So I've just finished season 7. Definitely a return to form after a couple of middling seasons post Sorkin where I tuned in and out of attentiveness frequently. It did have one glaring problem for me though. Santos. He was a silly super candidate. Perfectly likeable and statesman like sure, but entirely uninteresting. I found myself far more interested in Vinick's campaign and actually sort of rooting for him. Despite all the obvious "look, look his party are evil!!" tropes they threw in towards the end.
Santos just wasn't falible enough, and that's completely un-West Wing. Even Barlett, who's essentially a superhero President, has pitfalls and demons that round out his character. He lies about his illness, he smokes, he tempers easily, he's seen as weak by the Chiefs of Staff. Santos has nothing like this, he's even portrayed as a dedicated military hero to Vinick's chicken hawk, just for good measure. The only time they even hint at him having a dark side, it's revealed as a bluff to being even nicer than we thought. Plus his wife was increasingly annoying. I actually skipped forward most of the scenes with her.
It may have just been Alda, but Vinick was the far more likeable and the far more interesting, and that sort of undercut the whole Santos win for me.
Also, what was up with Janeane Garofalo's face?
Still, it was certainly a fitting way to go out. Fantastic series.
fair enough!