West Wing Season 5 Episode 6

The last bit of 5x06 Disaster Relief where CJ and the president talk and Donna shows Josh her 'what a shame' folder

[@emesselt]

Donna with the “What A Shame” file was a great moment

[@Pleaselikemycomment1]

Josh finally realizing what really mattered.

[@embott1]

This show - these words - can carry so much gravitas. I am tingling with pride

[@woodyellen1999]

This is very much a scene that could only have been pulled off by Allison, she is the only one that could have had that strength and raw vulnerability. She knew that the President forgot to that he had a job to do and decided to put herself on the line for the good of the rest of the country who deserved a President who's head was in the game. For me this is when she qualified to being able to be the chief of staff and I think the President saw that.

[@leegrabelsky2696]

Tess Woodhouse Yeah Sorry I think if The CJ Character possessed those maternal juices ..She'd knock off those wheres my Potus Crying ... ...Sometimes unrealistic scenes are put together for the sole purpose just to show off an actor's abilities

[@Nill757]

Wrong. Being right about where/how Bartlett allocates his time does not mean anyone who walks around scared 😱 should be WH Ch of Staff. Keenly aware of threats? Yes. “I’m afraid”? No.

[@bobbieking4892]

No​@@leegrabelsky2696

[@carrickrichards2457]

Just as in Tom Clancy's 'Executive Orders', POTUS cannot indulge in what might be misinterpreted as a policy statement or weakness. Hard judgement to see where the line between neccessary demonstration of understanding, personal leadership, human compassion and that lies. GREAT writing.

[@Redtail_hawk]

I’m pretty sure Donna should be running for president in 2020

[@fiddaune]

God I miss the West Wing!!!

[@joemirotta9146]

C.J., Toby, were upset all the stuff been happening in last few months and given all the president went through almost losing his daughter it changed his whole world but it also made him stronger

[@adrienebrooke]

I absolutely love this show, esp CJ.

[@2AMaLLtHeTiMe]

i always hated how leo and the president left josh out to dry after he messed up. everyone on the show had messed up from time to time and leo had even backed josh's call to play it tough. i lost a lot of respect for leo during this. i loved how they looked out for each other in the earlier seasons and that seemed to disappear in the later seasons.

[@JPF941]

they grew apart as Leo and the President held Josh back on the issues he wanted to address. The not done file is a sign of that. Why they grew so far apart in the show's run.

[@nata3467]

Donna has his back

[@Drbcoaster]

He is referring to when Zoey was kidnapped and he felt like his world had radically changed. It is very moving.

[@LMays-cu2hp]

It is very nice seeing Air Force One flying.

[@privateuser9052]

In case you wanted to know what it looks like when an incredible actress has mediocre writing to work with. Allison Janney is hands down among the greatest television actors of all time. Her expertise, command, presence, delivery… with Aaron Sorkin’s direction and scripts! Allison Janney delivers exemplary performance after exemplary performance. A major percentage of her scenes could each be an actors course in perfection unto themselves. Then there is the post Sorkin era. I’m certain many of you would agree; there is a tangible off kilter atmosphere. A master artist with tools that don’t quite live up to their craft. Like asking a sculptor to chisel sandstone instead of their usual marble. That sculpture will still be expertly crafted, but…

[@tfn105]

@thatdrattedcat You should watch 5-7 properly. What the WW lost in the details and small moments of inside humour, it more than made up for in 6/7 in particular with an inspired choice of Republican opponent. Vinick made the last season and a half of the WW. And casting Alan Alda was genius too.

[@carldrosa]

He means that he had an idea of what WAS important and valuable to him. He THOUGHT he had an idea of what he cherished and how deeply. After the incident, we soon learned what really mattered to him and his values. It even amazed him. So, he THOUGHT that he knew himself...but after a crisis, a totally different Jed Barlett emerged. I hope this explanation helped clarify his quote.

[@gene8172]

I hope Josh took names of all the people who shunned him during this. After all, he did become the next Chief of Staff and I hope he has a long memory.

[@Sassytravis]

Considering holding a grudge is what President Bartlett paid Josh for, I bet he knew how to hold his own grudges.

[@roddaman7545]

Well, I guess it’s time to queue it up and watch all 7 seasons again. What’s this make? 6 times, or just 5?

[@retired42002vz]

I used to always read of people repeatedly watching the entire series, wondering why. I had watched some partial seasons over the years, but that’s about it. This January & February I binged watched the entire show on HBOMAX. I can not say it enough how I fully understand why once is not enough!! Since then I’ve watched KZbin videos & read FanFiction stories. It was an outstanding show. I’m trying to hold off rewatching the series……..for now. I will not have a problem when I do, regardless of how well I will remember the episodes. This is the only multi season program I have ever binged watched.

[@mjovi1]

I miss the West Wing too.

[@MrAvidLearner]

It's KZbin clips like this one that are responsible for my downloading dozens of episodes from iTunes...

[@ScorpiusZA.]

Which is why I am so grateful I bought the whole DVD box set ages ago.

[@nata3467]

Not a huge fan of Season 5 ....but still better than 90% of what is out there.

[@thatdrattedcat]

@David94SWE Thanks!

[@bluesboy25000]

@emmyjo720 Do you think that's why Leo chose her to be chief of Staff

[@HCTHFLD]

Ditto everyone don't make TV that excellent anymore

[@platinumsalamander]

that music at the end is bullshit. the last moments of the episodes are often crucial, dramatic, important. there is a serious conclusive tone to them. sometimes they are very emotional and profound, and just when the screen goes black and u get a chance to close ur eyes and take a breath: DINDIRIEIIDINDINDIDIDIRIDNIRIDEIDRIDI and loud too!

[@rsoor001]

Dule Hill, also costar of Psych.

[@thatdrattedcat]

I didn't watch WW Season 5 (resumed midway around Season 6 and watched half-heartedly to the end... it just never really reached the heights of 1-4) but Donna's 'what a shame' folder was golden. Can someone tell me what happened that Josh found himself sidelined with calls of condolence?

[@gene8172]

He played hardball with a swing Democratic Senator for a crucial vote. The senator took it personal and not only switched parties but voted against the White House. Josh’s name was mudd after that. He rehabilitated himself sometime later by outmaneuvering the Republicans during the shutdown. Ultimately, the joke was on them because he later sheparded a candidate to Presidential victory with him himself becoming COS.

[@BushSucksDaily]

When his daughter Zoey was kidnapped

[@aukapokatiky]

Ugh.. God did the show suck after Sorkin left. CJ never would have talked to the president like that.

[@MJD1701A]

This is a look at 2/2012 with BO on AF1 flying back from somewhere. He just couldn't do it all.

[@stevensturgen1579]

G

[@nellgwenn]

Everybody pissed me off in this episode except Josh, and Donna. Everybody was acting childish and petulant. Leo could have said to the Germans hey a tornado just ravished a state, the president will be back as soon as he can. The president was right to go. And in reality the Germans would have understood. The arguments against it were impotent. I never hated C.J. until this scene, She acted like she needed her daddy to take out for an ice cream cone. Better not let the unwashed talk to the president they might tell him stuff and he might listen. He's my president not yours. I guess Will didn't piss me off either but it wasn't about him. And Josh was right to tell that DINO to fuck off. But this was all about the writers manipulating the audience to prove that in Washington D.C. people are sometimes nothing more than scared people acting defensively to suit their own interests when they're afraid of ghosts. And Leo told Josh to take that guy to task, Leo signed off on it, so it was more his fault than Josh's. No wonder the Bush administration acted so incompetently during Katrina they watched this episode and took it as a lesson as to how to handle disasters.

[@JPF941]

so when you work at the WH the president is not hers too?

[@Vincentschneider007]

Would be a better president that Brandon for sure.

[@FreakyTeeth]

"I NEED YOU TO LEAD!" Like a little child who has the light turned off crying for a parent to turn the light on. This is one of the problems with people who are held to such high standards, other people who feel that they are...not enough, latch onto those held to high-standard people who they put on pedestals instead of having the self-reliance to lead themselves.

[@leegrabelsky2696]

That CJ scolding to Potus was highly unrealistic ..A Well Meaning Potus (Unlike lately)..Can't split into 6 people to serve everyones comforts....That seems to happen often in this show...Where characters go off character for the sake of a juicy scene ...

[@haroos]

Trump is much better than any democrat in the past 40 years.

[@mcoleman6834]

@@haroos It is hard to see Trump as a person with gravitas, especially since he decided to run because Obama had people laughing at him during the Foreign Correspondents dinner in 2015. Of course, one hundred thirty thousand plus Americans dead because of the coronavirus and no federal plan to deal with it, yet he had plenty of mindless tweets, no problem bad mouthing appointees who dared to disagree with him, and stooging for the very wealthy at the expense of the rest of us.

[@haroos]

@@mcoleman6834 corona, are you saying that one day before it started you had a positive view of him ? Let's not be hypocrites. Obama is behind all racial tensions in the usa and also tried to sabotage trump with the fake russia gate. He is responsible for hate, violence and polarisation like no one before him.

[@mcoleman6834]

@@haroos Hello there once again. First, I have an interesting thought for you. Can you name one president that has not made an error in policy, execution, or response? You cannot, simply because there is not one. Ah, those pesky human failings. Am I now or have I ever been a Trump supporter? No, but the fact is that the sixteen others that wanted the nomination and Hilary Clinton all failed miserably to take him seriously. He was not properly vetted or pressed on the issues, despite putting his foot in his mouth more than once. Let's just say that, two weeks before the election, I awoke to the chilling idea that Trump could win and not as a fluke. Of course, now that the president has found out that The Job is unlike any other and that nobody gets their way all the time, perhaps he could engage in more humility and less ego, and try to aim towards a spot of redemption. By the way, Barack Obama was elected to his first term on November 4th 2008. The following day, the internet damn near exploded thanks to the haters. Prior to the election, there was, as always, plenty of buzz about the candidates. Once Super Tuesday came and went, the noise became more focused on Obama. Personally, I didn't relax until after the Alabama primary. I started thinking about a running mate, and did not even consider Biden. Anyway, I figure that the more narrow-minded folks, for a variety of reasons, could not handle the news of Obama winning the same way I and many others were stunned four years ago. Your argument about Obama causing division is rather interesting, considering it was Trump who tried to make an issue of citizenship. Donald is no stranger to the business end of exclusion. Ask yourself where Trump will rank on the list. My biggest hope is that Biden is the one we need and can achieve what needs to be done. You and I can disagree, but there is no reason to be ignorant about it. TTYL...

[@haroos]

@@mcoleman6834 obama was never criticized bt tue media the way did. The hate for trump is almost in their flesh and bones. They went on a campaign of hate, inflating everything to massive proportions, the opposite of the way they went with obama. But even the media admits that teump kept his promises or at least tried to. Obama made promises, from my perspective as an israeli, that he blatantly lied anout. He sabotaged israel, on more than one level. To me he is the most anti semitic president , a hater with a mask of charisma. Giving nuked to iran and denying israel the ability to defend itself from iran. You should know that if biden returns to the white house and returns to this, it might lead to a nucelear exchange. Israel and iran will be destroyed but you will also face the consquences in fallout all over the world. Obama made sure of that. Obama should be prosecuted for the way he orchestrated trump's investigations. This is the respect for democracy and the choice of the american peoeple that you expect from a president ?

[@heartofagreengirl]

who is that african actor? i recognize him... lol, srry ill get out of the way of all you intellectuals :-P