I loved it.


Bartlet mentions "Klavier," a Bach piece. He pronounces it "Kla-vee-ay." Herr Präsidente, that's "Kla-fear."

Amy & CJ looked FABULOUS in those dresses.

I'm gonna need some spoilers. My VCR failed me once again and I missed this AND last night's Law & Order! I'll need the spoilers so I won't be totally lost next week.

*singing* La la la

Now that I think about it, Bartlet said "Klavier" with a French pronunciation. Hmmm.

I LOVED the end of the scene with Bartlet and the pianist sitting on the bench together. When the guy (whose name I can't remember) shows Bartlet the fingering a second time, and he starts playing....You can see the pain in his face, and Sheen's face acting is superb. Not since Bartlet took confession on the floor of his oval office have I been so moved by so simple a scene.

Question: what does anyone think of the end of this episode? (Before I begin, a quick note: I have NO problem with the end of this episode. I thought it was well written. I love twists, and bitter twists just remind me that anything can happen.)

My first reaction is that the cancellation of the talks was NOT connected to the pianist. That is, Bartlet worked hard to go against the right thing and convince the guy not to defect in order to save the negotiations, and the DPRK'ers cancel them anyway--leaving Bartlet (and us) with a sense of bitterness, of "What was the point of trying to placate these SOBs in the first place?"

My second thought, probably incorrect but still there, is this: did the DPRK figure out what the pianist was up to and cancel the talks to send a message to Bartlet to that effect? "Nice try, Jed, but we figured out he was trying to defect. This is the price for going behind our back." (No doubt, Kim Jong Il would have said that it wasn't sufficient for Bartlet to convince the kid not to defect; he would have demanded that Bartlet let the government know that one of their state stars tried to walk out.)

It's things like this that keep me up at night. Sad, isn't it?

And a final point: I hate to criticize, but lo and behold, suddenly Amy Gardner seems tolerable this season. I'm starting to like her as a character! And, IMO, it's because her dialogue is toned down. She's more....I don't know. I always perceived her as annoying. This could be, again IMO, the first tangible positive improvement from Sorkin's departure.

Unfortunately, we all know what happens to the rest of this season............

Speaking of Bill Lumburg (having finished reading the discussions of the previous two episodes), I thought we had a perfect Lumburg moment in this movie. Bingo Bob walks in to confront Toby & Will after the wrong speech winds up on the TP, and he just stands there for a second. Without trying, Bill rises unbidden in my mind: "Um, hello, Toby. Yeah, listen: I thought that speech was...[gestures with coffee mug]...hilarious. Thanks a bunch, guys." [Turns to leave, then turns back.] "Oh, yeah, I'm going to need you to go ahead and get me a copy of that speech, right away. We, um, lost some people this week and we have to play catch-up."

Synopsis for this episode: A pianist from North Korea threatens to cause a major international incident when he asks for asylum. Meanwhile, Will and Toby struggle to write an enthusiastic speech about the new Vice President.