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The West Wing Season 1 Episode 22

What Kind of Day Has It Been?

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AIRED: 5/17/00

The staff deals with an American pilot who was shot down in Iraq; Toby's brother is in danger on a space shuttle whose doors won't close; Bartlet and the senior staff walk into a hail of bullets as they leave a town meeting.

Fan Episode Reviews (5)

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10

By CTUBauer24, May 20, 2010

In the 22nd episode of the first season of the hit TV show The West Wing titled What Kind of day has it been. President Bartlet Prepare and had to Roslyn Virginia for a town hall meeting. The President also has the mange a rescue an American Pilot who is trapped without the hostel country finding the pilot first. Toby is worried about his brother is coming home from space. Josh and Vice President Hoynes argue over campaign finance reform. Overall a very good episode with very good storylines in it none of them where boring and the got us up the the end of the episode which was a shocking way to end the 1st season of The West Wing.moreless
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Tragedy in Rosslyn.

10

By kickdoor, May 15, 2010

I was glad that CJ finally let Danny off the hook, even if it took till near the end of the episode for her to do it. Seeing Toby so vulnerable was unusual, I would have thought he would have been very angry after discovering what happened with the space shuttle his brother was on. Not that he wasn't still his usual gruff self. It was pretty crazy to learn that Josh had worked for Hoynes(I assume that's what was meant by Hoynes asking Josh if he had listened to him would he have won). They've established that Hoynes really is a good guy, but given his relationship with the administration I wouldn't have expected it.

The plot with the downed pilot in Iraq was a nice way to build up tension for the first two thirds of the episode. I fully agree with Leo on the situation,

Leo: I'll tell you what, Phil. How 'bout I drop you and your forty-seven million dollar American war plane, that's already been picked up by Iraqi radar, in the middle of a desert. Then you tell me, if we've got three hours to find a diplomatic solution before we come get you.

I can't even imagine how frightening that situation would be for the pilot. Which is probably the thought that put Bartlet on edge.

Bartlet: Phil, if it ends up Fitzwallace has to call this kid's parents, I swear to God, I'm invading Baghdad.

Bartlet was also brilliant in his Town Hall Meeting.

Bartlet: Two politicians are having an argument. One of them stands up and shouts, 'You're lying!' The other one says, 'Yes I am, but hear me out.'

Bartlet: A man once said this, 'Decisions are made by those who show up.' So are we failing you, or are you failing us? It's a little of both.

It was also nice to see them reference back to Charlie's first episode with the scene when he tells Josh, "You were right, it doesn't go away."

I guess that brings me to the end which was pretty intense. The final ominous lines, "Who's been hit? Who's been hit?" were very fitting. The shooters were across the street and using handguns so they could have technically hit anyone in a three block radius(if not on purpose), with the unpredictable aim of handguns from that distance. Why were they using handguns by the way? Doesn't really seem like the best choice for that kind of assassination attempt. I'm fairly certain their motivation was because of Charlie being with Zoey, but I was wondering if they were trying to send a message about Bartlet's stance on gun control? I won't speculate on who might have gotten hit, because I could spend all day doing it. But I did pause at a few points during the shootout and definitely have some ideas, but I'll just wait and see.

Not my favorite season finale ever(neither was S60's), but it's definitely high on my list. Sorkin did an excellent job of spreading drama throughout the episode so that I wasn't just waiting to see what happened at the end. And the comedy was there as well. I would say it was an excellent close to the first season, even if I'm not the biggest fan of huge cliff hanger season finales.moreless
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It ended in most exciting place...

9.8

By Parricida, Nov 20, 2007

A really dynamic episode with some many hints and turn that it was maybe hard to follow - the story is shown little backwards - first the events we will get in the end and then how they got here - it makes perfect sense this way and makes it even more interesting.. you wait all the time to find out what happens. And Gina.. she saw them.. but they looked quite visible there.. why noone saw them first? they had a lot of excitement there but it is not worth to forget that they also had very deep meaning - Sam and Toby about his brother - that Sam knows Toby's brother even better than Toby because he did not know Toby even had a brother.. the Charlie storyline and the speech president gives.

I cannot wait to see how this cliffhanger will be solved.moreless
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The season finale of the first season.

10

By amfarley84, Jun 11, 2007

What Kind of Day Has It Been? has to be the best episode of the West Wing durning the frist season. I could not believe that durning the whole season they has never been any mention of Toby having a brother and that he is an astronaut on a space mission. I was happy that his brother was able to get home safely after learning there was a problem with the shuttle. I was happy that the mission to get the pilot out of Iruq safely. I was scared though to see people firing at the President and the staff.moreless
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Talk about a cliff hanger ending...

9.4

By Yakira, Aug 08, 2005

I've never seen it before but it's been reused in other TV series like Battlestar Galactica. We are closing in on the last 2 minutes of the episode and everythings starts to go seriously haywire as we get a montage of the main characters as entropy descends on the current events. Then all of a sudden the shots gets fired and Secret Service agents start losing their minds and then for no apparent reason the screen goes black. First you wonder are in a dark room are we going to commercial but then you look at the clock on your VCR and the executive producer credits and realize that Aaron Sorkin has engaged in a publicity stunt of economic proportions. He's gonna make you wait an entire summer to find out which of your favorite charcaters has been shot or is possibly dead. Evil yet diabolical.moreless
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Cast & Crew: STARS

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Martin Sheen	President Jed Bartlet
Dule Hill	Charlie Young
Allison Janney	Claudia Jean "C.J." Cregg
Moira Kelly	Mandy Hampton (Episodes 1-22)
Rob Lowe	Sam Seaborn (Episodes 1-84)
Richard Schiff	Toby Ziegler

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Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

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Lisa Croisette	Patty	Guest Star
Larry Stahoviak	Steve	Guest Star
Derek Triplett	Mikey	Guest Star
Suzy Nakamura	Kathy	Recurring Role
Elisabeth Moss	Zoey Bartlet	Recurring Role
Michael O'Neill	Ron Butterfield	Recurring Role

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (7)
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- Martin Sheen is seen drinking out of a University of Dayton Flyers coffee mug. Sheen grew up in Dayton, Ohio. He has said that he failed his entrance exam there so he could pursue acting. He likes to give shout outs to his hometown from time to time.
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- The title of this episode, "What Kind of Day Has It Been?" is also uttered by Leo in the episode "Commencement."
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- Goof: You clearly see a secret service agent grab CJ and push her down in one shot. As they cut away to the next shot, you see Sam taking her down, not the secret service agent.
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- CJ's fish bowl decoration: The Space Shuttle, (one of the subplots of the episode is a problem on the shuttle mission Toby's brother is on)
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- The departure of Mandy Hampton after this episode is never really explained.
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- Jed and Fitz discuss how the eagle in the great seal faces the arrows during times of war, which conflicts with Truman's 1945 Executive Order 9646 that the eagle must always face the olive branch.
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- The assassins load their guns while standing in the window frame, backlit by a bright red light; they are clearly visible from the street, and from other buildings, yet neither the agents on the ground, the sharpshooters on the roofs, nor the agents in the helicopter notice.
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QUOTES (3)
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- (Bartlet speaking at Rosslyn Town Hall Meeting)
  Bartlet: We hold these truths to be self-evident, they said, that all men are created equal. Strange as it may seem, that was the first time in history that anyone had bothered to write that down. Decisions are made by those who show up. Class dismissed. Thank you, everyone. God bless you. And God Bless America.
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- Danny: C.J., I'm not staying in the penalty box forever. I've covered the White House for eight years, and I've done it for the New York Times, the Washington Post, Time Magazine, and the Dallas Morning News! And I'm telling you, you can't mess me around like this.
  C.J: Danny, I got to tell you, that was, seriously, that was a turn-on when you said that, though I don't know why you decided to be the most haughty on the Dallas Morning News.
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- Bartlet: Hey, Steve. Hey, Mikey. Listen, have I gotten any of the names right so far?
  Charlie: No, sir, but you came damn close on a couple of 'em.
  Bartlet: Okay.
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NOTES (5)
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- Additional Credit: Washington DC Production Services by ThinkFilm Inc
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- Awards and Nominations:
  This episode was an 2000 Emmy Award nominee for Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Series.
  
  Won the 2000 Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series in conjunction with many other episodes from the season.
  
  This episode was the 2001 ACE Eddie Award Winner for Best Edited One-Hour Series for Television.
  
  Won the 2000 Golden Reel Awards for Best Sound Editing in Television Series - Dialogue and Automated Dialogue Replacement
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- Strangely (or perhaps 'not so strangely') "What Kind of Day Has it Been" is the title of the first season finales of all three of Sorkin's main shows -- Sports Night, West Wing, and Studio 60, however this is the only episode of those season one finales in which that phrase appears.
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- Moira Kelly's last episode as Mandy Hampton
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- This season finale ended in a cliff-hanger, leaving us to wonder who was shot and how seriously.
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ALLUSIONS (1)
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- Charlie: (to Josh) You were right; it doesn't go away.
  
  On Charlie's first day working for the president, he watches on as the president addresses the nation (season 1 episode 3). Josh tells him that the feeling he has while watching this does not go away.
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