I am – Hercules!!

Tonight brings us the first “West Wing” to air since the great actor John Spencer’s death, and it happens to be centered on Spencer’s character, vice presidential candidate Leo McGarry, as Leo prepares to debate Republican Ray Sullivan.

On the day Spencer died of a heart attack, I thought I remembered Leo appearing in this season’s opening flash-forward, set three years hence - but a review of the episode eerily revealed that Leo was not among the regulars reuniting at the Bartlet Presidential Library.

So here’s a bizarre thought. Leo suffered a near-fatal heart attack at Camp David near the beginning of last season. Had the show’s creators already intended to kill Leo before the series wrapped what is almost certainly its final season? Was the series perhaps to end with another flash-forward, as a number of the regulars reunited one last time to attend the funeral of Vice President Leo McGarry?

After tonight, Spencer is said to appear in one more episode. The last to be shot before his death is slated to be aired March 19. That obviously will not be the season finale, so one wonders how Leo’s absence in the last few shows will be handled.

Leo, one now expects, will die mid-campaign. If this is the scenario, it seems almost mandatory that Matt Santos choose a running-mate we’ve already met. But which? When we last saw former deputy White House communications director Sam Seaborn (Rob Lowe) three years ago, he running for the U.S. House seat in his home district, the 47th in California’s Orange County. The outcome of that election has never been revealed.

Prior to Spencer’s death, Lowe had indicated a willingness to return for the show’s final episode this May, possibly in tandem with long-absent series creator Aaron Sorkin. Could Lowe be persuaded to extend his visit and see Seaborn elected vice president? President Barlet predicted years ago that Seaborn would one day be president. Perhaps this is how he gets there.

8 p.m. Sunday. NBC.

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