Written by Eli Attie
Directed by Alex Graves
“Have you heard of the mommy problem?”
“I have.”
“Do you think I have it?”
The Mommy Problem is The West Wing giving a stamp to Matt Santos, but via the back room. Who’s in charge of the message? What happens when the message conflicts? What constitutes a negative campaign? Who calls the shots?
The answers come through a variety of gorgeous set pieces, and together they make this a rather high-octane outing of a show that usually specializes in long stabs of quiet contemplation…as opposed to balls-to-the-wall action. Ok…the West Wing equivalent of balls-to-the-wall action… 
Let us now list WHY this works:
1—Janeane Garofalo as Lou, the new communications director. She is Josh’s arch-enemy. She refuses to fall into the cult of personality of either Bartlet or Santos. She speaks her mind, she makes people uncomfortable, and she lets fly zingers and home-truths that knock aside and discomfort many people. She’s a gorgeous dynamo, and she’s a brilliant addition to the show.
2—The opening montage, showing Santos’ common touch with the people. He’s a natural campaigner…in fact, there’s something positively Trudeau-ish and Clintonian about his appeal. It makes the Congressman Casanova comments about his night with his wife in the bed in Cleveland both outrageous and wonderful. He’s hot, he’s sexy, he reaches people…
3—He’s also a kick-ass military man, with no qualms or compunctions about his past and his role in the forces. The images of him taking his plane out on manoeuvres are Top Gun, West Wing style. You don’t think West Wing can do Top Gun? Think again! This is the future…
4—Josh and his boxes and his white board…and Santos’ response to them: “We’re gonna beat them on security. We’re gonna beat them on domestic. We’re gonna beat them on trivia, too.”
5—Joey Lucas, the only one laughing at Josh’s briefing joke. And it was funny, too.
6—The White House scenes weren’t as intrusive as last week, and offered just the right combination of panic and irritation with the outside world. You begin to wonder if Toby’s going to snap by the time the transition of administrations occur…
7—The music comes in stabs of jaunty, throbbing, pulse-pounding stabs. It’s the perfect accompaniment to a campaign shooting to life!
The Mommy Problem is a shot of adrenaline, to both the Santos campaign AND to The West Wing itself. After the set up of last week, we literally take flight — courtesy of a new Boeing campaign jet. Take off was perfect…let’s hope the landing is just as smooth.
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