Bartlet for America

Previously on The West Wing: Donna's blind date turned out to be the Majority Counsel; C.J. thought the White House needed to pick a fight with someone who wanted to kill them just to watch them die...like say, the House of Representatives.

The show opens in a spacious meeting room, one we haven't seen before. Leo sits alone at a big shiny table. The room has the usual dim-yet-warm lighting that is starting to provoke in some viewers what I can only describe as "lighting rage." Fortunately, John Spencer's a great enough actor to convey what's necessary even if we have to peer a bit. As the camera swings around toward the door, we see that he isn't actually alone; Margaret's there, too. She's uncharacteristically silent. Her hair's in an updo, about which I find myself...unsure. There's a knock on the door, and a fellow comes in to speak to Leo. It's Casper the Unfriendly Agent from "Somebody's Going to Emergency, Somebody's Going to Jail." He seems to be much nicer this time around. Leo asks Margaret to vamoose.

Leo skips quickly past the chit-chat and asks, "So...there were more threats." Casper replies, "Seven churches in five Tennessee counties." He explains that they have twenty-five guys on the ground, and that ATF is sending in a team. Leo asks whether the Governor has been briefed; Casper says he's being briefed right now. Leo apologizes, saying he's stuck with "this thing," and asks Casper to stay with Josh today. Casper says he will; at that moment, Margaret comes back in with a cell phone, saying it's Josh. As Leo accepts the phone, he asks Casper to get him a secure phone hookup so that he can monitor the situation with Josh today; all he's got is the cell phone. Casper wishes Leo good luck; Leo tersely tells him to "go!"

Leo starts talking to Josh. We see Josh walking outside somewhere; his hair seems darker. He tells Leo about the new threats. Leo says that he was just speaking with Mike Casper, and that Mike will be with Josh all day. Leo asks whether Josh will be all right, because he's going to be unavailable all day. Josh tells him, "Keep your head there," and not to keep calling on every break to check on things. Leo says, almost but not quite testily, "I'll keep my head where I want." Josh says, "Leo...there are ways." Leo: "Don't start again..." Josh says there are ways to get "the guy" out of the room. Leo suggests that they each keep their head in their respective places. Josh says, "I used to do this for a living, Leo. The guy gets the floor for five minutes. I can get him out of the room." Leo: "Don't help me." As Josh tries to flag a cab, he informs Leo, "I'm gonna help you, 'cause you know why?" Leo doesn't pussyfoot: "'Cause you walk around with so much guilt about everybody you love dying that you're a compulsive fixer?" ["Gee, that wasn't too unwieldy a wad of exposition." -- Wing Chun] Josh replies, "No, Leo, no. It's 'cause a guy's walking down the street and he falls into a hole, see?" That's a reference to the little speech Leo gave Josh at the end of "Noel," and yes, it made me choke up a tad. Leo accepts this: "Yeah." Josh: "Yeah." As Leo's lawyer (in the form of Joanna Gleason) arrives, Leo stands and says, "It's my day, Josh. I gotta take the hit." Yes, see, everybody but Bartlet has to take a hit. Cripes, C.J.'s goldfish is probably taking more of a hit than Jed.

Leo and Josh end their call, and Leo's lawyer announces, "They're waiting for us." Leo asks if she wants to go and get breakfast or something. She does not. Leo seems to be channelling Jed as he says, "Breakfast is my favourite meal to eat out. I love tomato juice." As they walk toward the hearing, she says "they're" waiting for her and Leo. Leo: "They can wait." Lawyer: "No, they really can't." Leo: "Yeah, they really can. Seven new threats on black churches. The Governor's coming up. We might have to federalize the Tennessee National Guard, and that's just the stuff I know about that's going to happen, and here I am today." As they get in an elevator, Leo's lawyer tells him he shouldn't be nervous. Leo replies, "I swear to God, Jordan, the last thing I am is nervous." The elevator doors close.

When Leo and Jordan get out, there's a passel of reporters and photographers eagerly waiting for them. As they walk through the crowd, ignoring the microphones and cameras, Leo asks, "Did I win a Grammy for something?" Jordan asks, "Were you nominated?" Leo says he wasn't. Jordan replies, "That's ridiculous!" Leo philosophically says, "Well, those things are so political." Jordan suddenly asks, "Leo...is there something you haven't told me?" He says, "There's lots of things I haven't told you, Jordan." She says, "About today." Leo says nothing as they make their way to their seats. We hear a cell phone ring; Margaret tries to hand the phone to Leo. Jordan says he can't take any calls right now. Margaret says it's POTUS. Well, there's a call he can take.

Jed's on the speakerphone in the First Boudoir, getting dressed for work. He says, "Listen, I don't care that much about your ass, but if you need to perjure yourself to protect me, you're going to damn well do it." Holy inadvisability, Batman. Seriously: at this stage of the game, even though Jed seems to have resisted grasping the gravity of the situation all along, would he dare make such a dangerous joke? Over a phone line? Even if he whispered it privately to Leo to the engine of Air Force One at takeoff, this would be fairly inadvisable. Leo reminds him that this is not a secure line: "So I'm going to say to the seventeen global intelligence agencies that are listening in that he was kidding just then." Jed continues, "Whatever it is that Josh does, you're going to let him do it." Leo says he doesn't need Josh. Jed says, "Yeah, yeah," and asks, "How does she look to you?" Jed walks over to the TV in the bedroom, which is showing footage of the pre-hearing gathering. Leo asks, "Who?" Jed: "Her!" On the TV, we see Leo glance at Jordan; he replies, "She looks good." Jed asks, "What's she wearing?" First of all, Jed can see her on the TV if he wants. Second: what is with the men on this show asking their male friends about what their prey, for lack of a better word, are wearing? I know precious few men who care that much or are able to register more than the most fundamental details of female attire. I would be impressed if Frink could tell you anything more about what I wore to our wedding than that it was a long white dress. Anyway, Leo asks Jordan, "What are you wearing?" Jordan, peeved, asks, "What does it matter?" Leo says, "Why don't you ask the President that?" He holds the phone up to her face and Jordan quickly contributes, "Grey Armani suit." Leo mutters to Jed: "Spandex." Um, right. Like men know from fibres. What's sort of funny about all of this is that we're watching Leo and Jordan on C-SPAN in Jed's bedroom, but hearing their side of this conversation on the TV, as if C-SPAN would be broadcasting this.

Back to Jed: he grabs his jacket, does the coat flip, and declares, "I like you and her. It's like a '50s screwball comedy." Except that screwball comedies are a '30s phenomenon. Leo says, "You're like a '50s screwball." Jed asks, "What was that?" Leo says it was nothing, and adds, "We should do gifts and charitable donations tomorrow night." Jed says he's not doing anything tomorrow night. Leo asks, "What's tomorrow night?" Jed pauses briefly and then says with something like mild impatience, "It's Christmas Eve." Leo says he forgot and adds, "You don't work then, right?" Jed says that, actually, nobody does. I expect there are a lot of shift workers and minimum wage slaves along with doctors and nurses and firefighters and so forth who find otherwise. Leo says the Governor will be there around noon, and that he'll talk to Jed before then. Jed says, "You got about a thousand people in this building standing with you right now." Leo says he'll be back when he's done. Jed says okay. He glances at the TV as we cut back to the hearing room. Chairman Bruno (from "Take Out the Trash Day," I believe) bangs his gavel harshly to bring the room to order. Jordan asks Leo again what's going on. Bruno bangs his gavel again and says, "Will the first witness rise, raise your right hand to God, and swear the oath that's written in front of you?" Leo doesn't move. He just stares ahead, his jaw set. We see Cliff Calley waiting patiently. Everyone waits. Leo turns to Jordan and says, "Ain't nothing but a family thing." Um...okay. He stands, raises his hand, and declares, "I solemnly swear that the testimony today will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God." And...credits.

My remote control is not working very well. On the long list of Things That Are Not Good, having the remote malfunction on recapping day is pretty high up on the list. I don't need this.

Bruno asks Leo to state his name. He does: "Leo Thomas McGarry." Bruno asks Leo to identify counsel; Leo looks at her and says, "We've never met." I'm guessing those assembled are not going to be big on joking around. She states her name is Jordan Kendall. Bruno thanks Leo for his appearance before the Committee and goes on to explain that everyone was surprised by Jed's announcement that he has known for seven years that he has relapsing/remitting Multiple Sclerosis, and has concealed that from the public even while asking Americans to vote him into the White House. Bruno goes on to describe it as even more stunning that in a day and age, when the most minute details of a candidate's life are usually under a microscope, high-level campaign aides could have been unaware of Jed's medical condition. Bruno concludes by saying that the Committee would like to know how it was pulled off: "Did people lie? Were people told to lie? Are people lying now?" He explains that Leo will be questioned by Majority Counsel and then Minority Counsel, and then each member will have five minutes to question him, alternating between the majority and the minority. He turns the floor over to Cliff, who introduces himself. Cliff establishes Leo's current title, and then asks what his title was. Leo replies, "General Chairman, Bartlet for America." Cliff asks how long he's known POTUS; Leo says they first met about thirty-two years ago, but that their friendship began about eleven years ago. Cliff suggests that Leo is the person in the White House who's known POTUS the longest. Leo points out that the First Lady has known him the longest. We keep getting shots of a member named Gibson, who really looks like a member of The Syndicate or The Consortium or The Crips or The Bloods or whatever the hell that gaggle of evildoers on The X-Files is called. Cancer Man's cronies. I gave up on that show quite some time ago and have forgotten a lot of details I used to know off the top of my head. Cliff asks whether Leo was the person who first approached Jed about running for President; Leo says he was. Cliff asks where and when that happened. Leo replies, "Four years ago last month in the State House at Concord." (And he pronounces it correctly.)

Out in the hall, Mike Casper cruises up and says, "We got it." Josh asks where Casper's been. It turns out the FBI has apprehended a suspect in the church arsons: "Gilbert Murdoch, a seventeen-year-old high school dropout was pulled over outside Chattanooga for a failing left brake light. When the officers approached his car, he sped up and led them in high pursuit." Josh: "Why?" Mike: "Because he thought he was being pulled over for planning to make a Molotov cocktail." Josh: "Why?" Mike: "'Cause he was planning to make a Molotov cocktail." Josh asks whether he named any friends. Mike says he was a "tough nut to crack: took almost twenty minutes." Josh says they've got themselves a conspiracy, and asks Mike to come with him to brief POTUS. Mike starts to go along, pauses, and then says, "No. The Director will brief the President." Josh comes back to where Mike's planted himself and says, "Mike, that's your task force out there. The only reason you're not out there with 'em is 'cause...I don't know, 'cause you're a woman or something." In addition to the new keyboard I am owed after "The Women of Qumar," I am now owed a wig, because I've just torn out what's left of my hair. And I want a good wig, made from real human hair, none of those fake-o Raquel Welch polyester jobs. ["Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr." -- Wing Chun] Mike testily replies, "I am temporarily desk-assigned for health reasons, a decision I appealed vigorously." Josh says, "Let's go." Mike insists: "We don't take curtain calls." Josh: "You'll take a handshake. Let's go."

In the Mural Room, a couple of people are meeting with Jed and Edward, the Governor of Tennessee. A guy identified on the closed captioning as Algiss Schuyler is saying, "Of course there's a legal basis. Religious freedom is a civil right. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 raises these threats to a federal level." Edward: "Credible threats, and no one in this room's trying to take away your civil rights." Josh knocks and enters with Mike. Schuyler says, "A sin of omission by any other name..." Josh tells him the decision just got a lot easier. Mike explains that the FBI is ready to call this a credible threat, and that they have one of the conspirators in custody. Jed says, "'Conspirators'? All right. Here come the Tennessee Volunteers." As he grabs his jacket and does the coat flip (I find it hilarious that he'll do it in front of absolutely anybody; I mean, we love it, but it's not the most dignified thing you've ever seen), he tells Schuyler, "Reverend, have the pastors encourage the women to bake those guys something nice." Guh? Wuh? Now I really think Sorkin's just trying to piss us off. It's just so damn gratuitous. ["If he is trying to piss us off, it's working, because...GAH. Assuming we're talking about Protestant churches, some of the pastors could be women, and, god, the man's wife is a goddamn surgeon and clearly not the Betty Crocker type and yet this is how he thinks women can best be of use during a crisis? BAKING?! I really don't want to have to stop watching this show, but ...rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!" -- Wing Chun] Jed continues, "They're all spending Christmas Eve where they don't want to be. Ed, you get to be a hero to the blacks in your state. Anybody in your state doesn't like it, the FBI is calling the shots. What could you do? Anything else?" Reverend Schuyler thanks Jed.

Everybody files out except Mike and Josh. POTUS apologizes, saying he's forgotten the agent's name. Mike reintroduces himself. Jed asks how they caught the guy. Mike tells him. Jed comments, "Two-year investigation gets its first crack from a broken taillight." As they leave the Mural Room, Mike says, "In thirteen years with the Bureau, I've discovered that there's no amount of money, manpower, or knowledge that can equal the person you're looking for being stupid." Jed turns and says, "God, well, some of the stupidest criminals in the world are working right here in America. I've always been very proud of that." Mike smiles and says, "Yes, sir." He leaves, and Jed looks at Josh, asking what's going on. Josh looks bummed and says he has to call Leo and tell him it's not going to happen. Jed acknowledges that it was a long shot: "Look, I wanted to see him spared this, but...Leo's made out of leather. His face has a map of the world on it. Leo comes back." Josh accepts this and walks away. Jed stands there for a moment as Josh leaves. After a long pause, he quietly says to himself, "Dammit."

Jed walks away as the camera lingers on Leo giving his testimony, which is that Jed never lied, and that Leo himself never lied. And at no point did Jed encourage others to lie. We cut to the Congressman who's interrogating Leo: "And at no point has he been unable to discharge his duties?" Leo says no. The Congressman thanks him. Bruno recognizes Gibson. Gibson begins: "Two years ago January, the President collapsed in the Oval Office, is that correct?" Leo says he's not sure of the medically accurate way to describe what happened. Gibson asks, "He involuntarily fell to the ground?" Leo confirms this. Gibson asks Minority Counsel to stipulate that they can call that "collapsing." Minority Counsel nods his head. Gibson asks that the record reflect that the appropriate head was nodded. Gibson asks whether this is the only time while in office that POTUS has collapsed. Leo says that it is, as far as he knows. Gibson moves in for the kill: "Is this the only time since the beginning of the campaign that he's collapsed?" Leo doesn't hesitate very long before responding, "No, it's not." The peanut gallery starts murmuring; Jordan looks concerned but tries not to show it; Cliff looks concerned and doesn't try to hide it much at all. Gibson says, "I'd like to take you back to 30 October in St. Louis, Missouri. Jed Bartlet is the Democratic nominee for President and is about to participate in the third and final debate..." Cliff twists around to look at Congressman Bruno, when Jordan interrupts and requests a short recess. Bruno says they just got back from a recess. She points out that they have taken breaks at the request of almost everyone on the Committee while Leo hasn't asked for any; she pleads for one. He relents and calls a five-minute recess, asking people to keep it to ten minutes. Gibson doesn't look too happy. Jordan orders Leo to come with her. Bruno and Cliff make their way over to Gibson. Gibson's assuring Bruno, "Yeah, it will all come out." Cliff says, "Excuse me...what's going on?" Bruno says he was just asking the same thing. Cliff says he doesn't know anything about testimony from October 30. Gibson says, "It's okay, I got it." Cliff insists, "No, you don't 'got it.'" Bruno suggests they go someplace and talk. We see Margaret and Leo following Jordan out of the hearing room.

As soon as the commercials start, my phone rings. Most people know not to call me while this show's on, and I never answer the phone during it anyway. But I'm right to it and glance at the call display. It's the Boss Lady calling on the Not! Line. I answer it and Wing says, "Is this not, like, the most paternalistic episode ever?" ["Well?! Right?" -- Wing Chun] We gripe about the rampant and peculiar sexism ["touching also on last week's episode, since I was away and didn't get to put my two...okay, seventy-two cents into that recap, though I really would have liked to" -- Wing Chun] and agree that we don't know what the deal is until the commercials are over. ["And may I just add, rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!" -- Wing Chun]

Josh gets a call in to Leo as Leo is on his way to meet with Jordan. Josh tells Leo he couldn't make it happen. I think Leo already knows; he tells Josh not to worry about it. Leo enters the room where Jordan's waiting. She closes the door and says, "You have to tell me what's going on now, or I'm walking out the door." She's very no-nonsense. I like her. I have a low nonsense threshold. Leo says, "Look..." Jordan's firm: "Tell me now." He starts walking around the room and says that on the day of the final debate, nine days before the election, he was meeting with two potential donors.

We cut to Flashback Land, where Leo's meeting with these guys in his hotel room. Leo continues narrating the story, explaining that the election was close, and that he didn't want to be the first one to run out of money. One of the potential donors tells Leo, "You look nervous, Leo. Don't worry about it, I brought my wallet." Lots of chortling. Leo says he's got some steak sandwiches on the way. One of the donors says, "Yeah, and let's have some drinks." Leo affably assents.

Cutting back to the present, Leo sits down at the table. He tells Jordan, "The President was at the debate site walking the stage. A podium is a holy place for him."

We see Jed walking into the auditorium followed by the Fab Four. They check out the room. Leo: "He makes it his own, like it's an extension of his body. You ever see a pitcher work the mound so the dirt does exactly what his feet want it to do? That's the President. He sees it as a genuine opportunity to change minds, also as his best way of contributing to the team. He likes teams. I love him so much." Aw.

Jordan sits down and asks, "What was going on in your room?" Leo quietly says, "I like the little things." Jordan: "I didn't hear you." Leo says louder, and sharply: "I said, 'I like the little things.' The way a glass feels in your hand, a good glass -- thick, with a heavy base. I love the sound an ice cube makes when you drop it from just the right height." We hear that sound exactly. "Too high, and it will chip when you drop it. Chip the ice and it will melt too fast in the Scotch."

We fade back to Leo in the hotel room. The donors are smoking up a storm. One of them is saying, "You ever try this, Leo? It's Johnnie Walker Blue. Bartenders are selling it for thirty bucks a shot." The guy removes the cork (yes, it comes with a cork, not a screw cap; good job on the prop detail there). He pours some into a crystal glass over some ice. Leo tells Jordan, "Good scotch sits in a charcoal barrel for twelve years. Very good scotch gets smoked for twenty-nine years. Johnnie Walker Blue...is sixty-year-old Scotch."

We fade back to Leo in the meeting room. His expression is that of a man talking about a beloved partner. Jordan's frustrated with the liquor commercial and says, "I don't care. What happened in the room?" Leo responds, "I'm trying to tell you what happened."

Back to the room: more chortling and smoking. Flashback Leo brightly asks, "Shall we get to it?" There's another guy there beside the two donors. He's sitting off to the side, not participating in the festivities, really. One of the guys says, "You don't want to find out what a thirty-dollar sip of Scotch tastes like?" Leo begs off, saying he has to stay sharp for the debate. Jordan breaks in to inquire, "Why don't you just say, 'I'm an alcoholic'?" Leo counters, "They're two CEOs. I'm trying to get them to give me half a million dollars apiece right now. It's not really the best time to mention it."

Leo returns to the story: "The President's at the debate site." We see a woman asking POTUS how he feels about the temperature in the room. He thinks it's fine. The woman's concerned that it's too cold. Jed says it will be fine later: "This is a 550-seat theatre. And they'll be seated a half-hour before we start, so the temperature'll be up four to six degrees." He knows this and can convert the temperature of Mars from Fahrenheit to Celsius in his head ("Galileo") but doesn't know about the dangers of undercooked stuffing? Whatever. ["Yeah, I don't even care anymore." -- Wing Chun] Jordan barks, "The hotel room, Leo!"

We are whisked back to said hotel room, where one of the CEOs explains that they already gave to the RNC, but are worried they backed the wrong candidate, so now they want to hedge their bets. Leo says, "Good! Now give me a sip of that." Oh, no, Leo. Don't, don't, don't. Oh, God. I can't imagine that he's doing it to appease them; they've already indicated they want to contribute. They're not pressuring him to drink some anymore. Maybe he's celebrating because he feels like the pressure's off, now that he knows they'll contribute? Maybe he just can't resist the temptation to try a sixty-year-old Scotch. I don't know how many months/years of sobriety he has at this point, but one gets the impression it's a fair bit to lose. He takes a sip. He says, "That's what I remember." One of the CEOs chuckles.

Jordan says, "You had a drink." Leo: "I'm an alcoholic. I don't have one drink. I don't understand people who have one drink. I don't understand people who leave half a glass of wine on the table. I don't understand people who say they've had enough. How can you have enough of feeling like this? How can you not want to feel like this longer? My brain works differently." Jordan asks who the third person in the room was; Leo says that was the problem. It's Gibson, of course.

Flashback Leo's telling the CEOs, "Count on it." One of the CEOs says, "Whoa, you want to be careful there...you're not the big money party. We are." Gibson gets up and sits down closer to Leo. One of the CEOs continues, "Did I mention that he's thinking about running for Congress?" Gibson tells Leo, "I'm thinking about it." Jordan asks, "You were drunk in front of Gibson?" Leo tells her, "I don't get drunk in front of people. I get drunk alone."

We see Leo opening a cabinet in his hotel room; inside the cabinet is a mini-bar. He grabs a few tiny bottles of liquor. He tells Jordan, "They were going over something at the debate site." She says she doesn't want to hear about the debate site. Leo insists, "The debate site is what happened. The debate site is how he gets to bring this up here."

At the auditorium, Sam asks, "Where's Leo?" Josh, looking harried, says he'd still like to go over the Social Security answer, and that they have to get it down to ninety seconds. C.J. says it's ninety seconds; Josh says it isn't, and that they're going to cut him off. We see Jed wandering around, looking a little unsteady. The Fab Four walk over to him, arguing about the Social Security thing; Josh asks, "Governor, what do you think?" Jed's swaying a bit, perspiring slightly and clutching his coat in front of him in his crossed arms. Jed says, "No." Josh keeps going on about it, trying to explain the problem; Jed manages to say, "No, no, not now." Josh is ready to argue the point, but Jed, becoming more unsteady, puts his hand out against a nearby monitor to try to stabilize himself. Toby says, "Something's wrong." C.J. says, "Governor?" Josh: "Governor? Sir?" Jed mumbles something like, "Gabby." C.J. rushes off to get some water. Jed says the same thing again, and Toby realizes he's trying to say "Get Abby." Just then, Jed turns and completely loses his balance; Josh, Toby and Sam grab him before he falls and whisk him off.

Jordan asks, "He had an attack?" Leo explains that the doctor said it was an inner ear infection: "But all Josh knew when he called me is that he collapsed. I was supposed to be down there already. I was supposed to be down there an hour ago."

We see Leo sitting at the coffee table in his room, with several bottles before him. His breathing is quite laboured. The lighting in the room is all weird -- dark with lots of orange spots from lamps, and the light that's coming through the curtains makes them look a lurid purplish-pink. The phone rings; Leo struggles to his feet, walks over to the phone to the bed, and takes another big drink just before he flops on the bed and answers the call. He seems pretty hammered. Leo presses the speakerphone button and says "yeah?" a little too loudly. We hear Josh: "Leo, the Governor's sick." Someone buzzes the door. Josh: "He collapsed. You gotta get down here." Leo says okay. Josh says, "Leo..." Leo says "okay" again. Gibson keeps ringing and then pounds on the door, yelling, "It's Gibson!" Leo yells, "Okay!" He's confused, and tries to pull himself together, attempting to assimilate Josh's news and his altered mental state and the need to answer the door. He tries to smooth out his rumpled appearance as he goes to the door. He opens it, and Gibson strolls in, saying, "I forgot my briefcase." As he picks it up, he notices the coffee table. He turns and asks Leo, "You having a party?" Leo stumbles over his words, saying he's got to get to the debate site: "The Governor collapsed." Gibson leaves without a word. Leo stands there sighing and looking dissipated.

Jordan: "I don't understand how you could have a drink. I don't understand how, after everything you've worked for, how on that day of all days, you could be so stupid." Okay, I like no-nonsense, but that's rather harsh. And as far as I can tell, addiction has nothing to do with intelligence. It seems to be an equal-opportunity destroyer of lives. Leo replies, "That's because you think it has something to do with smart and stupid. Do you have any idea how many alcoholics are in Mensa? You think it's a lack of willpower? That's like thinking somebody with anorexia nervosa has an overdeveloped sense of vanity. My father was an alcoholic. His father was an alcoholic. So in my case...." Jordan: "Ain't nothing but a family thing." Leo confirms this. Jordan asks, "Who knows?" Leo says that Josh and the President know. Jordan wonders why no one else knows about the relapse. Leo says, "Because." Jordan states, "That's a little boy's answer." Leo tells her he went to rehab: "My friends embraced me when I got out. You relapse, it's not like that. 'Get away from me' -- that's what it's like." The lines delivered by John Spencer in this scene are certainly powerful enough in and of themselves, but when you are aware, as much of the audience is, that Aaron Sorkin is an addict himself and was arrested earlier this year during a relapse of his own, they definitely carry added weight and force. It's hard not to hear them as coming straight from Sorkin's heart. They reflect a lot of pain and some real insight into the nature of substance abuse, even if no one viewpoint can cover every addict's reality. Kudos to him for having the courage to write so openly about this. Someone knocks and comes in to tell them the hearing is back in session. Jordan thanks the person, and he leaves. Jordan wonders, "Just out of curiosity, why have you been asking me to have a meal with you every five minutes?" Leo gently says, "I like you. I've been trying to get it in under the wire." Hey, lady, if you're not interested, there's a long line of women who are. Jordan instructs him, "You'll answer the questions, simply and directly. I don't want to hear about Mensa. That'll be my job." Leo agrees, and gets up to walk out. He opens the door and waits for Jordan to catch up. As she nears him, she says, "Yes, by the way." Leo: "'Yes,' what?" Jordan: "Yes, I'd like to have dinner with you tonight." She strolls out. Leo doesn't look as pleased as you'd imagine. He says "okay," and follows her.

In another room, Cliff and Bruno are arguing with Gibson. Cliff elicits from Gibson that he's just trying to embarrass Leo. Gibson: "'Just'?" Cliff says that Leo's sobriety is not the subject of the hearing; the point of the hearing is to discover whether any rules, ethical or otherwise, were broken by Bartlet in the course of his bid to become POTUS. Gibson mildly says, "That's nice, but I live in the actual world, where the object of these hearings is to win." Cliff says, "No, it's not." Gibson says it's the object of the majority. Cliff replies, "Not while I'm the Majority Counsel, it's not. This is bush league! This is why good people hate us. This, right here. This thing. This isn't what these hearings are about. He cannot possibly have been properly prepared by counsel for these questions, nor should he ever have to answer them publicly. And if you proceed with this line of questioning, I will resign this Committee, and wait in the tall grass for you, Congressman. Because you are killing the party." You go, girl! Er, boy. Man. Whatever. Gibson turns to Bruno, who's been pacing around nervously, and asks, "Who the hell is this?" Cliff tells Bruno that he doesn't have to make up his mind right now; he suggests declaring a recess until after the holidays and buying himself two weeks. Gibson says, "And give him two weeks to circle the wagons? How do you think the Speaker's going to feel about this? To say nothing of the RNC." Bruno sighs and says he needs a minute. Gibson leaves, closing the door quietly behind him. Cliff leaves, flinging the door open as he goes.

Back at the White House, Sam comes over to tell Josh he tried everybody. Josh says it's all right. Sam says it was a tough fit, especially since he couldn't tell them what it was about. Josh gestures to the television, saying, "They're back." Bruno bangs the gavel to bring the session to order. He informs Gibson that he can proceed. Gibson starts to repeat his earlier line of questioning, and suddenly Bruno interrupts, saying, "No, I'm sorry. Mr. McGarry, it's been a long day, and unless Counsel has an objection, I'm going to resume this after the holidays." Leo: "What?" Gibson: "Mr. Chairman?" Bruno: "Mr. Calley?" Cliff: "Mr. McGarry, that concludes our questioning for today. We'll pick it up here when the Chairman gavels these hearings back to order." Leo's puzzled, and Bruno says, "You're done for the day, sir. The House Reform and Government Oversight Committee stands in recess until January the fifth, and the Chair wishes everyone a Merry Christmas." Leo says to Jordan, "What the hell...?" Jordan: "I don't know. We have two weeks." ["For advice of this calibre he's paying $650 an hour?" -- Wing Chun] Leo looks weary and mutters, "I really had to tell you the damn story?" Jordan: "Shut up. I'm going to dinner with you." He says, "Yeah." She's started to leave when Leo asks if maybe they could go out tomorrow night instead of tonight. She asks, "What's tomorrow night?" He says it's Christmas Eve. She agrees, and leaves. Leo glances at Cliff; Cliff looks at Leo a bit, but then grabs his briefcase and leaves, perhaps wondering if his expression might betray him.

We see Leo returning to the White House, which is filled with Christmas lights and decorations. He walks back to his office, where Jed's waiting for him with his feet up on a chair. Leo doesn't see him as he comes in. Jed says, "Well, well, well. Dodged a bullet." Goddammit, I'm getting really pissed with Jed's level of glibness about the suffering and difficulties his choices and actions have created for other people. And he's still never apologized properly to anyone as far as we've seen. I really think he can no longer be my boyfriend. (Neurosturgeon, I guess he's all yours. You know, until I change my mind again.) Toby's the one for me. At the sound of Jed's voice, Leo doesn't jump out of his skin, though I would have. He says, "For the moment." Jed says, "Which is more than I can say for me at Rosslyn." Wuh? Yeah, it's all about you. That's got nothing to do with this whole MS cover-up. What a self-aggrandizing comment. He asks, "Did you get a date with her?" Leo says, "It's none of your business. I just came back to catch up on some work, see how badly you screwed up this church thing in Tennessee." Jed replies, "I did the church thing in Tennessee okay. I did it without you." Yeah, you da man. Whatever. Leo says, "You mind if I make some calls, make sure Tennessee's still one of the states and stuff?" Jed stands up, gesturing with a small package with a huge shiny red bow on it, and says, "So anyway, I have a present for you." He hands it to Leo, saying, "Merry Christmas, Leo." Leo peels the bow off; we see that it's a small square picture frame holding the crumpled cocktail napkin upon which Leo wrote "Bartlet for America." Aw. Now I'm welling. Jed's still off the boyfriend list, though. Leo looks at it for a moment, then raises his eyes to Jed, who says, "That was awfully nice of you." Leo smiles. Jed turns and goes into the Oval Office. Leo can't hold it back much longer; he sits down, letting out a little sob, and cries quietly, in a very dignified way. If he doesn't finally get an Emmy for this performance, maybe he should just retire in protest. He's too good not to be properly recognized.

Happy holidays, everyone. Sleep in heavenly peace.