The episode trivia for Swiss Diplomacy is incorrect. This is one of three episodes in which Aaron Sorkin is not in the writing credits in the first four seasons (Enemies from Season 1 and The Long Goodbye from Season 4 were the two others). This is also, by far, the best of those three episodes.
The power of Aaron Sorkin's writing is easy to see when compared to a non-Sorkin from the same series. While Sorkin's humor is most certainly quirky, it's also riddled with cadence. Few, if any, writers have this cadence (David Mamet is one other example, though he's primarily film-oriented).
Swiss Diplomacy, however, is a success because it is co-written by one of Sorkin's understudies (Kevin Falls). Thus, there are plenty of similarities with the writing of Falls versus the writing of Sorkin. The episode teaser is the best evidence of this as the scene was well-paced. I love how the walk-and-talks from The West Wing are paced with the dialogue. This is not only a writing achievement -- it's a directing achievement.
Christopher Misiano directed this episode (a veteran on the show by this time), and this is an interesting choice since his pace is usually much slower than, say, Alex Graves (who is a master of the fast-paced walk-and-talks). Of course, the pace slows from the episode teaser as the episode becomes more serious (regarding, e.g., the Toby storyline, the transplant storyline, etc.). In fact, there is a terrific pause about halfway into the episode when Bartlet finds out that news of the politically fragile transplant leaks. Bartlet storms out of the West Wing and sighs loudly. This is a perfect touch -- a physical example of a "beat".
And with time, the dialogue and direction speed up (though cautiously) to the end of the episode -- which is a triumphant, quiet close to the day. In terms of pacing, this episode does not meet Sorkin's mastery -- but it's definitely worthy of accolades. Credit Misiano for his directing touch in this respect.
There were times when the dialogue seemed a little too forcefully paced, or a little too silly (Refer to Enemies for an extreme example of this). But these were far overshadowed by the quality storytelling. This is another gem of an episode in a show with almost a perfect track record in the first four seasons.moreless
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The 15-year old son of an Iranian leader needs a heart transplant in the U.S. Problem is, the only man who could do it is an enemy of the Iranian government; The Senate minority leader threatens to thwart the President's legislative agenda when he believes that Hoynes is doing some political maneuvering for the next Presidential election; Toby offers a Congresswoman a Cabinet position but is forced to take back the offer.moreless
 Martin Sheen |
President Jed Bartlet |
 Dule Hill |
Charlie Young |
 Allison Janney |
Claudia Jean "C.J." Cregg |
 Rob Lowe |
Sam Seaborn (Episodes 1-84) |
 Richard Schiff |
Toby Ziegler |
 John Spencer |
Leo McGarry |
 Geoff Pierson |
Sen. Tripplehorn |
Guest Star |
 Lucinda Jenney |
Karen Kroft |
Guest Star |
 Bernard White |
Ehsan Mohebi |
Guest Star |
 Lily Tomlin |
Debbie Fiderer |
Recurring Role |
 Joshua Malina |
Will Bailey |
Recurring Role |
 Tim Matheson |
John Hoynes |
Recurring Role |
Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions
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TRIVIA (1)
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This was the second of only three episodes to have not been written or co-written by Aaron Sorkin during the first four seasons, the others being season one's "Enemies" and season four's "Swiss Diplomacy."
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QUOTES (6)
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Leo: Please don't forget all politics are local.
Bartlet: Ah. Bite me! -
Donna: You're the reason there are term limits.
Josh: Yeah? You're the reason-- (pauses) Nothing. Nothing's happening. Nothing's there. -
Toby: The president says all you need is one, the rest is for ego.
Karen Kroft: Aha, and how many did the president win by?
Toby: About three and a half million.
Karen Kroft: Yeah.
Toby: He's got a pretty healthy ego, though. -
Leo: I'll talk to him.
Ambassador Von Rutte: The president?
Bartlet (on TV): Don't get me wrong Mark, I think January's a good month but...
Leo: Yer, the president, generalissimo, whatever he comes back as. -
C.J.: I think Andy's about to get sued for election fraud.
Toby: Andy was trying to get sued for election fraud.
C.J.: Really?
Toby: Yeah. She's a pistol. -
Abbey: Am I dreaming, or are you talking to me about foreign policy? Not worried the sky is going to fall down?
Jed: No, but I'm concerned about spousal abuse.
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NOTES (0)
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ALLUSIONS (0)
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