Teleplay by John Sacret Young & Josh Singer
Story by John Sacret Young
Directed by Vincent Misiano
“I didn’t see the flag…I couldn’t tie my tie…”
The previous episodes’ obsession with subtle chess moves explodes totally into the open this week. And just so we know what we’re facing, the chess board is on full-frontal display in the Oval Office. In other words, A Change is Gonna Come wears its heart — and its intentions — on its sleeve.
The manuvering for Democratic candidate for President becomes a soft-spoken blood sport: the way Hoynes, Russell and Baker (a wonderful understated performance from Married With Children’s Ed O’Neil) dance around each other is superbly handled…as is the irritation of the President, who is watching the agenda of his Presidency slowly being hijacked by the realities of electioneering.
Especially irritating (but extremely fun to watch) is the game being played by the Chinese diplomats over Taiwan…for thousands of years, masters of their own brand of political chess. Toby and Josh are certainly amateurs compared to them.
More humourous power games come from Charlie’s attempts to get the flag of Taiwanese independence out of the White House gift-registry/basement. It’s a beautiful farce of one-upsmanship invovling regulations, codes, and authority. It’s like a mini Catch-22 movie inside the episode, complete with knowing, smug smiles on the part of all concerned.
Then there is Josh, and the realization that he may have finally hit the wall, in regards to his power and influence inside the White House. Regime change seems to have blind-sided him, and Hoynes’ offer to run his campaign — to go from a follower to a leader — seems awfully tempting. It’s a lovely contrast to Toby, who seems to be wondering who’s pawn he is at any given moment throughout the episode — “Do I report to you now?”
Finally, amidst all the moving pieces on a thousands chess boards in this episode, we have Bartlet, trying to run out the clock on his Presidency AND his MS. The realization that the MS is starting to affect him comes in a moment of terrible intimacy with his wife, allowing Martin Sheen and Stockard Channing to do what they do best: communicate fear and love with simple, silent looks and gestures.
At first, I thought this crazy-paced episode should have been titled Machinations. But, sensing the tidal wave building in this episode, I think they made a good choice with A Change is Gonna Come.
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