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The West Wing, Season 1, Episode 8 (Patreon)

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2022-12-06 16:58:35
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2026-06
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The West Wing, Season 1, Episode 8

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Weird Magic

Originally airing on November 17, 1999, ""Enemies"" is Episode 8 of Season 1 of The West Wing. It is the 8th episode overall and has an IMDB rating of 7.9, placing it as the #20 ranked episode of this season and #106 out of all 155 episodes.

sandrinegeller

Yes Mandy is the worst. I feel bad that Moira Kelly got stuck with that character. Love the show but yes Sorkin has a problem writing women

Ladan S

I agree that Sorkin doesn't write women nearly as well as he writes men. Other than CJ, and maybe Donna, the female characters are sidenotes or problematic, or both. This is one of my all time favorite shows, but I haven't rewatched it in ten + years and coming back to it now I'm seeing more issues with it than I did back then, particularly with the way it handles gender and race. They hit it out of the park at times and other times completely miss the mark. The Laurie storyline being a big miss for the most part. There is a conversation in a later season about feminism that is cringe worthy. I think the part people forget about Mandy is that she was hired to run PR. Her perspective isn't about what is the best thing to do, it's about what will sell. You may not like that approach, but that's what she is suppose to do. She seems designed to be the antagonist/devils advocate a lot of the time. In terms of righteousness, Josh is probably the most arrogant character on this show. We've seen Toby be incredibly self righteous. In the last episode he ruined a chance to get his friend out of jail because of the insulting speech he wrote. Maybe they are better received because they are quieter in their arrogance; Mandy is more aggressive about it, but there is certainly no lack of self righteousness in most of these characters. Josh/Toby also have more screen time and Sorkin gives them more depth, which he fails to do with Mandy. I think Mandy (and Sam and Toby) are right here. Josh doesn't want to veto the bill because of the environmental aspects of strip mining; he has no ethical compliant, he just doesn't want to lose. Vetoing a bill that they make clear will help people and eliminate predatory credit card interest rates because you want to win a political battle is petty and the closest they have gotten to modern day politics on the show so far. Josh is very competitive and sometimes that trait works for him, like here, but it's also likely to bite him in the future.

Youtalkingtome
>>97048926

We agree that Mandy's role (public relations) automatically puts her in a contrarian position and will automatically make her a foil for the more central characters. We just think, personality-wise, Mandy could have been softened some into a more reasonable person without losing her passion.

Youtalkingtome
>>97045838

At least so far, CJ seems to have gotten much better treatment in the writing than Mandy has, and we aren't sure why both characters couldn't get the same nuance and care in the writer's room.

sandrinegeller
>>97048926

Yeah I agree with your comment. I’m thinking about some of the female characters and storylines coming in the next few seasons and already cringing at rewatching some of it. No spoilers but I’ll have thoughts when they come around and for those who have seen the show, I’m sure you know what two characters in particular I’m thinking of in seasons 2/3. Yeah the show feels dated in a lot of subjects. But it’s still an overall fascinatingly optimistic view of politics

Kelsey Krehbiel

Yeah, Mandy is very antagonistic. For me, she lacks...charm? I think that's the best way to put it. Josh is incredibly arrogant, but he's balanced with some sweetness and charm. Mandy always seems to be fighting with EVERYONE; we never see her being genuinely nice to anyone. The one time she says that she's being nice to Toby, what she tells him is not actually nice.

Ladan S
>>97080596

That is a good way to put it. The others' negative traits are balanced with charm and depth, while Mandy got none.

Youtalkingtome
>>97080596

You might be right: the simple fact that Mandy is always just fighting with everyone could be what is so off-putting about her.

JVTrickypants

It's been driving me crazy and just figured out who you remind me of, Joe - John Gallagher, Jr! He's brilliant in a later episode of TWW and also a regular in another Sorkin series, The Newsroom.

shawn Johnson

The issue with Mandy is that she doesn't have chemistry with Josh.