The ending of West Wing...

[fajrdrako]

Warren Ellis says that the season finale of West Wing was wrong, and bad, and should never have existed. I don't watch West Wing. Can one of my friends here tell me what was wrong with it?

(I'm thinking privately that it coudln't possibly be as bad as the finale of X-Files was.)

Comments

[jhayman.livejournal.com]

Funny, I thought the ending was just fine. I'm sorry to see the show go but it's time. I think it had appropriate amounts of regret, anticipation and a real sense of "the king is dead, long live the king" kind of continuity that one hopes for. The scenes of changing over the White House for the incoming staff were interesting.

Now they COULD have ended with an assasination of the new president. That would have been a shocker. They chose taste, dignity and grace. It was a goodbye.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

There's nothing wrong with taste, dignity and grace. (Not that any of these things are Warren Ellis' strong points... well, taste maybe.)

I wonder why he said what he said. Hmm.

Thanks for answering!

[grlnamedlucifer.livejournal.com]

I totally agree with jhayman. I thought the ending was fine. And this is from someone who hated John Wells and gave up watching the past 2 seasons, but watched last night because I needed to see how it ended. And, yes, maybe it wasn't the most exciting thing ever, but it was a respectful and dignified way to end it. The old staff packing and leaving, the new staff stumbling in with a mix of awe and entitlement. They gave the right person the final line and gave Leo a moment that completely honored the character and the actor.

*shrugs* I don't know what that guy's problem was. It was the first time I've watched a John Wells episode that I actually enjoyed.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it, too. Was John Wells the President?

[grlnamedlucifer.livejournal.com]

*g* No, no, John Wells was the producer. Him, Aaron Sorkin, and... somebody else. Tommy Schlamee I think? were the original producers, and then two years ago the other two were fired/left the show and John Wells took over. And, in my opinion, ruined a lot of the show.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Thanks for explaining. Obviously, I hadn't a clue. (g)

I am often frustrated when producers or writers change, and a show becomes different.... Usually not as good. It takes a lot of finesse to make a good show, and once the balance if found, newcomers can't sustain it.

[grlnamedlucifer.livejournal.com]

Quite alright. *g*

The sad part is, he wasn't even new. He was there from the beginning but, I dunno, it's like he somehow forgot what the show was with the other two there.

People have said that the show got better this year though, which I can't testify to since I didn't watch most of it. But for a year there, atleast, the show really fell apart.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Maybe sometimes a writer just loses steam. Or loses his spark. Or something. I think it's harder to keep up the quality of writing with television, because it's such a committee effort.

[brashley46.livejournal.com]

Well, hell, I liked it. I thought it just worked.

Of course it's always been a liberal Democrat fantasy anyway; and "Commander-in-Chief" is/was better in that it is/was more openly fantastic. I mean, Donald Sutherland is such a consummate Slimey Villain.

I hope C-in-C gets renewed, if it doesn't I shall miss it very much. West Wing? It's as over as Babylon 5.

Edited and reposted for spelling.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

West Wing? It's as over as Babylon 5.

I take it you mean that the story was wrapped up? 'Cause it seems to me that after Babylon 5 we got Crusade and "Return of the Rangers" or whatever it was called.

I love Donald Sutherland; is he in C-in-C? I probably should watch it. (But I probably won't find the time.)

[brashley46.livejournal.com]

As in "the story arc is over". "Crusade" was probably a mistake on JMS's part, much though we wanted it.

Yeah, Don's the eeeeevil Speaker of the House, a smarmy Florida politician who's rather obviously (at least to those of us who remember the sumbiyutch) based on Senator George Smathers, may he rot. (I grew up in Florida, I know the swamps they hid the bodies in.) Geena Davis plays the President. You might just like it, see if you can catch any reruns.

In West Wing, it was President Jed Bartlet, as played by Martin Sheen. Who finally got succeeded this week by President Matt Santos, played by Jimmy Smits ... they've gone from a Latino playing a New Englander to a Latino playing a Chicano. But the whole cast was stellar.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I liked Crusade because I liked the characters (especially Galen) but I didn't much like the story arc that was central to the show. On the other hand, they pretty much ignored the theme when it got to the actual episodes, so that was okay.

Sutherland as a Smathers clone - I love the idea!

Yes, I've heard great things about West Wing all along.

I missed that but spotted something else

[idiotgrrl.livejournal.com]

Did you notice how they also skipped over an entire generation? From Bartlett, in his late sixties, to Santos, who can't be more than 42.