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What will The West Wing do now?
By now you have probably heard about the death of
West Wing star John Spencer. Arguably, Spencer was the heart
and soul (and voice of reason) on the show, so filling the gap he leaves will not be easy.
Castmates and friends are still mourning his death, so they probably haven't even given any thought as to what they will do with the Leo McGarry character. But they will have to deal with the situation soon, and I have some thoughts on the subject and would like to hear yours as well.
One problem the show has is that the first episode of this season showed the opening of the Bartlet Presidential library, and Leo was in attendance. Does that mean that they can't have the character of Leo pass away? Not necessarily. There have been many instances where a TV show will forget about a scene that happened. Usually it has to do with a minor character on the show, or the marital/status or child status of a character (first they won't have kids but later on in the series we find out they have one because it's part of the plot). The most famous do-over is probably the infamous "Bobby in the shower" scene on Dallas. I don't think The West Wing will (or even should) go that route. They could simply not rerun that episode, or rerun it with that scene taken out (this would also get rid of that scene with Toby saying to Bartlet, "thank you for inviting me," which would leave the door open for Toby and Bartlet's relationship to be repaired later this season, but I digress...)
The show has already filmed 14 episodes this season. 5 haven't aired yet. So there is a little time to think of a new strategy (the producers and writers plan to meet after the new year). What are the options? They could have Leo retire, and someone else takes his place on the ticket. They could have Leo pass away and have someone replace him on the ticket. Or they could have Bartlet replace him on the ticket! Not sure of the legal/executive rules about a two-term President running as a VP, but that could keep Martin Sheen around another season (assuming the show is renewed, of course).
My solution? Leo passes away during the campaign, and Sam Seaborn comes back to the show to run on the ticket with Santos? (And Aaron Sorkin comes back to write the episode.) If they show ends this year, it would be a nice way to end it, Sam coming back and back in the White House, the show coming full circle in a way.
What do you think?
Leo retires, replaced by Josh
Leo retires, replaced by Bartlet
Leo retires, replaced by someone else
Leo passes away, replaced by Josh
Leo passes away, replaced by
Bartlet
Leo passes away, replaced by Sam
None of the above?
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