Smoky

Isaac's office. He's working. Kim and Elliot crowd the doorframe, due to the large sizes of different areas of their bodies. Isaac wants to know what's up. Elliot says, "I'm a team player, Isaac. Always have been, always will be. But everyone moves up one notch and you make this one [meaning Kim] senior associate, I'll lead a mutiny the likes of which will sink this show for good." Isaac, unfazed, says, "Okay. Kim?" Kim says, "When I get Natalie's job, is there a union regulation that prevents me from making Elliot my man-slave?" I can't imagine anyone filing a grievance over being made Kim's man-slave. Isaac says, "All right, that's it. Follow me." He gets up from his desk and storms into the newsroom, ordering the cast into the conference room. He tells Sally she'd best come along too. "Is this what I think it is?" she says, skipping along behind Isaac. "Probably not," he says. Inside, he asks how everyone is, but as everyone starts to answer, he grumpily says, "Ah, who gives a damn. My name is Isaac Jaffe. I run this place. Anybody else who runs this place, please raise your hand." Everybody is silent. He tells them all that he's not quitting and not getting fired. "Let me add, Dana, that things I say in my office stay in my office." Dana: "Natalie's my second-in-command; she's the only one I told." Natalie: "Jeremy's my boyfriend; he's the only one I told." Jeremy delivers possibly my favourite line in the entire series, "I told many, many people," and looks suitably ashamed as the laugh track kicks it into overdrive. Isaac then busts on Kim and Elliot and reminds them that the production team is in fact a team and will work for and with whomever Dana tells them to. "Thank you," says Dana, and you just know Dana was a total brown-noser in school. Isaac tells her to shut up, which is what you always wanted the teacher to tell the brown-noser. Isaac then says there are many shows at CSC and there's nothing wrong with healthy competition, but they're all a family and will treat each other with respect. Of course, Sally chips in with a bunch of crap about all the respect West Coast Update has for everyone on Sports Night, forcing Danny, standing beside her, to say, "He's talking about you, ya freak." Laugh track goes nuts again. Isaac says, "Thank you, Daniel," (shout-out to me) and then tells everyone to go do his show.

In the control room, Dana and Natalie are all gaga over Casey calling Dana "smoky." Then Natalie wants to know if Jeremy thinks she's smoky. Jeremy wisely says he does. He also thinks she's a slow drink of whisky. I think I'm going to need a slow drink of ipecac. Dana practically has to hose them down as the show goes live.

At the desk, Danny tells Casey he doesn't think it's time anymore. Well, this whole episode was a little cul-de-sac, wasn't it?