The first episode of the seventh season is essentially plotless -- it's all about relationships and tensions and plans, and practically nothing of significance happens. After opening with a little flash-forward to the opening of the Bartlet Presidential Library, three years in the future, we start the new season just four days after the close of the Democratic convention. The Santos-McGarry ticket is down nine points in the first public poll, which is better than they expected. However, the good news doesn't really cut all the tension. Helen and Santos both think Josh is micromanaging the campaign. Santos cuts down every suggestion Leo makes and seems to regard him as a nuisance. Josh and Leo are pissed at C.J. and Toby because Jed seems interested in working with the Republicans on an education bill, even though that would weaken the campaign. And Josh has to tell Donna that he can't hire her, due to all the nasty things she said about Santos in her former role as spokesperson for a rival campaign. So things generally seem depressing and not fun on the campaign trail. In the White House, we finally learn that the military shuttle is definitely being used to save the stranded astronauts. And C.J. spends her entire day being interviewed by White House Counsel Oliver Babish, only to realize that she's his chief suspect for the leak about the shuttle. In the end, Babish tells Jed that they need to call off their own investigation and cooperate with outside investigators. And Leo and Santos have a nice conversation in which Santos reveals that he does respect Leo's opinion -- just not his opinion on how to campaign.
Previously, on The West Wing -- the whole last season. But we finished with Santos and Leo as the Democratic nominees for President and Vice-President, and Arnold Vinick as the Republican nominee. Oh, and somebody in the White House leaked the existence of a top-secret military space shuttle to the press, presumably in an effort to guilt Jed into ordering that the shuttle be used to rescue some astronauts and cosmonauts who are stranded in space. But you already knew that.
A subtitle welcomes us to "three years later." Ooooh, the future. Maybe there'll be some flying cars or personal jet packs. Well, maybe not in just three years. But I bet clothing and hair styles have changed some. We see a distinguished, white-haired gentlemen walking (with the aid of a cane) through an empty but utterly gorgeous library reading room. Another subtitle informs us that we're at the "Dedication to the Josiah Bartlet Presidential Library." Wait, "dedication to?" Doesn't anyone edit these things? The white-haired gentleman is Jed, by the way. He's followed in Bill Clinton's footsteps and lost the Just for Men look he's been sporting in the last couple of seasons. I had thought that Jed was planning on installing his library in an abandoned mill building, but the ornate ceiling in that reading room doesn't look like it was ever part of a factory. And then Jed walks up to some of the old gang. We see Danny (standing with his hand on C.J.'s back), C.J., Toby, Kate, Charlie, and Will. Not only have clothing styles not changed, but every character (other than Jed) has exactly the same hairstyle as in the present. C.J. greets Jed with a kiss on the cheek, and we learn that she's living in Santa Monica. Jed looks at C.J. and Danny and tells them that Abby wants a picture of the baby. Danny points out that he emailed one, but Jed wants one that he can stick on the refrigerator. Jed greets Toby, who thanks Jed for the invitation. Toby is apparently teaching at Columbia University. Or running drugs in Colombia. Or maybe he's playing forward for the Fighting Gamecocks at the University of South Carolina (in Columbia, natch). Any of those could be true from the context. Jed has read Kate's recently published book, but Charlie dismisses the book as a load of hogwash. Charlie also congratulates Jed on something he recently did in Jakarta. And Will is now a member of Congress. And that's the wrap-up on "Where are they now." And then Josh walks up to let everyone know that "the President" has arrived.
Outside the library, the presidential motorcade pulls up. Jed and company emerge to greet the unnamed leader of the free world. The President steps out of his limo, but before we can see anything, we cut to credits.
After the commercials, a subtitle welcomes us to Brayburn College, in Michigan, where a large crowd has gathered and is waiving Santos/McGarry signs. Another title tells us that it's "three years earlier." In other words, the present. It's also 105 days until election day, which puts us in late July. A motorcade pulls up, and Santos and Helen emerge from an SUV and start working the rope line. Josh is standing outside a building toward which Santos and Helen are slowly making their way. Bram (sigh) welcomes Josh back and hands him a few copies of Time magazine with Santos on the cover (along with the caption "President Santos?"). Bram also asks, "Is it out yet?" "It" is not yet out. Bram gives Josh an update on the past day's activity: apparently, reporters keep asking questions about Leo, which is pissing Santos off. Josh thinks Bram has been slacking off because he has so little to report, but Bram reminds Josh that Santos is basically just giving the same speech over and over again.
Another motorcade, at the Port of Philadelphia. This time it's Leo who emerges from an SUV, accompanied by Annabeth. They go over some schedule changes (the purpose of which is to inform us that Leo is being cut out of a policy phone call in order to make another campaign appearance). Annabeth also corrects Leo on the pronunciation of Santos's name. Leo's been pronouncing it with an "ah" sound, which Annabeth tells him would be correct in Mexico. But Santos (as we've all heard over and over) pronounces it with a flatter, more American "a" sound (kind of like the cities of San Diego and San Antonio). They do a little more vowel sound comedy (which sounds similar to, but is quite unlike, bowel sound comedy), and then Annabeth tells Leo that "it's" not out yet. He points out that he hadn't asked, and she responds, "No, but you wanted to." But Leo reminds her that she wouldn't have told him even if it were out: "Because I'm about to go on stage and you feel it's your responsibility to manage my mood, which it isn't." Man, I wish I had somebody who would follow me around and manage my mood. Annabeth reminds him that she left a great job in order to follow him around and be abused. Leo thinks that, with all of his experience, he doesn't need her to babysit him. Annabeth: "You most certainly do. Just because you've trained a Preakness jockey doesn't mean you know how to sit a horse."
Back in Michigan, Ronna asks Josh if "it's" out yet. It still isn't. And then Ned walks up and asks the same thing. Maybe it's just this scene, with Bram, Ronna, and Ned all having practically the same lines, but the writers have got to start doing something to make these three characters more distinctive. You can take any line from any one of them and give it to any other without changing the episode in the tiniest bit. If they're going to be with us in every campaign episode, they need real personalities. In any case, faced with their persistent demand for "it," Josh gives them all a lecture: "This is one poll. Yes, it is a Gallup poll. Yes, it is our first public polling data. Absolutely, it will shape our message and our strategy. But it will not change the fact that four days out of the convention, the Santos/McGarry ticket is incredibly strong and poised for victory. The Congressman's not worried about it, I'm not worried about it: everybody should just stop worrying about it." And then Santos walks up to them and asks, "Is it out yet?" Heh. Josh tells him that it's not out yet, and then they go over the schedule for the day. They're heading to D.C. for a one-day visit the new headquarters so that Santos can meet the department heads. While they're there, Josh will be interviewing for new staff. Helen asks how many positions he has to fill. Oh, Helen, behave. Josh surprises even me when he tells her "ninety." Josh points out a restroom to Santos, who decides that it would be a good idea to hit the head. Helen asks Josh if he doesn't think he's micromanaging. I think she's talking about the fact that Josh is doing all of the interviews himself, but Josh thinks she's talking about telling Santos when it's time to go potty, because he responds, "He went, didn't he?" Josh's hair, by the way, is enormously poofy -- he's approaching Ronald McDonald proportions. He's also wearing sunglasses that have clear plastic frames and dark lenses. It's not a good look.
Leo is standing near the outdoor platform on which another speaker is addressing the crowd. He's practicing his speech, and he messes it up, asserting that Santos was in the Navy for twelve years (when Santos was really in the Marines). But he is pronouncing the name correctly.
Santos emerges from the bathroom, asking Josh if they're meeting with the White House. Josh is planning to, and he may take Leo with him. Santos would rather have Leo in some of the briefings so that he knows what the campaign's message is. As they continue walking down the corridor, Bram shunts Helen off to an aide who will bring her to her seat in the audience. Josh tells Santos that he's hoping "you two will have some time this afternoon, get to know each other. Maybe lunch?" Santos doesn't know whom Josh is talking about. When Josh tells him that he means Santos and Leo, Santos tells him that he doesn't think they should use their one day in D.C. to have lunch. Josh: "We're talking take-out, not wine and candles." Because the wine and candles are reserved for Santos's meals with Josh. By this time, they've made their way to the side of the stage. Santos asks one more time about the poll. Josh tells him, "You'll know the second I do." As Santos walks to the stage, Josh hops on his cell phone and yells, "Give me an advance copy of this damn poll before I chew my arm off!"
Cut to President Bartlet, holding the poll results in his hand. He asks Toby and C.J. if the campaigns have seen it. They haven't, because Gallup gave the White House a copy before releasing it to the campaigns. Not-Debbie sticks her head in to tell Jed that Moscow will be on the phone momentarily. Jed is clearly not looking forward to the call, since it means he'll have to explain that "the military space shuttle, whose existence we very much deny, will be hurtling up from Vandenberg in about an hour." And when it arrives in space, it will presumably find some dead spacemen, since we were told in the last episode that the military shuttle would have to be launched the night in order to have a chance to reach the stranded crew in time, and that episode took place during the convention which is now some days in the past. John Wells is a hack, and Deborah Cahn should be embarrassed. C.J. tells Jed that Hutchinson will want Jed in the situation room to give the final go-ahead on the launch, and then he'll need to make phone calls to every nation that might detect the launch via satellite surveillance. Toby asks whether Jed plans to call the wives of the astronauts. Jed won't do that until there's some likelihood that the rescue will succeed. And then Toby got such a look of angst on his face that I, completely without knowledge of any spoilers, decided immediately that he is the leaker. C.J. tells Jed that Senator Weller is starting a Congressional investigation into the leak. Jed thinks that's a bit redundant on top of the White House's investigation and the investigation been run by the Attorney General. Toby points out that Weller thinks the A.G. won't be objective. Jed: "The A.G. hates us, we hate him. It doesn't get more objective than that." Toby tells Jed that Speaker Haffley is really pushing an education bill in which he'll agree to increase school funding in exchange for higher standards for teachers. This is essentially the plan that Santos is pushing, so there's some debate about whether to try to make a deal with Haffley (and thereby take the issue away from Santos) or stonewall so that Santos can use the issue in the campaign (but with the result that a useful bit of legislation might be delayed or never enacted). C.J. seems to want to hold off, and Toby wants to go ahead. Jed is still legacy-shopping (the man is insatiable!), so he wants to pursue a deal. C.J. and Toby leave.
C.J. enters her office, where we hear Vinick giving a speech on television. And then she turns around to find White House Counsel Oliver Babish prostrate on her couch. She does not jump in the air with fright (as I would, were I to find Oliver Platt on my couch), but greets him with a wry smile. He is not yet sufficiently caffeinated, and asks what her schedule looks like. She suggests that he ask Margaret about that, and he just tells her that he needs a bunch of her time to discuss "this NASA crap," so Margaret should cancel some meetings. C.J. thinks that all her practice speaking with the FBI has honed her story down to about ten minutes, but Babish wants much more of her time. Margaret enters and glares at Babish, telling C.J., "I was going to say 'White House Counsel would like a moment,' but I guess he took care of that." Margaret's really there to tell C.J. that Jed needs her. C.J. tells Babish that Margaret will call him when she's available. He just curls up his lip and tells her, "I'll wait."
In Michigan, Josh is watching Santos deliver his speech. Ronna walks up and tells him that Wallingford, who is supposed to introduce Santos at a rally in Denver, still has not called back. Josh wants her to remind him how stupid the Democrats looked at the convention, and how much they need members of Congress to pull together to demonstrate that the party is united. And then Bram hands Josh a manila envelope. Josh takes the envelope and walks away from Bram, Ronna, and Ned so that he can see the results in privacy.
Leo has finished his speech in Philadelphia, and he walks off the stage to Annabeth. She tells him that it's time for a Q&A session, and she reminds him, "If you don't like what they ask, don't accept the premise of the question." He points out that she's quoting him -- she got the line from Toby, who got it from Leo. By the way, as they walk side by side, she appears to be nearly as tall as he is. Either John Spencer is much shorter than I thought or Kristin Chenoweth is walking on an elevated platform. Or maybe they're doing that hobbit perspective trick, and she's actually several feet closer to the camera. With that, they approach the relatively small group of reporters standing nearby. They immediately start asking Leo questions about whether he is attending AA meetings and whether his heart is up to the stress of campaigning. He refers them to statements he's already made on those subjects, and then swings the conversation around to the Santos education plan. Meanwhile, Annabeth has been handed a manila envelope of her own, and she starts looking at the poll results while Leo continues speaking. She gives him a sly little smile, and he starts to look pretty happy himself. I like these two together. She helps bring out Leo's twinkly side.
Toby enters Margaret's office to ask if C.J. is available. She tells him that C.J. will be with Babish for quite a while: "Apparently, he's got a lot to talk about." Margaret, by the way, is no longer even remotely pregnant. I was going to bust John Wells on this, but then I realized that we haven't seen Margaret since Leo went to Cuba, which was around five months before this episode. (That episode took place with 329 days left in Jed's term. We're currently 105 days before election day, which leaves approximately 180 days left in Jed's term. The remaining 149 days is approximately five months.) So it's entirely possible that Margaret has had the baby, taken some maternity leave, lost the weight, and returned to work. Toby tells Margaret to call him when C.J. is available. As he walks away, he looks suitably worried.
In Michigan, Santos is leaving the stage. He tells Bram that he's getting a lot of questions about Leo's health: "We need a better answer than 'he's cut out red meat.'" Josh grabs Santos and pulls him aside to share the poll results. It turns out they're just nine points behind Vinick, and on certain key measures of voter trust, they are ahead of him. They both seem thrilled with the news.
Babish is asking C.J. questions about how she first learned about the existence of the military shuttle. She tells him that she first heard about it from the NASA Administrator. Babish is fiddling with the folders in his briefcase. He asks C.J. if she ever noticed how "active" the NASA Administrator's eyebrows are. She's appropriately struck by what an odd observation that is, and he admits that he's "vamping" because he brought the wrong folder. This thing he's doing -- where he acts flustered and confused and disorganized -- is all an act designed to make the other party to the conversation think he's incompetent, thereby causing that other party to become overconfident and perhaps reveal something he or she intended to keep private. That's a trick they teach you in law school. He asks her who else knew about the shuttle before the story was leaked. She starts naming NASA officials, and he asks her who in the White House knew.
Kate walks into Toby's office and he closes the door. He tells her that Babish is in with C.J., and wonders what Kate told Babish. She doesn't seem to have to told him much of anything, but about ten seconds into the conversation, Toby is accusing Kate of having pointed the finger at C.J. I tell you, it's his guilty conscience that we're seeing.
Back in Michigan, Josh and Santos are headed back to the motorcade. Josh continues to read numbers from the poll results, declaring it to be "Christmas morning." They climb into the SUV (without Helen -- I'm just sayin'), and Santos looks over the numbers while Josh admires the Time cover. Suddenly, Santos asks Josh what one set of numbers means. It's the ratings for the show. Oh, my mistake. It turns out it's Leo's approval rating. It's low enough that Josh has to reassure Santos that it's an irrelevant number -- one they don't need to be worried about. But he kind of oversells the idea, to the point where you can tell he doesn't quite believe it himself. Commercials.
We return to find ourselves at the Santos for President National Headquarters in D.C. It's quite a shiny building; the exterior does not look like any building I'm familiar with in D.C., but it's a big city, so it may very well exist. As the entourage enters the building, Santos asks Josh if there's a woman named Jackie working in the advance team; apparently, he heard that she bet that Santos would be down by eighteen points in the poll. Josh promises to ensure that nobody named Jackie is working in the advance team after today, and Santos smiles. Because firing people is fun! Josh tells Santos and Helen that he's only hired around half the staff -- Santos just wants to make sure there are a few people around doing some work. And then Josh opens the door to a cavernous office space that is a frenzy of activity. A woman is standing on a chair to announce (over the hubbub) that some meeting or other is about to start, and is being held in "the puke green room." I think that's what they call the room where people hang out before they appear on Fear Factor. Josh calls out her name (which is Edie), and she announces to the staff that Santos is in the building. There's general applause, which is eventually cut off by Josh whistling and shouting out "back to work!" But he's got a smile on his face when he says it. Josh starts introducing Santos to various staff members. Edie is the Deputy Campaign Manager for Strategic Planning. He names some others, and then finds himself introducing liaisons to veterans, African-Americans, women, and Latinos (or, as Josh calls the group, "minority row"). He also introduces a young woman as the campaign's "blogmaster." That's pretty advanced talk for a guy who couldn't even manage the simple rules of an online forum. The blogmaster has an assistant, and for some reason a camera crew is making a documentary about the assistant. Santos gives the documentary camera a bemused smile and says that they're very proud of the work the assistant is doing. Bram, who seems to be the designated Helen-wrangler, wrangles Helen off to a meeting with the DNC Women's Caucus. Josh and Santos walk toward Josh's office, which Josh tells Santos he should feel free to use whenever he likes. Santos wonders where his office is, but Josh tells him that he doesn't need one because Josh doesn't expect Santos ever to be in the building again.
The entourage has now moved into Josh's office, so I guess we'll call this a new scene. Bram gives Josh some résumés of people he's going to interview, and tells Santos about a meeting he needs to take with someone on the communications staff. And then Ronna tells Josh that Wallingford is claiming that he can't be at the Denver rally because he'll be in D.C. Josh calls the Congressman "a little turd," and Ronna tells him that another Denver Congressperson also can't make the rally. Josh is pretty calm as he asks her to find another member to appear at the rally. I think Ronna got a haircut, by the way. She's got a cute little bob that ends halfway down her jawline. Josh and Ronna both walk out, leaving Santos alone in the office. He notices a talking head on the television, talking about how hard it will be for the Santos campaign to sell Leo as a Veep candidate, but that the campaign needs Leo to lend Santos some gravitas on foreign-policy issues. Hey, the talking head is David Garrison, a.k.a. Steve Rhoades on Married...with Children. Santos looks put off by Steve's comments on Leo.
Back to C.J. and Babish. She's telling him that Kate was involved with briefing her on the military shuttle. Babish asks C.J. if she likes Kate. She looks a bit put off. The way he said it, it sounds as if he wants to know if she like likes Kate. I've seen Huff, so I know that Oliver Platt is a big pig -- I wouldn't put it past him to look for a little girl-on-girl titillation here. Not that there's anything wrong with that -- Lord knows I'm always looking for a little guy-on-guy titillation. (Although, having seen Huff, I have to say that if I am forced to recap Oliver Platt's flabby ass on this show, I will quit. ["And though I would be sorry to see you go, I would completely respect that decision. Also, thanks for that mental image." -- Wing Chun]) Babish asks who else C.J. spoke with about the shuttle. She says that it was just Kate, "for the most part." He asks about the other part, and she vacillates a bit before acknowledging that she also spoke with Leo, Toby, and Hutchinson's deputy. Babish wonders why C.J. needed to speak with all of these other people: "Kate Harper didn't have all the information?" Rather than just telling Babish that she spoke with Leo and Toby because she was seeking counsel from people whose wisdom she values, C.J. just dithers about, not really answering the question. Which leads Babish to conclude that C.J. didn't want to speak to Kate because C.J. didn't trust her. These scenes are hard to recap, but both actors are giving great performances.
At Santos HQ, Ronna waylays Josh to give him a résumé for another interview, and tells him about some other staffer he needs to speak with. Josh is exhausted, having just finished twelve back-to-back interviews, but Ronna points out that he's still eight interviews behind. However, when she suggests that he hand off some of the interviewing to someone else, Josh shoots her down. Ronna also tells him that Leo has arrived.
Josh steps into an office where Leo and Annabeth are going over some papers. Leo tells Josh that he wants to speak with their healthcare policy people, because he's concerned about some Medicaid numbers they're floating around. He also asks about the White House visit. Josh tries to tell him that Leo should stay at HQ, but when Leo makes it clear that he really wants to go on the visit, Josh caves. And then Edie comes in with some papers, and Ronna comes in to give Annabeth Leo's clips for the morning. Bram steps in to ask Leo to step out with him for a moment. Well, if Bram doesn't have a personality, at least he has a purpose -- his job is clearly to get people out of a scene quickly. And he's quite good at it. Leo wants to look at the clips with Annabeth, but she shoves him off on Bram, and tells him that after that he needs to meet with the makeup consultant: "The base is looking a little orange under the fluorescents." Leo is astute enough to realize that Annabeth does not want him to look at his clips.
In the corridor, Bram introduces Leo to Agent Taylor of the Secret Service. Agent Taylor tells Leo that he thought this would be a good time for Leo to meet the Secret Service detail all at once, so that they can go over any questions he has. The two of them walk into a room where there are around thirty or forty agents waiting. Leo wonders which ones are his and which ones belong to Santos. Agent Taylor corrects him, noting that all of these agents are assigned to Leo. There's a great shot of Leo surrounded by this mob of agents -- it's clearly an intimidating position to be in.
Josh and Annabeth are looking at Leo's clips. They are not happy. I'm not sure if these are things that are being written (or said) about Leo, or quotes of things that Leo has said. I suspect it's the former, because Annabeth asks if Santos is getting "hit like this." Bram steps in to let Josh know that Joey Lucas has arrived (thereby pulling Josh into the scene). Bram asks if they're looking at Leo's clips, and then asks if they've seen the Wizard of Oz cartoon. It apparently shows Santos as Dorothy (of whom he's clearly a friend), cowering before Leo's giant head, with Jed as the man behind the curtain pulling the strings.
Leo comes in, apologizing for being late. There's some debate about whether the campaign should focus on moderate interest groups or liberal interest groups. Santos ends up taking the opposite position from Leo, and Josh suggests that they're both right. He's like a little boy forced to choose between two arguing parents. They move on to press questions about Leo's drug, alcohol, and health history. Leo thinks they can just refer people to statements he's already made, but everyone else wants him to go on a news show for a more personal interview on the subject. He resists. Someone asks about "the Mallory situation." Leo expositions that we're talking about his daughter. Annabeth offers to call her to see if she'll make any campaign appearances. People also think that if Santos is doing five Q&A sessions a day, Leo needs to do at least three. Leo thinks it's a bad idea for Santos to do five a day, but Santos just dismisses his concern and moves on to the agenda item. Edie wonders if Mallory might be willing to bring the baby on the road. Before Leo can answer, Bram asks, "Is it a photogenic baby?" Leo turns to stare at him -- I half expected the force of his glare to throw Bram through the window he's standing in front of. Bram feels compelled to explain that not all babies are cute. Not compared to Bram, they aren't.
In the hallway after the meeting, Josh asks how Leo's doing. Leo would clearly rather be helping with strategy instead of making campaign appearances. Josh tells him not to worry about the press; it's Josh's job to worry. Josh reminds Leo that their White House meeting is in half an hour. And then Bram comes along to tell Leo that they need some photos of Leo and Santos together, and that they want Leo to change to a blue shirt for the photos, since Santos is already wearing a white shirt. Because Bram is also the guy who provides shirts. Leo seems shocked at being the guy who’s being told what shirt he has to wear. But he screws himself up and takes the shirt to his office to change. Why does Leo get an office if Santos doesn't? Commercials.
Margaret enters C.J.'s office, where C.J. is still talking with Babish. Margaret must have learned that glare from Leo (or maybe vice versa): her angry look at Babish is almost enough to knock his chair over. She hands C.J. a note and leaves. Babish asks C.J. if she'd like to order lunch. She tells him that she has a meeting with folks from the Santos campaign, so Babish tells her that he'll order lunch and then the two of them can eat it when she returns. Just to be clear, Santos gave a speech in Michigan, they all flew to D.C., Josh conducted twelve interviews, and then they had those meetings, and it's still just lunchtime? As C.J. gets ready for her meeting, Babish wonders whether she misses having Josh and Leo around, pointing out that it leaves her kind of lonely in the Chief of Staff position, especially if she still has some old Press Secretary business to handle. She tells him that she really doesn't have any old Press Secretary business on her plate. Which naturally causes Babish to wonder why Greg Brock's name appears in her telephone log an average of five times a week over the last six months. My theory? Brock is Margaret's baby-daddy. Babish wonders if Brock spoke to Leo that often, and then asks C.J. if he should order her a salad for lunch.
Toby's chatting with Leo and Josh in the mural room. It would have been nice to see the moment where Josh and Toby greeted each other. They make small talk about Annabeth and her relentless efforts to control Leo's image. Leo tells them, "I'm worried tomorrow she's going to braid my hair." Hee. C.J. enters and gives Leo and Josh genuinely warm hugs and kisses. Toby suggests that they order lunch, but C.J. tells him that she's eating with Babish: "He has his heart set on ruining my day." Once again, Toby gives her a guilty look. The only thing missing is a crashing chord on the organ. And then they discuss the ways the White House can back up the campaign on particular issues. It's all a big snooze until Toby tells them about the feeler they've gotten from Haffley on an education bill. Josh gets very angry very quickly, telling C.J. and Toby that the White House should keep its hands off education. C.J. looks shocked that he has the temerity to try to tell the White House what to do, while Toby just gives a sarcastic "Okay." C.J. and Leo get them calmed down for a minute, but it heats right up when C.J. disabuses Leo of the notion that Jed is just trying to be polite to Haffley. The argument escalates again, Leo yelling that Jed is helping Haffley to screw the Democratic Party. C.J.: "He took an oath of office, not an oath of party." C.J. ends the meeting, giving a frosty farewell to Leo and Josh. After she leaves, Toby asks them if he can do anything else for them. They respond with nothing but glares. I hope we get one happy scene with this group before the series ends.
C.J. walks into Margaret's workspace, where Kate is waiting for her. They discuss the telephone call to the Chinese, and Kate informs C.J. that the shuttle is about to launch, so they should probably get to the Situation Room.
Leo is in not-Debbie's office. Not-Debbie seems to be blowing him off, but Jed walks out of his office on the way to the Sit Room and suggests that Leo walk with him. They chitchat. Jed reminds Leo that he's a candidate now, not a campaign manager. The reality of that seems to be sinking in for Leo. Leo raises the education issue, and Jed makes it clear that he wants to try to get something enacted, even if it screws the Santos campaign. Leo tries to talk him out of it, but Jed wants to know what Leo would say if Leo were still Jed's Chief of Staff. As several people in the forums have pointed out, this would be the perfect point for Leo to remind Jed of his pledge to "start working to beat [Vinick] right now." But Leo just tells Jed that, as Chief of Staff, he would want Jed to work to make sure the president is also a Democrat. Jed doesn't buy it, and it seems like Leo doesn't really believe it either.
Leo and Annabeth are walking into the building housing Santos HQ. There's an absurd mob of press near the entrance shouting out questions. My old office was one block from the Kerry HQ last year, and there were never that many reporters there. Someone asks Leo if he finds campaigning exhausting, and he deflects that. But then they start asking questions about the Haffley education plan. Someone asks why Jed is working with Haffley, and Leo responds, "Because the Constitution empowers the President to sign bills into law and doesn't empower candidates to do anything." Annabeth is not happy with that answer, and she quickly shuts down the questioning and pulls Leo away from the reporters. As they walk away, Leo asks her, "I accepted the premise of the question, didn't I?" Annabeth: "You sure did."
Josh hands Ronna the files of some applicants who are (or are not) being hired. She tells him that she can't get anyone from the Colorado Congressional delegation to attend the Denver rally; they all claim to be in D.C. for the weekend. Josh thinks that's highly unlikely, and then he gets angry. He tells Ronna to get Wallingford's Chief of Staff on the phone. As he walks away, he yells out, "Son of a bitch!"
When Josh walks into his office, he finds Annabeth waiting for him. She's there to let him know about Leo's gaffe with the reporters. She leaves as Santos enters, and he wants to know what's going on. Bram enters at that moment, and Josh tells him to get someone working on a statement about how happy Santos is that Jed is making inroads with the Republicans on an education bill. Santos doesn't like the sound of that, but Josh tells him, "It's one of those 'close your eyes and think of England' moments." I prefer to close my eyes and think of Bram. In what I think is a sign of the real development of their relationship, Santos does not argue with Josh over this. But he does jump to the (correct) conclusion that it's somehow all Leo's fault. Santos leaves, and Josh gets on the phone with Wallingford's COS. He immediately starts yelling.
In the White House, C.J. returns to her office, where Babish has mostly finished eating his lunch. He hands her a salad, and they get back to their conversation (but not before she asks him for some mustard for her salad). He starts asking her about Brock and how much time she spends with him. Babish asks her if Brock is her favorite in the press pool, and she denies playing favorites. There's a goldfish on her desk that would tend to discredit that claim. Babish tells her that several reporters have told her that she does play favorites. He knows that her favorite used to be Danny (a position to which he will one day return, according to the teaser), and he thinks that now it's Brock. Babish suggests that C.J. must be having an affair or some kind of strong personal relationship with Brock. C.J. doesn't deny it, but does try to cut off the conversation. And then it suddenly occurs to C.J.that Babish thinks she is the source of the leak: "I'm the suspect." I know Babish's bumbling-fool routine is disarming, but I think the C.J. Cregg we know and love would have clued into this a lot earlier in the conversation. Babish asks her again to describe the nature of her relationship with Greg Brock, but we don't get to hear the answer, because we cut to commercials.
Santos HQ. Josh is in the conference room writing on a whiteboard when Leo and Annabeth join him. He asks them where Santos is; he's still giving a statement to the press. Again, the fact that Josh leaves him alone to do this is a sign of how far their relationship has come, I think. Josh tells them that Wallingford is ducking any appearance with Santos because Vinick has a commanding lead in his district. He thinks the same is true of all of the other Colorado Congresspersons who won't appear with him. I have to wonder if part of that isn't the fact that Santos just whipped another Coloradoan to win the nomination. Josh tells them that instead of trying to get members of Congress to appear on stage with Santos, the new strategy will be to never have a member of Congress appear with him, to establish that he's his own man. Santos comes in, with Bram (who undoubtedly interrupted his press briefing to remind him of this meeting). Josh fills Santos in, and they start making a list of all the Democrats who are in districts where Vinick is more than twenty points ahead of Santos. Josh writes the names on the whiteboard in two columns -- one labeled "Santos" and one labeled "McGarry." Josh tells Santos and Leo that each needs to call his list within twenty-four hours. Leo notes that he is close with a couple of the folks on the Santos list and suggests switching them over, but Santos tells Josh that he wants to call all of them. And then Bram...ah, you know what he does. Santos leaves. Bram is apparently overworked, however, because Ronna steps in to tell Josh that he has to leave the meeting for an interview. Josh tells her that he isn't doing any more interviews today, but she tells him, "Chuck said you'd want this one." Which raises the question as to how the hell Chuck knows who Donna is. Oh, whoops, I gave it away. Donna, in fact, appears as a face hovering over Ronna's shoulder. Josh's sentence kind of trails off when he sees her.
The White House. Babish tells C.J. that his interview is over. C.J.: "I'm sure it isn't. You didn't even ask me." What didn't he ask her? Why, whether she leaked the story to Brock. He tells her that he doesn't want to know. And then he tells her that he needs to see Jed.
Josh and Donna enter his office. They make a bit of small talk -- she tells him that Will is back to work in the Veep's office, where he just mopes around. Josh asks her if she plans on going back to work for the Veep. She never actually did work for him, though -- my impression is that she went straight from working as Josh's assistant to working on Russell's campaign. But rather than correcting him (because Donna is just not as pedantic as I am), she launches into a little pre-planned speech about how much she developed professionally during the time she worked on Russell's campaign. We do learn that Donna was eventually elevated to the job of campaign spokesperson -- I guess that means her little interlude with the press on Super Tuesday was not a one-time thing. Josh tries to interrupt her, but she tells him she wants to finish: "Let me get through this, it's one of the more awkward moments of a lifetime." She tells him that she's found out that she's pretty damn good (which I agree with, from everything we saw last season), "and rumor has it [Josh] could use a deputy." Josh looks utterly miserable. After a loooong pause, Josh pulls out a suspiciously convenient folder and starts reading quotes in which Donna trashed Santos. The point being that he can't hire someone who is so clearly on the record as having ridiculed his candidate. Donna reminds Josh of all the ways he insulted Russell during the campaign, but he responds, "Yeah, but I won." Donna points out that it was her job to say those things, and then makes what I think is her only misstep in the interview when she tells him, "You're not used to me being in a position of authority; I'm sure that's uncomfortable." Josh tells her that he's managing a massive staff of strangers and a candidate who doesn't trust any of them: "And if you think I don't miss you every day...." He offers to make some calls, but she thanks him for his time and walks out. They both seem near tears. My brief take on that scene was that, professionally, Donna was absolutely doing the right thing by looking for a job -- the campaign is where every Democratic political professional should want to be. (On a personal basis, I think she's an idiot for trying to get a job working for a man she so obviously has feelings for.) And I think Josh's reason for not being able to hire her was completely justified. But I do think he was kind of an asshole for not telling her that he does, in fact, think she was really good working for the Russell campaign.
Office of O. Babish and C.J. are meeting with Jed. Long story short, Babish wants Jed to end the internal investigation of the security leak and let the Justice Department and Congress go ahead with their investigations. He makes the point (which should be obvious to everyone, but seems lost on current GOP Congressional leaders) that the administration is not qualified to investigate itself. More importantly, Babish does not have subpoena power and can't put witnesses under oath, so he doesn't have the tools for a real investigation. Jed realizes that Babish has reached this position because he has a suspect. In response to a question from Jed, Babish says that he's not going to tell Jed who the suspect is.
Santos HQ. Leo sees Santos working in an office and knocks on the door, asking if it's a bad time. Santos doesn't think there will be a good time anytime soon, so they might as well talk. Leo closes the door and then apologizes to Santos for his misstep with the press. Santos is not remotely gracious in accepting the apology. Leo starts to tell him how embarrassed he is, and Santos cuts him off: "Leo? Do a 20/20 interview. Tell them the story they want to hear. They'll stop gunning for you." Leo thinks that's the best strategy is to ignore it, but Santos disagrees. And then he pretty much commands Leo, "Do the interview." Leo asks him if he's having second thoughts, and offers to step down so that Santos can find another running mate. Santos asks if Leo is trying to quit, and he denies it. Santos: "You're either trying to quit or trying to get me to fire you." Santos tells Leo that he won't fire him; if he wants out, he's going to have to come up with another heart attack. And then Leo asks the question that he should have asked before accepting the nomination: "I'm just not sure what your vision of my role is." Santos tells Leo he wants him to be candidate, and not try to run the campaign. Leo thinks his value to the campaign is in his experience and his political contacts, but Santos, referring to the calls to members of Congress who are ducking them, points out that Santos will never be taken seriously if people think Leo is running things. And then Santos tells Leo, "Nobody hired you because you'd be a brilliant campaigner. You're a beginner at all this. Yes, at the moment you're a liability -- but you'll get the hang of it. You're here because you know how to run a country." Leo thinks you don't start planning how to run the country until you win the election and are in the transition period, but Santos doesn't want to wait for transition: "I want a plan, in place. I want to spend transition hiring a staff that can execute it, and on day one, I want to get to work." Leo seems intrigued by this challenge, and he starts to school Santos right away, telling him that a president doesn't have four years to try to get things done, he's only go eighteen months what with mid-term elections and trying to win a second term himself.
Josh is sitting outside the office (which has glass walls, by the way), watching Leo and Santos speak. Bram comes along to try to tear one of them away from the scene, but for once, he's foiled. Josh (and his enormous hair) tells him that he doesn't want to disturb Leo and Santos, because "they're making plans." Credits.