Watching Studio60

I caught the great West Wing episode “Two Cathedrals” on Bravo this morning, and … wow. While I have some misgivings about the MS/scandal story arc in general, there’s no denying that it was responsible for some of the series’ most powerful episodes.

A couple of days ago, there was the re-run of “17 People,” with that great opening scene of Toby slowly figuring out there was something up, the sound of a ball thrown against the wall running through it like a heartbeat. The counterpoint in that episode, between Sam and Josh trying to bring the funny to the correspondent’s dinner speech while Toby is having his heart broken in the Oval Office, between the lightweight political concerns of the moment and really serious deep shit, just increased the building sense of doom.

This is a show that’s justly praised for its torrents of words, but there are some moments that just play on actors’ facial expressions — Richard Schiff’s throughout “17 People,” or John Spencer’s reaction shots after Leo is told of Mrs. Landingham’s death in “18th and Potomac” — that, no cliche, are worth a thousand words. Another wordless moment that gets me every time is the way Charlie takes off his raincoat when he sees that the president is not putting on his at the storm-swept culmination of “Two Cathedrals.” A perfect small gesture of undying and unquestioning loyalty. Then swooping into that long sequence set to Dire Straits’ “Brothers in Arms,” the staff gathering behind their leader to go out together into the maelstrom. Watch it again in the YouTube video above.

I was particularly interested this time, watching “Two Cathedrals,” to reconsider the performance of Kirsten Nelson as young Mrs. Landingham. On previous viewings, I had no other knowledge of the actress, and have always been blown away by how well she interpreted the part — not imitating Kathryn Joosten’s performance as the Mrs. Landingham we knew and loved, exactly, but channeling her uncannily into a younger version. The voice and vocal inflections and facial expressions and manner of challenging Jed are just so perfect. Now, of course, I’ve seen her in many episodes of “Psych” as an entirely different character, police chief Karen Vick, and I wondered if it would color my appreciation of the performance. But nope. She’s still young Mrs. Landingham to me, awesomely so.

Love the way those flashbacks, which could have been annoying, echo back and forth into the present struggles of Jed, with the cigarette on the church floor, the imagined conversation with old Mrs. Landingham that changes his mind about running, and of course, the hands-in-pockets-turn-head-smile that gives away his decision in an ending that, if you’d been paying attention, wasn’t a cliffhanger at all. Fantastic work all around.

West Wing, Two Cathedrals, Bravo