The West Wing - Season 2 Part 1 [DVD]

The second series of The West Wing takes up literally where the first series left off and, after a few moments of slightly toe-curling patriotic sentimentalism, maintains the series' astonishingly high standards in depicting the everyday life of the White House staff of a Democratic administration.

The two-part opener covers the immediate aftermath of the assassination attempt on President Bartlet (Martin Sheen), switching between the anxious wait on the injured and flashbacks to Bartlet's campaign for the Presidency. Other peaks in a series exceedingly short on troughs include "Noel", the episode in which Alan Arkin's psychiatrist forces Josh Lynam to confront his post-traumatic stress disorder and the concluding episodes in which President Bartlet, having lost his secretary Mrs Landingham in a tragic car accident, rails angrily against God in Latin.

Other new features of this series include the introduction of Ainsley Hayes, a young Republican counsel hired after she beats communications deputy Sam Seaborn (Rob Lowe) in a TV debate ("Sam's getting his ass kicked by a girl!" crow his colleagues), as well as the revelation (to us first, then later his staff) that the President has been suffering from multiple sclerosis. Meanwhile, the White House must move heaven and earth to make incremental political gains as well as deal with a host difficulties abroad, demonstrating, some might argue, more compassion, skill and restraint than that exercised by the real-life US administration.

With Aaron Sorkin's dialogue ranging as ever from dry, staccato mirth to almost biblical gravitas, an ensemble of overworked (and curiously undersexed) characters and an overall depiction of the workings of government that's both gratifyingly idealised yet chasteningly realistic, The West Wing is one of the all-time great American TV dramas. --David Stubbs

English
Region 2

The tension is mounting for Bartlett and his team as they cope with the aftermath of the assassination attempt, with questions raised over the intended target and Presidential security. Meanwhile, there is a complex situation in the Gulf to be dealt with, and Galileo, a NASA space probe, lands on Mars. One a lighter note Donna has concerns about a satellite falling to earth from space, and the President has to pardon a Thanksgiving turkey ... and then another.

Episodes 1-11:
In the Shadow of Two Gunmen, Parts 1 & 2
The Midterms
In this Whitehouse
And It's Surely to Their Credit
The Lame Duck Congress
The Portland Trip
Shibboleth
Galileo
Noel
The Leadership Breakfast
The Drop In