Two Cathedrals

Synopsis

Leo is talking to two Democrats who are convinced that the MS cover-up will be impossible to campaign with. When asked whether the President will run for re-election Leo says that there will be a press conference that night, and that they should watch.

Toby is preparing the Mural Room for the President's statement when Sam asks if the President is ready, so soon after Mrs. Landingham's death. Toby tells him that they have no choice and despite her funeral they will be proceeding with the plan. During the episode Toby is offered a 'lifeboat' by way of a job offer, but turns it down in a show of loyalty to the President.

CJ asks Carol to gather reporters from several news agencies in her office. Josh gives her a brief for a press briefing about an ongoing tobacco lawsuit, but she tells him that with the story the President is about to reveal, even news about the situation in Haiti will be ignored by the press.

Throughout the day, the President keeps visiting his early memories of Mrs. Landingham (Kirsten Nelson) when she was a secretary at the school where Bartlet's father was headmaster. She pushes Bartlet (Jason Widener) to talk to his father about why the women were paid less money than the men. Mrs. Landingham clearly sees something in Jed, "a boy king" who was "blessed with inspiration." She comments that if Bartlet won't say anything because he's afraid or can't be bothered, then she doesn't even want to know him. He then puts his hands in his pockets, looks away and smiles, which Mrs. Landingham knows to mean that he's decided to do it and will talk to his father.

Bartlet and his staff attend Mrs. Landingham's funeral at the National Cathedral. Afterward, Bartlet remains alone in the cathedral, cursing God in Latin. He then lights a cigarette, drops it on the cathedral floor, and grinds it under his foot before angrily declaring that he will not run again ("You get Hoynes!"). Later, in the Oval Office, during a pre-season tropical storm, Bartlet has a vision of Mrs. Landingham, who tells him that if he isn't going to run because he thinks he won't win or because it will be too hard, she doesn't even want to know him. Bartlet and his entourage then travel to the State Department to give a press conference. Scenes of the motorcade driving in the rain are juxtaposed with scenes in the cathedral, where a cleaning janitor finds the extinguished cigarette. For the press conference's first question, Bartlet disregards advice to call upon a handpicked reporter who will not ask about reelection. The chosen reporter immediately asks the President if he will seek re-election. He puts his hands in his pockets, looks away, and smiles.

Writing

Aaron Sorkin explained that the Latin monologue in the National Cathedral was written in the language in order to avoid censorship by network NBC. NBC initially refused to allow a line where Mrs. Landingham describes the President's father as a "prick". Sorkin explained its use: "It was the right word and the slightly startling nature of it was really what you needed.".

Casting

Casting director Kevin Scott described the process of casting the younger version of Bartlet and Mrs. Landingham: "We were looking for Martin Sheen at about 17 and Mrs. Landingham at about 22. That was not easy. It wasn't just about a look, but a quality that each actor has, I wanted to hire actors that would make you say, 'Wow! That is Kathryn Joosten at 22. That is Martin Sheen as a teenager."

C.J. instructs the President to select medical correspondent Lawrence Altman of The New York Times for the first question, although he does not. While portrayed by an actor (Alfred Hurwitz), Altman is the name of the Times' medical correspondent, who for decades reported on the health of presidents and vice presidents.

The episode's producer Lawrence O'Donnell also appeared as Bartlet's father, and Jane Lynch appeared as a reporter in the White House Press Room.

Filming locations

St. Andrew's School in Middletown, Delaware served as young Bartlet's boarding school. It was the shooting location of Dead Poets Society.

During filming in the National Cathedral, in Washington, D.C., Sheen as Bartlet stubbed out a cigarette on the floor prompting the Cathedral to ban filming inside the building.

Music

The episode featured the song "Brothers in Arms" by Dire Straits. The show's composer W. G. Snuffy Walden explained that Sorkin had specified the use of the song: "There was no question that this song was going to end the show which is really quite rare."

Sorkin, however, explained in 2017 that he initially had some reservations:

Driving around in my car trying to work on the episode was really the first time I listened to the words and thought 'this is too good to be true. This is gonna really work well.' And on the one hand I felt like, ‘am I handing off the end of the second season of The West Wing to Dire Straits and then saying you guys take it away?’ And then I thought, or rationalized, no, that this was all gonna be OK.

Themes

In an essay entitled "The White House Culture of Gender and Race in The West Wing: Insights from the Margins" Christina Lane argued that the influence of "peripheral" female and African American secretarial characters, such as Mrs. Landingham in "Two Cathedrals", was evidence of a feminist theme in the series. Lane highlighted the influence of Mrs. Landingham over Bartlet's actions in flashbacks, in challenging gender pay inequity at the school where his father is headmaster, and when she appears to him in the Oval Office, writing that the episode "provides yet an even more poignant reinforcement of male feminist values". She argues that, in "Two Cathedrals", "for the first time, the series makes it clear that Mrs. Landingham has helped mold Bartlet into the leader he is today, that it is his own alignment with the women of the world, and specifically the secretaries of the world, that propels him to conduct the work of the presidency."

Critical reception