The Fall's Gonna Kill You

Previously onThe West Wing: Leo suggested that Jed was afraid of White House Counsel Oliver Babish; Jed consulted Babish on whether he's committed fraud; Babish determined that Jed has never committed to paper any falsehoods about his health; C.J. wondered why Toby was lying to her; Charlie alerted Leo to a problem relating to Zoey's college admission paperwork, thereby revealing that he's known about Jed's MS; Jed told Leo about the paperwork, which omitted any mention of his MS.

It's 5:30 AM, and C.J. is waiting outside Babish's office. She looks tired, sad, and thoughtful. Obviously, she's been told. Babish enters, wondering whether anyone saw her come in. C.J. doesn't know, because she wasn't paying that much attention. Babish wishes she would. They enter his office. C.J. says that she walked there from her office; Babish asked whether there were any reporters around her office. She replies, "Not at five-thirty in the morning, no." Babish asks when she found out about POTUS's MS. She found out last night, when Leo told her. There was no one else there. He asks, "Have you ever lied about the President's health?" C.J., crossing her arms, wonders whether she should have her lawyer present. Babish pulls stuff out of his briefcase and says that he's her lawyer. C.J. believes that he's the President's lawyer. Babish says that he's the White House Counsel, and repeats his question. C.J. wants to know when Bartlet told Babish; it was six days ago. He told Josh two days after that, and Toby two days before he told Babish. He asks her again, but C.J. mentions that Bartlet told Leo over a year ago. Babish acknowledges this. C.J., losing a little patience, replies, "And I've had this for six hours now. So maybe giving me some room wouldn't be totally out of line. You know what I'm saying, Oliver?" Babish says he's going to have to ask her some questions: "And the less you can be pissed at the world for no particular reason, the better I think." All right, that was out of line. I hardly think she qualifies as being "pissed at the world for no particular reason." I think she's got plenty to be pissed about, not the least of which is being badgered by White House Counsel at 5:30 AM. C.J. points out that she doesn't know him, she was just told to report to him. She brings up the fact that he's been there only three months, and wonders why she should trust him. Babish declares, "Well, I don't care if you trust me or not!" She comments, "Imagine my shock." His rejoinder: "I got better things to do with my imagination." Yeesh, that line's a clunker in this context. Just didn't work at all. It comes out of nowhere and falls flat. C.J. replies, "I think this is going really well so far, Oliver. It's almost hard to believe that four different women have sued you for divorce." Babish sits down and takes his tone down a notch: "Well, you can do that if you want, C.J. I've been through it a couple of times with Josh and Toby, but sooner or later you're going to have to answer questions." He clarifies that she'll either have to answer his questions or be subpoenaed to answer a grand jury's questions. C.J. grabs a chair, saying, as she sits down, "Well, I have to tell you, it'll be the first time I've been asked out in quite a while, so..." So clearly there's something very wrong in the world when C.J. has no social life. ["Especially since I hear she's good in bed." -- Wing Chun] Babish informs her, "It's quite possible that the President has committed multiple counts of a federal crime, to which you were an accomplice." C.J. tells him that that has sunk in since she found out. Babish seems to surprised to hear it: "Then why don't you knock off the cutie-pie crap and answer the damn question?" C.J. is unfazed by Babish's hostility. She asks what the question was; Babish says, "Have you ever lied about the President's health? What is your answer?" C.J. pauses, tosses her head in a subtle, matter-of-fact way, and replies, "Many, many times." And we're into the credits. Wow, less than three pages for the opening. Yay, me.

A man in a trenchcoat sits in an armchair in a lobby area, fidgeting with the handle of his briefcase as he waits. Donna comes along and introduces herself to Mr. Connelly, going on to tell him that Josh is tied up with Leo for a few more minutes. Connelly's content to wait. As Donna walks away, she calls out to everyone within earshot, asking if anyone knows whether it's going to rain. She instructs one staffer to call the Navy Yard for her. As the staffer trots off to do Donna's bidding, Larry and Ed come up laughing and giggling over a piece of paper. They ask whether she's seen C.J.; she hasn't. Donna wonders what's so funny. Larry explains that Ed got a fax from NASA regarding a huge Chinese satellite that's going to come crashing to earth, but no one knows when or where. Donna responds, "Seriously?" But the look on her face is almost one of delight, like someone just told her that she was going to get a shopping spree at Nordstrom. But her expression changes as she reads the fax, and becomes more alarmed as Larry and Ed convince her it's for real. She wonders why they're laughing; Ed says they thought it was funny. They walk away, having successfully launched Donna on her bugbear du jour. She asks what she's supposed to do with the information; Larry says the fax was for C.J., and that Donna should give it to C.J. when she sees her. Donna looks extremely troubled. The staffer she instructed to call the Navy Yard returns to tell her that it's not supposed to rain this afternoon. Donna replies, with mild, anxiety-tinged sarcasm, "Well, that's a relief."

Leo, Toby, and Josh are having a whispery meeting in Leo's office. Toby says that they want to see some polling. Leo seems concerned: "Why?" Toby says they need to know what to do . Leo says they know. Toby says they don't know which problem is more insurmountable, but gets interrupted when Margaret comes in to give Leo a message. She's wearing her hair straight instead of in a flip, and it's a more distracting change than you'd think it would be. Her hair also looks as if it's been dyed darker, although it's hard to tell with the mood lighting in Leo's office, designed by the hot new firm, Conspiracies R Us. The hair gives her a younger, more collegiate look, but I'm not sure that's a good thing. The flip was starting to grow on me. ["It looked so little like her that I think maybe it wasn't her. They never showed her face and she never had a line so I think maybe it was just an extra." -- Wing Chun] Anyway, Leo decides to return the call later, and she leaves. Toby explains that they need to determine which perception is more problematic: that Bartlet isn't physically up to the job, or that he lied about it. Leo says that there's no way to gauge public opinion on this until it occurs, and that public opinion will be shaped by the reaction of the press. Josh says that all public opinion is shaped by the reaction of the press. Then he starts to say something about the "fundamental foundation" (redundant much?) in the public perception, but Leo interjects to ask just how they're going to take a poll without giving away the entire game. He doesn't trust any of their people: "And even if I did, what kind of questions could they ask that won't trip an alarm?" Toby says that Josh trusts Joey Lucas. Josh says that she's flying in from California right now. Leo's slightly alarmed: "What did you tell her?" Josh: "I told her we were commissioning a poll to explore attitudes toward subsurface agricultural products." Leo gets that boll-weevil- in-my- egg-salad look and asks, "What the hell..." Josh quasi-explains, "We think Americans are eating more beets." Leo: "Beets?" He decides it's okay. Leo wants to talk about when they're going to tell Sam. Toby doesn't want to do it right now, because Sam is hard at work on the SME speech for Chicago. Josh kind of objects, and I imagine he feels bad that Sam still doesn't know, not only because he's the sort of guy who doesn't actually like to feel part of an elite, but also because he's probably dying to discuss it with his good friend Sam. Toby points out that Sam's mind is on the speech, where they need it, and asks Josh if he would want to write the speech with "this other thing around [his] neck." Josh wouldn't. POTUS wants Sam to know by the end of the day. Toby agrees. The meeting ends.

In the hall, Toby asks when Joey Lucas is getting there; Josh says six o'clock. Toby tells him, "You do this carefully." Josh: "No kidding." Toby asks, "You trust this person?" Josh replies, "I gotta trust somebody right now." Toby: "Good, 'cause I don't trust anybody right now." He walks away, at which point Donna catches up with Josh. She gives him all the details on the Chinese satellite falling out of its orbit. Josh asks, "What are you telling me for?" Donna babbles anxiously for a bit, and asks whether they don't sound the alarm of something. Josh: "Sound the alarm?" Donna, disillusioned yet again in the course of her government career: "There is no alarm." Josh: "There's really not." Josh goes over to where Mr. Connelly has been waiting patiently. He calls him "Martin," apologizes for keeping him waiting, and invites him to come back to his office. Donna's still anxiously buzzing around him; Josh casually tells her to give the fax to the Press Office. She says that the deputies are at breakfast and that she doesn't know where C.J. is. Josh tells her that C.J.'s meeting with Babish and that he'll be in his office. Donna pouts, "You're not concerned about this?" Josh breezes into his office, saying, "No."

In his office, Josh apologizes to Martin again for the wait. Josh's pager goes off, as Martin says that he assumes Josh knows why he's there. Josh doesn't. Martin says that Mac Sheridan was supposed to talk to Josh first. Josh gestures with his pager, saying that he has a call to return to Mac. Martin says that he should wait until they talk. Josh suggests that Martin just talk to him right now. Martin says that the case is running out of money. Josh can't believe it. He points out they spent $13 million the first year, and $23 million the second year: "Where's the money going?" Martin replies, "Outside counsel and staff, depositions, expert witnesses, processing, database, research...we have thirty-one lawyers on a case against five tobacco companies, just one of which has 342 [lawyers]. We won't count the thirteen subsidiaries that have mounted their own defense. Tobacco has spent 380 million to the government's thirty-six. So when I come here asking for money, it's not 'cause the Justice Department blew its allowance on videogames!" Josh listens to all this with a serious but seemingly unsympathetic look. Martin says that he should have let Mac talk to him first. Josh inquires, "Aren't you allowed to transfer funds..." Martin interjects that they have been doing that, transferring money from Commerce and from Health and Human Services to pay for the lawsuit: "But then the House passed HR-260, and now the Committees...you understand?" Josh gets it. He's going to run it by Leo. Martin says, as he gets up to leave, "This is a fight worth winning." Josh: "You don't have to convince me." Me either. Big Tobacco Companies are my villains of choice. ["As we were watching this, Glark said he wonders why there aren't micro-cigarette producers, like micro-breweries, that are collectively known as Little Tobacco. I think that would be cute." -- Wing Chun] Martin continues, "These people perpetrated a fraud against the public." Josh, absently: "I'm sorry?" Martin repeats himself. Josh looks concerned: "The tobacco companies?" Martin says, "Yeah!" Josh says he'll talk to Leo. Martin thanks him and leaves. The expression on Josh's face is pensive.

We're watching some old footage of C.J. on a monitor, giving information about the results of one of Bartlet's physicals. As she says the President is in excellent physical health, Babish snaps the tape off and C.J. says, "What was that, March of last year?" Babish says yeah, and asks her how many times she's done that. She says she'd have to go back and check. Babish wants her to estimate. She says that if that was March of last year, that would have been POTUS's fourth physical, and then there were a couple of times during the campaign, and then after the shooting, and the time he rode his bicycle into a tree. That is, "came to a sudden arboreal stop." I still love that. Babish asks her to explain how it works when the President has a physical. C.J. explains that the President's physician, who is currently Admiral Leonard Morrow, calls and gives her a brief statement, including vitals. And then she makes a statement to the press. He asks whether she also speaks to the President before she makes a statement. She does, because of doctor-patient confidentiality; there is some information she can only get from POTUS himself. Babish: "So what do you ask the President?" C.J. replies, "I say, 'Is there anything I should know about your health that the doctors won't tell me?'" Babish asks whether she asks if there's anything she should know or if there's anything she needs to know. C.J. wonders what difference it makes. Babish explains that using "need to know" implies that she only wants to know enough to face reporters while maintaining deniability. C.J. says it's just an expression, and that she really doesn't remember if she said that. I wouldn't either. She says, "I don't choose my words that carefully." Babish says, "With the President?" C.J. asks, "You think I was speaking with the President in code?" Babish replies, "No. I was just asking." Someone knocks; it's the staffer I call Nicole. She comes in with a note for C.J. from Chicken Little...I mean, "Donna Moss." C.J. reads it, and then gestures with the fax toward Oliver, saying, "The sky is falling down." Over the commercials, we can ponder the obviousness of having this satellite subplot threaded through the main story. I think it's a bit much, myself.

Sam's in the Roosevelt Room with a lot of staffers, going over the speech he's working on. A woman and a man, neither of whom I recall having seen before, knock on the door, and Sam tells his staff to think about fundamentals while he excuses himself to answer the door.

Sam wanders into the Mess. He greets Toby, who's reading a positive review of a commencement speech they wrote. Toby tells Sam that the reviewer, Maynard Wachtel, called them the "Batman and Robin of speechwriting." Hee! Toby seems to enjoy that more than I would have thought. Sam says, "Well, I don't think he does..." Toby agrees that he doesn't, but he should: "Because that's what we are." Sam: "Okay." Toby, with some pastry in his mouth: "We're Batman and Robin!" Sam: "Which one's which?" Toby: "Look at me, Sam. Am I Robin?" He's really not. Sam objects, "I'm not Robin." You so are, Sam. Toby: "Yes, you are." Sam: "Okay, well, let's move off this." Toby's in a much more jovial mood than one would expect. As they start walking, Toby says, "You bet, little friend." Sam pleads, "We're really not Batman and Robin." Toby suggests, "No, we'll keep those identities secret. I'm Bruce Wayne, and you're my ward, Dick something." Sam's had enough of that: "Jane Gentry and Richard Will came to see me with some news." He tells Toby about the adjustments in the CBO projections. Toby thinks that's fantastic news, and asks when it's "real." Sam says it will be this afternoon. Toby claims to be so happy he could spit. Sam thinks this is probably the first administration in history to get behind slower economic growth. Toby says he favours it when it gives them a "bat and ball on tax cuts." Toby mumbles some economic mumbo jumbo and says that they'll stand their ground on no tax cut in the top bracket, to which Sam adds that it turns out that they might not be able to afford it. They're both very happy about that. Sam: "Yeah, it's Christmas in Paris. But there's a line ATJ and the Progressive Caucus want me to put in the draft for Chicago." They discuss the line; Toby tells Sam to change the writing, but Sam says it's not the writing. Toby knows. He then starts to say something to Sam: "Listen..." but changes his mind. I get the feeling he wanted to say something to prepare Sam for what's coming later, but what can he tell him, anyway? Toby says to forget it, and tells Sam to talk to somebody at ATJ or the Caucus. Toby leaves for a meeting.

Chicken Little comes over to Charlie's desk. She starts to peck for grubs and insects. No, not really. Charlie asks whether there's anything she needs; she says she just came to say hi. He's polite, but keeps going about his business. Of course it's not two seconds before she launches into the satellite thing; he responds, "Cool." Donna's upset: "No, it's not! What's the matter with you people? A thing the size of a garbage truck is going to be in a two-thousand-mile-an-hour free fall and no one knows where it's going to hit!" Charlie says something about voting for Zurich, and that he's "had it up to here with the Swiss." Hee. ["Glark and I both started cracking up at that line because it reminded us of an old Kids in the Hall skit. I half expected Charlie to add, 'Got a problem with that, Belgium?'" -- Wing Chun] Donna continues trying to impress upon Charlie the urgency of her mission, but Charlie reads some piece of paper on his desk and excuses himself. Donna sighs and leaves.

After the commercials, Leo wanders up to Josh, who is waiting for him. They go into Leo's office; Leo tells Josh he told Abby about the problem with Zoey's application without realizing that the President hadn't told her yet. Josh asks why the President hadn't told her. Leo: "What do you want from me?" Josh says he wants $30 million. Leo says no. Josh tells him why, and Leo complains, "They're always out of money." Josh says the White House doesn't give them enough. Leo asks about the money they're supposed to be able to transfer from other departments; Josh explains that since they passed that law, the transfers are subject to approval by Committees, all of which are headed by politicians that Big Tobacco helped to elect. Josh also points out that even if every transfer was approved, it wouldn't matter, because $12 million isn't going to get it done. Leo: "Neither is thirty million." Josh suggests giving them more. Leo says no, because they're going to lose. Josh: "So you give them enough to win." Leo: "We'd have to liquidate the Grand Tetons." Josh thinks it's a steal at twice the price. Leo tells Josh to staff it out and report back to him in two or three days. Josh gets up and says he's going out to the airport. Leo looks up from his phone messages and says, "All right. Do a job." Josh sighs, "Yeah."

Sam arrives at a meeting in a very elegant room, greeting Henry, Helen, Bruce, and Lewis. That's not everybody, just the ones he mentions by name. He says they just have a few minutes. One guy says, "There's a caucus." Sam tells them the good news about the CBO projections. Sam still thinks there's something wrong with all of them, but lets it go. He brings up the "jet planes and swimming pools" line that they want in the Chicago draft. One guy seems especially pleased with that leaden bit of rhetoric. One of the women -- let's say Helen -- chimes in, "Yeah, hit 'em hard." Sam says they are hitting them hard, but that he's not going to use the line, because it sounds like it was written by a high-school girl. Helen asks, "Is there something wrong with the way a woman writes?" Sam: "There usually is when she's in high school." Henry says, "Sam!" Sam says, "It's not the writing. Come on, Henry. 'Faster private jets and swimming pools'?" Henry says that they can take out the big bats now. Sam asks, "And do what with them?" Helen insists that the line works. Sam: "So does 'How about dem Cowboys?' when you're playing a club in Dallas, but the line isn't going to change the mind of anyone who doesn't already agree with us." Henry asks whether Sam is in favour of tax cuts for the wealthy. Sam says he's not, and that he favours tax cuts for those for whom they will do the most good: "But I'm not talking about policy, I'm talking about rhetoric, and the men you work for need to dial it down to five." A couple of caucus members exchange glances. Sam continues, "Henry; last fall, every time your boss got on the stump, and said, 'It's time for the rich to pay their fair share,' I hid under a couch and changed my name. I left Gage Whitney making $400,000 a year, which means I paid twenty-seven times the national average in income tax. I paid my fair share, and the fair share of twenty-six other people. And, I'm happy to, 'cause that's the only way it's gonna work, and it's in my best interest that everybody be able to go to schools and drive on roads, but I don't get twenty-seven votes on election day. The fire department doesn't come to my house twenty-seven times faster and the water doesn't come out of my faucet twenty-seven times hotter. The top one percent of wage earners in this country pay for twenty-two percent of this country. Let's not call them names while they're doing it, is all I'm saying." Okay, that may be, but now we know he's sleeping with Ainsley. Helen says: "You're not using the line?" Sam: "No." Helen: "Or anything like it?" Sam hopes they'll make it clear to their people that this has nothing to do with "diluting their position or cozying up to Republicans." Whatever you say, Robin. Henry says sarcastically, "No, why would they think that?" Another guy says they've got a caucus, and the meeting breaks up. As it does, Sam says, "I know plenty of women who can write, Helen. I know women who can blow the walls of brick buildings. This sounds like a girl." Helen doesn't say anything as she leaves.

At the airport, Joey arrives with some other interpreter. She's two-timing Kenny, I see. Josh calls out to her, catching the interpreter's attention. He touches Joey on the shoulder to direct her attention to Josh. They meet up, and Joey is all smiles at the sight of Josh. Marlee Matlin has a particularly beautiful smile, so it's nice to see it often. Josh seem slightly discombobulated by the new interpreter, who introduces himself as Dale Bracket. Josh learns that Kenny's on vacation. Joey seems almost gleeful at the thought that Josh came to pick her up at the airport. Josh says that's not it, exactly, and that he wants Dale to wait by himself for a while; Josh explains that Joey's going to read his lips, and if he can't understand what she's saying, she'll write it down. Dale signs all this for her. Joey looks slightly puzzled but completely agreeable. As they walk away from Dale, Josh says, "Pretty good-looking for an interpreter." As a matter of fact, he's not too hard on the eyes. Josh seems mildly threatened. Joey says, "He's good-looking for anybody." Burn! Josh: "Dale Bracket? He's not a television detective?" Joey wonders why they can't talk in the car. Josh says she's not getting in the car; she's getting back on the plane in an hour and ten minutes.

Josh and Joey sit down at a table in a kind of food court area. Seems like a fairly risky place to have this conversation, but I'm not a professional political operative like Josh. Josh asks, "Okay, if we sit like this, can Dale Bracket, PI, read my lips?" Joey looks slightly dismayed and annoyed with Josh's paranoia, and says, "No." Marlee Matlin looks very different; I think it's because she's wearing much less eye makeup than usual. Josh tells her that she's not there to discuss an agriculture poll. Joey: "No kidding." Josh seems surprised that she guessed that. Joey asks, "You think we're eating more beets?" Josh replies, "Well, we are, but...that's not important." Just then a waiter comes up; Josh orders cranberry juice and club soda for Joey, and a large glass of ice water for himself. Since when do food courts have waiters? This is some swanky airport. You can see the waiter's thinking, "Oh yeah, big tip on this table. This must be my lucky day." While Josh is giving the order, Joey's scribbling a note on a napkin: "What's important?" Josh says that he told Leo they could trust her, and that Toby backed him up. Joey's still waiting for him to cut to the chase. Finally he does: "Eight years ago, the President was diagnosed with an illness that was never disclosed." Joey takes this in stride and writes, "Is it serious?" Josh softly says, "Yes." She asks what it is. Josh carefully signs the letters "M" and "S" (and sadly, it makes no difference that I know the ASL alphabet, because any fool could guess what he signed). You'll remember that he was trying to learn some sign language around the time he met Joey in L.A.; I wonder if he recalled this or had to look it up again before coming to the airport. Joey looks sad as the waiter arrives with their beverages.

The staffer I'm calling Nicole shows FLOTUS into Babish's office. She says she hasn't been in his office since he started, and that it looks great. She's pacing nervously as she adds, "I haven't come in here because it seems that every time I do, there's a new White House Counsel. I think Leo keeps them in the basement, like those two ladies in Arsenic and Old Lace." She says that POTUS is very glad Babish is there, "particularly in this time of nonsense." Babish would like to ask her some questions. She nervously babbles about not being as experienced in this as the senior staff is, and that she's read about Daniel Webster and Benjamin Disraeli: "It seems the little experience I do have is with dead lawyers." Babish says, "Just out of curiosity, ma'am, how'd they die?" Abby replies, "If you're under the impression that you're the fifth White House Counsel instead of the first White House Counsel because of me, you're mistaken, Oliver." He wasn't under that impression; he just wants to get down to business. She knows he wants to ask her about Zoey's form. She says that it was just a form -- one of many forms -- it was left blank, and she signed it without reading it. Always a good policy. He asks whether anyone else was in the room when she signed it. She doesn't remember, of course; it was over a year ago. He asks whether POTUS was in the room. Hey, buddy, what part of "I don't remember" don't you understand? He points out that when he asks the President that question, he's going to tell the truth. Abby replies, "And I imagine that the President will also resent your implication that I didn't just do the same." She insists again that neither of them remember if Jed was in the room. She points out that Oliver has kids, and mentions some of the dozens of forms that always have to be signed. Oliver says, "Their mother usually signs them." Yeah, that's probably because your various ex-wives have primary custody of your children. Abby points out that there are a lot more forms when the kid's father is the governor of New Hampshire or the President of the United States. Oliver says he understands: "But a lawyer half my size, while cross-examining you during deposition, will say the following, he will say: 'Mrs. Bartlet, do you have an M.D. from Harvard?'" ["Well, he's right about the 'half [his] size' part, for sure." -- Wing Chun] Abby says yes to that and to the five questions that Oliver fires at her: "'Are you board-certified in Internal Medicine? Are you board-certified in Thoracic Surgery? Are you an Adjunct Professor of Thoracic Surgery at Harvard Medical School? Are you on the staff of Boston Mercy Hospital and Columbia Presbyterian? Have you been practising medicine for twenty-six years?'" He then asks, "Do you not find it just a tad insulting that as the wife of President Jed Bartlet, you now get to be referred to as Mrs. Bartlet, instead of Dr. Bartlet, despite your numerous and significant achievements as a physician and surgeon?" Abby says, "You're damn right." Well, actually, Oliver continues the mock cross-examination: "Are you not able to recognize a standard medical history form when it is put in front of your face?" She protests, "I didn't read it! I didn't think it was important." Oliver: "'What else have you signed without thinking it was important? Prescriptions?" Abby: "No!" Oliver: "'Patient instructions?'" Abby: "No!" Oliver: "'So it was just this?'" Abby says that she's not a neurological expert, but that she knows MS in not hereditary, and that POTUS's condition has no relevance to Zoey's health. Oliver states that now she's changing her story: "Did you sign it because you were absent-minded or did you sign it because you knew best?" She replies, "I signed it because...I just signed it. It was a form. And I think making a big thing out of it is what makes it into a big thing!" Oliver: "Really." Abby: "And I'm not one hundred percent sure that that's not what you're going for." Oliver wonders why he'd want to do that; Abby points out that defending the President in such a high-profile case looks pretty good on a rsum. He replies, "Well, I've got a pretty good-looking rsum already, Mrs. Bartlet. And it's not a big thing because I say so, ma'am; it's a big thing. You're going to get all the questions I just asked you, and quite a few more. And then they're going to ask the President if he was in the room when you signed it. And that's when he's going to give everyone's favourite answer from a President who has just announced he has MS: 'I don't remember.'" He lets that sink into Abby for a moment, and then asks when they're going public. She's not sure; about a week, she thinks. She says they're still strategizing. Oliver figures there'll probably be a live interview on the networks. She agrees. He kind of spins out the potential scenario, citing the names of interviewers, the phrases the President might say: "'I regret that I concealed my condition from the public. I regret the appearance that I tried to deceive the voters in order to win an election.'" Abby thinks that's more or less how it will go. Oliver says, "And if we don't make it a big thing, they won't make it a big thing? Mrs. Bartlet, I'm not sure you have an appropriate appreciation for the size of what happens ." From the look on her face as we go to commercial, I'd say she's just starting to get it.

Back at the airport, Joey asks Josh when they're going public. Josh tells her it'll be in about a week. She wants to know how they're going to do it; Josh tells her it will probably be a live interview followed by a press conference: "Joey, we need you to put a poll in the field. You gotta come up with a model that gets us the answers we need without asking the questions we can't ask. You gotta come up with the model by yourself; you gotta break down the results by yourself. Not even the callers can understand the questions they're asking. And you gotta do it all in ninety-six hours. Is what I'm describing possible?" Joey nods, more with her eyes than her head. Joey suggests making the subject the governor of an industrial state, such as Michigan. Josh asks, "And you give him a degenerative illness?" Joey nods wisely. Josh mentions that before this is over, they'll probably all be called before the grand jury. Joey half-nods, half-shrugs. Josh says, "You can do this?" She replies, "No problem." Her flight is being called. Joey asks how the President is. Josh is putting something in his pocket as he responds, and his chin is down near his chest as he says, "He's fine." ["Good for her for asking. That's more than Toby did, the big goof." -- Wing Chun] Joey reaches across the table and gently lifts Josh's chin so that she can see his lips. Josh repeats, "He's fine. I'll tell him you asked." Joey still looks kind of sad as she gathers up her tickets: "Ninety-six hours?" Josh: "Yeah." She says, "I have to go to work now." She walks away; Josh takes the napkin they've been writing on and drowns it in his water glass.

Chicken Little's blathering on again to Charlie about the satellite. As they walk down the hallway and Chicken Little continues her paranoid nattering, Charlie casually mentions that the satellite could contain plutonium. She agrees and starts to breeze away, but then returns to verify this with Charlie. He admits that nuclear reactors on a satellite aren't that common, "but you never know." Chicken Little has to agree with that. As she walks off, she runs into Abby, who greets her. Donna welcomes her back. Abby asks her how she is; Donna replies, "I'm fine, but there's a giant object hurtling its way toward us at a devastating velocity." Abby: "Tell me about it." ["Yeah, and it's called Oliver Platt. Look out!" -- Wing Chun]

Donna wanders off as Abby reaches C.J.'s office and asks to speak to her for a second. Abby closes the door and sits on C.J.'s sofa. Abby says, knowing the answer, "How was your day?" C.J., looking fairly tired and badgered, says, "Well, I got pretty well bitch-slapped by the White House Counsel, ma'am. How about you?" C.J. looks down. Abby says that she wanted to be here when C.J. was told, and that she didn't know they were going to tell her last night. C.J. says that she had been talking to Toby when Leo called her in, and that Toby told her that he's be in his office when she was finished; she had no idea why Toby was telling her that. C.J. mentions what Babish told her about the difference between "need to know" and "should know." It seems, as she's trying to get the words out, almost as if she's close to breaking down. But she doesn't. Abby says that he's just a lawyer, doing his job. C.J. told him that she couldn't remember. Abby says there were a lot of things she couldn't remember. You can tell there's a lot weighing on C.J. C.J. asks Abby about a time during the campaign when they were in Manhattan, Kansas, and she came to Jed and Abby's hotel room early to tell them about an interview they were doing that night: "And I think by then, the two of you were so used to people walking in and out of your room that you didn't hear me open the door. And I was almost sure I saw you giving the President an injection of something." Abby replies, "It was Betaseron. It reduces the frequency of the attacks." C.J. puts her hand up to push the hair away from each side of her face. "When the President has his physical, and I do the release, I only ever ask, 'Is there anything else I need to know?'" I guess she remembered. Abby nods; her eyes look very moist. C.J. sighs and looks away.