Rating: 
Summary: Isaac & Ishmael - Series 3 DVD
Review: I've had West Wing Series 2 - since April 2003 (part 1) and July 2003 (part 2) - this is the best TV show ever, I watched the show on TV and pre-ordered the DVDs as soon as they were listed. Just received my complete series 3 DVD and Isaac & Ishmael is included on this DVD.
Rating:
Summary: West Wing at Its BEST!!
Review: If you enjoy the fun interaction between castmembers and the unique style of humor that makes West Wing one of the best shows on TV, then you'll love Season 2! I'm a fan of the show in general, but the second season was right on target for the perfect blend of humor and drama.
Rating:
Summary: The best television show...ever...even for Republicans
Review: If you're looking at this, then you obviously have season 1 and you know that this is the best television show of all-time. It sounds cliche, but you will laugh and cry in the same episodes. I always yearn for more when the black screen comes up at the end because the story lines are so interesting and the characters are so endearing. I consider myself a borderline republican and I still love this show. Most of the political issues are background to character development and the way the characters deal with those problems. Don't be frightened off if you are not a liberal; this show is for everyone.P.S. Season 5 is not "The West Wing". It is a show WITHOUT Aaron Sorkin and without any real merits. If that is you're only experience with TWW, then please check out Season 1 or 2. The first 4 seasons are incredible. My favorite is 4, but we all have to wait for that.
Rating:
Summary: Just AWESOME!
Review: The first season was just the beginning...its the second season that we learn so much more about the characters and where they have been (and where they are going). I love the flashbacks to pre-season 1 where we see how the gang got together. We learn more about the characters, too (like Sam's father having a mistress for about 20 years). Unfortunately, Sorkin didn't continue with these threads throughout the following seasons. I think this is one of the best seasons of the show. I can't wait until my DVDs arrive.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant Series Dips Deeper
Review: The last season ENDED in a brutal cliffhanger with an attempt on the President or Zoe. The last scenes were the staff and bystanders diving for cover as gunmen shot from windows in a nearby building. This season opens trying to untangle the confusion of that night and opens a rich, second season of the best drama on television. We are also treated to some great pre-first season moments, when the staff was managing Bartlet's presidential campaign. From my count there were 17 Emmy nominations this season - for writing, acting, and more - I've noted the episodes that were winners. My only complaint is that they're making us wait so long for these sets, when people overseas have had them already for almost a year - come on, it's OUR idealist leadership. But to quote the deputy press secretary, "let's forget that you're a little late to the party and just embrace the fact that you showed up" > In the Shadow of Two Gunmen (1) (*emmy)
> In the Shadow of Two Gunmen (2) (*emmy)
> The Midterms
> In This White House
> And It's Surely to Their Credit
> The Lame Duck Congress
> The Portland Trip
> Shibboleth
> Galileo
> Noël (*emmy)
> The Leadership Breakfast
> The Drop In
> Bartlet's Third State of the Union (1)
> The War at Home (2)
> Ellie
> Somebody's Going to Emergency, Somebody's Going to Jail
> The Stackhouse Filibuster
> 17 People
> Bad Moon Rising
> The Fall's Gonna Kill You
> 18th and Potomac
> Two Cathedrals
Rating:
Summary: The greatest accomplishment in Drama
Review: The second season, is absolutley wonderful, probably my absolute favorite of the 5 seasons that presently exist. Seasons 2 and 3 are, in my opinion, the peak of what Sorkin has given us. Especially now that John Wells has really taken over.
But this season goes beyond any expectation you could have for a show giving you sincere drama and Grade A acting that really pulls you into the story.
There are a few episodes in this season that would make it worth the money alone, which i list below.
In the shadow of two gunmen - pt. 1 & 2 - A great two part episode, detailing the previous choas of the shootings and incorperating flashbacks of the senior staff. Definetly not something to be overlooked.
Noel- My absolute favorite episode of the season. Being forced to see a therapist,you gradually see how Joshs' trauma is affecting him more and more. It really shows a great detail of the complexity and metally unsettled he is underneath his placade surface. You're being brought inside the persons mind and feeling what he is going through. He doesn't find the therapy nessecary and throught the session he continually resists with witty remarks agasint Stan, the therapist. He doesn't like the idea that someone he doesn't know is delving into a disturbing part of himself that he wants to stay away from. Compelling music and cinematography bring the episode to a climax when Josh and Stanley are going over what happend at the Yo-Yo ma concert. Incredibly moving episode.
The Stackhouse Fillibuster- A lighter episode, still containing great entertaining qualities. CJ, Josh and Sam all write emails to their fathers in the time of the fillibuster, and the scences gracefully move in and out of action and the self-narrative characteristics of the emails.
Ellie- Dealing both on a personal and professional note, this episode entails the relationship of the President and one of his daughters, after her comments on the Surgeon Generals position in politics.
18th and Potomac - This episode begins with the tensions of a planned admission to the public that the President has MS. Leaves you hanging a tad when you learn that the Presidents seceratary and long-time friend has been killed in a car accident by a drunk driver.
Two Cathedrals - If 18th and Potomac left any sort of wanting, Two Cathedrals more than makes up for it in so many ways. The White House Staff awaits the presidents desicion of wether he will be running again or not. Things come to an apparent low when it seems that he might not run.
The funeral that proceeds most of the episode is very touching, moving and disturbing at the same time. One of the more powerful scenes in the season occur when the President stands alone in the Cathedral, denouncing God as a thug, exclaiming in Latin - "Am I really to believe that these are the acts of a loving God? A just God? A wise God? To hell with your punishments. I was your servant here on Earth. And I spread your word and I did your work. To hell with your punishments. To hell with you."
The entire episode, Pesident Bartlet has flashbacks of his teen life, from when his relationship with his secratary first started off.
Things get darkest before dawn towards the end of the Episode, where a distraught Bartlet calls for his dead secratary, and realizes she isn't coming. When suddenly he she walks through the door and "consoles" Jed on what he is going through.
There are little things in this episode that you absolutley have to pay attention to if you want to get the full affect. If you pay attention, you don't have to wait untill Season 3 to know what his answer is to wether or not he is running for a second term.
Overall, the best drama i've ever watched. Stunning and remarkable achievments in television, and well worth buying. You don't have to interested in politics to love this show, even though i think it helps.
It's shows like this that reaffirm your belief that there is still quality programming out there, don't let this season of remarkable episodes evade you.
Rating:
Summary: Bartlett Ascendant
Review: The West Wing series reallty came into its own (in my opinion) during the second season. Beginning with the aftermath of the cliffhanger assassination attempt, the series built up momentum that never stopped. The episode where Josh experiences post-traumatic stress disorder is especially compelling. Yo Yo Ma's surprise appearance playing Bach's G-major is a moment to treasure.
Rating: 
Summary: Great, with a few minor problems.
Review: This box set is great. I have been a fan of the west wing since the pilot episode, and watch every episode on NBC and the Reruns on Bravo. I ordered and recieved my copy of the season 2 box set on release day, and have watched the episodes again and again. Only complaint is that the screen goes"funky" during the title sequence, where it is boxed into a small square on the screen. THis problem corrects once the episode starts, though..
Rating:
Summary: Uh, where's the widescreen
Review: This DVD would have been a 5 star rating (and it is, for the content), but the widescreen is seriously off. I'm not sure if I got a faulty one (for some reason Future Shop here in Canada had it out this weekend, though the release date's not till the 18th) but there are vertical black bars on the rolling of the credits and scenes from previous episodes, and during the actual episodes, there are no horizontal bars at all (as is usually the case with widescreen). Has anyone else experienced this bizarre flaw? (And yes, all the other widescreen DVDs I have work fine with my DVD player).
Rating:
Summary: Great
Review: this is great! i have been waiteng for this DVD for so lng, but alas, the day i leave for a school trip to israel fr a month is teh day it comes out! i have made my WHOLE family promise to to order it until a week before i get home, so they wont watch without me.
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