#this is the woman whose face theyve all looked into since they were babies

[cherry-treelane]

this is extremely important to me it means so much....if u get it u get it and if u don't u dont.... (fics are all from the wonderful mother_of_houseplants btw shes amazing and so is her writing which is evident in these screenshots)

[47cityordinances]

In This White House

alright listen up this is going to be a long post. i spent a lot of time on it but yeah. enjoy.

okay so i just rewatched s2e4 “in this white house” of west wing and VFCDTYHJNFBVCH.

first off, “ginger, get the popcorn” is the best line EVER.

but i kept watching and noticed things i’ve never noticed before.

starting with ainsley. oml i love this girl. she presents a different view of things but the show needs that counterbalance and she is just amazing and I love her. her “they are righteous, and they are patriots. and i’m their lawyer” speech is SO GOOD. she doesnt agree with them, but she understands that they are good people, and i think thats something we’ve lost in recent years

so besides the whole ideological lesson to be learned, josh and sam’s interaction is just priceless. (I love “hold on, im still on he offered you the job”) anyway, ainsley is chewing them out and listing the reasons that she doesn’t want to work for them. at first, they’re intrigued. sam is kind of taken aback

but look at josh’s face. he likes her. he sees her side. he’s realizing just how brilliant and amazing this woman is.

then, ainsley brings up the second amendment. she says “this white house that loves the bill of rights, all of them, except the second one”

now, josh’s reaction to that is like quiet resignation. his smile vanishes. he doesn’t say anything. he just kind of stands there and takes it. honestly, im pretty sure he’s a little shocked that she would bring up gun control. this is only two episodes after the shooting. he just got out of recovery. he just looks shocked. he looks at sam, then kind of makes a move with his head. he doesn’t want to talk about this. he doesnt want to argue with her about it. he looks like he just wants to disappear.

sam, though, is furious. “this is the wrong place to talk about gun control right now” he goes OFF on her, but what i noticed when watching wasnt him and it wasnt ainsley. (although when ainsley realizes what she said and how seriously they take it she looks a little regretful and i love her even more for it.)

the person whose reaction is PRICELESS during sam’s rebuttal is josh. josh and sam’s interaction is just amazing.

when sam talks about how “but for a brilliant surgical team and two centimeters of a miracle, this guy’s dead right now,” josh just looks at him like “thanks man.” honestly one of my favorite parts is i think josh couldnt argue with her but he appreciates sam taking what he wants to say and actually saying it.

LOOK AT THEM. BABIES. the look they exchange is full of so much meaning, but what i get most is thank you for everything. i think it might also be a little of a warning like “dont go too far”

but then josh seems to get a little tired of it. i think its partly his ptsd. he just doesnt wanna talk about what he went through. he tries to separate himself from the conversation and walks away, but not before this.

he bumps into sam in a kind of “calm down, it’s okay, back off a little.” it could also be a “thanks, but im outta here” and i think its both, but he just touches sam a little because theyre best friends and he knows that sam needs to chill out a little and knows how to make that happen. 

meanwhile, sam is pissed as hell

you can see it in his face, in his body posture, in his words, in everything about him. he almost LOST josh. theyve been friends for years, since before the campaign. he almost lost him, and ainsley doesnt realize how scared they were and how much they care about each other until then

but look in the background. while sam is mad and talking about personal freedom, josh goes and leans against the doorframe and rubs his face in his hands

he’s so tired. he just doesnt care anymore. i dont even know how to articulate the feeling that this scene made me feel when he did that. he loves sam. he loves his job. he’s just a touch overwhelmed and needs to clear his head. he removes himself and composes himself again. 

the next thing josh says is to toby when he asks where leo is. he has a grip again, but he’s so tired. he’s so, so tired. 

they all care about each other so much and other people dont realize just how much and this scene is possibly the best josh and sam scene ever. the acting and writing in it is just superb and they bring the characters to life. josh doesnt even know he has ptsd at this point, but he feels overwhelmed and doesnt want to talk about gun control. thats all he knows. he tries to block it all out but its too much. 

then of course there’s a crisis and he has to jump into action quickly but just. aaron sorkin. this was josh’s first episode really back and his ptsd was already showing itself. this is GOOD WRITING. josh’s ptsd slowly builds up until noel, when he breaks down, but this is the first, most subtle nod to josh not being fully okay after the shooting. 

anyway, i just really love this scene. i love the whole episode, but this scene just really hits home for me. if anyone notices anything else, please tell me. i spent a lot of time just analyzing this and would love to hear what other fans think