December 22nd, 2005
Do it for Leo
Leo is dead. As is more and more common these days, I was informed of the sad news by Dave Winer on Scripting News, first as a Web Clip and then within Rojo. As with everything else in the Bartlett presidency, actor John Spenser’s death at 58 cements the “fake� White House as the real human drama and the Bush administration as the cardboard cutout.
Immediately, the mind leaps to the early-season episode where the usual suspects gather in 2008 for the dedication of the Bartlett Library. Interestingly, Toby (not yet disgraced and fired at the time of the episode) is there, as is C.J. with her husband Danny and new baby. With the carry-over subplot of the leak of the military space shuttle and the strong (and misleading) suggestion that C.J. was the culprit, the interaction between Bartlett and the regulars nicely sealed the idea that somehow the healing had occurred.
But while I pondered the body language for hints of whether Jimmy Smitts was the next president (Josh appeared to be in charge, so that could be the clincher) I certainly didn’t pay too much attention to whether Leo was actually in the scene or not. Since Leo was Smitt’s running mate, it would be logical that I was watching for any hints, but by the middle of the scene I knew nothing definitive would be revealed.
So I can’t with all certainty say Leo was there, but I’ll bet he was. Big problem. Recast problem. Please, no, don’t go the Darren route. What to do? Reshoot the scene without Leo and add it in to the DVD release? Or do something short of killing off Leo and send him on a 3 year bender that clears up in time for the Library episode.
I’m hoping I’m wrong and Leo wasn’t in the Library scene. But suddenly the very fabric of time has been threatened by this tragic turn, and the President and his team must make every effort to face the problem with honesty and transparency. Take the hard choice, not the “look, a flying saucer� one. Do the right thing. Do it for Leo.
