After the incredibly tense finale for the third season, I expected this show to take a more downbeat path for the fourth season opening. It's clear that they're building up to this being the election season and that things may not go as planned. Given that there are still more seasons to come of this show, though, I imagine that things aren't going to go as terribly as I might think. This episode did show a bit of laziness on the Bartlet administration staff, though. As an opening, this episode did its job, but there are obviously a lot of things yet to be seen.
There are a lot of things that we were not shown as this episode has jumped a bit in time. The DNC has obviously happened, and Bartlet is now campaigning as the official candidate. What the episode did very well was showing the friction that seems to be occurring in the campaign as much of the episode was dedicated to Josh and Toby trying to see eye-to-eye with their different approaches. There's a bump that they need to get over and it seems like we could be going into some of the darker days of these characters and their relationship. It also goes to show why Toby is one of the smartest characters in this show. He always sees the things for what they are, and not how they are being portrayed. That was the biggest takeaway from this episode and the best part, with the other half of the episode being focused on the President and his doings during this time, and I felt like that part was a little less accessible. I'm sorry, but I don't find his quest to find a new secretary interesting. It seems like a fun joke that went on for a little too long. I also know that this was the season where Rob Lowe decided to leave, and it seems to me like they're setting up something for Sam. This episode didn't have the Sam Seaborn that we were introduced to in the first season and why that is, I assume that we'll know very soon.
"20 Hours in America Part One" was a nice opening to the season, but it obviously miss something that we'll hopefully get in Part Two. Josh and Toby's journey throughout the episode was both heartfelt and hilarious and I'm sure that we'll get more of their dilemma coming up, setting the tone for the rest of the season.
There are a lot of things that we were not shown as this episode has jumped a bit in time. The DNC has obviously happened, and Bartlet is now campaigning as the official candidate. What the episode did very well was showing the friction that seems to be occurring in the campaign as much of the episode was dedicated to Josh and Toby trying to see eye-to-eye with their different approaches. There's a bump that they need to get over and it seems like we could be going into some of the darker days of these characters and their relationship. It also goes to show why Toby is one of the smartest characters in this show. He always sees the things for what they are, and not how they are being portrayed. That was the biggest takeaway from this episode and the best part, with the other half of the episode being focused on the President and his doings during this time, and I felt like that part was a little less accessible. I'm sorry, but I don't find his quest to find a new secretary interesting. It seems like a fun joke that went on for a little too long. I also know that this was the season where Rob Lowe decided to leave, and it seems to me like they're setting up something for Sam. This episode didn't have the Sam Seaborn that we were introduced to in the first season and why that is, I assume that we'll know very soon.
"20 Hours in America Part One" was a nice opening to the season, but it obviously miss something that we'll hopefully get in Part Two. Josh and Toby's journey throughout the episode was both heartfelt and hilarious and I'm sure that we'll get more of their dilemma coming up, setting the tone for the rest of the season.