West Wing Thread - WTF?!

[liberalpragmatist]

If you haven't caught it yet, warning: MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD


















































Okay, so WHY did they kill Leo? I'm sorry, that's just a little too over-the-top. Dying of a broken heart because the President fired him because he opposed an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal?!

I'm getting kind of annoyed at how the West Wing is constantly to cram a million crises together for "dramatic effect" - it just becomes too melodramatic and too far-fetched. The whole Bartlet invoking the 25th while his VP had resigned and his daughter was kidnapped-thing was itself too much. Now this?

I still find the show entertaining and I like a lot of it. The stuff about Israel and Palestine in this episode was excellent. But why'd they have to just screw it up at the end with something like that? If they wanted to kill a major character, it's tragic, but at least understandable, for dramatic narrative. But why do it in the context of something totally different, so out-of-the-blue and something that in real life would be so unrelated? If they have to kill a character, can't they do it in a way that fits a realistic narrative, not make something so far-fetched and melodramatic?!

(note, removed the word, "effectively" on edit)?!

[NYC Liberal]

1. Dammit!

I accidently hit the space bar and it scrolled down. :(

[liberalpragmatist]

3. sorry!

I'll scroll the thing down further.

[pres2032]

2. "more effectively"?????

how the hell????

I'm so pissed that they killed him off. At least they did his "death" scene respectively. I was literally crying during the whole scene.


those bastards, they killed Leo!!!!!!!!!!

[Sannum]

4. I miss Aaron Sorkin

I refuse to watch the show when it is like this. I stopped when watching when NBC um...dismissed him due to some of his extra carricular activities. Now it is unwatchable. I don't watch ER either...a forest fire during a blizard in the middle of Michigan Avenue in Chicago every week is a little farfetched

Is it true that Aaron Sorkin is working behind the scenes in the Kerry campaign?

[Jayster84]

5. Maybe he's not dead. eom hint hint

[FlashHarry]

9. No corpse. No death.

The show has become way too didactic. Sure, it was didactic before--but it had Sorkin's inimitable writing touch. Nobody, but nobody makes civics palatable like Sorkin.

[barb162]

17. that's what I am thinking. Maybe he's almost dead, but in the

next episode some gardener or Secret Service guy finds him in the nick of time, takes him to the ER and he recovers.

[bigwillq]

6. A question (spoiler)

WHo plays Leo?

[liberalpragmatist]

10. John Spencer

n/t

[Kire]

14. is that the Blues Explosion guy?

i always wanted to ask that

[bigwillq]

19. Oh no,

that's my sister's fave character.:cry:

[Scooter24]

7. I

thought that the "25th" episodes were well done. It was a change from the status quo and really drew people to watch.

Maybe Leo was killed because the actor quit? Or maybe with the whole "season of change" concept, they needed to have a character that was a total departure from Leo as to create a more hostile atmosphere?

[liberalpragmatist]

8. the 25th thing was a bit too far-fetched for me. Why so unrealistic?

I hate that Leo *might* be dead. But I can understand the impulse to create drama, and so I'm not against them doing it. But why make it so far-fetched?! That would never happen in real life - you're not going to have the chief-of-staff fired for opposing a peace accord and then dying of a broken heart. It's dramatic, but it's way too made-for-TV, and early West Wing was NOT like that - it was far more realistic.

Look, if they wanted Leo to die, they could've made it somewhat less connected. Maybe keep the conflict between Bartlet and him going, then maybe have him depart angrily, but die a few days later in an unrelated heart attack or something. It'd still be dramatic. But it's just too far-fetched and melodramatic to make it happen as a result of a broken heart because he was fired for opposing the President's peace plan...yadda yadda.

[DrZeeLit]

11. They ...... ??? NOOooo.... can't belive it!

I used to be a diehard fan. It was probably the only show I watched on a regular basis. Then, I quit t.v. and life is better.

But I like to check in now and then. When I read all the crud about the 25th and the vice president (and losing Tim Matheson broke my heart) ... well, that was icing on my no-t.v. policy.

This new wrinkle just cannot be true. I mean, the guy who plays Leo is a major star. No word has leaked that he's leaving. I don't think it happened. Nah.

Oh well.
And Sam is now Dr. Vegas? (or did he get cancelled already?)

I do NOT miss t.v.
I like netflix just fine, thank you.

[BoX o BooX]

13. I'm with Zee.

WW was on my list of shows I was still watching out of habit... but when the Fall Season rolled around, I forgot to set my VCR... and I have not missed TV one bit. I have not watched TV for 4 months, and I am not sorry. TV kills brains.

[napi21]

12. I don't care folks. I love West Wing!

If I had to guess, Leo either wanted out, or they couldn't reach a contract agreement. Happens all the time in long running series shows. I still think they do a great job with writing.

[question everything]

15. Was going to start a similar thread

It was not just the Israeli-Palestinian deal, it appears that they clashed last week about retaliating over the Gaza killing. And "Leo" looked ghastly all hour. Perhaps the makeup was supposed to have given us a clue that he was ill.

And, can anyone really collapse on the compounds of Camp David and not be found by the Security Service?

The worst that they have done was killing CJ's body guard several seasons ago but then... we got Mark Harmon on NCIS - a very favorite program.

[KatyaR]

16. OOO! OOO! OOO! (Spoiler alert)

Press last week before the season premiere stated that Leo does have a heart attack but he does not die; however, he will be replaced as COS and will serve in an advisory capacity. New COS--CJ (I can't explain that, either, and I'm a die-hard fan)!

[LizW]

18. I'm heartbroken (spoiler)

Leo was my favorite character.

And they didn't even realize he was missing and went back to D.C. without him? How awful.

:cry:

[Lindacooks]

20. That's the part I can't believe

How on earth could someone be unaccounted for at Camp David? That just doesn't make sense. And all they do is call his cell phone? Very weak.

[sir_captain]

21. I'm pretty sure he's not dead

I'd bet a lot of money he'll be back