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The West Wing, Season 5, Episode 20 (Patreon)

Published:
2024-10-28 22:50:50
Imported:
2026-06
Tags:

Content

No Exit

Comments

Michelle Taylor

The first time I watched The West Wing, I was all in with Toby, but looking at today’s political scene, Bob Russell doesn't seem too terrible.

Peggy G

I think it was not a drill. I think Bartlet didn't want it on Charlie's conscious that, once again, without intention, his proximity to the President put Bartlet in harm's way. But, I also think both Charlie & Debbie knew it wasn't just a drill.

MrRuss50

The ending is definitely confusing. After seeing this many times my conclusion is it was both a drill and an active threat situation. The Fbi is surveilling someone capable and apparently willing to create an airborne bio weapon to target the president. With that possibility looming the secret service is upping their security, hence the drill. All that said this was a straight up bottle episode so this story is probably really important going forward.....<------sarcasm

Cosmic Slice

Everytime I listen to your theories about what is coming up...I get so excited for when we get to the next election period. I would *never* spoil anything in regards to this show because I want your honest reactions, the same way that we got to experience them the first time they aired! But man...the last season is a whole lot.

Youtalkingtome
>>153657485

Thank you. We really weren't sure from the conversation with Ron if it was a drill in response to a real threat, or a real attack in conjunction with discussing a real threat.

Joy M

Kansas rejected Medicaid expansion, not Medicare. Just FYI.

Peggy G
>>153658209

I love 6 & 7. I think season 5 is the weakest of the series, maybe because of the departure of Sorkin & it taking a little time to find their footing, but I too am super excited for them & the ride ahead!

Heather

If you find yourself a little disheartened about today’s electoral politics, the Season 6/7 WW candidates will…cheer you up, hopefully.

trenton gragg

Next week’s episode is about as topical as the show can get and it’s a twenty year old episode.

Allison Otto

The one thing that makes me think it was a drill was the story was that the contaminant was in an envelope that Charlie opened *at home*. Doesn’t he live with his little sister? Wouldn’t they be worried about particles at his home if he had really opened the envelope there? It was confusing at the end but I also interpreted something like that they knowingly planted just enough tularemia that tests would be able to detect it but it wouldn’t be enough to make anyone sick, to see if the medical team would find it. The conversation about “you knew it would be tonight” is what made it sound planned.

Allison Otto
>>153664302

ETA I’m thinking when Ron pulled Charlie off by himself, he was telling him it was a test and he didn’t need to worry about anything at home

MrRuss50
>>153664302

It was a drill. they didnt lie to charlie and fiderer exactly they just didnt mention that the drill was in response to someone they have under surveillance thats apparently capable of creating a biological airborne weapon. That was the "need to know" part and also why it was mentioned to them that this would be Top Secret because they dont want to alert the suspect that precautions were being taken.

Allison Otto
>>153658209

We can tell there’s obviously an election on the horizon so hopefully it’s fine to say - I also think this season suffered a little from not having the built-in plot structure provided in 6-7 by the election storylines.

Weird Magic
>>153664302

One of the great things about great writing, is that they can leave it open ended enough for two reasonably thinking people to come up with reasonably different conclusions. The "smoking gun" for me was Ron's last comment to Bartlet "Tularemia won't get through again". Why would he say that if it was a drill? Sounds to me like Tularemia got through...

Weird Magic

I said this as a reply to another comment but to get it on the front page...if it was a drill, why did Ron say "Tularemia won't get through again"? Great job of writing to make us (and the characters) go back and forth on false alarm/real etc, but....Ron literally said Tularemia got through, right? ...only 2 episodes left of Season5! Originally airing on April 28, 2004, 'No Exit' is Episode 20 of Season 5 of The West Wing. It is the 109th episode overall and has an IMDB rating of 7.9, placing it as the #9 ranked episode of this season and #74 out of all the episodes shown so far.

Yannick Denis-Trudel

Joe, you were right with your analysis. It WAS a drill, the President not knowing when, but knew it was then when he saw Ron there. Ron took Charlie aside to explain that no, his enveloppe was NOT contaminated and it was part of the drill. The conversation with Ron and the President at the end was to let us know WHY they did this drill with Tularemia... a suspect scientist ordered some from the CDC (info not given to Charlie and Debbie), so they needed to have Tularemia tested by the system. On a more joyous note, did you see the plush alpaca Debbie straightened back up on her desk before leaving her office? She farmed them before taking the position as the President's personal secretary (as well as professional poker player) ;-) Now, ladies and gents, buckle up, we're in for a ride in the next few weeks...

Jeff

Joe, after watching you struggle with your allergies, I just want to say how much I empathize. I was the same way when I was young, often unable to go outside because of how extreme my allergic reactions were. Fortunately, things started to change when I was in my 30s, and by my 40s I seemed to have "grown out" of them (if that's actually what happens). Now I'm hardly affected by allergies at all. So there may be hope for you yet, you just have to get old like me.

The Inedible Mattman!
>>153668108

The secret service used Tularemia to set off the alarm. The whole thing was a live drill, to see if the system could catch Tularemia. They did that because they're watching a chemist who was ordering Tularemia and they worry that the chemist could use it as a weapon.

MrRuss50
>>153668108

Couple good points you make. I guess we're all making assumptions based on what they've decided to show us. I took the "tularemia got through" as the secret service was not happy with results of the drill. I mean if it was an actual attack, the terrorist opened Charlies mail, planted the tularemia, sealed it back up, put it back in his mailbox and hoped he'd bring it to work with him? Not impossible I guess but not exactly mastermind logic.

Youtalkingtome
>>153658209

As someone who is enjoying the crap out of S5, this makes me smile from ear to ear. Can't wait to see what lies ahead!

Youtalkingtome
>>153672887

Finally someone who understands my struggle! It's often windy here and I'm allergic to most things outside lol. I keep the Claritin and inhaler handy at all times!

JVTrickypants

Huge episode for handling/explaining/introducing personal relationships in the office. Josh and Donna through CJ; Toby and Will getting to the heart of their issue; Josh and Harper (god, I love Mary McCormack) and her both deflection of why she cut a joke (not funny) vs the real reason (though with her I think it probably wasn't funny either). This sets up a lot of upcoming issues that have to be dealt with as the Presidency starts winding down. Yeah, I have no idea if it was drill or not, but also don't really care about that. The fact that when the President told Charlie and Debbie it was a drill and they accepted it without question was also a verification of their relationship and absolute trust and loyalty to President Bartlet.

Youtalkingtome
>>153685727

I saw Bradley Whitford and Mary McCormack on Broadway years ago in a play called "Boeing Boeing." Also had Gina Gershon, Mark Rylance, and Christine Baranski. Just delightful!

Brian Harris
>>153658209

Seriously I’m excited for S6. 5 is better than I remembered, but 6 is where they really get their sea legs back.

Weird Magic
>>153668108

BTW - Tularemia was also one of the diseases mentioned in a Season 4 episode of The Americans