It's time for Ellie's wedding. Do you think things will go well, or will the wedding plans be thrown off-course by some international incident? Yeah, it's the second one. The ongoing tensions between Russia and China over Kazakhstan come to a head, with both countries sending troops in. This leads to endless phone calls to ambassadors and presidents, all of which contribute to Jed's being late for his own daughter's wedding. Meanwhile, Josh agonizes over how to make the most of limited campaign funds, and is forced to cut spending in some states so that the campaign can afford more media buys in other states. And then they learn that Santos has pulled to within striking distance in Illinois, a state that Josh had decided to skip from the beginning. A bunch of Democratic fat cats decide that this demonstrates that Josh is the wrong guy to manage the campaign, and they tell Santos that Leo should take over. In the end, Jed is able to convince the leader of China to halt his army's advance so that he has time to walk his daughter down the aisle, and Leo convinces Santos that the success of the campaign depends not on Josh but on Santos.
Previously, there was a "China/Russia/Kazakhstan thing happening," Ellie had a compelling reason to marry Vic the Fruit Fly Guy as soon as possible, and the newly-fired Ned thought Josh was to blame for the Santos campaign's being stuck in the doldrums. Oh, and there was a debate, which people seemed to either hate or love. I would still rather have watched Mile High.
Some piece of classical music that I should (but don't) recognize is playing. We hear a protocol/wedding planner type saying, through clenched teeth, "And we're walking." We're in the East Room for the wedding rehearsal, and Jed is walking Ellie down the aisle. He's singing along to the music, and she tells him to knock it off. He responds with a joke, and she tells him to knock that off as well -- all jokes are to be saved for the reception, "preferably not during the toast." The protocol woman is standing behind them as they arrive at the preacher and Vic, and she continues to give them step-by-step instructions. She finishes by walking Jed over to his seat to Abbey. He complains about being so far from Ellie and Vic, and Abbey reminds him that he's not performing the ceremony. Jed points out that that's only because they didn't ask him to. Can presidents perform marriages? ["If he were ordained by the Universal Life Church, he could." -- Wing Chun] C.J. creeps in behind them and apologizes for interrupting. Abbey tells her that it's not a problem: "He was about to go into his Spencer Tracy routine." C.J. tells Jed that some Russian military convoys are headed to the Kazakhstan border. Jed can't quietly slip out, of course. Because everything is all about him. He has to interrupt the rehearsal to make his apologies and tell Ellie that they need to find time to practice their dance.
Jed, C.J., and Kate walk through Debbie's office on the way to the Office of O. Debbie calls out to Jed to remind him about the swanky rehearsal dinner he's supposed to attend in fifteen minutes, but Jed pays her no mind. Jed asks if the Russians are invading, and Kate says that they claim they are sending in "advisers" at the request of the Kazakh president. Jed wonders if the advisers will be carrying AK-47s. C.J. tells Jed that if the Russian convoys cross the border, the Chinese will consider it a provocation to cross their own border with Kazakhstan. Jed calls out for Debbie, and she enters (stopwatch in hand) to congratulate Kate on ending the meeting in just thirty-eight seconds. She's got her hopes up too soon, however -- Jed tells her, "I'm gonna need the Russian ambassador, the Chinese ambassador, and my wife. Probably not in that order." Credits.
When we return, it's 8:30 PM, and Jed is on the phone with the Russian ambassador. Kate and C.J. are listening in on extensions. Jed keeps trying to talk about Kazakhstan, but the ambassador keeps asking him for details about the wedding. After a few moments of this, C.J. interrupts the call to tell Jed that Secretary of Defense Hutchinson is on the line. He's not, of course -- but C.J. was clever enough to realize that Jed really didn't want to discuss the flower arrangements. The convoys are thirty miles from the border, and Pakistan is protesting any potential Chinese interference. Reluctantly, Jed tells Debbie to get the Chinese ambassador on the phone.
Donna exits an elevator in a Westin hotel in Philadelphia and walks down the corridor. She enters a room labeled "Press" and tells the assembled reporters about a change in the schedule. In response to a question, she notes that it should not prevent Santos from getting to the wedding on time. Heaven forbid that someone who's never met Ellie in his life should be late for the wedding. Reporters start asking questions about the latest poll, which stills shows Santos down by seven points. There are apparently six weeks left in the campaign. One reporter tells Donna that she has a senior Democratic official on record arguing that the campaign needs to shake things up. Donna tells them that the campaign is focusing on the state polls, not the national numbers, and that the electoral map looks encouraging. They don't seem to believe her.
In a different room at the hotel, Santos, Lou, and Josh are going over a state-by-state map and making some decisions about where to spend campaign money. For the record, the map shows Washington, New Mexico, Maryland, D.C., Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, and Maine as solid blue (Democratic) states. In the universe of The West Wing, those states have 112 electoral votes. This map gives Vinick a firm lock on California, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, and West Virginia, with a total of 221 electoral votes. (Note that we see neither Alaska nor Hawaii on the map). All of the remaining states are undecided, and they total 205 electoral votes. (Actually, on the map it almost looks as though they've written "204" for the undecided states, but I have to chalk that up to a bad picture, because it is not possibly correct). We also see on the board that the Santos campaign has already decided to go "dark" (that is, cancel advertising) in Washington, Maine, Colorado, Nevada, and New Hampshire. Santos is asking Josh if they really want to go dark in Arizona, and Josh notes that, even with recent gains in the polls, they're still seven points down in the state. Santos is still reluctant, but Josh notes that with Vinick having a lock on California, the Santos campaign has to sweep Texas, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Florida, which means spending all available dollars in those states. Leo is there, and he agrees with Josh. Santos gives the green light to move funds from Arizona to Miami. I can now see that on the top of the board is a list of states in which they are still campaigning. The list includes New York, New Jersey, Minnesota, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Florida, Ohio, Iowa, Missouri, Texas, and New Hampshire. (And yes, I realize that New Hampshire appears both on the list of competitive states and the states in which the campaign has gone dark. I suspect the intention was to swap Arizona and New Hampshire but that the execution got messed up.) And that is all the squinting and transcribing I am going to do for the rest of this episode. Santos tells them all that he wants to try to call his kids before they go to bed. As everyone else leaves, Santos asks Leo if the first Bartlett campaign had to make the same kinds of decisions in the final weeks of the election. When Leo tells him that it's normal at this point in the campaign, Santos points out that it feels like they are "closing a lot of doors." Leo: "Good strategy always does."
Now Jed is on the phone with the Chinese ambassador. Debbie is standing off to the side, glowering. She is conveniently standing to a large clock -- it's approximately 10:15 at night. Jed is at least able to have a substantive conversation with the Chinese ambassador. Unfortunately, most of that conversation seems to consist of Chinese threats to invade if the Russian convoys enter Kazakhstan. As Jed (and C.J.) get off the call, Kate enters and tells Jed that the Russian convoys seem to have stopped moving toward the border. Jed decides to look at this optimistically and assume that they are pitching tents (although it is undoubtedly morning where they are -- maybe they're Russian vampires). He throws on his jacket and tells C.J. and Kate that he wants a full briefing in the morning, and leaves unfinished the statement that if the convoys start moving, they should wake him.
Kate and C.J. walk out of the office, talking about who they will call and follow up with. Kate seems to ask if she can go home, but C.J. suddenly realizes that the Chinese ambassador is coming to the wedding. She wants Kate to ensure that he's not scheduled to sit with the Russian delegation.
At the Westin, Bram is giving Josh some reports and papers to sign. Lou complains that if the campaign goes dark in the five states they've selected, it's going to hurt people who are running for Congress or state office because it will reduce Democratic turnout. Lou goes off to get the latest tracking numbers, and Donna enters. She tells Josh that arrangements are made for the day's photo op -- it will be Baker, Santos, and a cheesesteak. Josh tells her to make it a hoagie, and she expresses some doubt, but gives in to his insistence. She goes on to tell him that the press is getting antsy, and then tells him that the staff is getting antsy as well: "You guys have been behind closed doors since we got to Philly." Josh tells her that they've been occupied with "a killer game of Boggle." I think I can make the words "bad" and "liar." She surprises him by pointing out that there's a rumor that the campaign is pulling out of Arizona. He asks her to kill that rumor, and she wonders if they're pulling out of Arizona to move money into Illinois. And at that second, Lou happily calls over to Josh to tell him that the latest state numbers are in, and that they've moved up five points in Illinois, leaving Santos within four points of Vinick in the state.
Lou and Josh march into another room, where Santos and Leo are still talking. They're both surprised to hear about the poll numbers, since the campaign has barely been active in Illinois. Josh thinks the numbers might be a mistake, but Leo thinks the endorsement they just received from the Tribune might have given them a bump. Lou, Santos, and Leo are thrilled at the news, and they start making plans to throw some resources at the state. Josh just looks shocked, and not particularly happy. As Santos looks at him expectantly, Josh turns away and asks, "Where the hell we gonna get the money?"
The Residence. Jed apologizes to Abbey for missing the rehearsal dinner. She busts his chops, but seems to understand, and tells him, "Ellie had a wonderful time. I, on the other hand, was stuck in the corner with Vic's uncle, the botanist." As if doctors automatically made for scintillating conversationalists. Jed complains about being too old for his job, and Abbey doesn't disagree. She pours him a glass of water and tells him that they all decided on "Uncle Norman" as a possible stand-in for Jed in the event that he's not able to make the ceremony. Jed is surprised to hear that they selected Uncle Norman, but Abbey points out that "he's reliably punctual when there's an open bar." Heh. Jed continues to look at some documents while Abbey goes over the schedule for the day's events, trying to find time for Jed and Ellie to practice their dance.
Josh and Lou arrive at the Santos HQ in D.C. at 10:30 PM. So, once again, the campaign and the White House plots seem to be on different time tracks. She proposes a bunch of states where they might cut spending to move money to Illinois, but Josh shoots down each suggestion. After three rounds of this, Lou tells him, "I was really looking forward to a hot bath." Sucks to be you, Lou. Josh tells her that there's a conference starting in five minutes, so the bath will have to wait. Edie gives Josh a bunch of messages: they're mostly from state party chairs worried that he's going to cut spending in their states, with a bunch of happy calls from folks in Illinois. Josh tells her to get the Illinois state campaign guy in for a breakfast meeting, and Edie points out that he has a breakfast meeting scheduled every half-hour between 8:00 and 1:00. He tells her to call the later ones "lunch" and make it work. Josh's phone rings -- it's Donna, still in Philly. She tells him that, at the photo op, Governor Baker will be having a cheesesteak, and that "Howard from Advance" thinks Santos will look "pansy-ass" if he orders a hoagie. I think he would look pansy-ass if he ordered a watercress sandwich. With the crusts cut off. A hoagie seems pretty manly to me. Josh agrees, but tells her that it's important that Santos order his cheesesteak "with sauce and whiz." The whiz would be Cheez Whiz (hey, that's how Kraft spells it). And Josh doesn't want Santos to get onions, since he'll be meeting with Jed later that day. Right, he's worried that Jed will be displeased by Santos's onion breath. I think someone is transferring his feelings to other people. Donna dismisses the other folks in the room with her and then picks up the phone to speak privately with Josh. She tells her that reporters are asking who decided that the campaign shouldn't contest Illinois in the first place. Josh, with some anger in his voice, tells her, "Tell 'em I did. Tell 'em I also decided not to contest Georgia, where we're down by eleven, and Mississippi, where we're down by fifteen." Lou arrives to take Josh to the meeting, and he ends his call with Donna.
Back in the Residence, Abbey is telling a distracted Jed that she should be able to pencil him in for dance practice with Ellie between the pictures and the ceremony. She also asks him if it's true that he's planning on having "a little chat" with Vic before the wedding. He confirms his plans to do so, and she wonders if that's really such a good idea. He points out that he did the same thing with Doug. Abbey: "I don't recall that as being an unqualified success." Jed thinks that now that he's had a shot to practice, it should go much more smoothly. Abbey: "You do know that talking him out of marrying your daughter is not an option?" Jed says, "Yeah," and after a few more seconds asks, "You really think it's not an option?" Abbey gets up and walks away.
Back at Santos HQ, Josh and Lou are sitting at a table covered with take-out detritus. He's trying to decide where to get the money to move to Illinois. Eventually, he decides that they should go dark in New Hampshire and halve the ad buy in Wisconsin and Iowa. He almost seems to change his mind when Lou asks him if he's really certain, but ends up sticking with the plan. For now. She offers to make the arrangements, but he tells her to wait until he's spoken with a couple of folks from Wisconsin in the morning, so that they hear it from him and not from some third party. Lou is just about to walk out the door when Josh says, "Wait." She sighs and turns around, but after a few more seconds, he decides to stick with the plan. Josh wanders over to a television where he sees a talking head (identified as "Mike Diacovo" but better known as Steve from Married...With Children) arguing that the decision not to campaign in Illinois from the start calls Josh's own competence into question. Lou walks up to him and offers him a ride home, but he tells her that he's going to stay and do some more work. Commercials.
Will is in his office watching footage of himself giving a press briefing on wedding details. He tells the press that the aria that will be played as Ellie walks down the aisle was picked in part because of the meaning of its lyrics, which he claims translates as "a certain delight surges from my breast and promises to calm my heart." (That translation would have been funnier with "bosom" instead of "breast.") Kate enters and tells him that the lyrics are lovely, and he tells her that he made up the translation. She mocks him for watching his own tapes, but he tells her that he starts every weekend with a review of prior briefings so that he can improve his performance. In the briefing, we see Will tells a reporter that Ellie decided to go with a peau de soie gown by some designer whose name I can't pronounce or spell, instead of the "lace Vera Wang." Kate once again mocks Will, this time for his lack of manliness. He asks her what she needs, and she asks for a copy of the seating chart for the reception. She asks about the peau de soie, and he tells her, "Apparently, it's soft yet supple. Oh, and it drapes beautifully." They sit down on Will's sofa to look at the chart. Kate asks why the British royals are sitting with the German ambassador, noting that there are tensions between the countries related to the World Cup and currency devaluation. Will suggests switching in the Swedish ambassador, but Kate thinks that would be a bad idea in light of "a thing" the Queen had with the ambassador sometime in the past. I really don't need to hear anything about any "things" the Queen might have had. Kate eventually asks if she can just take the chart for a little while. Will looks after her as she walks away.
Josh is sitting at a table on the patio of some crowded restaurant. Leo walks up to him, and Josh says, "New Hampshire, Iowa, Wisconsin." Leo: "Good morning to you, too." Josh keeps babbling about those three states, and Leo asks him if he got any sleep. Josh won't shut up, going on about all the reasons his decision makes sense, and Leo keeps pressing Josh to pace himself and get "at least five hours" of sleep. Leo eventually throws out a couple of questions and suggestions on Josh's plan, but ends by telling him that it sounds like he's doing the right thing. Someone calls to Leo for whatever breakfast meeting he is attending, and he tells Josh that he has to "go make nice with the fat cats." As Leo leaves, Stan Mitchell from Illinois arrives. Josh asks if Stan can get the Illinois field operation in place by the election (which we learn is being held November 8). Stan: "Sure, we can get it up, but it's gonna cost you." Josh, honey, you really don't need to pay for it. I know lots of folks who can get it up for you for free. Stan, by the way, is identified as working for the DNC. The issues of how campaign funds are raised and spent seem hopelessly muddled in this episode, so I'm just going to go with it.
At the White House, Ellie and Abbey are receiving wedding presents from the ambassadors of different nations, starting with the Bahamas. He's giving the newlyweds a cedar sapling. If they don't want it, they can always regift it to Vic's uncle, the botanist. Vic sneaks out just as the Bahamian ambassador begins his presentation. (The reception of diplomatic gifts was scheduled to begin at 9:00 AM, for anyone who is keeping track. Which I guess includes me.) Carol is there, by the way, introducing the ambassadors. The to arrive is the French ambassador. Abbey asks how many diplomats are presenting gifts, and Carol tells her that, with a couple of late additions (including Greece, Latvia, and Romania), there are seventy-one diplomats waiting to present gifts. Abbey points out that there's only an hour scheduled for all of them, and she suggests skipping "all of eastern Europe." If Abbey had given that advice to Napoleon, the world would be a different place today.
Office of O. Jed is meeting with C.J., Kate, Hutchinson, and a bunch of military officers. The convoys are still holding at the border. Jed expresses some admiration for Russia's restraint, but Hutchinson shoots him down by noting that Russia has amassed 100,000 troops at a base not too far from the border. C.J. suggests evacuating the Marine base that is in Kazakhstan, but Kate and Hutchinson suggest that that's a bad idea, based in part on the fact that the presence of U.S. troops gives both nations a reason to reconsider moving their own troops into the country. Jed determines that the 9,000 marines would be evacuated via airlift to the Arabian Sea.
Vic is waiting in Debbie's office for his meeting with Jed. He's fidgeting like crazy. Debbie asks if she can get him anything, and he turns down both water and coffee. But he seems interested when she offers him a valium.
Back in the Oval, Jed learns that the evacuation of the marines would take seventy-two hours. Debbie knocks on the door and tells Jed, "You're nine o'clock is starting to melt." Jed tells her to send him in, and orders ships put in place in the event the evacuation becomes necessary. As Vic enters, Jed introduces him as his future son-in-law to all the military brass assembled in the room. It's practically a rugby scrum as all the generals and admirals surround Vic to shake his hand and congratulate him. C.J., standing to Jed, turns to him and asks, "Tell me you didn't plan that?"
Josh is still at the restaurant, now meeting with a Congressman from Wisconsin who is unhappy to hear they are cutting the ad buy in the state. Josh rattles off numbers on what they're spending, but Congressman Cheesehead points out that Vinick is spending twice as much, and that the national ad buys will help out in six contested Congressional races and a Senate campaign. Josh's phone rings, and Congressman Cheesehead excuses himself so Josh can take the call. It's Donna on the phone. She's on the Santos campaign jet, and tells him that the photo op was "pretty good." Apparently, Santos ordered his cheesesteak perfectly and then proceeded to slop whiz all over his shirt. I bet that's not the first time that's happened, although it might be the first time it's happened when Josh wasn't in the room. Donna offers to spin the incident as "acts like a man, eats like a man." Josh sees Mike Diacovo chatting with a Senator who is coming to meet with Josh, and he ends the call. Senator Montgomery arrives at Josh's table. Montgomery is pleased that Illinois is in play, but tells Josh, "Shame we didn't start there earlier." Montgomery thinks it's important to put money into Illinois, but then tells Josh that he thinks it would be a mistake to take money out of Iowa. He suggests cutting back in Philadelphia instead. Josh looks pained.
In his office, Kate presents Will with a revised seating chart. He wonders if the Canadian Prime Minister will mind being stuck in the corner. She tells him, "It's for the best. He's a little grabby. Brings a whole new meaning to 'O, Canada.'" Will asks who "K.H. plus one" is. It is, of course, Kate. She tells him that Jed "wanted someone from the N.S.C. to go." And Nancy McNally couldn't possibly have made it. Kate asks if Will is going, and he tells her that he wasn't invited. He thinks it's due to his encounter with Ellie and Vic the prior week. I think it's due to the fact that he's just the White House Director of Communications. I mean, I understand that there's some political need for all the foreign dignitaries and U.S. political leaders to attend, but the Deputy to the National Security Advisor? The manager of the Santos campaign? A press spokesperson for the Santos campaign? Why are all these people invited to this wedding when they barely seem to know Ellie and aren't really politically or diplomatically important? Kate, who is apparently very rude and didn't bother to inform her hosts that she wasn't bringing a guest, decides at the last minute to invite Will to be her plus-one at the wedding. He looks bemused, and we cut away before he answers.
Santos enters Leo's office at the campaign HQ. Leo is already in his tux, and Santos is getting dressed. Leo tells him, "You clean up nice." Leo think the pictures of sloppy Santos eating a cheesesteak will just endear him to "the Eagles fans in Philly and south Jersey." Santos tells Leo that Governor Baker expressed concerns about the failure to campaign in Illinois, and also about the fact that not enough money is being spent in Pennsylvania. I love how all these guys are angry that the campaign is not spending money in Illinois, and simultaneously want more money spent in their own states. Santos tells Leo that he's gotten calls from other people on the same issues. Leo asks if the calls are about Josh, and points out that, with the campaign down by seven points, "vultures are gonna swarm." Santos hesitates, and then tells Leo, "I just wanna make sure they're not swarming for a reason." Yeah, the reason is that you've been unable to motivate more voters to choose you. Leo cements his place in my heart by telling Santos, "No one else I'd rather have running this campaign." And then Bram ends his long dry spell by bramming Santos away to review the new Texas ad buy. Commercials.
Josh -- who really looks like he could use some sleep -- is staring intently at the whiteboard with the electoral map on it. Lou enters the room, and he asks her if they should maybe cut the ad buy in Missouri. She wonders why he's not at the wedding, but he ignores her and just keeps babbling about other states they might consider cutting to pay for Illinois. Is he on speed now? Because he's awfully frantic. Kind of "I'm campaigning as fast as I can." Lou is not amused to hear that Josh might be changing his mind: "I just called the media team to pull the money out of Wisconsin." Josh tells her to belay that order, and then Edie brams Josh away to the car that will take him to the wedding.
Jed and Vic are having their pre-nuptial tête à tête in the Office of O. In this case, "O" might stand for "overwhelmed," which Vic certainly seems to be. Jed tells Vic that the pre-wedding chat must seem old-fashioned to him, "but frankly, it's much more humane than it used to be." Why, did fathers in the olden days test their speeches out on animals before speaking to their future sons-in-law? Or were there thumbscrews involved? Ah, it turns out that Jed's version of "inhumane" involves being forced to spend time in the great outdoors: "Abbey's father made me take a six-hour hike with him through the woods outside Montpelier in the dead of winter." Jed tries to make small talk about Vic's career, even going so far as to talk him up as "almost a tenured professor." Vic just stammers that the Dean has suggested that he might get tenure sometime in the few years. Jed continues speaking, but Debbie knocks on the door to tell him that the guests are arriving, and that he needs to get dressed: "You don't want to be late to the cocktail hour you're hosting." Wow -- Jed's appointment with Vic was at 9:00 AM. They really start drinking early at these big weddings. Or maybe Jed and Vic just spent six hours staring silently at each other. Debbie leaves, and Jed thanks Vic for dropping by. As chats go, that was not particularly scary. Even Vic thinks the chat wasn't scary enough; he asks Jed, "Sir, was there something you wanted to discuss?" Jed hems and haws, stops for a second, and then says, "Ah, hell. Just tell me you decided to marry her before you got her pregnant." Vic: "Eleven months, two weeks, and three days." That's how long ago he decided he wanted to marry Ellie. It was their third date. Jed scares the hell out of Vic by asking, "What was the matter with the first two?" Just a guess, but I'm betting the third date was when she decided to put out. Because Ellie is smokin' (as the kids say), and I doubt Vic had a whole lot of experience with women before Ellie. (Unless it turns out he was one of those pervy band kids when he was in high school. They got all kinds of action). Jed is clearly kidding with Vic, because he gives him a very nice handshake and says, "I'll see you at the end of the aisle."
Josh enters the White House chatting on his cell phone, trying to get new polling data from Michigan. As he finishes the call, he looks up and sees Senator Montgomery chatting with Santos and Leo. C.J. and Donald Anspaugh walk up to him. Despite the fact that Montgomery is at the far end of the room, Anspaugh knows that Josh has seen him, and calls the Senator "a big blowhard." C.J. looks great, of course, in a red gown that looks kind of satiny. (You want better descriptions of clothes? Go read the Project Runway recaps.) Josh calls Anspaugh "Mr. Chairman," but Anspaugh quickly notes that he's the former chairman. Anspaugh compliments Josh on the great job he's doing, and then says that he wishes C.J. would run for office. Anspaugh walks away, and C.J. talks about how great it was when he ran the Democratic Party. Josh is distracted as C.J. congratulates him on the movement in Illinois. He complains about not being able to afford the media buys they need in the state, and she suggests pulling some money out of Washington, where Santos has a bit of a lead. Josh tells her that they've already decided to pull out of Washington completely. She seems surprised that money is that tight. And then her beeper goes off. She looks at it, and Josh asks her if it has to do with Kazakhstan. It does, which means that she has to leave. As a consolation prize, she hands Josh a card. It's for use in playing dignitary bingo: "I already have four across. Find the Mexican President and you're home." She leaves, and Josh goes back to staring at Montgomery's pow-wow with Santos and Leo, which now included Anspaugh as well.
C.J. is on the way to the Situation Room when she runs in to Kate. C.J. is pretty enthusiastic about how nice Kate looks. She does look pretty good: she's wearing a black strapless gown that's curvy in all the right places, and then flares out in a fishtail at the bottom. Her hair is parted on the side and pulled back, and she's wearing some pendant earrings. C.J. asks if Kate knows what's going on with Kazakhstan, and then goes back to enthusing over her appearance. Kate: "Okay, now I'm starting to think you're hitting on me." C.J.'s never been put off by accusations of lesbianism; she continues to pester Kate to find out why she's so very dressed up. It turns out that Kate is trying to impress a man with whom she has a date: "I think you'd call it a date." She's clearly uncomfortable discussing this in front of the guards outside the Sit Room. Kate explains, "I kind of invited Will to the wedding." C.J. looks blank for a few seconds, so Kate clarifies, "Dark hair, glasses, just got a big promotion?" And then C.J. can't stop saying "Will Bailey" over and over again. Kate cuts off the girlish chatter by entering the Sit Room.
In the Sit Room, Kate and C.J. find Hutchinson dressed in a tux. C.J. asks him, "What have we got, Miles? Other than the sensation that we've all suddenly landed in a British drawing room farce?" He's not as amused as I am, telling them, "There's been an incident in Kazakhstan." Apparently, a protest turned violent, and riot police killed approximately two hundred protestors, "many of them ethnic Chinese." And, to top it off, the Russian convoys have crossed the border. Everybody expects the Chinese to follow their stellar example.
At the cocktail hour, Debbie is playing dignitary bingo. Jed is standing near her, and she asks him if a particular person is the Swiss ambassador. Jed doesn't know what she's going on about, and she offers to let him buy into the dignitary bingo game. He asks her, "Aren't you supposed to be hurrying me along someplace?" She tells him that he has a photo with Santos, and then the bridal party photos at 4. He thinks that this gives him half an hour, but she tells him that depends on whether he can identify the Swiss ambassador. Jed tells her that the man she's looking at is the Duke of Edinburgh.
Debbie walks away, and Santos and Leo take her place. They pose for a photo as Jed congratulates Santos for his performance in "those debates." And please just tell me there was only one. As the photo op ends, Leo tells Santos that Senator Montgomery wanted to speak to him. I guess the earlier conversation was not enough. Before Santos leaves, Jed offers to work with Josh to figure out how the White House can help out in the last weeks of the campaign.
Santos leaves, but Leo stays with Jed, who tells him, "So, things are looking up, bub." Leo thinks they're making progress, and Jed tries to harsh his buzz by telling him, "You know, if you win this thing, you're stuck working here another four years." Leo whispers to him, "I like to think of the Vice-Presidency as more of an emeritus position." That's what Geena Davis thought, and look what happened to her. Leo asks how things are going in the White House, and Jed moans a bit about the Kazakhstan mess and the complications of the wedding. And then he quietly says, "I've been getting some calls about Josh." Jed names some politicos, some of whom we've heard of in the past, Tripplehorn and Stackhouse among them. Leo reassures Jed that people are just getting antsy because the election is so close. In an offhand way, Jed agrees with him: "Sure. It's always like that around this time." After a pause, Leo asks, "Who'd they want to replace me?" Jed amends his statement: "Okay, so maybe not always." Debbie interrupts them and tells Jed that he has twenty minutes in his schedule: "I assume you want to say hello to the Duke of Edinburgh." Leo looks over and tells her, "That's not the Duke of Edinburgh." Jed says, "Catch you later," and quickly walks away. Heh.
Jed walks over to Abbey and tells her that he thought there was some time before the wedding photos. She tells him that some room opened up on the schedule, and she thought he might want to practice his dance. Jed asks, "Have I mentioned this 'mother of the bride' thing agrees with you?" She does look pretty great. She's wearing a dark blue strapless gown with a very sparkly necklace. Of course, being Stockard Channing, her breasts are practically popping out of the gown. She does like to show 'em off. Abbey seems a bit perturbed by Jed's compliment: "When Liz got married, you said I didn't look old enough to be the mother of the bride." Yeah, but how many years ago was that? Jed tries to escape the fact that he just implied that his wife looks old, and he's not very successful. And then C.J. arrives to whisk Jed away to deal with the fact that Chinese troops are crossing the border into Kazakhstan. Abbey seems completely understanding, telling him that the photos can wait. However, as he walks away, she reminds him, "The service starts at 5:00."
Donna, wearing a brown dress with a kind of wavy sash cutting diagonally across one breast and down to her waist, walks down a flight of marble stairs and sits to Josh. She's carrying a plate, and she offers him a fried wonton. He's not really paying attention to her. She leans into him and says, "They're out of champagne, though. The First Lady just gave me twenty bucks and asked me to pick up a bottle of cold duck." If they were out of champagne (which they are obviously not -- it's a joke), I think it would be because Donna drank most of it. She seems pretty tipsy, is what I'm saying. Again, Josh ignores her. She leans back on the stairs, with her plate in her lap, and slowly says, "Joooosh." Hey, Josh, I really think she wants you to sample her wontons. Josh asks her if she's seen Leo, and she tells him that she's bored: "I'm an attractive woman waiting to be entertained." Unfortunately, the entertainment's not going to come from Josh -- he gets up to leave to find Leo. Donna stops the tipsy flirting long enough to tell Josh that Leo was just meeting with Santos, Montgomery, and Anspaugh. Josh is standing several steps above her, and he has a very worried look on his face. Donna looks up at him, and says, "Illinois? [Pause.] I'm sure it's nothing to worry about." Josh doesn't look very reassured, and continues up the stairs.
In the East Room, all decked out for the wedding ceremony, Senator Montgomery is making the pitch to get rid of Josh, accusing him of having gotten it wrong in Illinois. Leo defends Josh, noting that it's easy for people to second-guess him after the fact, and pointing out that Montgomery wasn't pushing for any kind of major effort in Illinois in the past. Santos asks Anspaugh what he thinks. He tells them, "I have never seen an electoral map as inside-out as this one. And as for Illinois, we were ten points down. Chicago's one of the most expensive media markets in the country. Now, spending money there would have meant sacrificing Iowa, maybe Missouri, and possibly slimming our ad buy in Wisconsin." Despite basically agreeing with Josh's decision, Anspaugh goes on to argue that the perception that the campaign messed up will hurt it with donors, and possibly in the polls, and that if they had been in the state sooner, they might have moved up in the polls and in fundraising a while ago. Montgomery jumps back in, praising Josh but going on to say, "Congressman, I'm not sure he can see you through to the finish line." Santos asks, "Who can?" Anspaugh says that there's only one guy he'd want in charge. And that guy is Leo. Leo starts to laugh, but realizes that they're all taking this seriously. Commercials.
It's 5:05 PM, and Ellie is in her gown and waiting with Abbey. Neither of her sisters are there. Bitches. I don't mean her sisters -- I mean the producers. They couldn't have cut most of these extras to bring in Zoey and Liz? Abbey suggests that Ellie sit down, but she doesn't want to wrinkle the dress. A little bit too late, she points out that they considered eloping. There's a knock at the door, and Will enters. Get out! It's bad luck for the White House Director of Communications to see the bride on her wedding day. Ellie is glaring daggers at Will. He's there to tell them that additional refreshments are being circulated among the guests, in case they were worried. Abbey asks if there's any indication as to when Jed will be free. Will has no idea. They continue to glare at him, and he makes an awkward exit. After he leaves, Ellie turns to Abbey and asks, "Why is Will Bailey wearing a tux?" Great, so Will gets to attend the wedding, but Ellie's sister Zoey and her boyfriend Charlie (who live and work in the White House, respectively) are nowhere to be seen.
Office of O. Jed is on the phone with the Chinese Premier (along with a translator). C.J., Kate, Hutchinson, and Debbie are all in the room. Jed is arguing with the Premier and not making any progress. Debbie puts down a note in front of Jed that reads "5:06." He crumples up the note and throws it away. There's not much that's notable about the discussion Jed has with the Premier, except for the fact that the Premier claims China is not moving troops into Kazakhstan because of oil, but to protect a pro-democracy movement. Ha!
Back in the East Room, other guests are starting to filter in as the Santos/Leo/Anspaugh/Montgomery conversation winds up. Montgomery and Anspaugh point out that once Leo finishes the Vice-Presidential debate, his active campaigning is pretty much over. They both think that if Leo campaigns with Santos at all time, he can coordinate the campaign from the campaign jet, which Josh would pretty much have to do in any case. Leo continues to defend Josh. Anspaugh asks Santos what he's thinking, and he tells them, "Appreciate your thoughts, gentlemen." Montgomery and Anspaugh leave, and Leo suggests finding Josh and carrying on with regular campaign business. Santos stops him from walking away and asks, "Leo, should Josh be running this campaign?" Leo doesn't answer, and the two of them walk away. You know, I'm really not sensing a lot of love between Santos and Josh lately. I think they need to head back to Brokeback Mountain to recapture what made them fall for each other in the first place.
Abbey is walking down some corridor, looking worried. I think she's trying to find someone who knows what's going on. She runs into Leo, and they exchange a very warm greeting. They make a bit of small talk, and Abbey looks for some reassurance that Jed will be able to make it to the ceremony. Leo's not really able to give her any. Mostly because he doesn't work at the White House and therefore has no idea what Jed's up to.
Back in the Oval, Jed is still talking with the Chinese Premier. He's trying to get him to at least agree to stop his troops from advancing. Again, little success. Debbie puts another note down in front of Jed. This one reads "5:46." The Premier is in the middle of a long anti-Russia rant. Jed tries to interrupt several times, and eventually pounds on the desk and shouts, "Dammit, Lian! Will you shut up already?" That seems like a bit of a diplomatic faux pas. After a long pause, Jed asks, "Is your daughter married?" The Premier's daughter is, in fact, married. Jed explains that he needs to walk his daughter down the aisle, and asks for a half-hour halt to the troop advance. The Premier comes back and offers him an hour. Well isn't that sweet. Jed puts on his jacket and tells C.J., Kate, and Hutchinson, "You've got one hour." One hour to do what? Play a few hands of cribbage? Do you suppose there's some special historical cribbage board somewhere in the White House? What? Oh, sorry, got distracted.
Leo finds Josh waiting out on the portico of the White House. Josh asks if the wedding has started. It has not. Josh asks who Montgomery wants to replace him with. Leo lies and tells Josh, "No one wants to replace you." If it means getting some quality time with Bram, I would like to replace him. Josh doesn't believe him, and starts naming names. He points out that none of those people has run a presidential campaign, and in the middle of the sentence, he realizes that they want to replace him with Leo: "They want you? It's you, isn't it? Hell, that's who I'd want." Josh starts asking Leo where he would have gotten the money to campaign in Illinois, and Leo shuts him up and angrily tells him that he would have made the same decision Josh did, because that's what the polls supported. He continues, telling Josh it's inevitable that he will make mistakes: "What's important is how you respond when you get it wrong, how you react, what your move is." Josh admits that he has no idea what his move is: "I've been staring at this damn map all day, I still haven't got a clue." He talks about all the problems with various states. After a pause, he looks at Leo and says, "They're right. You should take over." Leo just looks to the side and tells him, "You're all trying to kill me." But after a pause, he asks to see the map. The music starts up for the wedding ceremony, and Leo tells Josh that they'll talk about what to do in terms of media buys on the way to the East Room. So is Leo taking over?
Jed enters the room where Ellie and Abbey are waiting. Ellie, rather than turning about two degrees to the left to look at him, does a very dramatic full turn while clutching her flowers in one hand and her train in the other. Wow, that peau de soie really does drape well. Jed is rendered speechless by Ellie's beauty. He apologizes, and long-suffering Ellie tells him, "It's okay, Dad. Really." Grow a backbone, girl. After a pause, she tells him, "You wanted a White House wedding." And, of course, it's really all about him now, isn't it? It must suck to be a bystander at your own wedding. Jed takes Ellie's arm and they start to walk out of the room.
Santos is on a cell phone when Leo and Josh enter whatever room he's in. I think it's some kind of foyer near the East Room. Josh and Santos exchange enigmatic looks, and then Leo sends Josh into the wedding so that he can have a grown-up talk with Santos. Santos asks Leo how it went, and Leo tells him it was fine. And then Santos asks, "Taking over?" Matt Santos, you ungrateful bastard. Leo tells him, "No." Santos is a bit confused. Leo tells Santos that Josh will be making lots of decisions, and that Leo and Santos will be involved in most of them, but that the real burden of the campaign now falls on Santos, who must convince voters to vote for him. Leo: "[Anspaugh]'s right. Josh has taken you as far as he can. The rest is up to you." And Leo walks into the East Room.
Jed and Ellie descend a staircase. I can hear this murmuring under the music, and I realize after a few seconds that it's the clenched-jaw protocol woman giving directions to the wedding party. "And...go. And...smile." Jed and Ellie arrive at the entrance to the East Room. Jed looks a bit stricken, and Ellie asks him if he's okay. He starts to tell her a story about a trip he took, in his first term in Congress, to East Germany. Ellie was with them, and she was about five years old. As the Congressional delegation was waiting to cross between East and West Berlin at Checkpoint Charlie, Ellie "bolted out in the no man's land between the two guard posts." Needless to say, Jed and Ellie were freaking out. Jed: "But not you. You just calmly looked up at one of the soldiers on the wall and waved. And the soldier waved back." There's this great mix of emotions bubbling just under Jed's surface as he speaks. Happiness, and sadness, and regret, and gratitude. That emotion is close to spilling over, and he looks to be near tears. Wonderful work by Martin Sheen. He's overwhelmed, and can't finish the story, so Ellie does: "And then, all the soldiers were waving at each other. I remember, Dad." Unfortunately, they don't have time to tell the story of the time Ellie pounded her shoe on the desk at the U.N., or her groundbreaking trip to China. Jed pulls her veil over Ellie's face, and they head down the isle. Credits.