... this won't be a one post deal. I don't have the best memory so I'll have to post 'em as they come to me. And my tendency will be Haroldy rather than Ephramy.
Definitely belonging somewhere in the top 5 (if this were a top 5 list - smirk) is the town debate on medical marijuana. This was in my favorite West Wing tradition of allowing both sides of an issue to be expressed by smart people with meaningful arguments. It was great characterization and great entertainment to watch Harold start off just being snidely dismissive of Andy's left-wing tendencies but then shift gears when Andy made some good points. Harold got serious then, yet not in a disrespectful way. Then comes the revelation by his own patient and you don't even need the scene at the man's house later (though I love that too) to know that Harold is having second thoughts. How great is it that the show allowed Harold to not be stubbornly mired in his own opinion?!!!
It's hard to narrow it down to one moment (i.e. scene) of Episode 21 because there were several 'of a theme' sprinkled throughout the episode. I suppose the most thorough exchange would be the 2nd Harold/Andy conversation... where Andy tries to praise Harold. But how do you not include the 1st convo... the utter change in mood by popcorn-eating Harold - and Andy's exchange with Edna... "the perfect possibility of a person". I thought it was great that they not only presented multiple (not even just 2) sides to the issue... but they bucked stereotypical expectations AND did it in a very realistic way. It was genius.
Let's not forget "You're not 'making do' with my son!" There was plenty to enjoy in Is There a Doctor in the House, but I particularly loved Harold in the doctors office... juggling competent doctor and worried father... all the while trying to swallow his fear to reassure Bright. Very well done.
Uh... and I also have to pick 'one moment' in Three Miners From Everwood? No way... I'll try to narrow it down to less than 'most of the episode'. {hehehehe} Let's go with the Harold/Linda interactions. When Linda wanted to amputate and Harold told her if Andy thought he could save the arm to let him try... it was a very small but very telling moment about how Harold felt about Andy. Then, near the end of the episode, I loved the congratulations complete with teasing... and then how Harold almost nonchallantly (sp?) revisited the blood type issue. I can still see him in my mind, sprawled out across couch looking deceptively relaxed... and I can see Linda tyring to play ignorant. And, of course that scene contines to include Rose and Harold imagining what it would be like for Daniel's wife if he died... It was a whole artist's pallet of emotional color in a single scene. Masterful.
And just to throw something a little different out there... how about Irv's narration... hearts are like crystal... even when they shatter they're beautiful... Or the meaning of Extraordinary...
-Aquillea