Written by Aaron Sorkin
Directed by Marc Buckland

Picking up where Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc left off, A Proportional Response is the first look at non-trivial issues faced by a President who is perceived as a peacenik. President Bartlet (Martin Sheen) worried about being respected by the Joint Chiefs of Staff since he didn’t really have any military service. When his personal physician is killed while on a mercy mission in the Middle East, President Bartlet reacts by taking the terrorist attack personally. This episode also brings Charlie Young (Dule Hill) into the fold; a character who quickly became a viewer favorite.

The episode opens with Josh Lyman (Bradley Whitford) arriving, and CJ Cregg (Allison Janney) is looking for him. Donna Moss (Janel Moloney) hints that it’s something involving Sam Seaborn (Rob Lowe). Josh tries to buy some time to come up with a strategy, but CJ is waiting for him in his office. Apparently, she found out about Sam’s relationship with a high-priced call girl.

President Bartlet is still on the warpath about the death of Morris Tolliver in the previous episode. Leo McGarry (John Spencer) picks up that President Bartlet is taking it personally and cautions him against focusing too much on the fact that Tolliver was on the plane when the President meets with the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The staff plans for communicating what’s happening with regard to the proportional response to the terrorist attack. They are also dealing with a Democratic Congressman who made a threatening comment about a presidential visit to his local military base.

CJ meets with Sam and tells him that he can’t spend time with a call girl. CJ makes the point that it isn’t a matter of what it is, but what it looks like, and it looks bad. The two argue, and CJ throws him out of her office.

Admiral Fitzwallace (John Amos) leads the Joint Chiefs of Staff, presenting scenarios for a proportional response to the attack. Bartlet isn’t happy with the idea of a proportional response. Even Leo is at a loss for words.

Josh meets with Charlie Young to vet him. Charlie isn’t really too sure why he’s there at first. He filled out a job application for a messenger and has now been recommended to be the Personal Aide to the President. Five months earlier, Charlie’s mother was a police officer killed in the line of duty. Charlie is still reluctant. Sam walks in while Josh is vetting him and doesn’t like the fact that there are questions about his personal life. The only hesitation Josh has is the optics, but after talking to Leo, they decide to offer him the job.

Fitzwallace explains a different scenario to President Bartlet. He also explains why it’s not advisable. The President decides to go ahead with the initial plan for four military targets as a response. Fitzwallace comes to Leo to settle the President down. After going rounds with Leo, President Bartlet is ready to handle a television appearance about the response. He also makes nice to Charlie, whom he snapped at.

A Proportional Response really sets the tone for the future of the show. We are shown a President who is normally a man of peace, but is pushed to his limit when the attack is on someone he considers a friend. This is also a setup for future stories as well, when the President has to face situations that cross the boundaries into his personal life. It’s all well and good to say that every life matters, in theory, but it’s something very different when it hits this close to home.

The bond between the President and Leo McGarry is shown as a deep friendship that has lasted many years. Leo won’t challenge the President publicly, but behind closed doors the two have a frank conversation that helps President Bartlet gain some perspective. Just because he can do something doesn’t mean he should do something. President Bartlet’s initial reaction is that he wants to do something that would make sure no one would ever try anything like this again as a way of protecting the country, but that’s not what’s going to happen. Once his emotions are in check, President Bartlet knows they have to stick with an attack on some military target to give some good optics, without really accomplishing anything. The response the President wanted would only have resulted in creating more terrorists. Keep in mind, this show was also before 9/11. I think this episode would have been very different in the years after.

Charlie is the young outsider to all that is going on in the West Wing. Most of Bartlet’s staff was part of his Presidential campaign, while Charlie is a new hire. Everyone seems to like him, and Charlie is quite humble, not thinking they are hiring the right person for the job. Josh’s worry about the optics of a young black man holding the President’s coat goes through the staff, and although there is some concern, it’s Admiral Fitzwallace who dismisses all their concerns.

Casting John Amos as Admiral Fitzwallace was a coup. It’s obvious he is supposed to be a Colin Powell-like figure. Amos is such a great actor, and he gives the role the positivity it needs while at the same time having a leader-like air about him. He knows he has to defer to the President, and he also knows that he knows more than the President. When Bartlet wants to respond more violently to the downing of the aircraft, Fitzwallace presents the scenario with honesty about the casualties. It’s obvious he doesn’t like this route, but he presents it regardless. He knows the target that a response like this would bring to the servicemen and women already in the Middle East and has their welfare to worry about while the President is thinking more about retribution. I really liked the calm, authoritative demeanor that Amos portrays Fitzwallace with.

Also introduced is the character of Danny Concannon (Timothy Busfield), who is a White House reporter. He tips CJ off about the story of Sam and the call girl getting around. In return, CJ gives him a tip on the response to the downing of the aircraft. Their relationship throughout the series is complicated, but there’s respect on both sides.

As a look behind the scenes of the White House, A Proportional Response is a great episode. It sets the tone for the series with how crises will be dealt with, along with showing the conflicts everyone is dancing around. The actors are all settling into their roles quite well, with the ensemble having been added to until it feels like some place where you’ll interact more with certain people one day and then a different group the next. There are plenty of interesting characters in the cast to follow over the upcoming seasons.

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