By LTG
I have to start by saying that I was very disturbed last week to learn how many of you did not know who the Heat Miser and Snow Miser are. (I'm also embarrassed that I called the Snow Miser the "Cold Miser," but I'll learn to live with it.) Please help me understand by completing the poll.
Also, I have to point out that while I thought this was a fine episode, it has been incredibly hard to make fun of. (Dead soldier and all.) So your laugh expectations should be low. But the good news is that I got a new job, so I'm a very happy boy right now.
Open on a scale model of a building. It's Jed's Presidential Library -- he's looming over it like Jedzilla and talking about how the buildings used to be vacant and in disrepair. Apparently, rather than construct some gaudy new building, Jed is planning on renovating what looks to be a former factory building (or, as we call it in New England, a mill). There's receptiony music playing in the background, and you can hear the clink of champagne glasses. The reporter Jed is speaking with congratulates him on the library, and asks him if he's also pleased about his poll numbers. Jed: "I don't pay attention to polls." Lie! Jed is told that 57\% of Americans say they would support him for a third term, but Jed doesn't want such a thing mentioned in front of his architect: "He'll think it extends his deadline." I know that's why Wing Chun is careful about what she says in front of me. C.J. tells the reporter that "photos only" means photos only, and escorts him out of the party.
Suddenly, we switch focus to Josh and Toby. Toby is chastising Josh: "Oh, for God's sake, you're not still calling this guy?" Josh: "Matt Santos?" See, Toby thinks Josh and Matt are just not right for each other, and like any good girlfriend, he's trying to get Josh to see the light. Actually, Toby thinks Santos is a quitter. But Josh tells Toby that Santos called Josh: "He wants to sit down again tomorrow." Oh my God, maybe he's going to give you his class ring! Toby wonders if Santos changed his mind about running for reelection, and Josh says that he "leaned on [Santos] pretty hard." Well yes, but that was flirting. I'm not sure it would actually change Santos's mind.
Now we pan over to Donna, who is telling Margaret, "He's so persistent. It's embarrassing." Well she's clearly not talking about Josh, unless by "persistent" she means "persistently indifferent." Margaret tells her to enjoy the attention. Josh and Toby join them, and Donna looks at the glass of wine in Josh's hand and says, "Well aren't you sweet." Josh stumbles a bit and then offers her the glass, but she reminds him that she doesn't drink red. He claims to have known that, and offers to get her a glass of white. Just as Margaret starts to tell him that she drinks red, Josh takes a sip out of the glass. Toby ends all of the potential embarrassment by bringing over glasses of champagne for Donna and Margaret.
Jed quiets the room to make some quick remarks, and we see Charlie being handed a note. He reads it, walks over to C.J., and tells her that the Secretary of Agriculture is in the Rose Room. She asks Charlie if he knows the protocol, and he apparently does. Is there special protocol for the Secretary of Agriculture? Does everyone have to change into overalls to greet him? I guess the protocol involves speaking to Toby, because Charlie walks over to him and delivers the same message. Toby wonders if the Secretary of Agriculture is actually in the Rose Room, and Charlie disabuses him of that notion. Toby is not sure why Charlie brought this to Toby. "As the President's personal aide, I went straight to the President. As Deputy Special Assistant, I go to C.J. and clear it with you." Shouldn't someone have told Toby about this? Toby then walks over the Jed and pulls him out of the reception.
Jed, Charlie, and Toby are standing together in a corridor when C.J. joins them and asks Toby what he has. He informs her that CNN is reporting an attack on the peacekeepers' compound south of Gaza City. Charlie tells her that there are "up to eight injured and one dead. The peacekeeping mission's first casualty." Toby walks off to work on a statement, and C.J. and Jed walk off to meet with some military types. Partway down the hallway, C.J. excuses herself and runs back to see Toby: "In our statement, when we say 'casualty,' don't say 'first.'"
Credits. It's the return of Jimmy Smits.
The camera pans across a monitor that is showing coverage of the attack. In quick succession, we see the aftermath of the explosion, and then Jed and C.J. drinking champagne at the reception. Toby and C.J. are watching this together, and she rightly thinks that this is pretty awful. Toby tells her to wait for the official statement. At that moment, the monitor switches to an image of Toby behind the podium saying, "We have no details. I'm hearing what you're hearing." Toby is frustrated that, out of all the things he said, that was the one statement the news channel (MSNBC, for those keeping score) picked up. C.J. tells him that at least he seemed engaged with the reporters in the room. Toby is being fairly dramatic, and C.J. is counseling him to take a breath and not to give the story any momentum. She then says something that is completely unintelligible to me (and I'm watching this on my uncle's fancy home-theater setup, so I can't even blame my own crappy TV for the sound problem). Annabeth walks up to the door of Toby's office and asks whether the Pentagon has released the name of the dead soldier. C.J. tells her that it can't be done until the family has been notified. Annabeth wonders if that really takes fifteen hours, but Toby tells her that the father has been notified, but that they are having trouble finding the mother. Annabeth says that she'll stick with "pending notification," but C.J. tells her that it's better just to say that the name is not released yet: "You give them 'pending notification,' they'll drag you into twenty questions about what's the snafu and why can't the army improve services to dependents." C.J. walks out of the room, and Annabeth asks, "'I'm hearing what you're hearing,' Toby?" He tells her that he already had this conversation with C.J. Annabeth: "At least your forehead wasn't as shiny." So he is using makeup.
Josh is meeting with Santos: "So what's up, Congressman?" His desire for you, Josh? Santos says that his bill died in committee. Josh exposits that they're talking about the Patients' Bill of Rights. They chit-chat a bit about the process, and then Santos tells Josh that he's "signing on to Strickman's bill." Josh continues to play exposition fairy by telling us that Strickman is a Republican. Santos already knew that -- he's a sharp one, that Santos. So Josh must love him for his brains as well as his dashing good looks. Josh thinks that Strickman just "calls his bill a Patients' Bill of Rights because it sounds better than 'Love Letter to the Insurance Industry.'" Strickman's bill limits HMO liability to $1.5 million, which Josh thinks is wholly inadequate. Santos agrees that it's a bad bill. Josh: "So why dignify it by making it bipartisan?" Santos claims he's only doing it because he doesn't think the bill will actually pass. Josh is worried that Strickman has something up his sleeve. Santos points out all the feature of any Patients' Bill of Rights that used to be considered outrageously radical, and are now considered to be part of the mainstream, including a right to the nearest emergency room or a woman's right to ob/gyn care. Santos says, "I want to keep these parties talking, Josh." Josh gets a coy look on his face and suggests, "So this is basically all a warm-up to announcing that you're gonna run." Santos firmly denies this, and then tells Josh he would appreciate it if the White House didn't beat up on him too badly for working with the Republicans. Don't worry, Matt -- Josh would never let anyone mess up that face.
Cut to Margaret's feet walking down some stairs as she counts her steps. She's in the fifties when the scene starts. (I mean that her count is in the fifties, not that she lives in the 1950s -- although with Margaret I do wonder.) Charlie is with her, but she tells him that there is no need for him to tag along. Charlie: "But it's my office." Margaret tells him that "probably, it's not." And then she expresses some disgust at the fact that they are in the basement. (Boy, Ainsley sure could have used Margaret's help back in the day.) Margaret doesn't think that being in the basement is good enough for Charlie now that he's Deputy Special Assistant to the Chief of Staff. He points out that five other people share that title, and that it only makes sense for him to share their space. Margaret: "They're not special Deputy Special Assistants. You're special." And then she throws up her hands and says, "Okay, no. It's outside the zone." Charlie: "There's a zone?" Margaret: "Less than a hundred steps from C.J.'s office." Charlie offers to run when C.J. calls, but Margaret points out, "Deputy Special Assistants don't run." I guess the other five guys must hop or sashay or something to get to C.J. when she calls. Except that I'm sure she never calls, seeing as how we've never seen a single one of these guys.
Cut to a monitor showing the same images of the attack and its aftermath that we saw earlier (but without the champagne clinking). We move to a close-up on a pair of hands tying some snazzy shoes. The hands belong to Leo, and we also see him putting on a tie and trying to put in his cufflinks. He drops one of the cufflinks, and painfully gets down on his knees to pick it up. It has rolled under a table, and the effort to reach for it is clearly uncomfortable. His nurse walks in behind him and runs over to pick up the cufflink, telling him that he should have called for her. Leo: "You want me yelling 'nurse' every five minutes?" She tells him, "I don't want you yelling 'nurse' at all. Do I call you 'patient'?" He goes on to pronounce her name as "Miss Chakravardi." In the absence of evidence to the contrary, I'm just going to go with a phonetic spelling -- apologies in advance to any South Asians in the audience. Miss Chakravardi is clearly of South Asian origin, although I would not want to speculate on what particular country she (or her parents) came from. She's upset with Leo for not having eaten, and orders him to sit back down at the table. He complies, but still doesn't eat anything. Miss Chakravardi tells Leo that he really doesn't need to wear a tie and jacket, but he is pretty clearly not going to change: "You may browbeat me into using the breast sperometer [?], you may mother me about wound care, you may dole out the vicodin like my AA sponsor, you may even entertain me with nutrition lectures; you may not, may not offer fashion advice." Well, he definitely has a point -- Miss Chakravardi's wearing one of those God-awful flowery smocks that so many nurses seem to wear nowadays. Why does every nurse seem to think that it's best to look like a bouquet? Is it so they can blend in with the flowers that have been delivered if they need to hide from a cranky patient? As Leo walks toward the door, Miss Chakravardi asks if she should come with him, but he declines the offer. Miss Chakravardi: "Then I'll time you." By this time, they are in the hallway of the hotel. She tells him that he's been doing ten minutes, and that he should try for twelve. So the point of all this getting dressed up was just for Leo to take some exercise in the hotel? He turns a corner and enters a stairwell. He's breathing hard already, and he grabs on the railing and contemplates climbing some stairs. He thinks better of it and then starts walking down a corridor. The blocking is odd here, because he did not climb any stairs, but he is also clearly not walking in the same corridor that he was just in. (I know because there is no maid in this hallway.)
Again, cut to a monitor showing attack footage. This time it's Donna who is watching. We learn from the coverage that two seriously wounded soldiers are at a hospital in Germany (presumably the same one at which Donna was treated), and that several others will be arriving at Walter Reed Medical Center in D.C. Donna tears herself away from the coverage and crutches back over to her desk. Josh is standing in her cubicle, and we just barely see him stick a card into a vase full of flowers on her desk. She asks him if he needs anything, and he asks her for some documents. He compliments her on her crutch ability (which is not the same as her clutchability). I think she has so much experience being a crutch to Josh that it should be pretty easy for her to learn how to use her own. He also asks her if she got a new cast. Donna: "Uh huh. Two weeks ago." Throughout this conversation, Donna is giving Josh a highly skeptical look. He tells her that the flowers are nice, "but come on, 'I'm not going anywhere'? From a photojournalist?" Donna's angry that Josh read the card, but he says that he's "keeping an eye on Blarney boy." She tells him that the flowers aren't from Hot Photographer. I think they're from Kate. She asks him why he was reading "[her] card on [her] flowers on [her] desk?" Josh says that he thought the flowers were for him. Just then, Josh is rescued by Will, who asks if he can have a minute with Josh.
Josh and Will enter Josh's office, and Will asks if Josh has been keeping up with Bingo Bob's schedule over the last few months. Apparently, he's been spending a lot of time dealing with health-care issues. (By the way, I'm back on my own TV now. I never realized before what a piece of crap it was.) Josh apologizes for not calling, and points out that Bingo Bob has been trying to use the Patients' Bill of Rights as a campaign issue. Will says that, "by Iowa, he's going to be smelling like patients' rights." That doesn't sound very appealing. Will is concerned that the issue will suddenly evaporate, the Senate having just passed a bill and a bipartisan effort taking place in the House. So wait, Will is concerned that the VP won't be able to campaign on the issue because a Patients' Bill of Rights might actually become law? Isn't this the same Will who ran a campaign for a dead man? I guess working in Washington really does destroy your idealism. Josh reassures Will that the Strickman bill will get nowhere, despite Santos's having signed on to it: "I spoke with Santos. He's going to keep it on a low flame." Josh promises Will that the issue will still be alive for Bob to use in the campaign.
Office of O. It's another riveting speakerphone scene. Jed is discussing the attack with "Madame Prime Minister." Based on the accent, I'm guessing she's not the Prime Minister of Romania. Jed is reassuring her that extra steps are being taken to protect the base from further attack. C.J. (who is also in the room) tells the PM that they still expect full deployment by March. As the call finishes, Debbie slips in behind Jed to hang up the speakerphone. (I knew he couldn't work that thing.) Jed walks over to a sofa and asks Debbie if they've contacted the dead soldier's family. Debbie: "It's still just the father, sir. I'll get him for you now." C.J. sits down to Jed and tells him that the Palestinian Authority discovered a stockpile of explosives. They both think it's good news that the PA actually told them about it.
As C.J. continues briefing Jed, Debbie approaches her desk. Charlie is still in their formerly shared office, watching news coverage. She tells him that she hates these calls, but declines his offer to turn off the TV. Debbie gets Mr. Godfrey on the phone, apologizes for disturbing his family at such a difficult time, and asks if she may put the President on the phone. You can just barely hear Mr. Godfrey say, "No, you may not!" He gives Debbie quite an earful (none of which we can really hear), and she is unable to finish a complete sentence as she tries to tell him that she understands, and that she will pass his message on to Jed. We do hear the sharp click as he hangs up on her. Debbie walks back into the Oval to tell Jed that Mr. Godfrey is not going to speak to him. Lily Tomlin acted the hell out of this brief scene. Commercials.
C.J.'s in the Sit Room, where a meeting is just breaking up: "Either I'm getting used to these meetings, or that wasn't all bad news." She's speaking to some military type, who expositions that thirty-six hours have passed without any additional attacks. He tells her that a chaplain joined the "casualty assistance officer" at the Godfrey family home: "Of course, the father still may speak out." C.J. is unfazed by this: "That's his prerogative." She tells the military type that she has a question about the troop-depletion estimate: "Or rather, the lack of estimate." He tells her that it is actually called "force depletion" and, when she characterizes it as an estimate of how many troops may be lost on the mission, tells her, "We don't break it down that way." C.J. is persistent, however, and Military Type eventually tells her that Leo liked DoD not to release the estimate until NSA had made its own estimate, so that the two estimates were reached independently. C.J.: "But you would share your estimate with Leo?" Military Type: "When he asked." C.J.: "I'm asking. How much of our force may be depleted?" Military Type hems and haws, but tells her that they are prepared to predict a loss of between one-quarter and one percent over twelve months. She puts that into human terms and asks him if he means that up to two hundred soldiers may be lost. That's some fast calculating. He says that it's not a body count, and that the depletion rate includes all of the military assets being used in the mission, such as munitions, buildings, and airplanes. He also tells her that it's too early to worry about the Dover test. C.J. (and LTG): "The Dover test?" He tells her that the term refers to "the erosion of public support based on the arrival of coffins at our airbase in Delaware." She informs him that she's not worried about the Dover test; she was just trying to understand the estimate. However, his reference to Dover has clearly made her think of something, because she excuses herself, hops on her phone, and asks Margaret if the press briefing has started.
It clearly has, because we jump to Toby in the Briefing Room. He's telling the reporters that the soldier's name has still not been released. Someone asks him if there's a problem identifying the remains, and when he declines to comment, there is a follow-up question on the same point. Annabeth is watching from the back of the room, making little comments to herself in response to reporters' questions. That's the reason I'm not allowed to watch other lawyers in court anymore. C.J. approaches Annabeth and asks whether Toby was briefed on Dover policy. Annabeth: "He said he didn't need to be." One reporter in particular is being especially hostile to Toby, and after Toby denies that there is an effort being made to stall on releasing the name, the reporter asks why the press is "being kept away from this slain soldier's homecoming at Dover airbase tomorrow." Toby responds that the Pentagon has had a policy of maintaining privacy at the Dover mortuary for thirteen years, but another reporter jumps on the issue and points out that the Bartlet Administration had previously allowed access. Toby tells them, "We issued a directive six months ago, not that any of you bothered to read it." In the back of the room, C.J. is distressed by Toby's response. The reporters seem distressed as well, wondering why they had not been told about the change in policy. Toby clarifies that "some people argued to announce a change." C.J.: "That would be me." Annabeth is muttering to herself, "Wrap it up, adios." Toby has a deer-in-the-headlights look on his face, and it becomes clear to the press that Toby didn't actually support the closing of Dover to the press. As the questions become tougher, C.J. tells Annabeth to shut down the briefing. In response to a question, Toby says, "Each life matters. Whether it's one or a hundred, access should be consistent." By this time, Margaret has walked up behind C.J. "You want him in your office?" C.J.: "Oh, yeah."
Donna is on the phone in her cubicle. She's not exactly whispering, but she is speaking pretty quietly: "Stop. [pause] I am not. [pause] Because, you're pressuring me." She's still going on like that when Josh walks up behind her, grabs the phone out of her hand, tells the caller that "no means no. Leave her alone," and hangs up. Donna is completely dumsquizzled, and she doesn't say a word as Josh asks her, "Who is this jerk? Some slacker from physical therapy? I'll kick his ass. And you can thank me for my chivalry." Hmmm. I guess one man's chivalry is another man's creepy possessiveness. By the way, David Fury should study this plotline to see how comic misdirection can be used to good effect.
Close-up on Gail in her fishbowl. Toby is waiting in C.J.'s office. She walks in behind him and asks, "Toby, how's that search for a press secretary coming?" He tells her that he got rattled, but she accuses him of being unable to keep his own personal opinion under wraps. He says that his opinion was the correct one. C.J. doesn't really care: "We settled on a message. I buried my own opinions out there every day." Toby wants to know why she was watching him from the back of the room: "Don't you have a White House to run?" C.J.'s upset that he wasn't able to hide his ambivalence toward the Dover policy, and fears that he won't be able to hide his ambivalence about the peacekeeping plan. Toby: "Are you questioning my loyalty?" C.J.: "I am questioning your self-control. If you can't stick to our message, I don't care if that podium stands empty, I don't want you out there again!" By the end, she is yelling, and she leaves Toby standing there as she storms away.
We see a door open up. Debbie and Margaret stick their heads into what appears to be a closet. Margaret says, "It is close to C.J." Debbie: "The President won't like it. On the other hand, he won't know." In the end, they decide that shoving Charlie into the closet is probably not such a good idea.
Will ambushes Josh in the corridor and tells him that two more Democrats have signed onto Strickman's bill. He thinks that Santos is bucking for the centerfold in Roll Call. I'm sorry, I need a minute. I'm trying desperately not to think of Barney Frank as a centerfold. Josh is still not concerned, until Will tells him that Santos lobbied hard for both Democrats to sign on: "Oh, and I misspoke before. It's not Strickman's bill anymore. It's the Strickman-Santos Patients' Rights bill." Now Josh is concerned, and he yells for Donna to get Santos on the phone. But then he decides to go see him in person. As he walks out of his office, he tells Will, "I'll set him straight." Will responds, "I'll back you up." Somehow, that is not very reassuring.
Some guy gets off an elevator. He takes a few steps down the hall, turns around, and says, "Leo?" We're in the corridor of Leo's hotel, and he is out taking his constitutional. Leo knows the guy, whose name is Otis. They chit-chat, and Leo says he knew that Otis wouldn't stay retired. Otis has obviously heard about Leo's heart attack, but tells Leo he looks great. We learn that Otis is currently working as Deputy Director of the WTO, but that he used to work at some company whose name I can never quite make out. For clarity's sake, we'll just call it, say, "Union Carbide." Otis asks Leo if he ever heard from Phil, who is CEO of Union Carbide. He thinks that if Leo doesn't go back to the White House, there would be a spot for him on Union Carbide's board. Just then, Miss Chakravardi steps out into the hallway. She tells Leo that she got worried about him. He clearly seems to be feeling some shame about his need to have someone take care of him.
Santos's office. Staffers scurry around like mad. Josh is sitting in the waiting area...waiting. Will is with him. I would like to point out that Santos seems to have an above-average number of cute guys working in his office. I'm just saying. Josh walks over to the receptionist, who tells him that Santos should be calling in as soon as he's available. When Josh asks him if Santos is in the building, the receptionist tells Josh "he's tied up." Oooh, kinky. So that's how Santos likes it. As Josh walks over to Will, they hear the receptionist answer the phone and put the call through to Santos. Will recognizes the caller's name -- it's some guy who runs a large health-insurance company, a company that is looking for a new chairman. Josh asks, "What do you want to bet our guy's up in Strickman's conference room right now, feathering his own nest?" Wait, is that some kind of sexual thing? Because I've been around the block a few times, and I've never heard of it. Will suggests that there's one way to find out.
In a large marble hallway, Santos steps out of a room with several other people. They're all laughing at something somebody just said. Josh and Will are standing in the hallway, and Josh calls Santos over to them. Is Josh trying to make Santos jealous by hanging around with Will? Santos apologizes for not seeing them. After Josh introduces Will, Santos says, "This isn't a good time right now, Josh. I'm gonna call you tomorrow." Wow, he is really playing it cool. Josh is not about to be treated this way, even if Santos is a dreamboat. He calls out, "Hey, Congressman, hold up," and then chases after him. When he catches up to Santos, he asks him, "What's going on?" Santos responds, "I'm busy right now." I really think I remember this scene from the eighth grade. Josh had better not come off too desperate here, or he will blow it for good. Will accuses Santos of whipping votes. (Not like that, perverts.) Josh tells Santos, "This isn't what we talked about." Santos: "But it's what I do." I think that's the political equivalent of "Aw baby, you know I love you. But I gotta talk to those other girls. It's just who I am." Josh talks about why he thinks the bill is crap, but Santos thinks it's "a foot in the door." He also makes clear that he thinks that the real reason Josh wants to fight against the bill is to help Bingo Bob: "It's not this bill you don't want. It's any bill. You'd let sick Americans suffer to help elect your candidate." Josh accuses Santos of just trying to position himself for a high-paying private-sector job after he leaves Congress: "I think you'd settle for less on this bill to set up your career move." Santos: "Settle for less? This is from the guys who's [sic] running Bob Russell for President?" And with that, he walks off to rejoin his Congressional playmates. Commercials.
Leo drops a letter onto a stack of brochures that are sitting on a side table in his hotel room. He's on his cell phone, saying "Yeah, it came today. You make quite a tag team." He's all Leo charm as he tells whoever is on the other end of the line that he "won't make a decision without giving [the caller] that chance." Miss Chakravardi is wearing a jacket, and she looks like she is about to leave. Leo waves to her to signal that it is okay for her to leave, but she waits for him to finish his call. When he finally hangs up, he asks her if she wasn't supposed to leave early that day. She tells him that she's supposed to be at a wedding, but that if she misses it she'll just explain to her family that she couldn't make it because her patient refused to eat. He tells her that he'll eat later, and she looks down at the brochures and asks him if he's taking a job. Leo: "Not without consulting you first." That was sarcasm, by the way. She tells him, "It's not wise." He accuses her of trying "to keep [him] under [her] thumb forever." Miss Chakravardi: "Yes, my dream is to stay here watching you starve to death." Leo thinks that if he takes a job, his appetite will return. She walks over to his nightstand and gives him instructions about what medications to take. As she walks back toward the door, he asks her, "Are you from [Bhopal]?" Miss Chakravardi: "I don't have to be, it's in my country." Leo says that he knows that a lot of people died there, but that "[Union Carbide] is a different company now." Miss Chakravardi thinks that the differences are only cosmetic, but Leo claims that the people who run the company now are better folks. She walks out the door, telling him, "I'm late. I'll call you to check in."
C.J. is talking with Annabeth about who is going to be appearing on various talk shows. Toby is in the room as well. C.J. is impressed that Annabeth refused to place someone on a show after he refused to let Annabeth prep him, telling her, "You go, girl. ...Do people still say that?" Annabeth: "Not really." What Annabeth really wants is to get C.J. on the Sunday talk shows. She also wants the President to attend Lieutenant Godfrey's memorial service, since Mr. Godfrey lives in D.C.: "Show of respect, Commander-in-Chief handing over the flag." C.J. points out that the funeral will be a private event, and that Mr. Godfrey is no fan of Jed. Annabeth: "The President has a 90% approval in the District." (Speaking of 90% and the District of Columbia, isn't it interesting that the people who probably know George W. Bush the best are the ones who voted against him the most? Just wondering.) C.J. nixes the idea, especially in light of the fact that Mr. Godfrey may be issuing a statement opposing the peacekeeping mission later in the day. Annabeth leaves, but Toby is wondering when C.J. was going to let them know about Mr. Godfrey's statement. C.J.: "I just did. Easier to say 'no comment' when you have no comment." Toby: "That used to piss you off." C.J.: "And now it's pissing you off." By the way, when Annabeth appeared, everyone accused her of being a replacement for Ainsley. But in light of all the press work she's doing, I think she's much closer to being a replacement for Mandy.
Josh's office. He's giving some instructions to Donna, telling her that someone needs to juice up the statement opposing the Patients' Bill of Rights. "I thought we wanted a Patients' Bill of Rights?" Josh: "Not this demon seed. The Republicans won't budge on the liability cap." They exposition that Santos has picked up eight more Democrats and a bunch of Republicans. Donna: "You want to distance the White House." Josh: "I want the White House in a different galaxy." Just then, Carol comes in and says that Annabeth was wondering if she could get a minute. Josh tells Carol that "Donna has something for her now." Carol: "It's Donna she needs. About the Dateline interview." Josh: "When am I doing Dateline?" Donna: "Never. I mean, I said no. On your behalf."
Leo is in his hotel room. A Republican member of Congress is on the television, speaking out against the peacekeeping mission. Leo drinks some water, presumably after having taken one of his pills. Leo's still in his suit. He lies down on his bed, still dressed, and after a few more minutes of Republican blathering, he turns off the television. A couple of seconds later, we hear the click of the door opening, followed by a childish giggle. Miss Chakravardi opens the door to Leo's bedroom. She's dressed in her exotic South Asian wedding finery. Leo asks her why she's there, and she tells him that she brought some food for him. It was at this point that I decided that in some South Asian language, "Miss Chakravardi" must mean "Carol Hathaway." Leo sits up and says, "You're a broken record." In the background, we see that Miss Chakravardi has a young child with her. Leo asks whether the child (whose gender I cannot determine) is Miss Chakravardi's "little one." Miss Chakravardi introduces the child to Leo. Leo has a really lovely smile on his face as he speaks to the child. He asks Miss Chakravardi about the wedding, and she asks him if he took his pill. He tells her that the food smells good, and she tells him that it's naan: "Still warm. Try it." Yeah, because magical ethnic food can cure anything. ["Dude, naan can. Especially when it has garlic on it." -- Wing Chun]
Donna knocks on the door of Annabeth's office and enters. (Despite the petition I received, I'm not going to call it Sam's office.) Donna asks whether Annabeth heard from Dateline, and then tells Annabeth that she already said no to them, along with three others. Annabeth clears a box off of a chair so that Donna can sit down, and tells Donna that now she's "got CAA calling." Donna: "What does the CIA want?" But Annabeth clarifies that it's CAA she's talking about -- the talent agency. Donna wonders if it's about the CBS thing: "I don't even want to do an interview, and now I'm a movie." Annabeth points out that it's a movie of the week, which means that it's much more likely to get made. And if it does, you can be sure I'll be recapping it. Unless Wing Chun can find some other poor sucker to take it on. Donna thinks it's ridiculous, but Annabeth isn't so sure: "Girl door, travels to a war-torn spot, survives a terrorist act to bring a message of peace to her president. It's heroic." I think I can see Tori Spelling starring in that. Donna wonders if it would be good for the peace plan. Annabeth thinks it might be, but since Donna would get paid for the rights, she would have to stop working at the White House. Donna immediately says, "Forget it," but then adds, "Paid how much?" They share a laugh. Donna wonders whether doing an interview would help alleviate some of the bad press the peace plan is getting. Annabeth thinks Donna would be great in an interview, and suggests that Donna talk to Toby. Donna thinks it might be better to speak with C.J.: "She'd know best." But as she's walking out of the office, she turns back and tells Annabeth, "The thing is, I wasn't heroic. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. But the soldier who was just killed, and the ones that were wounded -- those guys chose that. They volunteered for a job they knew would put them in harm's way. That's heroic." As Donna walks out, it's clear that Annabeth has an idea.
Toby walks up to Josh in the hallway and asks him whether he spoke with Will. Josh: "Just now." Toby: "Is he thinking pills or a razor? I know he's got a ledge in his office, but it's only on the second floor." He can use the ledge outside my office -- it's ten floors up. Josh accuses Toby of gloating. Toby: "Over a certain colleague's misfortune? Yeah, and I'm not ashamed about what it says about me as a person." Well, if I need a week off, I know where to look for a sub. They talk about how crappy the bill is, and Josh suggests that if it's not fixed in conference, Jed will have to veto it. There's a nice callback to last week when Josh suggests declaring "National Veto Month." Toby thinks it will be a hard bill to veto. Toby wonders if Josh has read the bill. Josh: "Yeah, I read it." Toby: "Lately? The Strickman-Santos bill the House just passed?" Toby hands Josh a few hundred pages and tells him to read the bill.
Just as Toby is about leave the White House, Annabeth catches up to him. He laments that he almost made "a clean getaway." She promises to only take a few minutes of his time. She has an idea that she thinks will be good for Jed and turn news coverage around. The catch is that she thinks Toby should be the one to pitch it to C.J. As he asks her for the pitch, we cut to the scene.
Leo is in bed, eating some naan. I have a hard time believing that a man who puts on a suit every day to walk in the hallway for ten minutes would eat in bed. (For a minute I thought I was getting this scene in smell-o-vision, but I just realized that one of my housemates is cooking some tortillas downstairs.) Miss Chakravardi is carrying her child (who I think is a son) and telling Leo the secret ingredient that makes the naan so tasty. He suggests that they market it, but she tells him that it has no shelf life, and that her aunt had to smuggle it in from the Punjab. When Leo suggests moving to the Punjab just to get good naan, Miss Chakravardi has to bring him down by telling him that even there the secret ingredient is disappearing, because most farmers now grow GMO corn. (GMO stands for "genetically modified organism.") Leo suggests that the farmers make better money growing GMO corn, but Miss Chakravardi responds that they also go into debt growing it. She picks up the brochure from Union Carbide, and tells Leo, "My uncle had to sell his land to pay off seed he can't replant engineered for chemicals he can't afford." Leo thinks that the advanced crops will feed the world, but she tells him, "People starve, because they are kept poor." He asks her whether Union Carbide is to blame for "Third-World corruption," and she says that she wasn't talking about Union Carbide. Leo says that open markets redistribute wealth in positive ways, but that "there are blind spots in the corporate view." He's drifting off to sleep, and as he does, he tells Miss Chakravardi that the reason he left the corporate world the first time was that, to corporate types, there was no such thing as "enough." Miss Chakravardi covers him with a blanket and leans down over him. It looks like she is about to kiss him on the cheek, but she just whispers something into his ear about how multinationals "replace small farmers growing many seeds with monocultures, and we all lose the means to feed ourselves." Leo is as puzzled by this as I am, as he says, "What?" She just smiles and says that he found his appetite. You know, I don't mind this show's preachiness when they are able to take complex issues and explain them in ways that the audience can understand. But this conversation was an example of the worst kind of political discourse on this show. Nothing in this discussion was going to give any new insight to people who already know something about the issues of GMO crops and monocultures, but anybody who didn't know anything about those issues before (which is most of the audience) couldn't possibly gain any new knowledge from this discussion. You can't leave a huge chunk of your audience saying "I don't get it," and still expect them to want to watch the show. Commercials.
Will and Josh meet in a hallway. Will asks Josh to reassure him that Jed won't sign the bill, but Josh points out that Santos got the liability cap raised to $5 million. Josh calls the bill impressive, but Will thinks he should be more impressed with everything Russell has done in his race for president, including raising $20 million and getting important endorsements. (By the way, Will's scenes are still getting short shrift from me.) Will claims that Bingo Bob is definitely going to be the nominee, "so get on board or get outta my way!"
C.J. runs into Toby in the hallway and complains to him about a negative editorial in the Times. He tells her that he wants to run something by her, and they walk off.
Focus shifts to Charlie, who is walking down the hall with a file box in his hands. Margaret is chasing after him, telling him that "C.J. won't like it," but he thinks it won't matter because "C.J. won't see it." Charlie walks into an office in which several other people are working, and says hello to them. Margaret complains that there isn't even a desk, but Charlie points out that there is one, under an enormous pile of papers. She asks what the papers are, and he tells her that they are "back-burner commission reports and policy issues no one's gotten around to yet." Margaret allows that the setup will be okay, "maybe, for the time being." Charlie tells her to call when she needs him.
Leo's hotel room. Miss Chakravardi knocks on the bathroom door and asks Leo if he fell in. I feel like that might be an acceptable question to ask of a six-year-old, but you should probably leave it behind when you're dealing with someone of Leo's age and dignity. She walks over to his desk and finds the Union Carbide brochures dumped in a trash can. Leo steps out and asks her if she's going through his trash. She responds by admiring his sweater, asking if it's cashmere. He walks over to the door and asks her if she's going to come along for his walk.
Annabeth, Toby, and Josh are meeting with C.J. Annabeth is suggesting that they set up a visit by Jed to the wounded soldiers who are at Walter Reed, with coverage by a small pool of reporters. Josh thinks it's a good idea, but is worried that they will look like they are taking advantage of the situation. C.J. thinks that is a possibility. Annabeth thinks it will shift the focus from casualties to the survivors of the attack. Josh thinks it would present a good opportunity for Jed to reiterate his request for a budget increase for veterans' services, but C.J. says, "We don't want to appear to exploit, or worse, actually exploit anyone." Toby thinks they can trust Jed to appear genuine. Annabeth points out that they have already spoken with the wounded soldiers, and that "they are all okay with it." C.J. says she'll recommend it to the President, "with one small adjustment."
Leo and Miss Chakravardi are walking down the hallway of the hotel. He tells her he hasn't decided not to work at all, but that he wants to take some time. He also asks her what's for dinner, which pleases her. Miss Chakravardi: "The body is predictable. One month after a bypass, the appetite returns. Soon your sleep will grow less disturbed, and your heart will quiet down." Leo: "My heart?" She tells him that he should have been hearing it beating, because in surgery they cut the sac that normally encloses it. In time, the cut will scar over and close on its own, but until that happens, most patients find that their hearts seem to pound. Leo: "I might miss the sound if I've gotten used to it." She tells him that it's "part of healing. Going on."
Josh enters Santos's office and says he owes Santos an apology. Santos stands up and offers Josh a beer. Yeah, he's trying to get him drunk. As Santos gets the beer, Josh chatters on about the maneuvering Santos must have gone through to get the cap raised in the bill. He does ask whether Santos let his own bill die on purpose to make this happen, or whether he just took advantage of the opportunity as it arose. Santos: "It didn't hurt the other day, in the hall, when you demonstrated my independence." Josh wonders why, with a recess coming week, Santos is sitting around drinking a beer: "Don't tell me you're already out of conference?" In fact, he is: "Something will be coming the President's way first thing tomorrow." Josh tells Santos, "You're too good at this. You can't just walk away." Santos: "Watch me." And as he walks away, Josh does watch him. He looks as good going as does coming, don't you think, Josh?
Jed's motorcade drives to Walter Reed. Jed and C.J. are sharing a limo, and he tells her he's glad they're doing this. C.J.: "Me too."
We cut to Jed walking down the hospital corridor with his Secret Service detail. Toby and Annabeth follow behind them. Toby tells Annabeth, "He took your suggestion." Annabeth: "Except for the press part." She complains that it's a "photo op with no photos." Toby falls back and walks with C.J. for a minute. He asks her, if no press is allowed, why she needed a Deputy Press Secretary to come along? C.J.: "I wanted her here. You knew cameras didn't belong in this, but you had her bring it to me anyway." Toby thinks C.J. is still trying to exercise control over the Press Secretary functions: "You can't do [your job] if you spend all your time guarding your old turf."
C.J. and Toby enter the hospital room in which Jed is speaking to the five wounded soldiers. Do wounded soldiers really get put five to a room in the hospital? Shouldn't these guys get at least semi-private rooms? We hear Jed softly speaking to one soldier, and the camera pans down to show that he has lost both legs at the knee. They briefly discuss his new prosthetics, and then the soldier says, "I want to go back, sir." I am soooo sure. C.J. is getting a little bit teary-eyed. Jed walks over to another soldier's bedside and shakes hands with him. Annabeth introduces Jed to another soldier, Lieutenant Martinez. When Jed asks if there is anything he can do, Lt. Martinez says, "How about a prayer?" Jed takes his hand, and the two of them start reciting the Lord's Prayer. C.J. gets a little verklempt and walks out of the room.
Toby walks out of the hospital and finds C.J. sitting on a bench. She tells him that she needed some air. C.J.: "That ain't no photo op. You knew that." Toby: "Now Annabeth knows that, too." C.J.: "You think I'm micromanaging?" Toby does. C.J.: "I don't want to let the President down." Neither does Toby. They talk about how young the soldiers are. Toby: "We're not gonna let the President down." Fade to black.