The West Wing - TV Series Review

Rob Lowe, Martin Sheen, Allison Janney, Moira Kelly, John Spencer, Bradley Whitford, Kevin Foley, and Mandy Hampton in The West Wing (1999)

The West Wing: A Timeless Political Drama

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The fictional President Josiah Jed Bartlet is a master of handling the professional and personal lives in his West Wing. It is set against the backdrop of American politics and explores the demands of office; the sometimes arbitrary call of political reality and personal sacrifice demanded for running a country. It is a political drama laced with dialogues, reflecting idealism and realism as much as it exploits daily political battles to illustrate its view of U.S society and international matters.

One of its defining characteristics is that it focuses on the political battles in day to day activities demonstrating how U.S merges with international affairs and at the same time it is rooted in a dialogue driven drama that has idealism and realism at its heart. The bantered filled exchanges and incisive social commentary make it a nice capense of American politics. The tone fluctuates between hopeful and sobering as it examines the consequences of leadership and governance, and the ensemble cast, headed also by Martin Sheens commanding portrayal of President Bartlet, performs to finely nuanced subtlety as well as to the dramatic high note.

Allison Janney, Bradley Whitford, John Spencer and the rest of the cast bring life to the roles and bring a charisma and an intensity imbued that make every character worthy of our attention and potential to relate back.

Christopher Misiano, Alex Graves and Thomas Schlamme know as much how to pace a series as much as they know how to play their craft. They postulate between reality and political intrigue well, and the plot at a speed that grabs the viewers into the tornado of Washington, D.C.s political world.

The music supports the emotional kinks and the transitions of the narrative. W.G. Snuffy Walden’s score, understated and evocative, builds depth and resonance on key moments while never overpowering the dialogue; the cinematography is beautifully elegant and strategically placed in a sense of solemn grandeur.

The aesthetic is grandiose and solemn in a sense of grandeurâ€capturing a beauty that is elegant, and strategically placed. The White House halls are each crafted to increase the intensity of these halls to provide an immersive visual experience that enhances the narrative’s political and personal relationship. The use of this attention to detail adds to the authenticity of the settings to the storytelling and serves to put the audience inside the walls of the White House.

It is not a visually dense experience, because it is largely a series of dialogue and interpersonal relationships. However, the visual elements used in The West Wing are used in a subtle way that complements the narrative, mapping out important plot points without drawing attention away from the heart of the story.

The editing in The West Wing is fluid and speedily moves between scenes of high tension and introspective moments. The show does a near perfect job of keeping to that rapid fire pace, ensuring that soundbites and storylines become marinated into the next days discussions and politics; a pace that is simply too fast to keep track of.

The structure is quick like the endless roll of political life. Combining rapid fire dialogue with a set of intricate plot twists to keep an energetic rhythm that stays totally gripping from beginning to end, it becomes the lifeblood of The West Wing. Aaron Sorkin penned the wise, quick witted, insightful exchanges that bring the series to life, examining the conspiracy of politics and the frailties of the human condition. The West Wing does a good job of exploring the narrative of ambition, duty, and moral complexity, but each line backs it up.

However, some people might find the idealism of The West Wing a bit out there. But some plotlines may very well seem manufactured for the sake of dramatic effect out of a gritty realism you would expect to find in real political realms. But criticisms are tempered by the optimism and integrity that drive the narrative,

The West Wing feels so reassuring because of the political aciumen, and human warmth. This lays bare not only the machinations of the White House, but the costs that go along with governing, in ways audiences must stop and think about the contours of leadership and sacrifice. The series is gripping as it is now, a testament to the power of telling a story.