It's never politics as usual inside this Oval Office. The President and his staff have been targeted for disruption by rival politicians?? soon after being targeted by would-be assassins. Yet the determined colleagues continue to serve the U.S. and its President as the administration heads through midterm elections and into a crisis that l"ds to allegations of criminal conduct. The West Wing's second season won the Best Drama Series Emmy and Golden Globe Awards.
]]>Amazon.comThe second season of The West Wing takes up literally where the first season left off and?? after a few moments of patriotic sentimentalism?? maintains the series' astonishingly high standards in depicting the everyday life of the White House staff of a Democratic administration. The two-part opener covers the immediate aftermath of the assassination attempt on President Bartlet (Martin Sheen)?? switching between the anxious wait on the injured and flashbacks to Bartlet's campaign for the Presidency. Other peaks in a series exceedingly short on lows include "l??"the episode in which Alan Arkin's psychiatrist forces Josh Lynam to confront his post-traumatic stress disorder and the episodes in which President Bartlet?? following a tragic car accident?? rails angrily against God in Latin.Other new aspects include the introduction of Ainsley Hayes?? a young Republican counsel hired after she beats communications deputy Sam Seaborn (Rob Lowe) in a TV debate ("'s getting his ass kicked by a girl!" crow his colleagues)?? as well as the revelation that the President has been suffering from multiple sclerosis. Tensions grow between him and the First Lady (Stockard Channing) as she realizes?? in the episode "ird State of the Union??"that he intends to run for a second term in office. It becomes clear to Bartlet that he must go public with his MS?? and his staff is forced to come to terms with this?? as well as deal with the usual plethora of domestic and international incidents?? which apparently preclude any of them from having any sort of private lives. These include crises in Haiti and Columbia?? an obstinate filibuster?? and a Surgeon General's ex