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The West Wing, Season 2, Episode 10 (Patreon)

Published:
2023-05-02 07:10:01
Imported:
2026-06
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Content

Noel

Files

Previews only

The West Wing, Season 2, Episode 10

Comments

Max F.

My mother and I have this conversation every year, as to which Christmas episode is better. I prefer season 2, but you can't really go wrong either way. This is one of my favorite episodes of the entire series as the story, the performances, the writing and everything is just top notch.

Pam Nail

My second favorite episode of the whole series (#1 is a bit later this season). Every single aspect of production is top-level -- the writing and acting, of course, but also the editing, the sound (love that last bit of siren at the fade out), the cinematography, etc. I love how it's set up like a mystery, where we peel away the layers until the final reveal. The way the music cuts out for a moment when Stanley and Josh's conversation is getting especially intense. Everything is so great. Even the side story with the painting -- which seems at first like it could have been in any other episode -- falls under the trauma umbrella. Yo-Yo Ma insisted on playing that piece live. They told him there would probably be dozens of takes but he still wanted to do it, and every new time he played it he was playing it to a different person in the room.

Michele B.

They said Bradley Whitford went up to Sorkin one day and said "Hey, did you forget I was shot a little while ago?" which was the inspiration for Noel.

Laura Dawson

Such a great episode, everything about it is just perfect - the dialogue, the direction, the pacing and of course, the acting. Bradley Whitford was phenomenal. I like that you picked up on how Toby kept noticing Josh’s behaviour and quickly started putting things together (in the accidentally saying sirens scene and during the concert). Toby is generally seen as the grumpy shout-y character, and could easily be written and played as quite one-dimensional. But one thing we see again and again is that he is actually a very intuitive and empathetic person, and he does pick up on nuances that others might miss. And Leo’s man in the hole story always gets me in the feels. Everyone needs a friend like Leo.

Weird Magic

Originally airing on December 20, 2000, 'Noel' is Episode 10 of Season 2 of The West Wing. It is the 32nd episode overall and has an IMDB rating of 9.4, placing it as the #2 ranked episode of this season and #2 out of all 155 episodes.

Peggy G

Adam Arkin (son of Alan) is brilliant as Dr. Stanley Keyworth in this & is a Sorkin favorite (he shows up in The Newsroom). He directs too nowadays.

Brian Harris

Masterpiece. Absolutely a contender for best episode of the series. There are others coming up this season and in future seasons that could also be in that conversation, but I think the technical achievements here are really unique even for this show.

Martin Nicholls

Yo-Yo Ma does in fact rule. I wanted to talk about Adam Arkin during some of the Succession reactions because he has directed a bunch (season 1 episodes 4 and 5) - but I'd have had to reference this episode because he's great in this one. Certainly one of my favourite episodes, though not sure if I'd place it as high as it's ranked by rating, but it's definitely up there. This show is great at handling some very complex and sensitive subjects really well and this episode is one of the prime examples - by the way at a time when people didn't really talk much about PTSD - since Afghanistan and Iraq it's definitely been more on people's radar, but before then not so much.

Weird Magic

Everything was done so perfectly in this episode. John Spencer and Adam Arkin (and Yo-Yo Ma) have been called out but I was always so impressed by Bradley Whitford's performance. It's so easy to forget the lead in these but w/o his performance the other's wouldn't/couldn't shine as well.

Luca Siracusa (Bob)

Noel is a masterpiece of an episode and a great showing of PTSD in a tv show in 2000, not at all a common thing The speech by Leo at the end of the episode is one of the most loved in the whole show and I tear up every time I hear it

Alex Lee
>>107638610

Pretty sure i know which other episode you're referring to, and I can't wait for their reaction to it!

JVTrickypants

Bradley Whitford had what he called his best role....Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise. He does actually credit that movie for getting him the Josh Lyman role as he met Timothy Busfield (Danny Concannon) on it who introduced him to Aaron Sorkin.

JVTrickypants

On the DVD commentary for this episode, Aaron Sorkin recalls that during a break from the filming of Yo Yo Ma's performance scene, in an attempt to help his performance and "get into the rhythm" of the scene, Dulé Hill (who plays Charlie) started to tap dance to the cello piece. Hill is a highly accomplished professional tap dancer who has performed with Savion Glover and other tap luminaries.

JVTrickypants

Thomas Schlamme won the 2000 Directors Guild of America Award for Best Dramatic Series for this episode.

Taylor

“A man’s walking down the street when he falls in a hole…” That scene with Leo is my favorite of the entire series. I’ve seen it dozens of times, and not once have I been able to keep myself from tearing up. In the beginning of the episode, Josh makes a joke when he’s told his friends were worried about him. Then in this scene he opens up to Leo, tells him the truth about his hand, and seems to be ready to accept support instead of minimizing what he’s going through. And John Spencer telling that story is, as usual, delivered perfectly.

Balazs Foldes

I have this cello piece, performed by Yo Yo Ma, as my ringtone for 15+ years now, because of this episode. That's such an incrediblly powerful scene... (plus, you know, it's a great ringtone: beautiful piece of music, easily recognisable, not that many people use it, and it's classic, so not embarassing if you accidentally forgot to mute your phone before a meeting). Anyway, I can only repeat what you guys and my fellow patrons are saying. A wonderful episode, incredibly memorable. Just makes you think. In the bedt tradition of West Wing christmas eps.

Youtalkingtome
>>107639083

Friends like Leo and Toby. Both are extremely empathetic and you can feel the love and appreciation everyone has for one another!

Youtalkingtome
>>107645459

You're right our grandparents generation did not talk about it. If it was broadly discussed and handled years ago I wonder how the generation after them would have turned out. If any different at all.

Youtalkingtome
>>107666556

John Spencer almost feels like the glue holding all the characters together. Can't imagine the show without him!

Youtalkingtome
>>107668238

One of the best Christmas episodes of all time. Amazing from top to bottom. Acting, writing, and directing. Just brilliant.

Sunkrish Bala

Did you guys catch that Carol of the Bells morphed into a siren during thend credits?

MrRuss50

The english actor that played the curator absolutely crushed his role. His dry wit and sarcasm make me laugh out loud every time. Not to spoil anything but I wish he'd had a bigger arc throughout the series because he's a lot of fun.

I Ride A Pegasus To Work

I have to echo all the praise about every aspect of this episode; this is one where everybody did their job on the next level. I admit that I'm a sucker for the present/past slow reveal of a story, where the juxtaposition of both narratives allows for the impactful timing of information, and while I can't say this episode is the reason for that, it's one of the earliest examples of it working perfectly that I always recall immediately. I just have to add that I love that Leo tells Josh it was Donna who guessed what was going on and that she was taking him to the doctor in the end. While PTSD seems more obvious now and we got "meaningful looks" scenes from all his coworkers with his increasingly short temper, it was Donna who would have been seeing and experiencing it the most, given how much more she would be in his company over those three weeks. It would have been easy to let Leo get the last meaningful scene with Josh and leave it with the larger characters, and I'm glad they didn't.

Devon Cooper

In my top 5 episodes of this series! There are two more episodes of this season in my top 10. Season 2 is just amazing. It is just so well done and like you said, compelling. Love this journey with you two😎

Youtalkingtome
>>107730503

Donna always has Josh's back. She's always taking care of him and we love her for it! We also are suckers for non linear storytelling!

Joy M

I love the humor Paxton Whitehead adds as the snooty British tour guide. He played a similarly stuck up character as the neighbor on Mad About You (a great sitcom).

Jenna

If you remember in "The Crackpots and These Women" (S1E5), Josh goes to see a therapist after he got his NSC card. Funnily enough, the therapist in that episode was also named Stanley. Aaron Sorkin seems to associate therapists with the name Stanley for whatever reason. Additionally in "The State Dinner" (S1E7), it's mentioned that Yo-Yo Ma will be playing some Bach concertos at the dinner. Unsurprisingly, President Bartlet enjoys Bach played by Yo-Yo Ma.

Zachary Loeser
>>107651736

There's supposedly B-roll footage of Dulé tap dancing to Yo Yo Ma which I'm hoping they'll release on some anniversary. By the way, the carolers at the end went right from shooting their scene a couple dozen times in the middle of the night to doing an arrangement of a traditional Jewish folk song for Aaron Sorkin because that happened to be the night his daughter Roxy was born. The crew taped the song and sent it over to him.