By Deborah
Previously on The West Wing: Josh was shot and nearly killed; he hasn't really dealt with the aftermath.
Christmas Eve. Josh shows up for an appointment in a meeting room I don't think we've seen yet in the White House. A Dr. Stanley Keyworth, played by Adam Arkin, introduces himself to Josh, and also introduces the woman accompanying him as Kaytha Trask, played (I think) by the same woman who played a snitty med student on the season premiere ofER. Josh asks if he should call Stanley "Doctor," and Stanley indicates that he doesn't care, and that Josh can call him Stanley. Josh attempts to ascertain whether he should call Kaytha "Doctor" as well, but she indicates that she's not a doctor. Stanley explains she's in training as a traumatologist, and asks if Josh minds. He says he doesn't. Kaytha goes and sits off to one side. Stanley asks what happened to Josh's hand, gesturing to a sloppy bandage around his right hand. Josh says he cut it when he was setting down a glass. Stanley pretends to accept this. Josh sits at the end of the table, to Stanley's left. Stanley begins to tell Josh about who they are: they're from ATVA, the American Trauma Victims Association. Stanley starts to mention some of the traumatic incidents in which they've been called in to help, but only gets to mention one such incident before Josh interrupts and rhymes off a bunch of others. Stanley placidly says, "So you are familiar with us." Josh snaps, "Dr. Keyworth, I'm the Deputy White House Chief of Staff. I oversee eleven hundred White House employees. I answer directly to Leo McGarry and the President of the United States. Did you think you were talking to the paperboy?" Stanley says no. Josh wonders if Stanley actually thought Josh would come to this meeting without knowing exactly who they were and what they do. Stanley says no. Josh asks why Stanley lied to him right off the bat. He says angrily that Kaytha's not there training. Stanley insists she is; Josh counters that that's not why there are two of them. He asserts that she's there to watch him if he gets up to get coffee, answer the phone, or whatever. Stanley admits that this is the case. Josh tells Stanley he got off to a bad start. Stanley agrees and suggests they start again. Josh asks, "You gonna lie to me this time?" Stanley says, "No. You gonna lie to me?" Josh says he hasn't yet. Stanley seems to think otherwise: "Really? How'd you cut your hand?" He pauses while Josh stares at him in silence. Stanley: "You're not talking to the paperboy either, Josh." Josh takes this in. Roll credits.
After the commercials, Josh is pacing around the room a bit while Stanley tries to interest Josh in various libations. Josh doesn't want any. Stanley mentions that he thinks the woman he asked for coffee works for Josh -- Donna? Josh confirms this. Stanley asks if Donna was with Josh at Rosslyn, only he pronounces it "Rosalyn." Josh corrects him in a fairly rude tone. Stanley apologizes, saying that he's not from around there. He's from San Francisco, which Josh says he always thought was "San Franchisco." ["Huh?" -- Wing Chun] Stanley lets it drop, and asks again whether Donna was with him that night. Josh says that she wasn't. Stanley wants to know who was there. Josh says that everyone was there, since they'd just gotten finished with a televised town-hall meeting. Stanley keeps pressing for details, and Josh says that there were Department of Education people there, event staff, C.J., Leo, Bob Shanahan, Toby, Sam, Zoey, and Charlie. Stanley wants to know who was with Josh. Josh seems puzzled. Stanley explains that he's trying to get Josh to tell him what happened. Josh says, "Stanley, I walked out of the building, I heard gunshots, people started screaming, I woke up in a hospital room!" Stanley accepts this and then asks what happened three weeks ago. Josh claims, "I don't know what you're referring to." Stanley says he doesn't know what Josh is referring to either, but that some of Josh's colleagues became concerned with his behaviour about three weeks ago. Josh cracks, "Well, I've been concerned with their behaviour since way before that." Stanley's not amused. Josh says that they were talking about an Air Force pilot, Robert Cano. Stanley wants to know what about the pilot. Josh claims he doesn't know. Stanley says that they were talking about the pilot. Josh says they may have been talking about the pilot. Stanley argues that that's not what he said. Josh responds that there was a lot going on: "the IMF Treaty, petroleum reserves, Alaska, the President's..." Stanley says he mentioned the pilot; Josh counters that he didn't mention the pilot for any special reason, and that there was a lot happening three weeks ago. Stanley wants to talk about that. Thus begins a series of elegantly handled and somewhat complicated flashbacks. (TWW should definitely get the Emmy for editing, among many other things.)
We're in the lobby area of the White House. Somebody walks past pushing a cart, upon which rests a big, elaborately decorated and lighted cake in the form of the White House. That's an expensive piece of throwaway business. The place is decorated for Christmas. A brass quintet is playing "Joy to the World." ["They're really good, by the way." -- Wing Chun] Josh comes wandering into the rotunda and sees Toby standing in front of the quintet with one hand on his hip, the other supporting his chin, studying them somewhat dourly. Josh asks what the hell's going on. The music's pretty loud. Toby explains that it's a brass quintet, and for the musically impaired, he elaborates: "Two trumpets, trombone, baritone horn, French horn." He asks if Josh likes them. Josh inquires, "Do I like them for what?" Toby explains that he's going to have them play Christmas carols in the lobby in the morning and evening as people are coming and going. Seems like an odd thing for an observant Jew and all-around melancholy guy like Toby to instigate. He asks again if Josh likes them. Josh says no; Toby asks why. Josh replies, "'Cause this isn't the Paramus Mall." ["I like the music, as I said above, but...word." -- Wing Chun] Toby leans in a little closer to Josh and says, "Let me tell you something. For the last two Christmases in this White House, I've been accused of not being in the proper spirit." Since when does Toby care? Toby seems like the guy who would have dreamed about bombing pep rallies in high school. Not that I would know anything about those types of thoughts. He continues, "I was called names...not this year! For the three weeks, I will be filling this lobby with music in the mornings and the evenings so that we may all experience this season of...[turns to musicians with annoyance] would you people stop playing for one damn minute?" Ah, there's the Toby we know and love. The horns die with that comical sound that I don't think there's any way to describe in words, but you know what I mean. He continues limply, "...this season of...peace and joy..." He looks sheepish. He asks Josh again what he thinks; Josh says they seem fine. As they walk away, the band starts playing "The Dreidel Song." No, I lie. ["Don't bring the Yiddish if you...oh, you know." -- Wing Chun] As they walk away, Toby explains that the loose change they collect is going to pay for musical instruments in D.C. public schools. Josh couldn't care less, obviously. He tells Toby that somebody named Ben Zaharian stepped off the reservation last night. He was at a Q&A at the NRDC about drilling the north slope, and was asked if the President would consider tapping into the SPR. Zaharian said that the idea has a lot of merit. Toby says he'll get into it.
Josh takes off and Toby goes over to where Sam is standing in the hallway and narrates the Zaharian situation and the SPR, which stands for Strategic Petroleum Reserve. (I knew that. Sure I did.) Sam says, "And he said the SPR is for emergencies, like times of war?" Toby says that he said the idea has a lot of merit. Sam says he'll talk to a deputy. Toby asks him to also give C.J. a heads-up.
Sam goes into the press briefing room, where C.J. is conducting a briefing, scribbling a note as he walks. A reporter asks her whether she knows anything about a woman going crazy on a recent White House tour. Apparently she saw a painting and started screaming. Sam hands Carol the note and Carol slips it to C.J. She doesn't know about the incident, but says, "There's a painting of Dolly Madison in the Grand Foyer -- you catch it in the wrong light, it can scare the living..." The reporters chuckle and let it go. Another reporter asks about Zaharian's comments at the Natural Resources Defence Council, regarding the idea of tapping into the SPR to ease oil prices. Zaharian turns out to be the Energy Secretary. C.J. reads her note while the question is being asked. The reporter wonders if this comment signals a shift in policy since last June. C.J. replies that it doesn't, but that a bad idea in June isn't necessarily a bad idea in December, because you don't need to lower the price of heating oil in the summer. She ends the briefing and asks Sam as she leaves, "Is somebody going to speak to somebody?" Sam says he'll talk to a deputy, and wonders what that White House tour incident is about. C.J. says they get about five of those a week. Sam wonders exactly what it is about the White House tour that makes them go crazy. C.J. suggests, "The blue blazers?" She confirms that Sam will speak to somebody at the Energy Department. Sam takes off as Josh wanders up behind C.J. and says, "Good save." She thanks him and asks where the President is. Josh says he's in the Situation Room; something about a pilot.
Over in the Situation Room, Jed and Leo show up. Jed says, "What's going on? Sit down." A high-ranking guy we've seen before -- I think his name is Mark -- explains that a pilot from the 27th Fighter Wing at Cannon Air Force Base in New Mexico has left his group. As they were returning home from an exercise, the flight leader realized that the tail plane was no longer in formation. There was no communication from the aircraft, and it's still failing to respond to radio calls. Jed wonders whether he's in there alone or with a crew; Leo explains that the Falcon is a single-seat fighter. Jed asks whether he crashed. Another guy explains that if he had crashed the craft, it would have triggered electronic signals they could pick up. Jed wonders if there's a chance he's trying to contact them and can't. Another guy says that a massive collapse of the plane's communication systems is highly unlikely. Leo asks what weapons are on board. He calls the guy whose name I think is Mark, by the name Ken. Whatever. Mark/Ken says he's got a twenty millimetre Vulcan cannon and seven AIM Sidewinder missiles. Jed asks whether his intention is to defect with a military asset or to blow something up. Not surprisingly, they don't know the guy's intention. POTUS asks if fighter pilots don't have to go through some fairly extensive psychological screening. Mark/Ken assures him that they do, and that this guy was deemed fit to fly. Jed says, "Let me ask a ridiculous question. I know the answer is no, but is there any way to bring this plane down without shooting it down?" The guy to Mark/Ken says there isn't. Mark/Ken responds to Jed's concerns about populated areas by explaining they can take the guy down over the Sierra Madres. The other guy says it's possible the pilot has lost consciousness due to dramatic shifts in air pressure, accounting for his non-responsiveness. The third guy says they've scrambled F-16s out of Edwards to get a visual sighting. The second guy explains that if the pilot is dead, they'll see signs in the cockpit; but if he's conscious, he'll know he's been "painted," and will receive an order from the interceptors to land in a designated area. Mark/Ken says, "If he doesn't, that's when we make a decision." Jed accepts this and ends the meeting. We see an enlargement of pilot Robert Cano's identification photograph on a computer screen.
Stanley's asking Josh: "And that was the first time you heard about the pilot?" Josh explains that he wasn't in the Situation Room, since he's not involved in those meetings. Josh indicates that he found out about it later, and that he had an assignment relating to the pilot. Stanley continues painfully trying to draw information out of Josh, and Josh says, "I'm sorry if this question sounds rude, but how long will we be here today?" Stanley replies, "Well, I'm sorry if this answer sounds rude, but as long as I want. Leo McGarry asked me here." Josh says he knows that. Stanley continues harping about the pilot, despite Josh's resistance. Josh finally indicates that he was supposed to look into the pilot's background. At that moment someone knocks sharply on the door, startling Josh. He looks toward the door. We cut quickly to a shot of Josh in a white dress shirt and undone white tie, whirling around with his right hand in the air, cut and bleeding, as he looks toward a door at which someone is knocking. We cut back to the meeting room, where Stanley explains that it's just someone arriving with the coffee. Josh seems slightly rattled. He collects himself as we go to commercial.
We're back in three-weeks-ago land. Leo is briefing Josh on the pilot situation. It's been ninety minutes since he broke formation. Leo describes the various military units which have been dispatched on this task. Josh wonders how long it will be before this is on television. Leo replies, "I'm amazed News Center 4 doesn't have their traffic 'copter up there right now." Leo says they should be making visual contact with the pilot in about ten minutes. Josh asks what they know about the pilot. Not a lot, apparently. ["Man, here's how I know I've been spending too much time on this site: every time they say 'pilot,' my association isn't a person who flies planes, but the first episode of a TV show." -- Wing Chun] Leo asks Josh to get into it: how did the guy get past the psychological screening process? Leo: "We gave this guy an $18 million-dollar warplane."
Leo disappears into his office, and Josh intercepts Donna, who immediately says, "I have the personnel file for the pilot." Josh wonders how she could have known he was going to ask her for that. Donna says, "I'm tuned to you. I anticipate your every need." Yes, we know. Everybody in the free world knows except for Josh, apparently. Josh replies, "Yes, but to be walking by with the guy's personnel file?" Donna says, "They called me ten minutes ago, Josh. Don't be a yutz." Ah, she's bringing the Yiddish and she knows what she's doing. They walk out into the lobby area where the musicians are playing, so instantly the music gets much louder. She says, "On the other hand, you're a very handsome man." Josh: "What do you need?" Donna: "You're a very powerful and a very handsome man." Josh: "What do you need?" Donna claims she never asks him for anything, if "never" means "almost every day." Josh: "What do you need?" Donna explains that Yo-Yo Ma is playing at the Congressional Christmas party. Josh gives in immediately and says Donna can come. Donna says happily, "You can take your Pablo Casals, you can keep your Rostropovich...I say Yo-Yo Ma rules!" Josh is not paying much attention to this, as he's looking through Cano's file. He mentions to Donna that the pilot has the same birthday as he does.
Josh wanders into his office as Sam shows up to say that he spoke to Jessie Witt at Energy. Josh says they're not going to get them to change their policy on the SPR by announcing they should change their policy. Sam says, "And I told her that, I told her that in no uncertain terms." Josh: "And?" Sam: "I think we should change our policy." Josh says he's got something else he has to do right now and asks if they can talk about it later. Sam agrees. As Sam leaves, Josh tells him they have the same birthday. Sam responds, "Okay, well, I'm going to talk to Leo about the SPR." Josh starts reading through the file.
An unknown assistant tells C.J. that Bernard Thatch from the White House Visitors' Office is waiting for her in a meeting room. As she enters the room, the guy that Central Casting would send to play the world's snootiest butler greets her: "Claudia Jean." Of course he has a very nasal, hoity-toity English accent, which someone with more familiarity than myself would have to place. Oxford? Time for high comic relief, not infrequently supplied on American television by people with English accents. ["He played the British across-the-hall neighbour, Maggie's husband Hal, on Mad About You for a while." -- Wing Chun] She asks him how's he's doing. He replies indifferently, "I'm not at all well." C.J. says, "That's not unusual, is it?" Bernard: "No." She says she understands there was an incident on a tour; he claims there's always an incident on a tour. "People touch things!" C.J. says he should punish them for that. Bernard: "I've begged my superiors to allow me." C.J. says this incident had to do with a painting. He recalls it, and says it's all in the report, and that it wasn't a problem. C.J. mentions that it made it to the Press Room so she wanted to check in on it. Bernard indicates that the guide was pointing out the Gustave Caillbotte painting that hangs outside the Blue Room and a woman began screaming incoherently. C.J.: "In English?" Bernard: "If it was a language at all, its origin was unknown to me." He says he sent for an agent to take a statement, but since the agent did not speak whatever language this woman did, simply escorted her out of the building. She thanks him for stopping by. As he leaves, he's impelled to tell her, "C.J., your necklace is a monument to bourgeois taste." C.J. says, "Thank you." He calls out that she's welcome as he leaves. She follows him out into the hall and asks who Gustave Caillbotte is, and how long his painting's been hanging outside the Blue Room. Bernard says, "Caillbotte was a contemporary of Courbet, who was considerably more gifted. This is a painting of the cliffs at Entretat, cleverly titled The Cliffs at Entretat. It is a minor work." C.J. wants to know what it's doing in the White House. Bernard continues, "It was on loan from the Musée D'Orsay to the National Gallery. The President, on a visit to the National Gallery, and possessing even less taste in fine art than you have in accessories, announced that he liked the painting. The French government offered it as a gift to the White House, I suppose as retribution for Euro Disney. So here it hangs, like a gym sock on a shower rod." Bwah! C.J., more amused than annoyed, says, "You're a snob!" Bernard says "Yes," and splits.
Jed's in the Mural Room talking about the pilot situation with various advisers, suggesting that they stay on the phone with Cashman and Berryhill, since they'll know when the pilot's been painted before he will. Hey, Cashman and Berryhill! I remember those guys, from some recap or other. That's a rare display of continuity on such a minor matter as two never-seen characters. Way to go! Nitpickers everywhere are filled with comfort and joy. ["I'd go hunt up which episode it was and link to it, but I'd like to post this before I enter menopause." -- Wing Chun]
The meeting breaks up as Charlie arrives to accompany POTUS back to his office. Jed tells Charlie story of his delinquent New England adolescence: "When I was in tenth grade, me and my friends took my father's Ford Country Squire on a joyride to Vermont. He locked me in the garage 'till Easter." "Me and my friends"? From the guy who knows you can't say "extremely historic"? I am wounded. Don't you want to be my boyfriend anymore? Jed asks Charlie, "What do you think we should do with this pilot once we get his ass on the ground?" Charlie wonders if Jed thinks that's gonna happen. Jed says wearily, "No." Charlie tells Jed that he's been asked to speak to him about the signing of his Christmas cards. "They" want to know which ones he's going to sign by hand and which ones will be signed using the autopen. Jed declares he's going to sign them all by hand. Charlie replies, "Sir, we went through this last year..." Jed says, "I'm going to sign 'em all by hand!" Charlie: "I'm not sure that's practical." Jed: "I don't like the whole idea of the autopen." Charlie: "Nonetheless..." Jed: "Let's do 'em all by hand. How many can there be?" Charlie says there are 1,110,000. Jed looks up: "Seriously? I'm sending out 1.1 million Christmas cards?" Yeesh. I definitely do not want to be behind you in the line at the post office, dude. Charlie explains there's a three-tier system: about a thousand names on the First Family's personal list, about one hundred thousand campaign workers and contributors, and the other million people are the ones who wrote letters to the White House in the past year. Seems to be news to Jed, although you think he'd remember this sort of information from last year. Charlie says, "Somewhere around a million people wrote you letters this year." Jed: "Okay, but some of those were death threats." Charlie says, "They've weeded those out." These two are clearly not suffering from any Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Jed declares he's not signing 1.1 million cards. Leo comes in to tell Jed to come to the Situation Room. Jed asks what happened.
Suddenly we cut back to Josh and Stanley. Josh says, "He was dead." Stanley asks what Josh had learned about the pilot. Josh says he didn't learn anything, because there was maybe twenty minutes between getting the assignment and Leo's coming to tell him the guy was dead. Stanley asks how the guy died. Josh says that he crashed into the side of a mountain. Stanley meant why he died: did he lose oxygen, was he shot down? Josh seems annoyed to be asked, saying that it was on the front page of the newspapers. Stanley replies, "Well, it wasn't on the front page of the sports section, so..."
We cut back to Josh in his office, looking through some snapshots, when Leo knocks on his door. Leo tells him the news; Josh asks whether the pilot was alive when it crashed. They know this for a fact because just before he crashed, he radioed the message, "It wasn't the plane." Josh seems a little shaken by this. Leo sits down and asks what Josh knows. Josh mentions that Cano was from Tallahassee, and trained on T-37s. Leo asks, "What else?" Only it's Adam Arkin's voice coming out of John Spencer's body, which is pretty disconcerting. I didn't catch this the first time I watched it but only upon doing the recap. It's kinda creepy.
We cut back to Josh objecting, "Stanley..." and then Stanley's where Leo was. Josh insists that he didn't know anything, other than his name, rank, training background, his missions... Stanley persists. Josh hesitates and finally shrugs, "We had the same birthday." Stanley nods and says, "That's right." One thing I hate is when therapists already know something for a fact, drag it out of a patient one way or another, and then announce that that's right. I think it bugs me because I find it both patronizing and needlessly prosecutorial (and therefore adversarial), and I feel there are more straightforward and productive ways to conduct a therapeutic interview. Unfortunately, this is a major feature of Stanley's approach and it definitely took away from the exchanges between Stanley and Josh for me, and detracted somewhat from the entire (otherwise excellent) episode. Which is why it's only getting an A- from me.
Stanley asks what else; we're back in Josh's office with him telling Leo that Cano had some medals, including a Purple Heart. His plane was shot at over Bosnia. The camera moves slowly behind Leo's head, and as the darkness wipes across the screen, the shot is Josh talking to Stanley. Josh continues, "It caught fire...he ejected." We hear background sounds of screaming and shots being fired. "And there were some injuries." Stanley, again: "That's right, Josh. That's right." And it's time for some commercials.
Out in the lobby, some bagpipers are playing "Greensleeves (What Child Is This)" way loud, which seems to be the only mode in which bagpipes can be played. Either you care for bagpipes or you don't, and I've tried to like them. I just can't seem to muster up much bagpipe-liking. One of my grandmothers adored them. She was kind of alone in our family on this point. They just about make my father curl up into a ball. ["Your dad and I are soulmates. One summer I worked in Kingston in this little townhouse across from a big public park, and every lunch hour this dude would come out and play 'My Bonnie Lass.' Every day. One day one of us asked, 'Why doesn't he just practise at home?' and then we thought how much louder it would be inside. And inside, in a marble rotunda? God help us all." -- Wing Chun] Anyway, Josh barrels through the lobby until he catches up with Toby to complain. Toby asserts, "Not just any bagpipes, Josh. Those guys are the Duncan McTavish Killarney Highland Bagpipe Regiment." Josh: "They're a bagpipe regiment?" Toby confesses, "They're three guys from Delaware, but they can play." Josh carps, "Two weeks ago it was a brass quintet. Yesterday it was the Capitol Blue Plate Banjo Band." Toby corrects him, "Capitol Bluegrass Banjo Brigade, and those guys were featured on the local news." When in the world does Toby have time to conduct all these auditions? Just wondering. ["And why didn't we get to hear the bluegrass banjo interpretations of Christmas carols? That would have been cool!" -- Wing Chun] Josh says they're pretty loud. Toby indicates that this is "'cause the shepherds would need to call in the goats from high atop the hills." Hee! Josh says, "Shepherds herd sheep, they don't do it in Delaware, and these guys can't play in the lobby!" Toby says that the money they collect will go to buy band uniforms for the St. Mary's Assumption High School Marching Red Raiders." Josh protests loudly, "I can hear the damn sirens all over the building!" They keep walking along as Josh finally hears what he said and corrects himself, "The bagpipes." Toby just looks slightly confused and concerned and says nothing. Josh walks away toward his office and Toby says, "Josh," but Josh only stops briefly and reiterates, "The bagpipes. They can't play in the lobby." Toby stares after Josh as C.J. comes out of her office and calls his name. She asks him to hang on a second while she mentions Bernard Thatch to Carol. Carol interjects, "Yes. He didn't like my shoes." C.J. asks for a copy of the incident report. Carol zooms off to get it. C.J. starts to ask Toby about something to do with the SPR, when suddenly Josh appears at the door of his office and bellows angrily to the hallway, which is bustling with people, "Would it be possible to hold the noise down out here?" Toby and C.J. look very concerned. Donna's in the hallway and asks if Josh needs something. He says he needs the CBO spec. Donna says it's on his desk. Josh complains, "It's like a damn hockey game out here!" He goes back into his office, slamming the door slightly.
We cut back to the therapy interview, where Stanley's asking whether Josh knew at this point that people were concerned about him. Josh says he's not really comfortable with that question. Stanley inquires as to whether Josh remembers anything unusual about his behaviour in the days following the pilot incident. Josh, fiddling with a spoon, claims he doesn't. Stanley asks why his friends would have been saying that. Josh gets more annoyed, and drops the spoon on the table with a clatter, complaining, "This is incredibly prosecutorial!" Word. Josh suggests that if Stanley wants to know what his friends think, he should talk to his friends. Stanley says that he has. Josh has gathered as much. Stanley asks him what was going on on the nineteenth of December. Josh hedges, saying that many things go on in a given day around the White House. Stanley firmly asks him to "name some things that went on five days ago."
We cut to C.J.'s office, where she's slurping on a soft drink from a big paper cup. ["I think, though I couldn't be 100% sure, that it was a Jamba Juice, and damn, if it was, I am jealous. I love that stuff." -- Wing Chun] She's looking at a picture. Josh asks C.J. what's she doing. She replies, "Eating lunch." She says there's something strange about the photograph she's looking at. He wants to know why there's no more information about Cano. She's not really listening and continues, "It's not the photograph, it's the painting in the photograph." Josh demands to know why there's no new information. C.J. looks at him in some surprise at his tone, and says, "'Cause there's no new information." He says, "Okay." C.J. insists there isn't. Josh asks, "You accept that? A perfectly healthy Air Force pilot kills himself and nobody's asking why?" C.J. counters that a lot of people are asking why , but they just don't know why, and adds that he obviously wasn't perfectly healthy anymore. Josh turns to leave, saying "All right." C.J. gets up and asks him to look at the picture, asking whether anything in the picture looks familiar. Josh says it's a man holding a little girl. She tells him to look behind them on the wall in the picture. Josh says the painting in the picture is the same one hanging outside the Blue Room. C.J. says, "Are you kidding?" Josh wanders off, muttering, "I need information." C.J. tells Carol she's going to the Blue Room. As Josh walks down the hall, Donna struts past him and barks, "Yo-Yo Ma rules!" Oy, shut up already.
Back with Stanley, Josh walks around, rubbing his eyes and saying, "She wouldn't shut up about Yo-Yo Ma." Stanley asks if he doesn't like the cello. Josh says he likes the cello fine, but that he asked about what was going on five days ago and one of the things that was going on is that Donna wouldn't shut up about Yo-Yo Ma. Stanley says Josh had a meeting in the Oval Office the day of the Congressional Christmas party. Josh agrees that he probably did. Stanley confirms this; Josh doesn't argue. Stanley wonders whether he doesn't recall this; Josh points out that it's not unusual for him to meet with the President in the Oval Office five or ten times a day. Stanley points out that the meeting he's talking about wasn't usual. Stanley says, "Come on! You're pissed at Sam, you're pissed at Toby, you're pissed at C.J., you're pissed at Donna...who's ?"
We cut to Sam talking about the SPR problem in the Oval Office.
Back to Josh with Stanley, insisting that nobody was "." Josh tells Stanley he doesn't know what he heard about the meeting, but it wasn't even his meeting.
Back to the Oval Office. POTUS is saying that OPEC will find a way to punish them. Sam says that the Saudis have announced that they'd welcome the US tapping into the SPR to calm the market; even they think the price is too high. Jed asks, "If the Saudis are that concerned, why don't they just make oil faster?" Sam replies, "Well, they're not that concerned." Jed says, "I didn't think so."
Back to the trial...I mean, "the interview"; Josh says that it was Sam's meeting, and that he was only there for political perspective. Stanley asks what that means. Josh explains, "There are only two things that ever stop the government from doing anything: money or politics." Stanley clarifies, "So you were there to say you thought it was a bad idea politically?" Josh says he was. Stanley asks if he said so; Josh says that he's paid to say so. Stanley asks, "What'd you say?" Josh starts to say something and then kind of falters, saying, "You're not going to understand it." Stanley says mildly, "I'm a fairly well-educated guy." Stanley asks if Josh raised his voice. Josh says, "To the President?" Stanley pretends to accept this. Josh indicates that you don't raise your voice to the President, and you certainly don't do it in the Oval Office. Stanley continues to pretend to go along with this. Josh continues, "There's always lively discussion, and the President's informal with his staff, but there's a line you don't cross." He pauses, and adds, "Ever. You don't ever cross that line."
Back in the Oval Office, Jed's suggesting that they set up a meeting. Sam is enthused about that. Josh states that he thinks it's bad idea, because it's something some guy named Didion's not going to like. Jed says that he's just talking about a meeting, but that if he decides to do it, the President controls the SPR, not Congress. Josh objects that Didion controls the IMF vote; POTUS replies that the two aren't related. Leo suggests moving on, but Josh keeps arguing that the two are related, through Didion. POTUS restates his position. Leo asks sharply, "Anything else?" He looks at Sam. Josh barrels forward over Leo's admonition. Jed says they'll talk to Didion tonight at the party, just take him aside. Leo insists they can move on, but Josh won't hear of it. Sam says, "Josh," but Josh doesn't even hear him. Josh starts yelling, "We can't just take him aside! If we tell him we need his help, then we give visibility and power, and we put him in a position to say no, and be a hero to his party, and who wouldn't want to do that for a living?" POTUS assures Josh that Didion's a good guy and that they can talk to him. Josh loses it, waving his arms around and gesturing extremely emphatically, an edge in his voice we've never heard on this show: "You need to listen to me! You have to listen to me! I can't help you unless you listen to me! You can't send Christmas cards to everyone, you can't do it! Forget the SPR! Let's get the IMF loans like we said we were going to! Listen to what I have to say about Didion and please listen to me!" In the ensuing silence as Jed regards Josh solemnly before slipping on his glasses again, I hear someone at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences scampering out to get Bradley Whitford's name engraved on a statue. He deserves it for this episode, too; he's exhibited wonderful restraint in what could have been a scenery-chewing storyline in lesser hands. ["Anthony Edwards, are your bald-ass ears burning?" -- Wing Chun] Leo looks at Sam; Sam stares off at distant point on the floor. Finally, Sam softly says, "Josh..." Josh announces, "All right, let's move on." Leo asks Josh to wait in his office. Josh starts to backpedal, saying, "I suppose if it's just a meeting..." Leo sharply tells him to wait in his office.
Josh goes to Leo's office. In the background we hear Jed confirm that they'll talk to Didion that night. POTUS adds that it's not intervention in the free market, "if that's what he's worried about." Someone -- Sam, I think -- says he agrees. Jed continues, "It's not free trade if the price of oil is being controlled by a cartel." Leo comes into his office and asks Josh, "Have you ever heard of ATVA?" Josh says he thinks he should go back in there. Leo ignores him and says, "It's the American Trauma Victims Association." Josh says he knows what ATVA is. Leo says, "You're going to sit with the guy." Josh seems somewhat alarmed, and Leo repeats that he's going to sit with the guy. Josh says, "Leo, if this is because of what I just said in there, I wasn't at my best..." Leo responds, "Josh, I'm not sure you were fully conscious while you were saying it."
We cut back to the interview. Through the window, we can see that it's gotten dark so they must have been at this a while. Stanley remarks, "Well, thank God for Leo." Josh agrees. Stanley's serious: "The man's an alcoholic; he knew what he was talking about." Josh equivocates a little, saying, "I'm not sure it was as bad as maybe it was..." Stanley cuts him off saying, "It was." Josh complains that Stanley can ask the questions or answer but he can't do both at the same time. Stanley says he can. Josh: "Why?" Stanley: "Because I know the answers. And I don't work for you." It seems like Josh is about to ask whether there's going to be a written report of this interview, but Stanley cuts him off and asks again how he cut his hand. Josh tells his putting-the-glass-down tale again. We get a shot of him sitting in his apartment in the white dress shirt, reaching over to the table and putting the glass down, shattering it. Stanley says hesitantly, "Yeah, I don't think you did." Josh insists, "Stanley, I got home from the thing, I made a drink, I sat down, I pushed a magazine aside to use as a coaster, and I missed the coaster." This is all interspersed with shots of Josh doing these things. Stanley comments, "You missed the coaster with quite a bit of force." Without missing a beat, Josh replies, "I work out when I can." Stanley: "I swear, I am completely unimpressed with clever answers." Josh: "And I was so hoping we'd have a second date." Even Stanley has to suppress a bit of a smile at this, but it's mixed with a look of pity on his face. Stanley: "You're in nine kinds of pain. You don't know what's going on inside of you. And you are so locked into damage control that you can't..." Josh interrupts: "You diagnosed me in eight hours?" Stanley replies, "Josh, I diagnosed you in five minutes. Talk about the night of the party."
We cut back to Josh sitting in his chair, looking at his bloodied hand, when there's a knock on his apartment door. Someone is asking, "Mr. Lyman? Are you in there?"
Back to Stanley, narrating, "You said you put down the glass when you came home from a party that night." Josh confirms that it was the Congressional Christmas party.
The door knocking and solicitous inquiries continue. Josh says the party was white-tie, which is unusual, but the President likes it. Josh stares off into space as go to commercial.
We see Charlie standing stiffly in a white tie and tails. POTUS tells him he looks good. Charlie remarks, "I didn't know people dressed like this anymore." POTUS: "I've brought it back." Charlie: "Yes, sir." Jed: "Like Woodrow Wilson and top hats." Charlie: "We're not going to wear top hats with this, are we, sir?" Jed says they won't. Some flunky helps Jed put on his jacket, which is a drag because I'd like to see him throw it on over his head the way he does with his business suits. As he and Charlie leave the bedroom, he says, "Charlie, this is how statesmen dress. This is how they dress at times of occasion." Charlie: "Yes, sir." Jed: "It's regal!" Charlie: "Yes, sir." As they drift out, a Secret Service guy tells his wrist that the "Eagle's moving."
C.J.'s wearing a fabulous red off-the-shoulder evening gown. I swear, this show just keeps looking for excuses to put her in evening wear, but who can blame them? She looks amazing, as always. She enters a meeting room where Bernard and an older woman and a younger man are waiting for her. Bernard introduces her to Rebecca Housman and her son, David. David has his arms protectively around his mother's shoulders. His mother is a diminutive and somewhat distrustful-looking woman. C.J. mentions that she spoke to David and shakes both his hand and his mother's. She asks David if his mother understands her; David says she does, a little. She indicates a wrapped-up painting and says, "This is your painting...your father was Augie Housman?" Mrs. Housman indicates that he was. It turns out that her father was an art collector, specializing mainly in minor Impressionists. He was also a French Jew, whose belongings were stripped from him by Vichy law. As far as C.J.'s been able to determine, the Nazis sold the painting to a Swiss dealer after Augie perished at Auschwitz, and eventually ended up at the Musée D'Orsay. You know the story from there. C.J. says, "We've contacted the French..." Bernard interjects, "...who promptly surrendered..." C.J. continues, "...who wanted to settle this matter amicably. We wanted you to have our sincere apology, as well, of course, as the painting back." Mrs. Housman nods and quietly says "Thank you," as Bernard hands David the painting. David says, "Well, you've made an old woman and her son very happy." Mrs. Housman cracks him across the mouth for speaking about her that way. No, not really. She isn't all that old-looking, either. Bernard asks whether David happens to know what his grandfather originally paid for the painting. David indicates that it would have been about he equivalent of $300 USD. Bernard says that's right, and asks David to explain to his mother that he had the painting appraised, and it's now worth about $400,000. They don't react to this information much. Certainly nothing like the way people react on the Antiques Roadshow when they're told the doo-dad they inherited from Great-Aunt Flossie is worth half a million. Bernard adds that if his mother would like, the White House would continue to hang the painting for her and that the longer it hangs there, the more the painting will appreciate in value. She declines this offer. After all this, she's taking that painting, bub. C.J. indicates that a couple of police officers are going to escort them home. They leave. Um, I'd like to know just what language this woman speaks that is so unfamiliar as to be unrecognizable as any language to Bernard, or any agent on hand in the White House. She's descended from a French Jew. Seems like the odds might be that she speaks French, German, Hebrew, or Yiddish? Not exactly the most arcane languages in the world. Whatever. C.J. remarks to Bernard, as they walk toward the party, "You see, you try very hard to be mean, but then you see that being nice is better." Bernard replies, "You're a freakishly tall woman." C.J. says, "So that moment's over?" Bernard strides away saying, "Yes." C.J. runs into Josh in the lobby near the musicians. She says that Sam told her the Didion meeting went well. Josh says, "Yeah, we'll support a LIEHEAP subsidy for air conditioning in the Texas twenty-third." C.J. chuckles and says, "'Cause it's Christmas." She walks away, reminding him that they start in five minutes.
Josh asks Stanley what his diagnosis is. Stanley says that he diagnosed him with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Josh replies after a moment's hesitation, "Well...that doesn't really sound like something they let you have if you work for the President." Stanley doesn't really reply to this; he just gives Josh an expression that sort of says, "You're not wrong," and looks at the table. Josh sputters nervously, "So...can, can we have it be something else? Seriously, I...I...I, I think you might be wrong about that. I'm not trying to be difficult." Stanley says he doesn't think that Josh is. Josh admits, "I know I'm giving you cocky answers and I should be...you want me to talk about my feelings..." Stanley says that the last thing he wants is for Josh to talk about his feelings, and that if he heard a tape recording of the whole day, he wouldn't hear the word "feelings." Stanley firmly states, "What we need to get you to do is be able to remember the shooting without reliving it. And you have been reliving it." Josh says nothing, and we hear Jed's voice cracking jokes at the Congressional Christmas party as he introduces Ma. "We have polling that indicates that if Johann Sebastian Bach were alive today, he would have voted for me." Stanley continues, "Right? It happened during the Christmas party." Josh is kind of disconnected and says, "I"m not trying to give you cocky answers, I'm really not." Stanley tells him, "I am the guy you tell, Josh! It happened at the Christmas party. Stanley stares at Josh, who's staring off at the wall, as we hear POTUS announce that Yo-Yo Ma is going to play the Bach Suite in G Major. There's applause. Josh says he was fine. "It was the Bach G Major." Stanley says it's a nice piece and asks if he played it well. Josh says, "It was Yo-Yo Ma." Stanley indicates he's never heard him in person. We get lots of shots of Ma playing and the various people in the audience watching him and listening intently. Stanley asks Josh how it started. Josh says he doesn't know; Stanley insists that he does. Josh says he was just sitting there. Stanley keeps pushing him. We see and hear a gunshot being fired; we see Josh at the party wincing. He keeps saying he doesn't know how it started. Stanley asks, "What are you, in the fourth grade?" From the side of the room, Kaytha pipes up, "You tasted something bitter in your mouth." We get clips from the shooting, and Josh stares at Kaytha. She continues, "It was the adrenaline. The bitter taste was the adrenaline." Clips of the shooting are intermixed with shots from the party; music plays over the sound of gunfire and screaming. We see Josh at the party looking ill. He tells Stanley, "I couldn't make it stop." Josh keeps flashing back to his shooting; flinching slightly as the cello music soars on, his hand jerking involuntarily not far from his entry wound. He's a bit sweaty and teary and pale as the memories of paramedics and blood and sirens wash over him. At the party, Toby seems to notice that Josh isn't quite all right and watches him. It seems like Toby tries to catch C.J.'s eye to direct her attention to Josh, but he doesn't quite manage to get her to look in the right direction. Josh repeats, "I couldn't make it stop." Stanley agrees, "No, you couldn't, Josh, but you'd been trying for three weeks. And that's why you were feeling sick inside. And what happened when you went home that night?"
We see Josh in his apartment, staring at the door someone is knocking on, asking if he is all right. Stanley continues, "You had an episode at the party. That afternoon you had blown up in the Oval Office." Josh says, "Honestly, nothing. I sat down on the couch." Stanley's getting pretty annoyed. He gets out of the seat across from Josh and sits down again on Josh's right. They're both talking at the same time; Josh is reiterating his tale of pushing the magazine aside and breaking the glass, while Stanley is asking whether Josh can honestly tell him that the whole situation with the pilot didn't make Josh wonder if he himself was suicidal. This is intercut with the footage of Josh smashing the glass and staring at his bloody hand. Josh tells Stanley he didn't wonder that. Stanley accuses him of lying; Josh insists he didn't wonder that. ["I thought for sure Josh was going to say, 'I didn't wonder it, because I knew I was." -- Wing Chun] Stanley asks, "With everything the two of you had in common?" Josh claims that they had nothing in common. Stanley mentions the birthday. Josh asks who gives a damn about that. Stanley points out something else that Josh knew: that Cano had been shot at, his plane caught
on fire, he had been ejected, and there were some injuries. Josh's reply is punctuated by the image of him smashing the glass again (maybe enough already?) as he maintains the story of how he cut his hand. Stanley asks him again how he cut his hand.The cello music starts again, we hear sirens in the background, and we see Josh sitting on his couch rubbing his eyes. There are more flashbacks to the night of the shooting: the lights on the police car being shot out and Josh's shirt being ripped open by paramedics. The music is relentless as Josh stands up, walks over to the window, and puts his hand through it, palm first. The knocking on his door continues, and the person knocking says it's the superintendent and wants to know if he's okay in there. Josh lifts up his bloody hand (past the intact glass on the table) and looks at the damage. Yo-Yo Ma completes the piece, and there's general background applause, as Josh stares at his hand, and then at the door.
We fade back to the interview. Stanley says, "Okay, then." Josh repeats this as a question and Stanley says, "That's that." Josh asks, "I'm cured?" Stanley replies with gentle sarcasm, "Yeah, Josh, you're cured. No problem." Stanley explains he's going to recommend a therapist he'll like. Josh says he likes Stanley. Stanley indicates that Josh is too easy a case for him. Josh says, "I broke a window." Stanley: "Yeah, stop doing that. I want to commend you on not hurting anybody else, and not hurting yourself too badly, but nevertheless, stop doing that." Josh asks, "And that'll do the trick?" Stanley offhandedly says, "Yep!" Josh is confused and complains, "I'm...I'm getting shortchanged here." Stanley says, "Merry Christmas, Josh. We're done." They start packing up and putting on their coats. Kaytha has what I'd almost call a smirk on her face. He says he'll call after the holidays with the information about a therapist, and she says it was nice meeting him. Josh protests, asking what happens if tomorrow some pilot with his birthday decides to kill himself. Stanley assures him that wasn't what started it. Stanley explains that with gunshot victims, it's frequently something like a car backfiring or a twig snapping that tends to trigger flashbacks. But with Josh, it was something else. Josh, naturally, wants to know what it was. Stanley says, "Kaytha?" She tells him it was the music. Stanley explains that it was the brass quintet. Josh doesn't get why that would be the case. Stanley says, "Well, I know it's going to sound like I'm telling you that two plus two equals a bushel of potatoes, but at this moment, in your head, music is the same as..." The light dawns on Josh: "...as sirens." Josh wonders if that will be his reaction every time he hears music. That'd suck. Stanley says it won't: "Because...you get better." Josh takes that in as Stanley and Kaytha start to walk out, and says, "All the same, I need some more therapy." Stanley assures him that he's going to get some. Josh is getting riled up: "I mean now!" He gets up and follows them to the door. Stanley says "Merry Christmas!" again as he and Kaytha exit. Josh suggests they could order a pizza. Stanley laughs and leaves. Josh stands in the doorway and calls after them, "Stanley, I haven't told you my dreams yet!" Stanley: "Fax 'em over to me." Josh gives up and says, "Merry Christmas."
Out in the lobby, which is blessedly free of anyone playing Christmas music, Leo sits in a chair reading. Josh comes out and, not noticing Leo, walks past him. Leo asks, "How'd it go?" Josh is stunned to see Leo sitting there, and is speechless for a moment. "Did you wait around for me?" Leo just asks again how it went. Josh replies, "He thinks I may have an eating disorder..." Leo puts down his magazine, puts his glasses in his breast pocket and stands up. "Josh..." Josh goes on: "And a fear of rectangles. That's not weird, is it?" Hee! Leo just gives him that look he gives people while he waits for them to smarten up. Josh confesses that he cut his hand when he broke a window in his apartment. Leo responds by telling a story about a guy who's walking down the street when he falls into a hole. The walls are so steep he can't escape. A doctor walks by and the guy asks him for help. The doctor writes a prescription and throws it down and leaves. A priest passes by and the guy asks him for help. The priest scribbles out a prayer, tosses it down and walks away. Then one of the guy's friends walks by and the guy asks him for help. The friend jumps down into the hole with the first guy. The first guy asks, "Are you stupid? Now we're both down here!" The friend says, "Yeah, but I've been down here before and I know the way out." It's corny, but I lose it anyway. Only Leo (in the form of John Spencer) could carry this story off. If you look up "salt of the earth" in the dictionary, I bet you'd find a picture of Leo. Josh is silent. Leo continues, "Long as I got a job, you got a job. Do you understand?" Well, if I wasn't already crying... Josh still doesn't say anything. Leo gestures to Josh's bandaged hand and asks, "You wrapped that yourself, right?" Josh says he did. Leo says Donna's gonna take him to the Emergency Room. Josh seems dismayed. "She knows?" Leo says Donna was the one who guessed. Josh claims he doesn't need to go to the hospital. Leo says, "Come on, it could be infected. You could have a thing." Josh: "What thing?" Leo: "How the hell do I know?" Donna comes up at this point in her coat, carrying Josh's coat, which she helps him put on. Josh tells Leo, "I'll see you later." Leo says, "Okay." Josh and Donna leave, and Leo looks around at the decorations for a moment before he wanders off. We hear the faint strains of "The Carol of the Bells" in the background.
Outside, Donna and Josh exit through a gate in front of the White House. There are several people carolling, singing "The Carol of the Bells." Josh tells Donna he doesn't need a doctor. Donna asks, "Are you a doctor?" Josh: "No." Donna: "Then be quiet." Josh stands and listens to them intently for a few moments. He looks pale and kinda zones for a moment. A slightly ominous musical tone is mixed in with the music, and it's almost as if he's straining to hear sirens. There don't seem to be any. Donna pulls him away gently and they walk off together, her arm curled around his. As the carollers finish the song, there's a siren in the background, but it seems to be on Pennsylvania Avenue and not in Josh's head. Merry Christmas, Josh.