Written by Deborah Cahn
Directed by Alex Graves
“Do you want some water?”
“No.”
“Do you want some scotch?”
“No.”
“Do you want me to leave?”
“No.”
Things to love, appreciate, and adore about Drought Conditions:
1—Toby hits rock bottom. For a long time now, Toby has been a voice in the wilderness, crying out in vain. He believes himself to be the last true believer of the Bartlet Administration, watching in dismay as everyone else jumps ship to work on campaigns: Josh, Wil, Donna…
And now, with the death of his brother from suicide (Leo devestatingly points out that he didn’t have any fight left in him), compounded by the return of Josh, and their resulting argument-fist fight, Toby plummets into the depths. Watching him drag his way out of this hole is stunning — framed in a gorgeous non-linear, flashback structure. It’s a tone poem in the middle of an episode full of happy chaos.
2—CJ rocks my world. She rocks my universe. She can be deadly serious, yet totally absorbed by her coffee-on-shirt disaster. She’s in charge, and everyone knows it. When the returning Cliff Calley shows up, stating he’s been summoned, he’s not joking. What CJ wants, CJ gets. Allison Janey is sexy, smart, funny…
Like I said, all praise CJ.
3—The writing. Once again, we’re in season one territory, with multiple plot lines, both serious and sublime, working hand-in-glove like a symphony. We go from Toby’s emotional turmoil one moment, to Charlie setting up a blind date for Kate the next moment, to Matt Santos singing with glee after his excellent performance in New Hamphshire. It’s all completely giddy, yet totally functional — it’s Deborah Cahn channeling Aaron Sorkin.
4—Lily Tomlin. She has three key scenes, and they all rise to greater levels of insane humour about body pain, drug use, and guarding the President’s door. Outrageously lovely.
5—The scene with Josh and Donna in the closet. “Is the nature of our relationship about to change?” asks Josh in the darkness, setting off the hopes of a million viewers. It’s deadly serious about the subject matter, yet it’s a Josh-and-Donna moment from the past, and its crammed full of nostalgic longing. Sam’s name also comes up…wonder if that’s leading somewhere…
6—Wil telling Annabeth she’s good at what she does…and she breaks into tears! She is such a complete sweetheart. I just want to hug her to pieces.
I could quibble about Martin Sheen being in the episode all of five minutes, or the psychadelic direction at the end that bothered some of my friends (though personally, I didn’t find it intrustive). But I love this episode all the same. It’s a gorgeous, effective jewel in a magnificent season, and the first slam-dunk after a few weeks of moody introspection.
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