Comments | ww_renaissance: The Long Goodbye

sunclouds33 in ww_renaissance

The Long Goodbye

Mar 26, 2011 15:28

So I've watched these episodes so many times that I never needed to rewatch anything before I recap. My memory is just jogged from the transcripts and screencaps. However, I haven't seen The Long Goodbye since it aired because I don't think of it was "West Wing". So I had to rewatch. Here's ( The Long Goodbye )

Comments 14

jean_c_pepper March 26 2011, 22:55:44 UTC

Marco- I rather like Marco. When WW was airing, I didn't have internet, so I didn't know what the fans were saying. I don't see why CJ can't have met someone she liked in HS(Her mention of quaaludes makes me think that this wasn't the first time they had sex-maybe Donna wasn't the only one to have sex at 16), have sex and go back. I don't necessarily think that there needs to be a reason- I don't think she did it because of Danny or her father. She did it because she did it. And there's nothing wrong with it.
This is a nice episode because it gives us an inside look at CJ and i like that. Still, it isn't a typical WW episode.

sunclouds33 March 27 2011, 15:09:14 UTC

I know there doesn't have to to be a reason. It's just that I'm trying to write meta so I look for reasons. ;-)

I do think, though, that her sadness over her father did lead her into bed. This wasn't sex for fun- it felt like comfort sex.

skywaterblue March 26 2011, 23:11:17 UTC

Marco makes a lot more sense than Danny, tbh. Easy for me to picture CJ moving to Paris and working at some UN gig while Marco fixes watches.

This episode got a lot of crap, but in retrospect it's a lot better than some of the other 'breaks format' West Wing episodes. Molly, however, might be the worst actress to ever have appeared.

sunclouds33 March 27 2011, 15:11:27 UTC

I think CJ/Danny make a lot of of sense as office flirtation but they don't really make sense as end-game especially with a child. Although, I don't know about CJ/Marco in a long-term thing. Maybe because his role was so small.

The actress that plays Molly totally sucks!

laurenba March 28 2011, 05:30:34 UTC

Yes, the actress who plays Molly really fell flat and that's too bad because it's a very interesting and poignant predicament. Here is this man that she wasn't with for years/raised children with, etc. but someone that she essentially fantasized about. Then they finally are together and he's struck down. Of course it's difficult. But it could have been played for much more striking ambiguity than it was.

A waste.

shoemoney2night March 27 2011, 03:37:54 UTC

As somebody who works in aged care and has known a lot of people suffering from dementia, there are some aspects of the portrayal of Tal that ring a little false, and at some points the writing became too heavy-handed for me. That said, I think it captured the difficulty and the heartbreak of watching a loved one slipping away quite well, as well as the distress and the frustration for the dementia sufferer who knows they're slipping and can't do anything about it.

sunclouds33 March 27 2011, 15:12:13 UTC

See, I know very little about dementia/Alzheimer's so I wasn't able to point out inaccuracies but I did wonder about it. Interesting perspective.

shoemoney2night March 28 2011, 02:10:08 UTC

I'm hesitant to criticise, because dementia affects people in many different ways and for all I know the writer could be drawing on personal experience. But there were moments that felt a little false to me - for instance, the "hey, check out this photo of this child I don't recognise" bit. One thing that's often struck me about many of the residents at my workplace is that, while some may not recognise the people around them or be fully aware of what's happening around them, many of them have comparatively good recollections of their past. I've seen one lady, who routinely forgets she's eaten and then complains that nobody's served her dinner, light up when she sees a photo of her old dog and remember it by name. So to me, that moment with the photo seemed... kind of shoehorned into the scene as an obvious tearjerker moment, and I didn't appreciate that. It might have been more plausible to me if Tal had recognised the girl in the photo as his daughter, but been unable to make the connection between her and the adult CJ standing in ( ... )

laurenba March 28 2011, 05:27:56 UTC

One thing that's often struck me about many of the residents at my workplace is that, while some may not recognise the people around them or be fully aware of what's happening around them, many of them have comparatively good recollections of their past.

I have to disagree with you there. My mom -- even when she still knew me and could talk about the past coherently in some respoects -- would look puzzled at the photos on her wall sometimes and ask "Who's that?" And it would be her grandson. Or her husband of 45 years. You never know with Alzheimers... memories can be lost and found without rhyme or reason. Although I do think that there could be more truth in thre alternative that you stated... that Tal knows that the little girl is his daughter but not that she's CJ herself.
Geez, so many ways to break your heart.

Thread 5

laurenba March 27 2011, 21:22:32 UTC

I like this episode largely because it's outside the traditional ww frame. We don't often see too much of the characters' outside lives and CJ's dad's illness, which has already been mentioned a couple times in the show, is a little like Checkov's gun. Once you introduce a gun in Act 1, you have to fire it by Act 3. So I like this.

Plus, my father died of Parkinson's and my mother has Alzheimers and I think this episode really suceeds in its emotional truth.

sunclouds33 March 28 2011, 14:07:10 UTC

Good point that this storyline was brought up and thus, had to reach some kind of conclusion.

laurenba March 27 2011, 21:26:07 UTC

I love seeing CJ with Marco... go get some, girl!

So I'm loathe to make the standard explanation like, "One of the reasons that CJ tumbled into bed with Marco is because she's frustrated that she can't do that with Danny".

I think that one of the reasons that CJ is with Marco is that he's cute! Also... sex is a winderful antidote for heartbreak. and being so out of her "normal" life -- back in Dayton with her father so altered -- makes things like one-night stands with people you haven't seen for 20 years seem like the right thing to do.

Plus... Danny is fine, but I never got the idea that he and CJ were exactly fated for one another. Especially with a kid.

sunclouds33 March 28 2011, 14:08:03 UTC

I agree with all of your stated reasons on why CJ slept with Marco.