The West Game Wing

Game On” is an episode about a debate—the debate; it’s the thing every member of the White House staff has been preparing for over the last handful of episodes, let alone weeks in West Wing time. It’s a very serious affair, so serious in fact that “Game On” gleefully mines more comedy from the actual debate than the show has found in more overtly comic situations. The episode is hysterical at times, moving at others, and nimble enough to morph a sad, touching story about a tie into 30 seconds of pure comedic gold. The more sacred the cow, the funnier and more impressive it is when that cow starts juggling.

The opening scene sets a tone of playfulness amid the west game grave seriousness of what’s about to happen. Leo approaches Toby about the debate, claiming Bartlet is having trouble getting his answers right. Toby’s first instinct is to send Bartlet back to camp, even if it’s in his office and even just for a few hours. But Leo insists Toby let this one ride; rather than correcting Bartlet when he gets something wrong, he should just say, “That’s terrific, Mr. President.” Toby’s upset, but he understands—there’s already a lot of pressure on the man. So he spreads the word to the rest of the team, and commences grilling Bartlet. And when he stumbles, Toby loses his shit and starts yelling. There’s silence, then laughter as $10 bills are handed out to everyone who bet Toby couldn’t actually follow Leo’s mandate. Bartlet has decided to spend his precious minutes leading to the debate fucking with Toby. As he exits the office though, Toby is the one smiling: “He’s ready.”

“Game On” is about a debate, yes, but it’s more of a celebration of Bartlet’s impending victory. The entire day leading to the San Diego face-off comprises a series of brief, meaningful conversations between the president and his staffers. “There’s no such thing as too smart; there’s nothing you can do that’s not gonna make me proud of you,” Leo says to Bartlet as he hangs back, sad not to be at his friend’s side. “Game on,” says everyone else at one point or another as they settle into the spin room, eager to watch their boss devour his opponent. Charlie is the only one who’s nervous. Asked to dig up the president’s lucky tie, we come to learn that he’s been harboring the secret that the tie was lost to a dry cleaning accident. Bartlet assures Charlie everything is going to be okay; then we watch a scene with Abbey and the president in private (after Toby leaves with, “I just assumed you’d want to include me”), and Bartlet is freaking out in his own private, controlled way. “Do you think there’s any point in still having the debate?” Abbey asks facetiously. Bartlet rolls his eyes and mentions the tie again.

Abbey wishes him luck, sends him off, calls him back, and cuts off his tie. Cue the most frantic, claustrophobic scene in West Wing history as the team scrambles to take off Josh’s tie and throw it onto the president with literally 15 seconds until he has to be on camera, televised to the entire nation. Somehow, they pull it off, with a second to spare so he can smack Abbey’s ass on his way onto the stage. If love isn’t a crazy woman waving the tie she just slashed from your chest, then, well, I don’t know what it is.

Everybody is crazy in “Game On,” though, breaking just about every single rule you possibly can.The west Game,Hell, the Bartlet campaign is the one who set out the rules for the debate—90 seconds for a response, followed by 60 for a question and response—and Bartlet goes out of his way to ignore that. The first question goes to Ritchie, who reiterates that he’s in favor of state’s rights, and Bartlet rebuts by reciting a list of all the places Ritchie’s state of Florida received its funding last year, ending with, “Can we have it back, please?”