The 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 "Noel," 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 ("Sam'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 "Third 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 excessively frank remarks about the drug situation. Thankfully, the splendid Lord John Marbury (Roger Rees) is on hand to make chief of staff Leo McGarry's life more of a misery in "The Drop-In."

Bartlett Ascendant

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.

The best television show...ever...even for Republicans

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.

Uh, where's the widescreen

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).