guts to say what needed to be said. Everyone else was relieved it had finally been spoken. Not one person but Leo was talking about Zoey as a consideration in the discussions because they all knew she was irrelevant to the decision that needed to be made
I just watched the 'debut' episode of *Brett Butler's TV show, *"Grace Under Fire".* Mr. Goodman's minor bit as the 'hapless' State Trooper who pulls Grace over on some traffic violation, and winding up dealing with a female in the middle of *"Full-on, Stressed-out Mommy mode* was an absolute scream!
@@tpl608 anything good is called "underrated" these days by nerds who like something popular but want to feel special. So by pretending that something is actually unpopular, suddenly they are very cool for liking it. John Goodman is a massively talented and successful actor who has had a decades long career and won multiple awards. He is anything but "underrated" lmao
He became temporary president as the 25th Amendment - Sections 3 and 4 was invoked to have President Bartlet step down as his daughter was missing. You can only carry that story line for so long before its impact is diluted. It had nothing to do with liberals. Do you know anything about the US Constitution or dramatic narrative?
And yet the " liberal " writers did an excellent job with Alan Alda'so character as Republican Senator Vinnick. Intelligent, well thought out, likeable and according to Matt Santos " the best strategic thinker I know "
@ how did the " liberal writers" do with Alan Alda's portrayal of Arnold Vinnick ? The entire 7th season was devoted to the Santos-Vinnick campaign. Santos called Vinnick " the best strategic thinker I know" as he practically begged Vinnick to be SOS. Maybe you should consult a writer or at least a strategic thinker before submitting ignorant, knee jerk statements
@Leo Peridot no time, just like any premarmture administration taking office you don't have time to restructure not for something as significant as Chief of Staff you need to work with the tool kit given in this instance.
@Leo Peridot not by law but by practicality. I mean at the end of the day it comes down to you are inheriting a presidential administration not being elected to it. Think back to history Johnson maintained much of President Kennedy's cabinet because he needed their counsel because they were read in to the programs and situations ongoing there isn't time to read others in and get them up to speed.
@Leo Peridot no by law the 25TH Ammendment is temporary seeding of power the sitting president Bartlett has every right to resume office should he choose because was elected to the postion not the speaker.
"But if Zoey Bartlett is found dead, I am going to blow something the hell up then God only knows what happens next!!!" John Goodman (not Dan Conner) at his finest.
yeah, an elitist viewpoint many Americans seem to endorse. The 1% thinking they are born to rule. The reason to have a chain of command is to avoid emotional repercussions like this character suggests.
@@blackbird5634 Ironically, this character, the House Speaker was sworn in as acting President, because Bartlett was emotionally compromised, due to daughter's kidnapping.
This show was perfectly cast from starring roles to minor roles to recurring guest stars to one-off appearances. Everyone was amazing. John Goodman was outstanding as President Walken. I didn't want to like his character at first, but you can't help but respect and admire him. His performance is one of the many prime examples of why West Wing is so excellent and why John Goodman himself is so damn underrated as an actor.
I truly think they wrote him to be a bit of a joke, but John Goodman did such an amazing job that he turned it around and President Walken was a great character
Just love, love, love this scene. One of the best in tv history. Goodman locks it, loads it and blows it out the room. They just don't make em like this any more. Sadly.
This scene makes me think back to "The Women of Qumar," when CJ was shot down at every turn when she spoke up against giving the Qumari government weapons b/c they treated women so horrible. When told the US wasn't at war with Qumar, CJ said: "We will be, of course we will and you know it. Well, at least we'll be familiar with the weapons they're using." And she was right. LOVE the back and forth with Nancy and Fitz. Man I wish this administration were real.
And as Dr. McNally pointed out to her in that episode: "It's a big world, C.J. And everybody has guns. And I'm doing the best I can." As the highest-ranking female national security counselor, she was doing the best she could. But they had to be realistic.
it always amazes me how absolutely convincing some of the big name actors were on this show, Goodman, Alan Alda, Lily Tomlin. You'd think they'd be too big for a TV show, that it just wouldn't work - but it always did.
That's because they're all great actors, not celebrities. You might check out all the great actors making guest appearances in Homicide: Life On the Street.
I was glad they didn't bring Walken in just to look like a buffoon. He was highly competent and knew his isht. Why didn't they run this guy against Bartlett instead of that idiot governor? That being said...Walken is no Bartlett, but the way he handled this whole situation was very presidential.
As Walken said during one of the episodes, he never aspired to be president, which is why he probably didn't run. He ended up running in the primary of the next election (maybe this experience changed his mind?), but that explains why he didn't run in the previous one.
Tellurye....and when he says " where are we ?" when he is with the National Security staff. As if " I don't have time to crap around, give me situation, options and I'll make a decision ! Democrat or Republican, thats the way we NEED our Commander in Chief to act
Larry Sullivan Amen. Kind of like some idiot woman who thinks she is president vs a president knowing the location a major terrorist who leads a hostile nation’s elite forces. Sometimes we cannot wait for Congress to arrive and they then notify SKYNEWS by text to warn him.
The way Leo says “You bomb Qumar and they’re gonna kill her.” The whole reason John Goodman is sitting there is because the President knew he couldn’t separate saving his daughter from doing what’s best for the country. So he steps aside, lets the Speaker of the House take command. It leaves Leo there as the President’s only representative. Yet Leo isn’t just a chief of staff, he’s Jed Bartlet’s best friend. Zoe is like a niece to him, he’s watched her grow up. So when he says that, it’s not just a word of caution, or speaking on behalf of the President. He’s genuinely scared for Zoe
This is the best television series I have ever seen. Each time I binge my way through all seven episodes I wind up impatiently waiting for enough time to pass to be able to do it again without it all being way too fresh.
I always thought a great extension of the show would be a John Goodman presidency..... See the show from a republican view and use a lot of the same actors....
Walken's character is brash & in your face but he asked questions & listened intently to the answers given by both the NSA & The Military. When you're in a crappy situation you have to try & find a solution with the least amount of negative fallout while trying to achieve your goal(s). Not an easy task!
John Goodman is honestly one of the greatest actors to have continuously flown under the radar. A rare few who has never turned in a bad performance. Even in the Flintstones he was the high point.
1:08 The AGM-88 HARM is an anti-radiation missile designed to strike at radar installations. No one is using them to strike schools and/or training camps. At least the writers got the air-to-ground part right and didn't have them planning to use AAMRAMs or something.
I want to say John Goodman killed it in a minor role but over the course of the show, nearly everyone in a minor role killed it. The thing that really killed Leo in this scene is that when Walken said "They are going to kill her anyway", he knew Walken was right.
I wouldn't say he was better then Martin Sheen, but then again we had a lot of time to get to know and love Martin Sheen's version of the president, so you might have a point, even though it's much easier to make someone look good in small burst then it is in long stride, what I mean is, had he stuck around the writers and the actor (as amazing as he is) might have messed up the character, because the character would have had to do a lot more. Having said all that Goodman was freaking amazing as the Republican counterpart to Martin Sheen's Democratic President, if more real life Republicans were like him I think the world would be a better place, hell if Democrats were more like Martin Sheen's character the whole world would be a better place too, if only politics in general was a bit more like West Wing.
Walken had the right attitude here. It doesn't matter what he thinks of Bartlett personally or his family, if the United States government doesn't react with efficient and lethal violence to the kidnapping of an American President's child then it sends a terrible message.
What Fitz should have said, is "We won't hit what we're aiming for". Trying to use HARM missiles for that would have been an epic fail, unless those training camps had lots of radar equipment...
ptroinks The show did that a lot. They’d use weapons for implausible roles, like using the AIM-54C against ground targets. Anyone would knows their AAM’s is like, “WTF, you’re an Admiral?”
They did very little research when it came to talking military stuff on the show. One early episode had CJ saying something like "the commandant of the 32nd Division doesn't let in on his briefings." It doesn't take an expert to know how wrong that statement was.
As a vet, having spent time running several base security programs including OPSEC and INFOSEC, I'm not so sure it was oversight as much as choice. There were a number of times they were very specific about deployment of weapons, but identified a weapon outside its role. Is it a mistake? Or are they showing the coordination of the Sit Room while intentionally masking or misdirecting operational capabilities? As in depth as Sorkin and company get with details, I'd like to think the latter as the more likely scenario. Though I'll also admit, it's just as likely they found a cool sounding designation and tossed it into the script. At least they identified NAS planes for a Navy-based mission.
Honestly wouldn’t ever deny that Goodman absolutely owns the scene, scenarios, response. It’s spot on. In this real world we would end the existence of a nation. You would be hard pressed to speak against it if a presidents child was murdered by terrorists.
I loved him in this role and really liked the contract between Walken and Bertlett. Arguments were often well articulated in this show and even though I'm a Republican is helped me understand the left-wing point of view better.
Being a Republican in the age of Trump is entirely different from being a Republican in the early-2000s. Your party crossed the line of bipartisanship when it allowed Trump to be the nominee. Mitt Romney and Justin Amash may be outliers, but Republicans in Congress are zombies serving Trump compared to Bush-era Republicans. The Democratic Party at least has some diversity of ideology whereas the GOP just agrees with what Trump says aside from anonymous dissidents.
Imagine what The Republican version of The West Wing would look like: the staff would be scheming behind the scenes in order to give Rich Pricks more tax cuts, while gutting the wages/working conditions of workers. Cant imagine that the ratings would be too high...people would be HORRIFIED not inspired if a show depicted the inner workings of a Republican White House like The West Wing did a Democratic Administration.
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@@paullentz1972 You sound like you’re still pissed we took away your slaves and let women start voting.
2:22-2:24 - Does anyone else get the feeling that President Walken was thinking "Just get me those bastards, I won't need guns, I'll rip them apart limb from limb with my bare hands."? 3:41 - Having taken the tough decision and validating his emergency appointment as POTUS, adopts a more human stance, asking Leo whether he's up to informing Bartlett that his daughter's death warrant may just have been issued. Great President, Glen Allen Walken and Great Actor John Goodman.
On the flip side, it has advantages. When the midterms come around, I will have a lot less studying to do than normal. It's kind of a time saver, though one I could live without...
I have to admit I liked Walken's style as acting president. Very decisive, down to business a take no prisoners, screw the Europeans and glad that the Arab nations are mad at us. I especially loved the line where he said in a press conference,"My only regret is that we could only kill him once." In some ways I wish all our presidents were kill him once." But lets remember this is a fictional drama. The problem is Walken is ACTING president. Eventually Bartlett was going to be back on the job, regardless of whether his daughter is found alive or not. Its easy for an acting president to come in, blow the hell out of our enemies and not have to face the long term consequences. He won't be around when time comes to clean up the mess and deal with the blow back months and years down the road. I'm glad they put in the scene at the end where Walken was sitting outside by himself while the attacks were underway. I'll bet he was wondering if he touched off World War Three. Goodman owned this character.
airdriver You must think that only liberals who want to negotiate all the time are the good guys. Sometimes, the greater good is in making it real clear what happens if the bad guys ever do it again. Deterrence does save lives.
@@arionerron4273 - if he is arrogant, it is because he CAN be arrogant. When your allies are pussy-footing around and make themselves dependent on the US military, the ally that it is footing the military has every right to be arrogant.
@@bombardus2258 Damn, man. Chill and enjoy the TV show--like the OP was. You know, remembering this is a fictional drama? You don't seem to distinguish his opinion on TV from his opinion on world politics. It's not that he thinks the USA can control everything, it's that he wishes the world had easy answers like we sometimes see on TV. But he acknowledges that it doesn't. And hey, whatever country you're from has its issues, too, buddy. Guaranteed. And there's a better-than-even chance they're worse, not to mention with fewer and lower upsides than the USA. Looking globally, I mean.
Fitz is talking about using AGM-88 HARMs, which are missiles that home in on and destroy radar installations. They'd be useless against buildings/facilities in a training camp. The West Wing is one of my favorite shows of all time, but they were horrifically bad with military weapon systems and terminology. They never seemed to know what they were talking about.
John Goodman is a very good actor, and he's been in a great many things. Dan Conner on the TV Show "Rosanne," the title character in the movie "King Ralph," not to mention the movie "The Flintstones," and the voice of Scully in Monsters, Inc.
It's hard to remember the time when I thought of John Goodman as a specific type of actor, say light comedy or character actor. I'm not surprised by anything he's capable of.
"Get your people in place, Admiral. We don't go today unless we're provoked. Find her and find her fast but if Zoey Barlett turns up dead, I am going to blow the hell out of something and God only knows what happens next." Such magnificent writing.
West Wing could’ve been like Doctor Who. Change the President and Administration every series and let the show go on! It’d be a brilliant statement about how the world keeps turning even as power changes from one pair of hands to the next. I kinda hoped they’d do this with Arnold Vinick. But no such luck
Never can respect the man who ruined MASH but that may have been fun to see Vinick as Pres. Unfortunately the writers could never stomach the idea of letting a Republican win the election, even if he was a milk-toast moderate like McCain.. I mean Vinick.
There needs to be a series called 'Joint Chiefs' about responding to global crisis that are and are not in the news. It can showcase each branch of service and their specialty.
Takes a REAL PRESIDENT LIKE WALKEN. Bartlett knew Walken would do that. That's why he stepped down. To let Walken blow the hell out of something when politically he couldn't. Genius!
Amos and Goodman both portrayed hard working blue collar family men in Good Times and Rosanne, respectively. Both shows lost a lot when those characters were written out. I would have loved to have seen more of them in West Wing.
It's the Catheter Cowboy at 1:32!! 'There's two things I know, I don't like pain when I cath. Also, our European allies are going to go crazy. They have billions tied up in oil and natural gas pipelines in Kumar.'
