Sons are in the big time. On a poster for TV games:-

2006

The cliffhanger of President Bartlet’s daughter’s kidnapping which ended series 4 is swiftly resolved (in a highly unlikely fashion it has to be said, though it did conform to the conventions of narrative.) Then it’s back to business as usual with more unveiling of the intricacies of the US political system.

In an episode called Shutdown failure to agree a budget “on the hill” leads to governmental operations ceasing. (Why can’t they just carry on using a repeat of last year’s budget? Very odd.) There was a blatant filler episode called Access, a supposed fly-on-the-wall documentary about life in the West Wing under the Bartlet administration. We didn’t need this: we are/were flies on the wall already.

Notable by her absence in this series was Josh’s girlfriend, she of the undiscernible dialogue (who had been working for the First Lady in series 4.) This unexplained disappearance was peculiar. She was only the most egregious example of one of the irritants with The West Wing; either the sound is appalling or the actors too often are mumbling.

We have another cliffhanger series ending – this time to do with events in Gaza and Donna Moss facing a life threatening operation.

It’s still superior entertainment, though, and helps to pass the time on those nights when the fare on offer on British television is unappealing. (Which is to say, nearly every night.)