Finished my 50th rewatch of 'The West Wing' and the found family hit different this time

I've been putting it on as background noise for years, but I actually sat down and counted the episodes this month. The way the senior staff in the Oval Office covers for each other, argues like siblings, and shows up in personal crises feels more real than some blood families I know. Does the found family dynamic work better in shows about high-stakes jobs, or in stories about regular people thrown together?

2 comments

2 Comments

seanh917d ago

Honestly, I find those bonds way more believable in regular settings. When the job is already life or death, of course they're going to cling to each other. It feels forced, like a requirement of the job. Show me a group of neighbors or coworkers at a diner who choose to stick around. That slower build feels earned, not just a side effect of constant crisis.

emmafisher7d ago

Lmao, I feel this so hard. You're right, it's like trauma bonding on fast forward. Those quiet moments where people just...choose each other without a gun to their head hit different. Makes me think of my own friend group, we'd probably fall apart if we had to survive a zombie horde together. Give me the boring coffee shop talks any day.