Written by John Sacret Young
Directed by Rod Halcomb
“Do you remember me?”
A story about what long memories do to the fabric of a nation’s external relations, and the inter-relations between people, Ninety Miles Away is unlike all the other episodes of the season — there’s a quiet, contemplative tone to the story that makes it more like it’s third season cousins than most of the rest of this first-season-inspired run of episodes.
There’s something eerie about this episode — quiet, portrait-framed shots, intimate conversations, peeking into secret areas, and Castro silently sitting in a corner. We learn more than we ever did about Kate…by actually revealing nothing at all, except a blacked-out file that speaks volumes, and a final flashback to Florida 1995, where we see a hint of the life she once had.
Speaking of previous lives, the contrast between the Leo of today and the gutwrenching 1995 version is startling…and we re-live it in the scenes involving Brian Dennehey’s commanding, drunken, repulsive Jesse-Helmsish Senator. Demons laid to rest and exorcised.
There isn’t that much more to say, because this episode is more about mood and emotion than plot, which is fine by me. Contemplation has its own rewards, and when The West Wing thinks deep, we can all enjoy the ride that follows.
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