With Zoey safely back home after her harrowing kidnapping ordeal, there is plenty of animosity in the Bartlet home, most of it aimed at Jed and his covert assassination of the Qumar Defence Secretary that may have triggered the kidnapping reprisal.
Abbey's resentment is so brutal that she tells Jed she is moving to their New Hampshire farm with Zoey, and doesn't wish for Jed to join them.
Meanwhile, the president, Leo and Josh are tying to get approval for their first choice for the vacant VP spot. However, their choice in the Secretary of State, is flatly refused by the unforgiving Republican leadership, especially Speaker Haffley, and instead offer Leo their own shortlist of candidates, including "Bingo" Bob Russell.
To compound Josh's frustration trying to find an appealing VP candidate, he is landed with a new intern called Ryan Pierce, who is the nephew of an important senator and the great great grandson of Franklin Pierce. And is therefore well-connected and difficult to get rid of.
I think this is the episode when the show slides from a well-crafted political drama to a diluted political soap-opera. With chief writer and the show's creator, Aaron Sorkin having left, it was left to John Wells, Carol Flint, Deborah Cahn and a host of other writers to pick up the pieces. But regrettably the transition wasn't all that successful during this season, and this episode in particular underlines that.
Although the Zoey kidnapping arc was generally well done, the subsequent ramifications between Abbey and Jed were the stuff of pure soap, with too much time spent at their home (the kitchen of all places), and a lot of silence and stares between the wounded parties made for pretty lame television for a show of this quality.
Moreover, Josh's daliences with his girlfriend, Amy was again rather unneccesary and cheap.
The arrival of the new intern, Ryan, seemed nothing more than an irritating distraction. Perhaps the writers wanted to add some fresh faces, but it didn't work here, and only took away some of the tension that Josh endured trying to find an acceptable VP candidate - which was the only story that captivated me in this entire episode.
Abbey's resentment is so brutal that she tells Jed she is moving to their New Hampshire farm with Zoey, and doesn't wish for Jed to join them.
Meanwhile, the president, Leo and Josh are tying to get approval for their first choice for the vacant VP spot. However, their choice in the Secretary of State, is flatly refused by the unforgiving Republican leadership, especially Speaker Haffley, and instead offer Leo their own shortlist of candidates, including "Bingo" Bob Russell.
To compound Josh's frustration trying to find an appealing VP candidate, he is landed with a new intern called Ryan Pierce, who is the nephew of an important senator and the great great grandson of Franklin Pierce. And is therefore well-connected and difficult to get rid of.
I think this is the episode when the show slides from a well-crafted political drama to a diluted political soap-opera. With chief writer and the show's creator, Aaron Sorkin having left, it was left to John Wells, Carol Flint, Deborah Cahn and a host of other writers to pick up the pieces. But regrettably the transition wasn't all that successful during this season, and this episode in particular underlines that.
Although the Zoey kidnapping arc was generally well done, the subsequent ramifications between Abbey and Jed were the stuff of pure soap, with too much time spent at their home (the kitchen of all places), and a lot of silence and stares between the wounded parties made for pretty lame television for a show of this quality.
Moreover, Josh's daliences with his girlfriend, Amy was again rather unneccesary and cheap.
The arrival of the new intern, Ryan, seemed nothing more than an irritating distraction. Perhaps the writers wanted to add some fresh faces, but it didn't work here, and only took away some of the tension that Josh endured trying to find an acceptable VP candidate - which was the only story that captivated me in this entire episode.
