This is a huge episode. Most of the time, I try to write this blog like a seasoned pro who has watched this show several times, and is able to achieve some emotional distance from the plot and direction of the show.
This episode is not one of those times.
Quick recap:
Leo: Taking meetings, not impressed by them. Hopes Bartlet runs for reelection- even after he says he won't.
Sam: Clearly still struggling with the reality, clearly shouldn't be the one to meet with strategists. Really doesn't think they should go on tv.
Josh: Would really like to light up Big Tobacco (pardon the pun)- generally worried.
C.J.: Still a badass, not sure if she wants to work at the White House anymore.
Toby: Offered a job, offended by job offer. Worried about lighting the President from outside the windows. Don't worry, though- they are lighting him from outside the window.
Donna: Still the calmest person in all the Senior Staff; manages to be worried about the President's well being and still do her job. She's the best, to remind you.
Jane Lynch: Back in the Press Office (hasn't been there since S2e1- In the Shadow of Two Gunman)
The episode's title, "Two Cathedrals" refers to both the venue of Mrs. Landingham's funeral Washington National Cathedral and the chapel at the President's high school, where his father was the headmaster and Mrs. Landingham was the secretary to the headmaster.
The actress who plays the young Mrs. Landingham is a friend of Kathryn Joosten's, who recorded all of the lines for her so she can get the cadence and intonation correct- which might add to why the scenes portraying their relationship while the President was in High School are so eerie. Mrs. Landingham attempts to get a younger Jed to advocate on behalf of the female employees of the school, who are being paid considerably less than the male employees (thankfully, this is an issue that no longer exists in the oh wait, I forgot it's still an issue). This isn't an issue we're able to see Jed bring up, because unfortunately, his father has read a quote in the student newspaper-
"If you hide your ignorance, no one will hit you and you'll never learn."
An ironic quote, given the fact that Jed flaunts his intelligence, his father hits him and he's unable to talk to his father about the pay inequity that Mrs. Landingham has brought up. However, it does help to explain some things that are shared a bit later in the episode.
Resource time: here's your guide to Latin Phrases the President speaks in his tirade to God in the Cathedral after the service.
gratias tibi ago, domine.
Thank you, Lord.
haec credam a deo pio, a deo justo, a deo scito?
Am I to believe these things from a righteous god, a just god, a wise god?
cruciatus in crucem
To hell with your punishments! (literally "(put/send) punishments onto a cross")
tuus in terra servus, nuntius fui; officium perfeci.
I was your servant, your messenger on the earth; I did my duty.
cruciatus in crucem -- (with a dismissive wave of the hand) eas in crucem
To hell with your punishments!
And to hell with you! (literally, "may you go to a cross")"
You're welcome.
Kleenex alert: 35:28. When Mrs. Landingham walks back into the Oval Office after the President has called out for her, it's hard not to lose it. It's even harder to keep it together when she does exactly what everyone has been hoping for: remind this man she's known for years that he possesses the compassion, intelligence and leadership to right just a few of the many wrongs that exist out in the world- she makes him give her numbers. She also tells him that his father was "a prick who could never get over the fact that he wasn't as smart as his brothers." This is an imaginary conversation on a fictitious television show, and I'm moved every time- mostly because of the echoed statements between the two of them in the retrospective scenes and current.
Then, the President get's in his car to go to the State Department for a press conference- and drives by the Washington Cathedral at the very moment that a janitor is picking up his discarded cigarette (the sign of disrespect previously mentioned by Headmaster Bartlet). Aaron Sorkin is a master dramaturge, but my disbelief can't be this suspended. Clearly, he forgot to write a line for Charlie, which should have read:
"Hey Bill (a great name for a driver)- the President asked for the scenic route."
Or, C.J. should have said- "OK- here now, after a significant transportation delay, is the President."
What am I talking about?
Now, I'm assuming that the Presidential motorcade could make the drive a bit faster, but why not just... you know- go right to the State Department?
(Thanks, Google Maps, for making me look smart and snarky at the same time!)
One thing I only noticed this time? The President forgoes his overcoat in the Tropical Storm, getting fairly well drenched. Charlie offers him one, but he ignores it. Once Charlie gets the President off the Portico, he takes of his own coat. Because if President Bartlet is going to get soaked, then dammit, so is Charlie. That's devotion. I couldn't help but look- everyone else is shown either putting on their coats or bundling up even more into them. Something about this made me appreciate the extent of Charlie's devotion a bit more.
When it aired, this episode was criticized for being a cliffhanger. Really? Take a second look at 20:45 into the episode:
MRS. LANDINGHAM- You're going to do it.
JED- Well, I didn't say that.
MRS. LANDINGHAM- Yes, you did.
JED- When?
MRS. LANDINGHAM- Just then. You stuck your hands in your pockets. You looked away and smiled.
MRS. LANDINGHAM- That means you made up your mind.
JED- That doesn't mean anything.
MRS. LANDINGHAM- Yes, it does.
JED- I stuck my hands in my pockets!
MRS. LANDINGHAM- And looked away, and smiled. We're in.
Leo is right on when he says at 42:50- "Watch this" - and sure enough, President Bartlet puts his hand in his pockets, looks away, and smiles.
We're in.
Thanks, Mrs. Landingham.
What's Next? Season 3!
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