Best West Wing Episode of All Time:

[SCliberal091294]

Go...

I choose "Two Cathedrals"

[WilliamPitt]

1. Hartsfield's Landing

Bartlet playing chess with Toby, Sam and China.

My all-time favorite.

"Look at the whole board."

[Posteritatis]

2. That's the one my head jumped to after seeing your subject. (nt)

[TeamPooka]

3. that's mine too.

[winter is coming]

4. That's a good one, definitely. But there were so many.

I a big fan of "Game On", and the show's pilot is excellent. ("The President's bicycle came to a sudden arboreal stop.&quot

[Posteritatis]

15. If the OP wanted to be really mean they'd request our favorite *scene*... (nt)

[winter is coming]

17. That *would* be cruel. n/t

[WilliamPitt]

5. Let Bartlet Be Bartlet

is another winner.

[SCliberal091294]

6. Other good ones are....

"Let Bartlet be Bartlet" ...."Posse Comitatus" ..... "Bartlet's Third State of the Union" etc...

[inchhigh]

7. Posse Comitatus

Great story line. Still timely. Amazing Jeff Buckley "Hallelulah" montage at the end.

[Sherman A1]

9. Really like "Hallelujah"

I have a Chris Botti Concert with the piece and enjoy it immensely.

[winter is coming]

14. It's amazing how much of "The West Wing" is still timely.

Or maybe it's an indication of how we've merely been kicking the can down the road for years.

[mcar]

8. I just re-watched the series

Loved it then, appreciate it even more now.

[Sherman A1]

10. "Shibboleth"

That is one that I really enjoyed.

Throughout the episode, President Bartlet sends Charlie on a seemingly never-ending hunt for a new carving knife. Unbeknownst to Charlie, President Bartlet is replacing his own personal knife, which he gives to Charlie. A touching scene in the Oval Office occurs when Charlie receives the knife and asks the President about the markings from the manufacturer — a P.R. — and is told that the knife was made for the Bartlet family by a silversmith named Paul Revere.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shibboleth_(The_West_Wing)

[Cane4Dems]

30. i loved charlie and his relationship with the Pres.

esp at the end of the series when Pres. gives him his family bible

[WillyT]

11. Agreed !!! - K & R !!!

[MadrasT]

12. Good choice... I am also fond of "In Excelsis Deo". n/t

[Aristus]

35. My absolute favorite, not the least of which reasons is

I'm the provider at a clinic for homeless patients, and I understand the grinding severity of the lives they lead.

I tear up, not only watching this scene:

Bartlet: "Don't you think think will bring every homeless veteran out of the woodwork?"

Toby: "I can only hope"

- but just thinking about the scene makes me cry.

Aaron Sorkin is a divinely gifted writer, but his worst flaws can mar his greatest scenes,

Let Bartlet Be Bartlet is a good example. Leo makes that staggering speech toward the end. "We're going to raise the level of public debate in America, and let that be our legacy!"

And then ruins it as he has each of the staffers repeat: "I serve at the pleasure of the President."



Having one of them say it, and the rest of them nodding, or agreeing, would have been fine. But the repetition is absurd.

Two Cathedrals is one of the finest hours in television history; without qualification. The risks Sorkin ran by having Bartlet call out God, on national broadcast television, in a country as religiously touchy as ours - masterful...

[Summer Hathaway]

13. "In Excelsis Deo"

Homeless vet found dead wearing one of Toby's old coats. Toby then arranges a full funeral for him at Arlington.

Makes me cry just thinking about it ...

[AngryOldDem]

16. My vote as well.

"Two Cathedrals" comes in at 2nd. Bartlet's cussing out God in the cathedral is classic.

[davidpdx]

18. Two Cathedrals was a favorite of mine as well

The part where he is in the church yelling at God and calls him a feckless thug.

There are so many other episodes that were good as well.

[Posteritatis]

19. I always especially liked that they didn't subtitle that scene. (nt)

[Libertas1776]

20. here actually is a translation of that latin

Don't watch if you like the mystery of the words, though for me knowing what he actually said makes it all the more powerful.

[Posteritatis]

21. Yeah, I understood what he was saying - I just like that they left it open like that. (nt)

[dixiegrrrrl]

23. Thank you for the translation!

It does help understanding the scene.

[Libertas1776]

25. no prob. glad to be of service

[CTyankee]

32. "You get..." what? What was the last word of that last sentence he said?

[Posteritatis]

33. Hoynes, the VP. (nt)

[CTyankee]

34. OK, thanks...

[davidpdx]

38. Thank you as well for posting that

I've seen that scene so many times and could only every understand when he said "thank you lord" at the beginning.

I don't think there are many other actors that could have delivered that performance with the passion and rage he did.

I have all 7 seasons on DVD and like going back and watching them occasionally.

[romantico]

22. Too Many

Too many episodes to list. However, these two scenes always makes me stand up and cheer!

[spanone]

24. never seen it.

[diabeticman]

28. If you have Netflix do yourself a favor and just watch the pilot. You will be hooked.

[Egalitarian Thug]

41. I loathe television, it has ruined the American people. The West Wing, at least the first 4 seasons

(Sorkin left and O'Donnell took over) are the very rarest exception.

[diabeticman]

26. So many different ways to answer that one: Noel--Best drama wise

Celestial Navigation--One of the most funny ones they made as well as 20 hours in America

Somebody going to Emergency Somebody going to Jail honorable mention.

[Libertas1776]

27. In Excelsis Deo

In Excelsis Deo would be my pick. Part of the episode surrounds the character Mrs Landingham, whose death is in focus in Two Cathedrals.

[Ilsa]

29. I can't remember the names of the episodes.

I liked the one when Josh had PTSD and Yoyo Ma was playing cello.
I like some of the others even more, but this is the one I recall first.

[diabeticman]

37. The episode is called Noel

[Paladin]

42. That's my favorite, as well.

Adam Arkin damn near stole the show as the psychiatrist.

[Ilsa]

43. Yeah, he was fabulous.

I think that performance got him those additional episodes when he was counseling Bartlett.

[Cane4Dems]

31. 'Han' is my favorite (season 5 episode 2)

[salin]

36. Am currently rewatching the series on weekends. Am only on season 3

so far - Two Cathedrals stands out.

[ljm2002]

39. Lots of good choices so far...

...and thanks to all for including some clips.

For some reason I never watched the series when it originally aired, but now that I have Netflix I'm going through it.

One that I found to be outstanding was the one where CJ went home to visit her dad and it was clear he was falling into Alheizmer's. His current wife had left him but at first he pretended she was upstairs asleep. At some point in the episode CJ went fishing with him -- it was poetic and then frightening. The whole episode was gut wrenching and really some of the best acting I've seen on TV ever, particularly her dad's part.

[jrandom421]

40. No Episode more powerful

than "In Excelsis Deo"

The death of a homeless Korean War Vet, and his subsequent burial in Arlington, attended by Toby and Mrs Landingham was the best that I can think of.

A close second is the special episode "Issac and Ishmael"