WEST WING: THE COMPLETE 3RD SEASON - DVD review

It is definitely no coincidence that the release of the third season of television's popular political drama, "The West Wing" is craftily scheduled for November 2nd, 2004, the day of the U.S. Presidential election. How appropriate and remarkable since Season Three is also the start of the show's fictional Democratic President's reelection campaign. Talk about art imitating life. This third season is also the one just after the tragedy on 9/11 and its premiere, initially scheduled for October 3rd, 2001, was postponed by one week and in its place was a special episode titled "Isaac and Ishmael", written by the show's creator Aaron Sorkin, that specifically dealt with a changed, post-9/11 America. That special one-time episode, although not connected in any way to the continuity of the series, is also included on this DVD set.

As many of you already know, "The West Wing", at one time, was one of the highest rated and most honored television programs in America. At present, the show has fallen somewhat from that pedestal and its earlier accolades but its prestige as one of the smartest and most well-written political dramas on television is still mainly intact. However, back when the third season was still on the air, it seemed like a slight decline in quality was just starting to appear. Everyone you talk to will agree that the first two seasons of "The West Wing" was solid, straight-up storytelling. The third season, I must admit, wobbled a little bit under intense pressure to emulate the show's previous success. However, the biggest setback for the show came after a disastrous fourth season ratings slump, culminating with the announced departure of creator Aaron Sorkin and one of the stars of the show, Rob Lowe.

However, before I digress and go off on a tangent, let's get back to the subject of this review, Season Three of "The West Wing". Physically, the West Wing is an office building located within the White House compound that holds the President's Oval Office and the offices of the President's support staff. Historically, it was built in 1902 as a temporary office by President Theodore Roosevelt to separate the President's living quarters at the White House from the working one. Symbolically, it represents the center of power for the office of the President as it works to set and communicate the President's agenda for the nation. Admittedly the first program of its kind, NBC's television series "The West Wing" is a fast moving and equally fast-talking fictionalized behind-the-scenes look at the inner workings of the White House Executive Office and the dedicated group of people who work there.

Assembling an amazing group of actors to play an equally remarkable cast of characters, "The West Wing" has as close to an ensemble cast on a television show, as there ever will be. At the head of this group is the always-reliable Martin Sheen who plays Democratic President Jed Bartlet, a former Governor of New Hampshire, Nobel Laureate in Economics and former 3-term Congressman. Supporting the President is a group of highly motivated and steadfast individuals working in the West Wing, whose sole goal in life is to protect the President's political and personal welfare and to help promote and move his agenda for the nation forward. In charge of the Executive Office (West Wing) and the President's de facto right-hand man and closest political advisor is White House Chief of Staff, Leo McGarry (John Spencer), who is also an old friend of Bartlet's and a powerful figure within the Beltway circle. McGarry, together with his deputy Josh Lyman (Bradley Whitford), work closely with Communications Director Toby Ziegler (Richard Schiff), Toby's deputy Sam Seaborn (Rob Lowe) and White House Press Secretary CJ Cregg (Allison Janney) to get the President's message out to the media. Added into this mix are supporting characters like First Lady Abbey Bartlet (Stockard Channing), Presidential Aide Charlie Young (Dulé Hill), the President's daughter Zoey (Elisabeth Moss) and the rarely seen but always enjoyable Vice-President of the United States, John Hoynes (Tim Matheson).

The second season ended on a sad note with the death of longtime Bartlet confidant and the President's Secretary, Mrs. Delores Landingham (Kathryn Joosten) in an automobile accident. The season's cliffhanger, although not as dramatic as the first season's, centered on whether President Bartlet will announce that he is seeking re-election to a second term or bow out because he is suffering from MS or multiple sclerosis. Season Three opens with the continuation of last season's press conference where President Bartlet was asked whether he would seek re-election. Not entirely a surprise and certainly a foregone conclusion, the President predictably answers with a simple and concise, "Yeah, and I'm going to win." His affirmative answer stunned even his own staff, as they were not prepared for it beforehand. With marital problems between the First Couple, a hounding press corp seeking more information, a re-election campaign to kick off and of course, other world-shaking events take care of as well, the West Wing is turning into a pressure cooker and an increasingly unpleasant place to be. Not only that, now they also have to deal with an investigation by a Special Prosecutor into whether the President and his staff conspired to hide his medical condition from the public into order to get him elected.

Although Bartlet's re-election is a part of the theme for Season Three, it does not consume most of the season's storylines. Instead, expect to see the President and his West Wing staff deal with world events and crises that sometimes mirror our own reality and also get into political fights with Congress over contentious domestic issues like gun control. In fact, every week, there is always something for everyone. With Sorkin still at the helm, "The West Wing"'s signature witty banter and fast-paced and smart dialogue exchanges are still very much alive and well. Fans of Sorkin's previous TV effort, "Sports Night" can certainly identify with this style and also his intelligent writing.

However, there is an unexpected downside to this. I am a political junkie and I love most of the stories on this show but I must admit that some of the situations are a little over the top. But hey, it's show business and they need to write such stuff in to keep the show interesting. Also, political neophytes will have a very hard time following some of the more procedural and intricate threads that involve artful political negotiations between the White House and Congress in order to pass a Bill. "The West Wing", brilliant as it is, unfortunately is not for everyone.

Again, this 4-DVD set continues the series tradition by using double-sided DVDs. Each side of the first three DVDs contain either three or four episodes, with one side of the fourth disc reserved for bonus material only. Together with the special episode, "Isaac and Ishmael", the regular season's 22 episodes are spread out over three DVDs in the following manner:

Disc One, Side A: "Isaac And Ishmael", "Manchester Pt.1", "Manchester Pt.2", "Ways And Means"
Disc One, Side B: "On The Day Before", "War Crimes", "Gone Quiet", "The Indians In The Lobby"
Disc Two, Side A: "The Women of Qumar", "Bartlet For America", "H. Con-172", "100,000 Airplanes"
Disc Two, Side B: "The Two Bartlets", "Night Five", "Hartsfield's Landing", "Dead Irish Writers"
Disc Three, Side A: "The U.S. Poet Laureate", "Stirred", "Enemies Foreign And Domestic"
Disc Three, Side B: "The Black Vera Wang", "We Killed Yamamoto", "Posse Comitatus"

Video:
Season Three continues the previous season's timely switch to episodes that are presented in widescreen anamorphic video measuring in at an aspect ratio of 1.85:1. For those who are not aware, the first season's DVD set was presented in awful fullscreen 4:3 video and the switch to widescreen only happened in Season Two. Currently, "The West Wing" is broadcast in beautiful high definition on NBC. Overall, the images on this DVD have very little flaws with no dirt or scratches to mar your viewing pleasure. Its colors are also beautifully rendered and the skin tones, natural. Subtitles are available in English, French and Spanish.

Audio:
Although only encoded in Dolby Surround 2.0, the patriotic musical scores envelope the sound stage and engage the audience very well. Most importantly, in a series that relies so much on its fast paced banter between characters, the dialogue delivery through the center channel is very clear and sharp. Only an English language audio track is available.

Extras:
Only one side of the fourth DVD is used for bonus material. One major discrepancy is the listing of a bonus feature called "Political Missteps" on both the cover and the insert booklet but is nowhere to be found on the bonus fourth disc.

First, there are three audio commentaries:
"Manchester Pt.2" with commentary by Aaron Sorkin, executive producer Thomas Schlamme and actress Allison Janney.
"Bartlet For America" with commentary by Aaron Sorkin, Thomas Schlamme and actor John Spencer.
"Posse Comitatus" with commentary by Aaron Sorkin, Thomas Schlamme and Alex Graves.

All three audio commentaries are by the numbers, with the usual background information about that particular episode that the participants are commenting on.

On Disc 4, the first bonus feature is "A Property Master's Story", which has interviews with executive producer Thomas Schlamme, property master Blanche Sindeler and On-Set property master Steve Whiteside. All three interviewees talk about the little details that go into making the Oval Office and West Wing sets as realistic as possible. Up next is an oddly named feature called "The Chief of Stuff", which is an interesting piece on the role of a Presidential Aide, played on the show by Dulé Hill. It has interviews with Hill and also two of former President Clinton's Personal Aides, Kris Engskov and Andrew Friendly. Next, there are three deleted scenes to choose from, one each from the following episodes: "The Two Bartlets", "Enemies Foreign And Domestic" and "Posse Comitatus". All three deleted scenes are of low quality, grainy and also display the timecodes.

The last and final bonus feature is also the most interesting one, called "Documentary Special". This feature is divided into five segments, each dealing with an aspect of being and working for the most powerful man on Earth. It contains interviews with former Presidents Clinton, Carter and Ford and also other prominent White House personalities.

Packaging:
All 4 DVDs in this Season Three set are again, like the previous seasons, packed in a foldout 4-panel Digipak package that is enclosed inside a hard cardboard box. Also included is a glossy booklet that details all the episodes plus a short synopsis of each. This time, the color scheme for the whole DVD set is green.

Film Value:
As I mentioned earlier in this review, Season Three of "The West Wing" is unfortunately the start of a decline for the series. Not as strong as the previous two seasons, this third season does not try anything new but just more of the same. It can be a good thing for some but for me, boredom is slowly settling in. However, all is not lost. "The West Wing" is still one of the best television series to come out in the past few years. It just needs to get past the directionless plots that it is currently heading into and emerge with a stronger and more decisive track.