TWW 2x10 - Noel a man falls in a hole

The West Wing - final scene in Noel, Leo and Josh
"This guy's walking down a street, when he falls in a hole. The walls are so steep. He
can't get out.
A doctor passes by, and the guy shouts up "Hey you! Can you help me out?" The doctor writes him a prescription, throws it down the hole and moves on.
Then a priest comes along and the guy shouts up "Father, I'm down in this hole, can you
help me out?" The priest writes out a prayer, throws it down in the hole and moves on.
Then a friend walks by. "Hey Joe, it's me, can you help me out?" And the friend jumps in
the hole! Our guy says "Are you stupid? Now we're both down here!" and the friend says,
"Yeah, but I've been down here before, and I know the way out."

[@RandallHallKaizenReiki]

I really liked it when he throws the line back at Leo as explanation of why he is trying to protect Leo from the hearings.

[@kathybartlett1108]

I miss John Spencer, he was the heart of that show.

[@jamesbailey6865]

That he was.

[@levis.sutton542]

He and Alison Janney

[@rgwak]

The amount of sincere loyalty each character has for the other is fucking beautiful.

[@chrisfeeney5814]

Would that it were that way in the real world

[@willieboy8798]

@@chrisfeeney5814 well some people think ozzy and harreit is real, not to mention I love Lucy!

[@dancingqueen0728]

Still one of my favorite scenes from my favorite show.

[@ihavetwofaces]

When people ask me what my favorite Christmas carol is, I refer them to this clip. They're like "Oh, you like 'Carol of the Bells'". I'm like "No. This clip. This performance." I'll pass on Pentatonix and the Tabernacle Choir. Give me Josh having his second worst day ever and Leo and Donna dragging him out of it, followed by this perfect arrangement any day.

[@naomilamont7223]

I just started crying. I was ok all episode, then Leo told that story, and I was so incredibly moved by his loyalty and kindness that I just started crying.

[@toddschneider847]

This is a great moment from possibly the best show to ever air on network television. I loved it 20 years ago and it rings even truer these days. Well done.

[@bend.manevitz8261]

There are a few scenes from this show -- this is one of them -- where I cry readily.

[@Lightscribe721]

John Spencer was such an unbelievable gift to this show.

[@RevBoose]

It was things like the layers of meaning here - bells give Josh flashbacks to the sirens earlier in the episode, and then they come out to that carol, a song of rejoicing and happiness, and despite his protestations, he can feel it happening again. Amazing show!

[@DannyMercer1993]

I've quoted this scene before to a friend ... brilliant all round.

[@MOUNTAINMANJJ]

It is a very good scene, knowing what kind of holes Leo has been down and he tells Josh I got your back. Similar to the State of the Union when the President asks "you know what to do right?". I never really thought about it Mr. President. You got a best friend? Is he smarter than you? That's your Chief of Staff.

[@tkellnerus]

I love how recovering addict Leo overheard that and knew how highly the president regarded him.

[@wmwestbroek]

“Is he smarter than you?” The secretary of agriculture answers “yes,” with a chuckle. “Would you trust him with your life?” The secretary loses the smile and answers “yes.”

[@tkellnerus]

I love how the recovering addict Leo, who found his way out of a hole, is there for Josh.

[@bradburchnell2341]

I miss the show. John Spencer was a legend and I absolutely adore Donna!

[@michaelhayden725]

Yes for me this was the scene where we became aware of how much Donna was in love with Josh. It just took until season 7 for Josh to know it as well.

[@hunterscott3000]

The combination of that scene and the song after is gold.

[@indroneilbiswas]

The camera work from 2.26-2.42... it just gets me! This is a remarkable scene!

[@CptCarlosRuiz]

It’s that tilt, for me. Tilts are often used to convey that something - or someone, Josh in this case - is not quite right.

[@Tigerman1138]

I remember years ago seeing this when it first ran. Best show I can remember. I haven’t really been as loyal to any show since.

[@Peregrinus16]

This was the first episode Of TWW I saw. It's also my favourite. I was hooked for life by the end.

[@Tigerman1138]

Peregrinus16 good place to start. I think I came in watching CJ giving a speech. I was hooked then. Best show on TV.

[@newportfamily7575]

This is so true.I have been in this hole if it wasn’t for my brother in-law the friend,He help me out of the hole and I’ve stayed out.All I ca n say is thank you to all the friends in the world.

[@gregrtodd]

Been looking for this myself, but it's one second short. It's missing the final "DONG!" :( Love what the sound dept did with the menacing note underneath the carollers at the end (when we're creeping in on Josh's face). That one deft touch is the icing on Bradley Whitford's performance

[@abhinavhansaraman3304]

Hi, what is that song in the end called? Could someone please tell me the name?

[@Naruda]

@@abhinavhansaraman3304 It's Carol of the Bells

[@abhinavhansaraman3304]

@@Naruda thank you so much. Hope you're doing well in these troubled times

[@Tigerman1138]

I love the choir. They are really good, especially 02:36

[@tmoore4075]

Exactly. Been wanting this video with the music ending on youtube forever. The hole story is great but the carolers add a lot too.

[@Tigerman1138]

Tim Moore John Doe I always thought the bells reminded him of 🚨 I always wondered was it implied Donna knew he was going to have a relapse at the end if he stayed there? Was it her seeing him confront his trigger and taking him away saying there is no reason to torture himself?

[@rebeccadittman6350]

I live for an opportunity to tell this story with this kind of meaning behind it!

[@beandip4all]

One of the most powerful scenes in television.

[@cynthiaennis3107]

Love this moment! Never forgot it! ❤️

[@michaelodonoghue7464]

He has an Irrational Fear of Oblongs, not Rectangles mind you, just Oblongs. The term Oblong is used to refer to a non-square Rectangle. ... A Rectangle can be defined as a Parallelogram containing a Right Angle. A Rectangle with four sides of equal length is a Square. Thus an Oblong is a special case of an antiparallelogram and its angles are not Right Angles. In geometry, an antiparallelogram is a Quadrilateral having, like a Parallelogram, two opposite pairs of equal-length sides, but in which the sides of one pair cross each other. The longer of the two pairs will always be the one that crosses. Antiparallelograms are also called contraparallelograms or crossed parallelograms. An antiparallelogram is a special case of a crossed quadrilateral, which has generally unequal edges. A special form of the antiparallelogram is a crossed Rectangle, in which two opposite edges are parallel.

[@RetroYoungen]

I quote the "man in the hole" story at least once a month. The thought's got me through some tough times, knowing I don't have to do everything myself. This show was just incredible.

[@ThorsHammer1]

If you are fortunate, you have someone like Leo at your back. If you are very fortunate, you ARE Leo.

[@hanscombe72]

It’s been such a long time since I watched west wing. I landed on this episode. Nobody can flip out like josh. He screams at Bartlett. This show defined the first 6 years of the 2000s for me. Watched it all the time on DVD. It was a sort of pain relief during the Bush years. Never watched it during Trump. It was just to sad.

[@rgwak]

Ooohh, you can just barely hear the sirens mixed in at the end.

[@kristigiles7846]

" ..you could have a thing" .." what thing?" " How the hell do I know" love it

[@barbarawalsh2875]

This is one of my top five West Wing episodes. If it wasn’t for Two cathedrals it would be my favorite. The end is sweet and it’s hard you go from Leo and his wonderful tale To leaving the White House and Josh just by the agony in his face is suffering as he is listening to the bell players. And then there’s Donna who knows her boss so well making him move along because she knows that he is suffering. These people exist in the world I’m sure not just in the pages of a well written script. I wish I knew them.

[@jacobparker1105]

Also second for me behind two cathedrals! Let me guess: your third favourite episode is the one with the priest and confession at the end?…

[@barbarawalsh2875]

How did you know?

[@ldkellandshaw]

'Noel' is right up there with Two Cathedrals and 18 People as the best that WW ever produced,

[@Bitemis]

I love this scene, but it always annoys me that this video is missing the last "dong" at the end.

[@red72pasadena]

And the sirens! On the directors commentary, they explicitly state they mixed the sounds of the emergency sirens in with that last "dong" (the music and the sirens being the trigger for Josh's PTSD).

[@valwilliams6983]

magnificent acting

[@cutekiltchaser]

One of my favorite episodes

[@BeaMarisa]

i love this so so so much

[@Tigerman1138]

John Doe I always thought the bells reminded him of 🚨 I always wondered was it implied Donna knew he was going to have a relapse at the end if he stayed there? Was it her seeing him confront his trigger and taking him away saying there is no reason to torture himself?

[@phvangalen4310]

The West Wing is my Shangri-La

[@BlackDiamond2718]

A man has fallen into a hole in Washinton D.C. :D Still enjoy that moment. To be honest I was confused about the jumping into the hole till he explained it. "They had us in the first half, I'm not gonna lie."

[@ivankreger]

I would love to have the full version of this version of this song, does it exist or just the 30+secs?

[@Tigerman1138]

Is it implied Donna knows that the 🎶 is causing Josh a “relapse with a conscious acknowledgment”, that he is able to confront his trigger? Does Donna think Josh is caught up in the music or does she realize he is teetering on having a breakdown?

[@cmupensfan]

She realizes he is suffering from PTSD, and music is his trigger

[@Tigerman1138]

Clint Novak Makes sense. She is the one who spotted it/his abnormal behavior. I love how like a big sister she is taking him against his will to the ER.

[@ryan2009cov]

Anyone have any thoughts on why Josh is so mesmerised by the choir bells?

[@grant115]

The music is triggering his PTSD, perhaps the bells and overlapping singing reminding him of sirens and the panic of people when he got shot.

[@theredwind]

Exactly.. sound itself is a major trigger for Josh in terms of memory, kind of like how Ave Maria triggers a response to sister. Yoyo Ma playing celo is enough to stir these types of memories inside of Josh, and the trauma from the shooting is a very vivid memory for him

[@lone982]

If there was ever a better TV series, I've yet to find out........

[@tonyrosensteel9846]

That's loyalty

[@shogan8460]

Hey, people who gave this a thumbs down: why? And please make a point without resorting to name-calling. Thanks.

[@Whisper555]

I've seen less innocuous videos than this get dislikes. Some people just want to see the world burn.

[@iloveamerica11]

Donna was wasted on Josh

[@jbfarley]

Dumbass

[@mossy642]

Who the fuck writes a Christmas Carol in the minor key?!

[@MarcusLeepapi]

Very nice...

[@user-hw2zs3ft1u]

what's the name of this song they're singing?

[@kennyvermilyea2112]

Carol of the Bells!!

[@blackhawc39]

I'd just like to point out that despite the fact that I knew what this title was referencing, it is very misleading to others who might not know the show. Just saying

[@kireon1]

You're right, I've amended the title.

[@TheImpossibleMan]

Without an inch of exaggeration this is one of the worst scenes in WW history, mediocre writing an ending that redefines "saccharine".

[@JohnnyDoeDoeDoe]

+TheImpossibleMan Saccharine? It came off far more as ominous to me, with the bells sounds like bullets and Josh still being brought back to the night of the shooting

[@YourLoyalDeserter]

Lighten up. Let a little emotion in.

[@wazza8614]

TheImpossibleMan WTF. Sarcasm?! This entire episode is brilliant.

[@andrew_4747]

Not only is it far from the worst in WW since we have the post-Sorkin era to contend with, it is a powerful emotional scene all on it's own about the damage trauma can do and how only the people who have been there before can really help you.

[@Kira1Lawliet]

My friend, I think you need to take another look at the scene and pay more close attention to what's happening.