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I, too, was prepared to hate the non-Sorkin dialogue, and the proposed pandering to the repukes. Well, the dialogue was all right. Not up to AS's' level, but all right. The portrayal of the repubs as trigger-happy warmongers was spot-on. Even my step-son, who lives and breaths the right-wing slant he gets from his father, thought Goodman's character was 'scary'.
Others have mentioned the camera work. All this time I was preparing to miss Aaron Sorkin, I had forgotten what Tommy Schlamme had brought to the table with his superior photography. A lot of the shots last night were muddy and hurriedly done. There was a lot of low-angle shots and annoying NYPD Blue 'moving camera' nonsense. I appreciate that some thought the single-color shots of Jed (red) and Leo (blue) were well done pieces of symbolism. I thought they were clumsily done and melodramatic.
My wife and I both went bananas over the fight between Jed and Abbie over the fact that he hadn't 'discussed' the decision to assassinate the Qumari Defense Minister with her. That was idiotic. It was the type of stupid, melodramatic writing that 'ER' has overused for the last three years or so. My wife, once an 'ER' fanatic, no longer watches the show. Good writing is essential to good television.
All things considered, I'm happy that it was as good as it was. I'm hoping that it will get better, and not worse. But I'm convinced that this is the show's last season. That's okay. In the real world, things are looking up for the Dems. B*sh is more vulnerable than ever. He's likely to lose any 'bounce' from good news as a result of his lack of credibility, now. And we have, on deck, two potential candidates who can blow the whole ship of fools right out of the water. Soon, we may be able to expect democracy again in real life, and not just at 9pm on Wednesday nights.
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