Tomorrow

During the federal government shutdown I re-watched episodes of West Wing, including......"Tomorrow"


You thought I was going to say "Shutdown"*


* That scene is not actually from "Shutdown" but the line is too appropriate to not use

I mentioned previously that "Tomorrow" is up there with the best recent series finales in the game due to how well it addresses the point of the series (show public service through the Bartlet administration) and gives farewells to characters we love.


The plot driving much of the final two seasons is wrapped up.  It was wrapped up episodes ago on Election Day Part I and II.  A few loose ends from the campaign and the new Congress were tied up in the subsequent episodes leaving for the finale...exactly what?

The absence of a larger storylines urgency allows the characters to reflect on their service and take the steps to the next station in life.  "Tomorrow" manages to not dawdle on newer characters, save for some Mr. & Mrs. Santos scenes (it'd e silly to completely ignore the new president we spent two years building toward) and focus on the longer tenured characters like CJ and Will and most of all Jed.  They head nod to others like Josh and Sam and we get to see cameos by Ron Butterfield and Mallory which not only do not feel forced for the sake of the finale, but woven in well with the episode's storylines. **


** I will admit there is one thing in this episode that drives me nuts.  Abigail wonders whose bright idea it was to hold an inauguration in January and Jed replies it was the Founding Fathers.  You know, Jefferson and those guys.  Except this is wrong.  Originally inauguration was held in March, partially because word traveled a lot slower in those days.  It was not until the 20th Amendment was ratified in 1933, and first being put into practice for FDR's second of eighteen inaugurals in 1937 that inauguration was held in January.  

This grates like nails on a chalkboard, or spelling Pittsburgh without the "h".  But it is not because of the factual error.  West Wing has more than it's share of incorrect, fictional or debatable facts on the show and these are often done in the interest of furthering a character, a mood, a scene or a plot.  This one is an unforced error because it does none of these things.  Jed, a student of history who can speak at length on every single national park, who stalls poker games with useless trivia, who annoys his Ford's Theater seatmates with endless Lincoln facts, would never get this wrong and it is incredibly out of character for him to do so.  Thank you for indulging me, rant over.


We know where Josh, Sam and Donna are going (to run the White House in their new, promoted, roles) so a quick acknowledgement is all we need.

Through CJ and Will and Charlie we are able to reflect on their time and service to the country.  A lot is said in a wordless scene where Will pops into the office to find his compter contents archived.  Here, West Wing manages to give a "life goes on" type ending.  Even though the characters are moving on, there is still business to be done.  Capped by a changing of the guard type scene taking place exactly at noon, the White House service staff move the Bartlet portrait down and the Santos portrait up.  It's the best since Tim Bayliss left BPD Homicide


Toby's pardon situation provides a semi-suspenseful story throughout the episode so as to include some sort of conflict, which is good considering the other storylines are wrapped up.  Appropriately, it involves Jed's internal conflict weighing his principals the office of the presidency right up until he signs it as his final act, knocking on the desk like a judge ending court.

Mallory's appearance is more than welcome due to her gift to the president, and her being the only person who could logically give it to the president.  While the show was about public service via Bartlet's presidency, the soul of it lay in the friendship between Jed and Leo.  How the oldest of friends supported each other through the toughest of times including world conflicts, addiction and disease was what made the show so endearing.  All other relationships on the show took their cues from Jed and Leo and would be viewed relative to theirs.  With John Spencer's sudden passing and the characters and the actors lost a dear friend.  The napkin lets us remember some of the finest moments in the show's run as well as our fictional mentor if there ever was one.