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Recapped by Deborah · Aired 04-03-2001

Previously on The West Wing: Jed made a deal with Abby: one term only; Toby was curious about the unusual actions of the Vice-President and wondered what VPOTUS knows that he doesn't; Toby pondered all this in his office, late one evening, as he bounced his little rubber ball.

We're still with Toby, that same night. He's still bouncing the ball. On one of its rebounds into his hand, he pauses for a moment. He's holding the ball, seized by a thought. He tosses the ball again. Fade out.

Two Nights Later: Toby's working on some writing at his desk. He crumples up one sheet of paper with some annoyance and tosses it into his garbage can.

Two Nights After That: Toby's typing away on his laptop and suddenly stops. The camera is behind the laptop, and quite close, so we just see Toby's eyes over the monitor. There's a lot going on behind those big brown eyes. He decides to wander over to Leo's office. Toby tells Leo he's been wondering why Hoynes volunteered to administer the smackdown to big oil. Leo says it's because of the poll Hoynes authorized. Toby wonders why Hoynes did the poll at all. Leo replies, "Because John Hoynes is an egomaniac who needs to be told what people think of him." Toby: "Well, that's pretty unusual for Washington." Toby asks Leo whether there's been any discussion, on any level, of dropping Hoynes from the ticket in 2002. Leo says there hasn't been. Toby's thinking of a possible Eisenhower/Nixon situation. Leo dismisses this. Leo has a hell of a poker face, I have to say. At this point there can be no doubt that he knows Toby is very close to figuring this out and yet he gives absolutely no indication. He calmly and casually continues processing the documents on his desk. Or maybe he really doesn't get that Hoynes knows about Jed's MS, or possibly even Jed and Abby's deal. In any event, remind me not to play poker with John Spencer. Toby seems to accept this and leaves.

The Night: we hear Toby's ball bouncing before we see him again in his office. He's still thinking.

The Morning: it's very early; most of the lights in the White House are still off as the custodial staff cleans the place. Leo comes in at his usual ungodly hour. I'm sure Toby is going to be waiting in his office. When Leo enters and turns on the light, there's Toby sitting on the couch. He gently says, "Hey." Leo doesn't react much (whereas I would have jumped out of my skin) but claims that Toby "scared the hell out of [him]." Toby starts to talk about Hoynes's poll again, and Leo brushes this off as related to Hoynes's likely bid for the Presidency in six years. Toby rightly wonders what good last week's poll will be in six years. Leo claims not to know. Toby's not really buying it, but says, "Okay," and leaves.

By Deborah

That Night: Toby stops in Leo's office again, mentioning that a VPOTUS has never challenged a sitting President for the office. Leo agrees that it hasn't. Toby asks whether Leo's seen Hoynes's itinerary for the weekend. Leo doesn't keep tabs on VPOTUS. Toby informs Leo that Hoynes is giving a speech called "Clean-Air Industry in the High-Tech Corridor of the Industrial Northeast" at a semiconductor plant. This gets Leo's attention, and he asks where the speech is being given. Toby tells him, "Nashua. New Hampshire." Leo thinks there's no way that, if Hoynes were doing what Toby suspects, he wouldn't try to disguise it better: "It wouldn't be an official trip. He'd make up a benign excuse to be up there." Toby tells Leo that the speech comes in the middle of a three-day camping trip to Killington. Leo looks slightly cornered. Toby asks, "Why does Hoynes think the President isn't going to run again?" As Toby waits for Leo's explanation, we begin to hear a percussive sound that mimics the sound of Toby's ball bouncing, and suggests the rhythm of a heartbeat. "What's going on, Leo?" Leo is stone-faced. Toby stands firm as he waits for an explanation. Compared to this quiet, brooding opening, the credits are almost jarring.

It's 11:35 PM. Leo enters the Oval Office, where POTUS is reading some documents. Jed tells Leo that he's closed the embassies in Brussels and Tanzania. Leo asks, "What about domestic?" Jed says he doesn't have to make that call yet; he's got about an hour. Leo explains that he has Toby waiting right now, and that they have to tell him. Jed, continuing to read, "Tell him what?" Leo doesn't say anything. When Jed looks at Leo, he realizes what he means. Leo firmly says, "We've gotta tell him." Jed removes his glasses and asks what happened. Leo explains that Toby has started to put two and two together. Jed seems to think Leo's overstating the case a bit, but Leo insists, "Toby's not an idiot. None of them are." Jed seems surprised that Hoynes scheduled a trip to New Hampshire. Leo says, "High-tech corridor of the Northeast." Jed: "Yeah, thanks to who?" Leo: "What does that matter right now?" Jed bangs his binder down on the desk. Leo tells him to look at this as an opportunity to gauge reaction. Jed doesn't think Toby's reaction will be the same as the public's. Leo meant the staff's reaction. Jed wonders what that will be. Leo: "I don't know. Shock, betrayal, confusion, concern about our future..." Jed asks what to tell Toby. Leo insists, "Everything." Jed stares at Leo very seriously for a moment, and then says, "Go get him." He sighs as Leo leaves. The camera moves around on Jed's face a little so that the portrait of George Washington appears, but is out of focus. Jed: "Now it starts."

Sam and Josh are in Sam's office looking over a speech. They're both in casual clothes, which makes me wonder if it's a weekend night, since I doubt that they bring casual stuff to change into on their interminable work days during the week. Josh and Sam seem unimpressed with what they're reading, and agree that it's supposed to be funny, but isn't. Josh says the people who worked on it "forgot to bring the funny." Josh asks how much time they have; Sam says he wants to show it to him (Toby? Jed?) within the hour. Josh sticks his head into Toby's office and says that he and Sam are going to stay and punch up some of the jokes for the Correspondents' Dinner. Toby obviously wasn't impressed with it either. Josh says that they forgot to bring the funny and asks whether Toby wants to help. Just then, Leo shows up, and Toby tells Josh that he'll hook up with them in a bit. Josh asks what's going on, but Leo tells him nothing.

As Leo and Toby leave, Donna zooms through the Communications area and says hello to Josh. He starts following her, asking whether she got the flowers. She did. Josh asks whether she liked them. She flatly says that they were very pretty. She's really cruising along, and Josh is walking backwards ahead of her, so that he can look at her. Josh: "Do you know why I sent them?" Donna: "I know why you think you sent them." He says it's their anniversary. She states that it is not. He claims, "I'm the sort of guy who remembers those things." Donna: "No, you're the sort of guy who sends a woman flowers to be mean. You're really the only person I've ever met who can do that." Josh: "I'm quite something." He insists that sent them to mark an occasion. Donna, rankled, inquires, "Are we really going to do this every year?" Josh: "For I am a man of occasion." They're back at her desk by now, and Donna says that she started working for him in February, this is April, and he's an idiot. Josh says she started working for him in February, then stopped for a while, then started again in April, and that's the anniversary he chooses to celebrate: "Because that's the only one where you started working for me and it wasn't followed by your not working, but rather going back to your boyfriend. And how, in comparison to that, and him, you can call me 'mean' is simply another in a long series of examples..." Donna interrupts with real exasperation, "Oh, shut up! Honest to God, you ever get tired of the sound of your own voice?" He walks off toward his office saying in a sarcastic tone, "No! No, no, no." Donna asks where he's going. He tells her that he and Sam are going to punch up the speech. "Hey...we need funny people." Donna, brightening, "Yeah?" Josh: "You know any?" Honestly, Donna, you couldn't see that coming and get of its way? Josh tells her that's the oldest joke in the book as she walks away in disgust. She agrees. Josh follows her into her cubicle as he hollers, "You know what, Ado Annie? I sent you flowers! I think what you're trying to say is, 'Why, thank you, Josh! They're beautiful. How thoughtful of you. Not many bosses would have been that thoughtful.'" He's near the bouquet and gestures toward it as he speaks. It's a nice enough bouquet, I suppose, with some irises and a few other flowers, but I think I see a carnation or two in there. Ick. Donna: "Really?'Cause I think what I was trying to say is, 'Shove it.'" Josh: "Okay, well, then, I guessed wrong." Donna asks whether he wants help with the thing. He says, as he affixes his signature to something she's handed him, "Yes, I do, because you are such an hysterically funny person. Did you notice how I used 'an' there properly?" (And to add to the burgeoning list of Nurseable Grudges, I'd just like to say that despite my fondness for correct and traditional grammar and language usage, using "an" before a word with an aspirated "h" bugs the crap out of me. I'll say "an historical novel" when proponents of such say "an hockey stick.") She says, "Yes I did." She's trying for "sarcastic" but seem to have gotten off the bus at "weakly flirtatious." Josh says that she cracks him up. Donna says, "You know there are times when, to put it quite simply, I hate your breathing guts." No one, especially Donna, believes this. She snatches the file out of his hands and hustles off. Josh, puts his hands up on the crossbar of her cubicle and kind of hangs there as he calls out, "So the flowers really did the trick, huh?" She grumbles, "Oh, yeah," as she buzzes offscreen.

Ainsley's working in the Steam Pipe Distribution-whatever-it-is also known as her office. We hear Sam yelling her name from the hallway as he descends the stairs toward her office. She ignores him until he's right in her office asking, "Didn't you hear me shouting?" She says she did, but that she chose to ignore him. Sam: "Why?" Ainsley: "Because you were shouting." Sam taps a rolled-up paper against his thigh in irritation: "You're adorable." No, not really. Ainsley: "Yet ill-adored." She keeps typing; she's wearing an FBI sweatshirt. Sam: "Go figure." He asks what she's doing; she says she's going to Smith College tomorrow -- her alma mater -- because the Women's Studies Department is having a panel on resurrecting the ERA. Sam asks who else is on the panel; Ainsley replies, "Rebecca Walker, Gloria Steinem, Ann Coulter, Naomi Wolf..." Sam remarks casually that something like forty percent of all women opposed the ERA, and that, in his entire life, he's never met one of them. Ainsley extends her hand to Sam and says, "Ainsley Hayes. Pleased to meet you." Quietly and with real distaste, Sam says, "You're not." She says she is. He repeats, "You're not." She says "yes" again. Sam, loudly: "You're not, you're not, you're not one of those people!" Ainsley, "Sam, if by 'one of those people,' you're referring to Episcopalians..." Sam asks, "You're going back to Smith College, the cradle of feminism, to argue in opposition to the Equal Rights Amendment?" Ainsley: "And to get some decent pizza, yes." Sam announces that they're going to hate her. Ainsley: "Sam, I'm a straight Republican from North Carolina. You don't think they hated me the first time around?" Hee. She asks what he's doing. He explains that he's punching up some jokes and is looking for any funny people left in the building. He couldn't find any, so he came to her.. Ainsley sweetly says, "I would think, Sam, with your infectious sense of humour, you'd have no trouble." He asks whether she wants to help or not. She says that she needs to do her own work. Sam, already well-acquainted with Ainsley's tapeworm, mentions that they've ordered Chinese food. Ainsley: "Okay." As she wiggles past him, Sam resists the urge to smack her with his rolled-up paper.

By Deborah

Josh says she started working for him in February, then stopped for a while, then started again in April, and that's the anniversary he chooses to celebrate: "Because that's the only one where you started working for me and it wasn't followed by your not working, but rather going back to your boyfriend. And how, in comparison to that, and him, you can call me 'mean' is simply another in a long series of examples..." Donna interrupts with real exasperation, "Oh, shut up! Honest to God, you ever get tired of the sound of your own voice?" He walks off toward his office saying in a sarcastic tone, "No! No, no, no." Donna asks where he's going. He tells her that he and Sam are going to punch up the speech. "Hey...we need funny people." Donna, brightening, "Yeah?" Josh: "You know any?" Honestly, Donna, you couldn't see that coming and get of its way? Josh tells her that's the oldest joke in the book as she walks away in disgust. She agrees. Josh follows her into her cubicle as he hollers, "You know what, Ado Annie? I sent you flowers! I think what you're trying to say is, 'Why, thank you, Josh! They're beautiful. How thoughtful of you. Not many bosses would have been that thoughtful.'" He's near the bouquet and gestures toward it as he speaks. It's a nice enough bouquet, I suppose, with some irises and a few other flowers, but I think I see a carnation or two in there. Ick. Donna: "Really?'Cause I think what I was trying to say is, 'Shove it.'" Josh: "Okay, well, then, I guessed wrong." Donna asks whether he wants help with the thing. He says, as he affixes his signature to something she's handed him, "Yes, I do, because you are such an hysterically funny person. Did you notice how I used 'an' there properly?" (And to add to the burgeoning list of Nurseable Grudges, I'd just like to say that despite my fondness for correct and traditional grammar and language usage, using "an" before a word with an aspirated "h" bugs the crap out of me. I'll say "an historical novel" when proponents of such say "an hockey stick.") She says, "Yes I did." She's trying for "sarcastic" but seem to have gotten off the bus at "weakly flirtatious." Josh says that she cracks him up. Donna says, "You know there are times when, to put it quite simply, I hate your breathing guts." No one, especially Donna, believes this. She snatches the file out of his hands and hustles off. Josh, puts his hands up on the crossbar of her cubicle and kind of hangs there as he calls out, "So the flowers really did the trick, huh?" She grumbles, "Oh, yeah," as she buzzes offscreen.

Jed, Leo, and Toby are sitting in serious silence, when Toby finally asks, rubbing his head, "What does 'relapsing remitting' mean?" Jed's not quite sure how to explain it, but states that "it's the 'good kind' of MS." Sort of like non-Hodgkin's is the good kind of cancer. Toby: "It's the good kind." Jed explains, "As opposed to secondary progressive." Toby: "Which is the bad kind." Jed elaborates: "MS is a chronic disease of the central nervous system. Symptoms can be as mild as numbness or as severe as paralysis." Toby adds, "And loss of vision." Jed agrees. Toby: "And cognitive function." Jed: "Yup." Toby: "Is it...I'm sorry, is it fatal?" Jed says it isn't, and that's the good news. The bad news is that there's no cure. Toby knew that. Toby ventures, "Does relapsing re-" Jed: "Ever turn into secondary progressive? Sure." Toby wonders whether there's any way of telling that it's going to do so. Jed says that there isn't. Toby kind of scratches his face and rubs his head as he stands up. He then says, "I'd like to stand up. Can I stand?" Jed's fine with that. Charlie knocks and sticks his head in; Leo signals Charlie to wait before he says anything. Toby's wandering slowly around the room and says, "I'm sorry sir, uh...I need to...can I, uh...excuse me." He exits to the patio area outside the Oval Office. Jed and Leo watch him go. He stands on the patio, rubbing his head vigorously. It looks almost as if he might be crying, but I'm pretty sure he's not. Charlie tells Jed that there's a call from a Mr. Gareth at the FAA. Leo tells Charlie to put the call through to his office, and tells Jed he can take it in there. Jed leaves, with a concerned glance in Toby's direction. Toby's still rubbing his head as he processes all of this.

Over in the Roosevelt Room, Josh, Donna, Larry, and Ed are attempting to "bring the funny," an expression that gets beaten into the ground in this episode. I just want to say that, if you're trying to "bring the funny," you really need C.J., and since she's not in this episode, it's a damn shame. Donna's working on what she calls some "go-to" jokes, along the lines of "I haven't seen an audience this dead since..." Josh asks, "You think the President's going to get heckled?" She thinks, having read the speech, that they'd be wise to stock up on dead-audience metaphors. Because, when jokes aren't working, those always get big laughs. Yeah. Josh reads from the speech: "I expect I'll be stuck here tonight with my share of verbal harpoons. I don't mind. Just don't stick me with the dinner check." Oh, good grief. Sam wanders in and Josh recites the line to him. Sam says, "I know, it's like he's playing Grossinger's." Donna reads: "I know some of you are troubled by my frequent use of Latin references. Well, all I can say is: no te preocupas." Larry (or Ed -- somebody tell me which is which) says, "The joke there is that it's in Spanish." The other one, Ed (Larry?) says, "It's that kind of Latin." Donna suggests that they'll need the first dead-audience joke there. Josh says that they won't need any such jokes. Ainsley has recently entered the room, and as she dumps some Chinese food onto a plate, asks Donna, "Who gave you those lovely flowers?" Josh quickly mentions several times that they're from him, and that they're for their anniversary. Donna interjects, "Our not-anniversary." Josh says that Donna doesn't like to talk about it. She really doesn't. Sam obliviously volunteers, "A few years ago, Donna's boyfriend broke up with her, so she started working for Josh. But then the boyfriend told her to come back, and she did, and then they broke up, and she came back to work." Donna looks wounded and Josh looks regretful, rubs his head, inhales sharply, and kind of wanders away. Donna gives Sam a gesture like, "What the hell did I just say?" Sam says, "I thought you meant you didn't want to talk about it. I'm a spokesman. It's in my blood." Ainsley tells Donna that they're nice flowers. Larry (or Ed) starts to read a joke directed at Bill Maher, but Sam quickly interjects that they're not making fun of the host. Why the hell not? He's certainly a deserving target. ["Word." -- Wing Chun] Ainsley asks, "Who are we making fun of?" Everyone in the room: "Republicans." Sam tosses this out: "I only wish the Speaker were here tonight, but he's held up in negotiations on the Hill. He's demanding a his latest pre-nup include a line-item veto." Josh enthusiastically says, "There it is!" Sam suggests that they work in two groups, gesturing to Donna and Josh. Ainsley's standing to Sam, and says that she wants to be in the other group. Sam: "Why?" Ainsley: "The kung pao chicken." Sam orders her, once and for all, to seek medical help for her tapeworm, and pronto. Well, actually he just tells her to get the chicken and come back. He tells everyone, "In half an hour, I want to make Toby laugh." That's going to be harder than you think, Sam.

On the patio, Leo brings Toby his drink. Leo answers one of Toby's unasked questions by mentioning that he found out about a year ago, when POTUS had his attack two nights before the State of the Union. Toby obviously hadn't realized that incident was an attack; he thought it was the flu. Leo wanders back into the Oval Office and Toby follows him, asking how it's possible that this has been kept a secret. He also wants to know who else knows. Leo tells Toby he's the sixteenth person to find out. Toby wants to know who else; Leo says he'll tell him some of them, but not all of them. Toby wants to know why not; Leo replies, "'Cause it's not entirely my business. I'm not entirely sure of my footing here." He adds that Jed will be off the phone in a minute, and in the meantime, Toby can take what he's willing to give him. Toby bristles a little: "It's not entirely your business?" Leo says, "The First Lady, the doctor, the radiologist, the specialist, the kids..." Toby wants to know who else. Leo says that's it for now. Toby points out that Jed took a physical. "Those doctors were from eight years ago. He took a physical. It's in remission..." Leo says it doesn't show up during a physical. He insists that nobody lied. Toby: "Nobody lied? Is that what you've been saying to yourself over and over again for a year? Leo, a deception of massive propor-- Leo, I can't even...He gets a physical twice a year at Bethesda. Those officers are naval officers. Are you telling me that officers are involved in this? Those guys are going to be court-martialled." Leo's getting annoyed. "Toby, listen to me. Nobody lied. Nobody was asked to lie." Toby says, "Coercion." Leo reiterates that no one was asked to lie. Toby quietly says, "Officers, the First Lady, surgeons, Surgeon Generals, for all I know." Just then Jed comes back in, and his vision might be endangered but his hearing sure isn't: "The plural of Surgeon General isn't Surgeon Generals. It's Surgeons General, like Attorneys General or courts martial." He's right, of course. (This particular mistake is another peeve of mine; hearing people say things like "mother-in-laws" drives me nuts.) Hmm...any special reason you picked those particular examples, President Bartlet? He takes a drink and says, "Nobody was asked to lie," and firmly sets down his glass. He mentions that he was speaking to Gareth from the FAA; upon interrogating Nessam, they believe it's possible that another rental car crossed the border yesterday, headed for a safe house in New Jersey. The FBI thinks that they can apprehend the suspect in twenty-four hours, but that the only way that can happen is if Nessam's telling the truth: "So who wants odds?" Jed pours another drink as he mentions that they're still looking at forensic evidence, and that they'll speak again in a few minutes to decide whether there's a credible threat. Toby listens to all of this with kind of a frosty look that trails off into a slightly vacant one. Toby realizes the Jed has stopped speaking; it kind of nudges him back into the present moment, and he says, "I'm sorry, sir, I didn't hear that." Jed repeats himself. He tries to sound casual, but doesn't entirely succeed: "Why? What are you guys talking about?" The camera is close behind Toby's head, so that we see Leo on his left, and Jed on his right, over each shoulder. Like good angels and bad angels? Man, it's already time for more commercials.

Josh wanders over to the Oval Office and asks Charlie, who's sitting at his desk reading, whether he knows how much longer Toby will be. He doesn't. Josh asks him to tell him whether the line-item veto joke is funny. Charlie claims to think it's pretty funny (although he doesn't actually laugh), but says that he wouldn't do it, because it will call attention to the fact that the First Lady isn't there. Through a mouthful of Chinese food, Josh asks where FLOTUS will be. Charlie says that she's gone back to Manchester. Josh asks Charlie what's going on. Charlie just glances at him like, "You know I can't get into that." Josh says, "Sorry." Josh asks again whether Charlie knows when Toby will be out, but he still doesn't. Josh leaves. I wish I recognized the book Charlie's reading. ["Me too! I thought maybe a Stanley Kubrick biography, but that doesn't seem like something Charlie would like." -- Wing Chun] It has a large photo of a bespectacled man on the cover. (If you know what it is, post in the thread for this episode, please.) [Mystery solved: it's The Cornel West Reader.]

Back in the Roosevelt Room, Josh enters and loudly claps his hands, announcing, "All right! Here we go!" Sam is walking around reading from a book: "Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state on account of sex." Ainsley listens with an incredibly smarmy look on her face. Josh, puzzled, asks, "What's the joke?" Sam says, "It's not a joke." Ainsley tells him it's the ERA. Josh asks, "When'd that come back?" Donna hands him some papers and tells him to read what "these guys" have come up with. Maybe she doesn't know which one is Larry or Ed, either. Sam repeats, "'Shall not be abridged or denied on account of sex.' Very dangerous language. This must be stopped. What could possibly be your problem with the ERA?" Ainsley's looking through a book of ten thousand jokes, and blithely replies, "It's redundant." Josh wonders why they're talking about the ERA. Sam says, "She's doing a thing." Josh, nervously, "Yeah, but it's not back or anything, though, is it?" Sam responds, "Certainly not if Phyllis Schlafly over here has her way." Ainsley gets up and says, "I'm a low-maintenance lady." Snort! Yeah, me too. "I've got the Fourteenth Amendment, I'm fine -- the Fourteenth Amendment, which says that a citizen of the United States is anyone that's born here (that's me), and that no citizen can be denied due process. I'm covered. Make a law for somebody else." Yeah, the Fourteenth Amendment's doing a hell of a job for all American women. Don't get me started...I just wrote and erased a long rant here because, you know, I realize most of you are probably reading this at work and I understand you want to get home eventually, unlike those who work in the White House. Josh interrupts with another possible joke: "I hear the Bloomberg party's going to be hard to get into this year, but I'm not worried. I'm going to the party with the 82nd Airborne." Nobody laughs. Donna says, "And the President says, 'Wow, I haven't heard a room this quiet since we lost the signal on Galileo." Josh replies, bellowing near the end, "Or, 'Wow, I haven't seen my staff update their résumés this quickly since the last time I tanked at the Correspondents' Dinner!'" Donna tells Josh that when he yells, he makes it harder for people to "find the funny." He says, "Hey, who gave you those flowers on your desk?" Donna says, "A mean man who can't read a calendar." Josh beckons Sam aside. Near the doorway, Sam tells Josh that they're doing okay, and that Toby will come in soon and nail it. Josh tells Sam to cut the Speaker joke, because FLOTUS might not be at the dinner. They try to reassure each other that they're doing okay. Sam calls out, "We're doing great, everybody, right?" Larry/Ed says, "Sam, we've got one here, but it involves a John Wayne impersonation and a sock puppet." Sam looks at Josh and says, "Yeah, we're eating it."

Back in the Oval Office, Toby and Jed are sitting opposite each other on the sofas. Toby softly says that Leo mentioned that Jed had an attack last year. Jed confirms this. Toby asks if that wasn't the same night they saw satellite pictures of India moving on Kashmir, and Jed confirms this, too. Toby states that India and Pakistan were facing off, and that the threat of nuclear weaponry was raised: "So in the middle of -- I don't know what you call it..." Jed, a little testily: "An episode." Toby continues: "You were in the Situation Room as Commander-in-Chief?" Jed: "I know. I can't believe we're all still here." He points out that the episode was over, and that Leo was with him, as were the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, and the Secretaries of State and Defense. Toby asks whether Jed receives medication. Jed says that he takes injections of Betaseron. Toby: "From whom?" Jed: "From a doctor." Toby replies, "None of your current doctors are aware of your condition. Mr. President. Is your wife medicating you?" Jed responds, "I think it would be best, while temperatures are running a little high, that you refer to my wife as 'Mrs. Bartlet' or 'the First Lady.'" Toby says, "Yes, sir."

Just then, Leo comes back in and tells Jed that the FAA would like a few more minutes and hands him a sheaf of papers. Jed sets down his glass, stands up, and asks Leo to talk him through the meaning of heightened security. They chat about that for a moment, and then Jed tells Leo, "Toby's concerned that the peaceful solution I brokered in Kashmir last year was the result of a drug-induced haze." Leo tells Toby, "I was there with him. So was Fitz. So was Cashman, Hutchinson, Berryhill..." Toby: "Well, that's fantastic. None of you were elected." Jed says, "I was elected. They were appointed. The Vice-President was elected. He has the Constitutional authority to assume my office." Toby objects, "Not last May, he didn't. He didn't last May when you were under general anaesthesia..." Jed: "That's 'cause I never signed the letter, but I don't think I got shot because I got MS." Toby doesn't think so either: "I meant that, during a night of extreme chaos and fear, when we didn't yet know if we'd been the victims of domestic or foreign terrorism, or even an act of war, there was uncertainty as to who was giving the national security orders, and it was because you never signed a letter! So I'm led to wonder, given your condition and its lack of predictability, why there isn't a simply a signed letter sitting in a file someplace, and the answer, of course, is that if there was a signed letter sitting in a file someplace, somebody would ask why. The Commander-in-Chief had just been attacked. He was under a general anaesthetic. A fugitive was at large. The manhunt included every federal, state and local law enforcement agency. The Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware National Guard units were federalized. The KH-10s showed Republican Guard movement in southern Iraq, and twelve hours earlier, an F-117 was shot down in the no-fly, and the Vice-President's authority was murky at best!" Leo and Jed are listening to all of this somewhat uncomfortably. What can they say? He's right. Jed walks to his chair behind his desk. Toby continues: "The National Security Advisor and the Secretary of State didn't know who they were taking their orders from! I wasn't in the Situation Room that night but I'll bet all the money in my pockets against all the money in your pockets, that it was Leo, who no one elected!" Leo's downcast glance gives it away. Toby adds, "For ninety minutes that night, there was a coup d'état in this country." I think Toby's just getting warmed up here. I also think that maybe Jed and Leo regret making him number sixteen. He pauses, and Jed finally says, perhaps a bit too nonchalantly, "And the walls came tumbling down. I feel fine, by the way. Thanks for asking." Good point. Leo says, "Sir..." Jed: "No, Leo, Toby's concern for my health is moving me in ways --" Toby tries to interject: "Mr. President..." Jed furiously tosses the file he's holding and shouts, "Shut up!" Toby has a fearful look in his eyes, but tries to control his expression. Jed walks up in front of Toby and declares, "You know, your indignation would be a lot more interesting to me if it weren't quite so covered in crap!" Just then Charlie interrupts to tell him Gareth is on the phone again. Charlie leaves and Jed asks Toby, "Are you pissed because I didn't say anything or are you pissed because there were fifteen other people who knew before you did? I feel fine, by the way. Thanks for asking." Actually, I think Toby's pretty mad about both those things. Jed walks away and we see Leo looking shellshocked; he puts his hand to his forehead for a moment. Leo finally tells Jed to take the call in the Oval Office, adding that he and Toby will step outside for a moment. Jed glares at Toby; Toby doesn't flinch, but follows Leo out. Jed takes the call: "Yeah, this is the President."

By Deborah

In the hallway, Sam suggests, "You know, we should make a joke about women, since there's no law against that, or [against] paying them less money than men." Ainsley counters that there is a law against that: 1964's Pay Equity Act, passed when women were making fifty-nine cents to a man's dollar. Sam: "What are you making now?" Ainsley, pretty cheerfully: "Seventy-nine cents." Sam: "So, everything's fine." Yeah, we've come a long way, baby. At that rate of change, I expect that we'll close the gap right after I retire, so I will in no way benefit from it. Ainsley says that there are still some problems, but that she's not worried, because the federal government's coming to the rescue. She asks, "You think pay disparity is 'cause some sexist in Human Resources hired two people for equal positions and paid the man more?" Sam tries to say something but Ainsley continues, "And oftentimes women make less money over the course of their lifetimes because they choose to." Yeah, and people choose live in crime-ridden ghettos because really, who wants to mow a big lawn every weekend? Or clean a big pool? So tiresome. Sam: "Oh, goodnight nurse, they don't choose to make less money. They're financially punished for having kids." Ainsley insists they make a choice to have kids. Because one of their other choices is for the men to get pregnant. ["Ainsley is correct that women choose to take unpaid leave from work to look after children (as opposed to regular maternity leave around the time of the baby's birth) in much higher numbers than men do. I thought perhaps she meant that when women take time off from full-time paid work, it skews the average wage for women overall -- like, if I never take a minute off from full-time paid work throughout my whole career, but my sister has a baby and takes three years off during which she earns no wage at all, it would bring down the average wage just between the two of us compared to two men who never took any time away from full-time work. But I'm not sure how the government figures out those numbers -- I mean, whether they take into account a person's whole working life, or what." -- Wing Chun] Sam points out, in reference to the issue of reproductive choice, "Well, not necessarily if you guys have your way, but that's a different can of tuna." Oh lord, don't mention food to this woman. Sam continues, "I flat-out guarantee you that if men were biologically responsible for procreation, there'd be paid family leave in every Fortune 500." As they reach the mess, finally, Ainsley says, "Sam, if men were biologically responsible for procreation, they'd fall down and die at the first sonogram." Sam: "If the Amendment's redundant, what's your problem if it's passed or not?" As they gather dishes, Ainsley replies, "Because I'm a Republican! Have we met? I believe that every time the federal government hands down a new law, it leaves for the rest of us a little less freedom. So I say, let's just stick to the ones we absolutely need to have water come out of the faucet and our cars not stolen. That is my problem with passing a redundant law." Having filled a tray with dishes, she asks, "Sam? The all-night pastry chef? You were just kidding about that, right?" Sam admits that he was. She shoves the tray at him in mild annoyance. He doesn't look as pleased with himself as I would. But then, if I were lusting after a smarmy Republican, I guess maybe I wouldn't look all that pleased with myself either.

Toby's back out on the patio, sitting on a bench, head in hand. Leo comes up and tells him that POTUS is still on the phone. Toby could care less. He doesn't say that, but we all know it. He asks Leo to confirm that Hoynes knows -- that he's one of the sixteen. Hoynes knows, and Leo assumes that Hoynes must think there's a chance that Jed won't run again. Toby asks whether Jed will run again. He also asks where FLOTUS is; Leo says that she's in Manchester. Toby's wondering why she came to him after the State of the Union, and why she's mad at the President. He reasons it out to himself: the State of the Union speech set up the re-election bid, and, for some reason, she thinks that's not supposed to happen. Toby laments: "I have no kind of investigative mind. Zero. It took me six days and twenty-three minutes to figure it out." Leo says that Jed will run. Toby says, "Yeah, yeah 'cause we stood in that office a couple of months ago, you and I, and you said, 'Take my hand,' and we just...never mind." He leans back and put his hand on his head again. He figures Hoynes was the fourteenth to know, and wonders who was fifteenth. If Hoynes was fourteenth, that means he found out after Leo did, and if Hoynes only found out in the last year...that doesn't make sense to me. Leo tells him that the fifteenth person is Dr. David Lee, the anaesthesiologist who treated Jed after the shooting, because he had to know about the Betaseron. Leo starts to return to the issue of Hoynes, but Toby interrupts, saying, "I'm sorry, Leo, but I need you to look at me right now and tell me that the doctor's not under some kind of surveillance." Leo says that the doctor's free to talk to whomever he likes. Toby's sure they'll find that out soon enough. Leo assures him the doctor's not going to leak it. Toby thinks that someone will; he argues that Hoynes wanted Toby to find out, leaving breadcrumbs and arranging speeches in the middle of camping trips. Leo thinks that was a "jackass move." Toby's not so sure; he thinks maybe Hoynes is the only one around who's acting responsibly. Leo: "To who?" Toby: "The Democratic Party. Seven and a half months to the Iowa caucus and no one's been told the President might not be the nominee!" Leo insists that he's going to run. Toby thinks that he may not have that option. Leo says, "When this story breaks, it will be because we broke it, and we'll control it. And the public will accept it. It's not like it's unprecedented that a President conceal health issues." Yeah, good luck with that. Leo asks Toby to tell him what he think is going to happen. Toby: "I suppose one of five things. The President can decide not to run. He can run and not win. He can run and win." Leo impatiently asks, "And? What are the other two?" Toby says, "Leo..." Leo: "You think he's going to need to resign?" Toby says that there would be hearings upon hearings. Leo asserts that he hasn't broken a law. Charlie appears to tell them that the President's on his way back. After Charlie leaves, Toby tells Leo: "Says you. And you don't have to break the law to get served with articles of impeachment." Leo contends that it will never get that far. Toby tells him to make a note of the exact date and time he said that. He leaves Leo standing on the patio. ["Burn." -- Wing Chun]

sex we're allowed to have sex with, or a woman's right to choose, but don't you dare try to regulate this deadly weapon I have concealed on me, for that would encroach against my freedom." Ainsley: "Yeah? And Democrats believe in free speech as long as it isn't prayer while you're standing in school. You believe in the Freedom of Information Act except if you want to find out if your fourteen-year-old daughter's had an abortion..." Sam says, "We believe in the ERA." Ainsley replies, "Well, go get 'em." Sam asks, "How can you have an objection to something that says..." Ainsley responds, "Because it's humiliating! And I'm good enough at that without any help from the Constitution." No, not that second sentence. She continues: "A new amendment that we vote on, declaring that I am equal under the law to a man. I am mortified to discover there's reason to believe I wasn't before. I am a citizen of this country. I am not a special subset in need of your protection. I do not have to have to have my rights handed down to me by a bunch of old, white men. The same Article Fourteen that protects you, protects me. And I went to law school just to make sure. And with that, I'm going back down to the mess, because I thought I may have seen, there, a peach." Larry and Ed regard Sam in silence; Sam states, "I coulda countered that, but I'd already moved on to other things in my head."

Donna finds Josh in his office, precariously perched on some boxes, reaching way above his head to get something off a haphazardly loaded shelf. When she says his name, he fumbles and manages to pull about twenty large binders down on himself. He says, "That was predictable." He really is a very accident-prone dude. Donna agrees. He claims he's trying to find the speech Sam mentioned. The one about government-wide accountability? Donna points out that they keep them on computer. Josh starts to pick up the binders and says, "Yeah, well, sure, I suppose..." Donna stoops down to help him and says, "Except you don't know how to use a computer.: Josh: "Right." Donna: "Josh, Josh, Josh." Josh: "Yes?" Donna: "Joshua, Josh, Josh." He asks with a nervous but adorable grin, "What the hell is happening now?" Actually, he's pretty adorable throughout this scene. Donna states, "You feel, because you're quite addle-minded, that this job was my second choice." Josh replies, "Hey, I'm just grateful we were your last choice." Donna says, "I'm going to give you a little gift right now, which you don't deserve." Josh: "If you've got your old Catholic-school uniform on under there, don't get me wrong, I applaud the thought, but..." Donna replies, "Okay, what I need is for you to stop being, like, you for a second." Josh agrees. Donna launches into a story about how when she came back to work for him, she had a bandage on her ankle, and she told him that she slipped and fell on some ice. He remembers, and says it was because she didn't put down the kitty litter. She tells him she was actually in a car accident. Josh is quite sincerely alarmed, but Donna insists that it was no big deal. Josh says, "You told me it was a late thaw." She smiles broadly and admits that she did. She goes on explaining that she was taken to the hospital, and she called her boyfriend, and he came to get her, but on the way he stopped and had some beer with some friends. (Dr. Free Ride should date Seinfeld's Elaine, what with her Jujy Fruit thing.) Josh is incredulous. Anyway, that's why she left him. And that's the point of her telling him this story -- she left the boyfriend, and she wants Josh to stop remembering it the way he does: "What I remember is that you took me back when you had absolutely no reason to trust me again, and you didn't make fun of me or him and you had every reason to." So why wouldn't you want to celebrate that anniversary? I don't get her. She asks whether he's going to make fun now, and reminds him that's why she didn't tell him in the first place. He claims he's not going to make fun, but then asks, "Just what kind of a dumbkes..." Or possibly dumpkiss, as the closed captioning has it, or probably any other spelling you like. Donna explains he was supposed to meet his friends, and he stopped on the way to tell them he couldn't. Josh: "And had a beer?" She asks, "Does this make you feel superior?" Josh glances away while he tries to figure out how to answer that. She continues, "Yes, you are better than my old boyfriend." And you could be her new boyfriend. Josh says, as he gets up and walks out, leaving the mess on the floor, "I'm just saying, if you were in an accident, I wouldn't stop for a beer." Donna responds, "If you were in an accident I wouldn't stop for red lights." Aw. ["And perhaps, when he was, she didn't." -- Wing Chun] As she walks out past him, she says, "Thanks for taking me back. Oh, and the flowers are beautiful."

Toby and Leo are waiting in the Oval Office. Toby asks about the downside of having heightened security at the airports. Just then, POTUS returns. Leo asks what's going on; Jed says that he has to make the call. He calls for Charlie and tells him to get Gareth on the phone. Jed leans on a wing chair and sighs heavily, looking at Toby. Toby has a stoic expression, and says nothing. Leo mentions Toby's question about heightened security. Jed explains that the scanners they use can only search the luggage of 250 passengers per hour. The condition also requires two forms of photo ID, and most people have only one: "Delays. Delays are the downside." Charlie announces Gareth's on the phone; Jed takes the call and says, "Hal? Let's do it." He orders the airports to a 2-condition and tells Gareth he'll have it in writing in about five minutes. As Jed hangs up the phone, he remarks to Leo, "I didn't know enough." Toby comments, "I know the feeling." Jed calmly states, "I have no intention of apologizing to you, Toby." Toby wonders why not. Jed: "'Cause you're not the one with MS, a wife, three kids and airports to close. Not every part of me belongs to you. This is personal. I'm not willing to relinquish that right." Jed walks to his desk. Toby and Leo stand. Toby says, "It will appear to many, if not most, as fraud. It will appear as if you denied the voters an opportunity to decide for themselves. They're generally not willing to relinquish that right, either." Jed takes this in, and finally says, "Yeah." Toby: "Mr. President, at some point in the near future, we're going to have to speak to some lawyers." Jed: "Well, that's what usually brings on the episodes, but if you say so." Hee! Toby adds, "It's seventeen people, by the way." Jed: "I'm sorry?" Toby says, "You knew. We weren't counting you. It's seventeen people." Jed sighs and plops his glasses on his desk. "I don't know. It may have been unbelievably stupid. It may have been unthinkably stupid. I don't know. I'm sorry, I really am." Toby doesn't react much to this apology; perhaps you can see just the slightest softening in his face if you really search. He says he's got to go in the other room. Jed says he'll see him tomorrow.

By Deborah

So I'm led to wonder, given your condition and its lack of predictability, why there isn't a simply a signed letter sitting in a file someplace, and the answer, of course, is that if there was a signed letter sitting in a file someplace, somebody would ask why. The Commander-in-Chief had just been attacked. He was under a general anaesthetic. A fugitive was at large. The manhunt included every federal, state and local law enforcement agency. The Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware National Guard units were federalized. The KH-10s showed Republican Guard movement in southern Iraq, and twelve hours earlier, an F-117 was shot down in the no-fly, and the Vice-President's authority was murky at best!" Leo and Jed are listening to all of this somewhat uncomfortably. What can they say? He's right. Jed walks to his chair behind his desk. Toby continues: "The National Security Advisor and the Secretary of State didn't know who they were taking their orders from! I wasn't in the Situation Room that night but I'll bet all the money in my pockets against all the money in your pockets, that it was Leo, who no one elected!" Leo's downcast glance gives it away. Toby adds, "For ninety minutes that night, there was a coup d'état in this country." I think Toby's just getting warmed up here. I also think that maybe Jed and Leo regret making him number sixteen. He pauses, and Jed finally says, perhaps a bit too nonchalantly, "And the walls came tumbling down. I feel fine, by the way. Thanks for asking." Good point. Leo says, "Sir..." Jed: "No, Leo, Toby's concern for my health is moving me in ways --" Toby tries to interject: "Mr. President..." Jed furiously tosses the file he's holding and shouts, "Shut up!" Toby has a fearful look in his eyes, but tries to control his expression. Jed walks up in front of Toby and declares, "You know, your indignation would be a lot more interesting to me if it weren't quite so covered in crap!" Just then Charlie interrupts to tell him Gareth is on the phone again. Charlie leaves and Jed asks Toby, "Are you pissed because I didn't say anything or are you pissed because there were fifteen other people who knew before you did? I feel fine, by the way. Thanks for asking." Actually, I think Toby's pretty mad about both those things. Jed walks away and we see Leo looking shellshocked; he puts his hand to his forehead for a moment. Leo finally tells Jed to take the call in the Oval Office, adding that he and Toby will step outside for a moment. Jed glares at Toby; Toby doesn't flinch, but follows Leo out. Jed takes the call: "Yeah, this is the President."

By Deborah

Now we have to suffer through one of these Gap commercials that are beginning to drive me nuts. As Sars observed during the Oscar festivities at Casa Über: "Put on a bra already."

After the ads, we're back at Comedy Central, formerly the Roosevelt Room. Sam is commenting that "self-deprecation" is what they need. They decide that they need jokes about the staff; Ainsley suggests starting with Sam. Sam responds, "The problem is, there aren't many jokes you could make about me." Give me five seconds.... Donna's on it: "How about this? 'Knock, knock.' 'Who's there?' 'Sam and his prostitute friend.'" Um, not that funny, Donna. Try again. Nevertheless, Ainsley giggles. ["I confess, so did I." -- Wing Chun] Sam thinks that Donna's misdirecting her anger. Donna says that she's okay with it. Sam stoops to her level immediately: "Well, in that case...Ainsley, you know why I got you flowers in April instead of February? 'Cause you ditched me the first time around to go back to the guy who ditched you the first time around only to have him ditch you the second time around." Donna's listening to this standing beside Josh and when Sam finishes, she smacks Josh in the back of the head. Hard. Josh: "Ow. What the hell? That was him!" Donna complains, "He was being you." Josh: "Well, in fairness, I think everybody should have a turn." I'm not sure if he means have a turn at being Josh, or a turn at passing out petty, passive-aggressive insults. He asks, "Sam, is there anything we can pull, anything funny we can recycle?" Sam replies, "Yeah, pull something I wrote from October called 'Government-wide Accountability for Merit System Principles." Josh believes that one was a real barn-burner. Josh wanders out. Donna asks, "Do you have any idea how much grief I took from him when I came back?" Sam doesn't. Donna: "None. I walked in the door, he said, 'Thank God. There's a pile of stuff on the desk.' This is his way. He's just going to snark me every April. Prince of passive-aggressive behaviour." I realize that every other person on the forums seems to be claiming the use of "snark" as a shout-out to us, but in all fairness, I've heard this use of the word quite a few times before this show was ever on the air and know others have too. I know this fact probably won't deter many of you, though. Sam asks what "snark" means. If there was ever a neologism you could figure out from its context...besides which, Sam is a writer. He should really be able to grok that. Anyway, Donna doesn't know what it means, but she insists he's doing it anyway. Sam asks whether anyone wants anything from the mess. Ainsley wants cheesecake. I think she should start wanting gastroplasty. Sam says, "It's quarter after midnight. The pastry chef usually stays on until dawn." Um, okay. Your tax dollars at work. Not mine, thank God; as a Canadian my tax dollars are being wisely spent in vigorous oppression of such heinous activity as AIDS patients using medical marijuana. Ainsley decides to go to the mess with Sam.

By Deborah

Toby asks whether Jed will run again. He also asks where FLOTUS is; Leo says that she's in Manchester. Toby's wondering why she came to him after the State of the Union, and why she's mad at the President. He reasons it out to himself: the State of the Union speech set up the re-election bid, and, for some reason, she thinks that's not supposed to happen. Toby laments: "I have no kind of investigative mind. Zero. It took me six days and twenty-three minutes to figure it out." Leo says that Jed will run. Toby says, "Yeah, yeah 'cause we stood in that office a couple of months ago, you and I, and you said, 'Take my hand,' and we just...never mind." He leans back and put his hand on his head again. He figures Hoynes was the fourteenth to know, and wonders who was fifteenth. If Hoynes was fourteenth, that means he found out after Leo did, and if Hoynes only found out in the last year...that doesn't make sense to me. Leo tells him that the fifteenth person is Dr. David Lee, the anaesthesiologist who treated Jed after the shooting, because he had to know about the Betaseron. Leo starts to return to the issue of Hoynes, but Toby interrupts, saying, "I'm sorry, Leo, but I need you to look at me right now and tell me that the doctor's not under some kind of surveillance." Leo says that the doctor's free to talk to whomever he likes. Toby's sure they'll find that out soon enough. Leo assures him the doctor's not going to leak it. Toby thinks that someone will; he argues that Hoynes wanted Toby to find out, leaving breadcrumbs and arranging speeches in the middle of camping trips. Leo thinks that was a "jackass move." Toby's not so sure; he thinks maybe Hoynes is the only one around who's acting responsibly. Leo: "To who?" Toby: "The Democratic Party. Seven and a half months to the Iowa caucus and no one's been told the President might not be the nominee!" Leo insists that he's going to run. Toby thinks that he may not have that option. Leo says, "When this story breaks, it will be because we broke it, and we'll control it. And the public will accept it. It's not like it's unprecedented that a President conceal health issues." Yeah, good luck with that. Leo asks Toby to tell him what he think is going to happen. Toby: "I suppose one of five things. The President can decide not to run. He can run and not win. He can run and win." Leo impatiently asks, "And? What are the other two?" Toby says, "Leo..." Leo: "You think he's going to need to resign?" Toby says that there would be hearings upon hearings. Leo asserts that he hasn't broken a law. Charlie appears to tell them that the President's on his way back. After Charlie leaves, Toby tells Leo: "Says you. And you don't have to break the law to get served with articles of impeachment." Leo contends that it will never get that far. Toby tells him to make a note of the exact date and time he said that. He leaves Leo standing on the patio. ["Burn." -- Wing Chun]

By Deborah

Back in the Roosevelt Room, Donna is boring Larry and Ed with some observations about herself: "See, the thing about me, is that mine is a dry wit." Um. "And a dry wit, like a fine martini, is best enjoyed..." Thanks to the closed captioning, I finally know which one is Larry, and it's actually the one I was thinking was Larry...but anyway, Larry says, "Uh-oh..." Donna agrees: "Yeah, nowhere to go there." Sam and Ainsley come back with a tray full of coffee. There's something subtle about their expressions and body language that suggests that they were just making out in the closet, but that's probably my imagination. Ed asks them what the hell took them so long. Sam claims to have spilled the coffee the first couple of times coming up the stairs. A likely story. Sam wonders what's taking Josh so long, and Donna volunteers to go find him. Sam announces to Larry and Ed that he made a decision when he was downstairs: "I'm going to register for the Republican Party, and I'll tell you why, if you're curious. It's because they're a freedom-loving people." Ainsley pleasantly adds, "We also like beef." Me too, but I'm still not joining. Sam complains, "You know, you insist the government is depraved for not legislating against what we can see on the newsstands, or what we can see in an art exhibit, or what we can burn in protest, or which sex we're allowed to have sex with, or a woman's right to choose, but don't you dare try to regulate this deadly weapon I have concealed on me, for that would encroach against my freedom." Ainsley: "Yeah? And Democrats believe in free speech as long as it isn't prayer while you're standing in school. You believe in the Freedom of Information Act except if you want to find out if your fourteen-year-old daughter's had an abortion..." Sam says, "We believe in the ERA." Ainsley replies, "Well, go get 'em." Sam asks, "How can you have an objection to something that says..." Ainsley responds, "Because it's humiliating! And I'm good enough at that without any help from the Constitution." No, not that second sentence. She continues: "A new amendment that we vote on, declaring that I am equal under the law to a man. I am mortified to discover there's reason to believe I wasn't before. I am a citizen of this country. I am not a special subset in need of your protection. I do not have to have to have my rights handed down to me by a bunch of old, white men. The same Article Fourteen that protects you, protects me. And I went to law school just to make sure. And with that, I'm going back down to the mess, because I thought I may have seen, there, a peach." Larry and Ed regard Sam in silence; Sam states, "I coulda countered that, but I'd already moved on to other things in my head."

By Deborah

Toby leaves. He doesn't close the door behind him. He crosses the hall to the Roosevelt Room. As he opens that door, there's lots of talking and laughter. There's general greeting of Toby's arrival. Ed's working a joke about the President being asked about his preferences for the dinner menu, and telling them to serve anything they want except for lame duck. Someone pitches a joke about the NASDAQ filing for not-for-profit status. Heh. Someone tosses Toby his ball and he catches it. Toby sits there, trying to connect to them, struggling to pay attention, but his mind is a million miles away. Over his shoulder, through the French door, we see Jed and Leo and Charlie carrying out their tasks in the Oval Office. Leo shuts the door as someone says, "Tell me if you think this is funny..." As the scene fades to black, there's a single percussive sound, echoing the opening.

West Wing TV Show - A Discussion For Serious Men - West Wing Photos &amp; Videos, West Wing Reviews &amp; West Wing Recaps | TWoP

West Wing TV Show - A Discussion For Serious Men - West Wing Photos & Videos, West Wing Reviews & West Wing Recaps | TWoP