PTSD

The finale play-by-play

Because this is a one-time thing, I'm cross-posting my West Wing play-by-play. I even put in little time stamps. And used a few complete sentences.

00 Nice swooping morning-in-DC scenes. All that pinkness. It looks so peaceful on television.

01 Josh is back! And Donna. So she didn’t chop him up and feed him to the sharks after all. They’re so cute together. Oh, it’s sweet but very, very sad. No rings, so there's a fandom hope dashed to pieces.

No talking, either. What, now they only communicate in meaningful looks?

Coffee! It’s all about the coffee on the West Wing. Always has been. Now I want some coffee.

02 Sniffle. “The contents of this computer have been archived.”

Apparently tonight the role of Toby Ziegler will be played by a red rubber ball.

03 King George lining the founding fathers up and shooting them was a nice bit of dialogue, but does Stockard Channing usually sleep in her eyeliner?

04 Was that the original credits? Or at least closer to them than the rest of this season?

06 Will and Grace is still on I thought they cancelled that a long time ago. How long has she been pregnant, a year?

07 Hee. Long underwear is going to make him look bulky. And she doesn’t take his fashion advice. Good for her.

08 Oh, don’t go there. Not the necktie cliché. Nope, she went there. And I was just thinking about liking Mrs. Santos.

Charlie! Charlie, Charlie, Charlie. And the snark has arrived.

09 Sorry, guys, repeating the same line is not the same as being funny. When Charlie says it, it’s funny. After that, not so much.

Isn’t funny the second time you do it, either.

10 Hot diggity dog. *snerk*

You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone. That’s so deep, man. *sniffle*

11 His favorite song is “You Can Leave Your Hat On.” I’m not sure if that’s a joke, or just a little creepy.

12 Margaret is still amusing. Why haven’t they discussed where she’s going?

Bad day for New England, I guess. Hope the “Get the hell out of Dodge” plane can land in a blizzard.

14 A team of cartographers. Heh. With the Mission: Impossible theme playing in the background. When they're done, they can go rogue and travel the world, turning all the maps upside down.

Anybody know which governor he just ordered around? Yeah, me neither.

17 I’m so uninterested in the ER finale. I really don’t care. I could care less, really. Have I mentioned that I don’t care?

19 I bet it’s a framed napkin in the box. What else could it be?

20 “You do realize that you turn into a pumpkin at noon!”

Heh. They could get Margaret to forge the President’s signature. You know, in a pinch.

22 Aww. It’s an inspirational post-it note. A crumpled inspirational post-it note. Everybody misses Leo.

Goodbye, Larry. Goodbye, Ed. I could always tell you apart.

23 Dear God. Don’t give him a mallet. Have you forgotten the tree thing? It was just on an hour ago. Someone might get killed.

That’s so much cooler than the Westlaw Constitution I carried around. And he’d have gotten laughed at in the tie. Good choice. With a Constitution and a carving knife, he’ll be all set.

25 Lily Tomlin is trying not to tap her foot. They should have let her do it.

Dude, make up your mind. Just sign it already. We all know you want to. We’ve seen the “Three Years Later” scene. The one where Josh may or may not have been wearing a wedding ring.

That was the shortest two minutes in history, there. And what’s in the package? Right, a napkin. An inspirational napkin, even. S. won’t take my bet, by the way.

27 No jail for Tobias. Now Huck won’t have to grow up to be all bitter and angry and estranged from his father. I mean, no more than the average son of workaholic political parents.

30 Ooh, Studio 60 preview! Bradley Whitford! Timothy Busfield! Yay!

31 There goes Ron. Don’t they ever give him a day off?

32 “I don’t want you to look stricken when you see them.” That sounds like the kind of warning my mother would give.

Driving a car is just like riding a bike. Uh oh.

33 “JFK really screwed us with that one, didn’t he.” Hey, if Toby has been pardoned, does that mean he can work for Josh? He’s not an ex-felon. Technically.

34 One last biblical reference for the road.

35 I’ve never heard MSNBC use the word “eschewing” during a broadcast. So much for true-to-life. Now we *know* it was all just a fairy tale.

36 Not sure Harrison is the best former President to reference, guys.

37 “Guess what? You win.”

Funny exchange, but I hope I never hear Teri Polo talk about putting out ever again.

39 It’s Aaron Sorkin! At the inauguration! It’s the squee heard round the world!

40 He had a copy of Foucault in the Oval Office. That’s awesome. Didn’t catch which title it was, though. Power/Knowledge?

41 Josh and Donna look so happy. But wow, Bradley Whitford’s hairline sure has moved since the Pilot.

42 Hey, CJ, the phone is ringing. Shouldn’t someone answer that? What, they swear in the new guy and suddenly everyone quits working? What if there’s an earthquake in New England? Or a swarm of killer bees?

45 Not that I’m waiting for one or anything, but we’re fifteen minutes from the end and there hasn’t been any actual J/D conversation. Now where did I put that John Wells voodoo doll?

46 “Home, sweet home.” Aw, I missed Sam.

Ronna’s the new Mrs. Landingham. Except Mrs. Landingham wouldn’t have gotten all weepy and shit. Somebody smack her.

47 “Make me proud, Mr. President. I’ll do my best, Mr. President.” What is this, Abbott and Costello?

48 “A young and vigorous lunatic.” Hee.

49 I’m sorry, but Bram is no Charlie. Dude, listen to Charlie! Don’t be unpacking your shit when he’s talking to you! He can take you, don't think he can't.

50 Press Secretary CJ is back. Nice little reference to the early years. Isn’t this a parallel scene to ITSOTG?

51 Donna gets an office. Finally. And her office is bigger than Josh’s. I’m just saying, now we know who wears the pants in that relationship.

As if we didn’t already.

53 Okay, I was fine till CJ said she didn’t work at the White House. Now I’ve got something in my eye.

54 My, look at the row of pretty white guys there to help the President. So much pretty. All together in the Oval Office. And we get a “What’s next?”

55 Here comes the present! And…it’s the napkin!!! Ha! I was right!

And now S. is looking at me funny. Think I said that a little loud.

56 That’s it? There’s four minutes left! What the hell?!? It's not over already, is it?

posted by Elizabeth @ 9:27 PM