A Proportional Response
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| “A Proportional Response” | |
|---|---|
| The West Wing episode | |
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| Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 3 |
| Written by | Aaron Sorkin |
| Directed by | Marc Buckland |
| Guest stars | John Amos Renee Estevez Janel Moloney Suzy Nakamura |
| Production no. | 225902 |
| Original airdate | October 6, 1999 |
| Season 1 episodes | |
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| List of The West Wing episodes | |
"A Proportional Response" is the 3rd episode of The West Wing.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
An angry President Bartlet seeks vengeance for downed jet which happened to carry his personal physician among other passengers, while Charlie Young applies for a White House job, and C.J. talks reporter Danny Concannon out of writing a story about Sam's relationship with the call girl. Charlie, who was applying for a messenger job, impresses Josh (as well as Debbie, who becomes a recurring character played by Lily Tomlin late in season 3) enough that Josh insists on hiring Charlie as the President's personal aide, or "body man."
[edit] Episode title
The military option offered to the President is a proportional response but he calls for a disproportionate response.
[edit] Production
The NAACP criticized the lack of diversity on the show and therefore the character of Charlie was created. Dule Hill joins the cast in this episode as Charlie Young.[1][2][3]
[edit] Trivia
The issue of the virtue of a Proportional Response, which is a major theme of this episode was also touched on in Aaron Sorkin's 1995 Movie, The American President when after being told attacking the Libyan Intelligence Headquarters is a proportional response to Libya's attack on C-STAD, President Shepherd asks, "Someday somebody's going to have to explain to me the virtue of a proportional response."
