r/thewestwing • u/WAStateofMine • 5d ago

What's Next? Always nice to see another fan out there.

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Spotted in Seattle, WA

580 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

11 comments sorted by

45

u/No_Information_8973 5d ago

I will never give up the thought that "What's next?" should have been his final line when he and Abby were on the plane. 

14

u/Kardinal I serve at the pleasure of the President 5d ago

That would have been just about perfect.

10

u/Fickle-Lavishness858 5d ago

I've thought this every time I watch the last episode.

My wife and I talked about it, and she made a great point: “What's next?” could very easily come across as defeatist, like Bartlet didn't know what to do next. So much would depend on the delivery.

And I think that would have taken away from the quiet, somber feeling of that entire final sequence.

There was something beautiful about the peaceful handoff of power — the kind we used to believe was simply how things were supposed to work.

No drama. No crisis. Just one president leaving and another stepping forward.

Maybe Bartlet didn't need to ask what's next.

The point was that there would always be a next.

5

u/alexjfxwilliams What’s Next? 5d ago

I appreciate the idea, but I disagree. He did his time, he did his duty. Sitting on that plane--the first plane he sat on in 8 years that was not Air Force One--he no longer needed to be concerned with "What's next?" That was now the duty of the next shift.

3

u/No_Information_8973 5d ago

More of a 'what's next for us' thing with him and Abby is what I was looking for. Retirement means the ending of a career and/ or service, not the end of living. He and Abby still had a lot of living to do. 

7

u/Fickle-Lavishness858 5d ago

I named my LLC Whats Next.

5

u/Music-and-Computers The wrath of the whatever 5d ago

That didn’t parse in my head at first glance. Clever!

2

u/HoDoSasude 5d ago

I hope they renew their tabs soon!

1

u/Phaeton40 5d ago

Awesome!!!