Walking And Talking And Yelling At Clouds: And It's Surely To Their Credit

Original airdate: November 1, 2000

Teleplay by: Aaron Sorkin (26)
Story by: Kevin Falls (1) & Laura Glasser (1)

Directed by: Christopher Misiano (3)

Synopsis

Ainsley gets some pushback from White House staffers about her new appointment, including from the White House Counsel himself. CJ pushes back against a retiring Army general planning to go out criticizing the administration on TV. Sam tries to convince Josh to push back against white supremacists and the KKK by bringing a civil suit over the Rosslyn shooting. And Jed and Abbey push the schedule to try to carve out a little "personal time."

"He says it's the one about duty."
"They're all about duty."

What a rough first day for Ainsley Hayes. Not only does she have an uncomfortable first meeting with her (angry, bellowing, cricket-bat-wielding) boss, it happens at the same time he learns the President has foisted her onto his staff; plus, it turns out he doesn't know his Gilbert and Sullivan nearly as well as he thinks he does. Her office is deep in the bowels of the White House, a place even Leo has never been before (the Steam Pipe Trunk Distribution Venue, to be accurate). Then, after going to the Capitol to mollify Congressional Republicans over some, shall we say, inaccurate testimony by a couple of low-level White House staffers, those same staffers take her polite, well-meaning advice and treat her like garbage. And then, Sam (who already suspects Ainsley might be a mole, leaking White House information to the Republicans) chews her out and nearly makes her cry all because she took initiative and tried to help out those jerkish staffers - the same staffers who leave a dead plant with the note "BITCH" in her office.

Welcome to the Bartlet administration, Ainsley! All those things you thought about Democrats being smug and superior and personally rude - looks like they proved you right!

That first paragraph pretty much sums up the Ainsley plotline of this episode, as she starts her first day as Associate White House Counsel and discovers the folks in the White House are not quite ready to adapt to a smart, blonde, female Republican in their midst. It's a tidy way to illustrate the growing Democratic/Republican divide of the late 1990s, and it's clever of Aaron Sorkin to make Ainsley the "enemy" of our heroes, as it really doesn't take long for Emily Procter's performance to make us (the audience) root for her. Leo's fatherly presence and support don't hurt, either (the connections between Ainsley's struggle with joining the administration and Leo's struggles with alcoholism are nicely drawn, even if in reality they're wildly not equivalent).

But all is not lost. Once Sam (who has traveled all the way down to the steam pipe venue to apologize for being a jerk himself) sees the dead flowers and the note, and Ainsley's reaction, he quickly figures out it's the two staffers she talked to earlier who are behind it. And then we find out the Deputy Director of Communications apparently has the power to fire low-level staffers, as Steve Joyce and Mark Brookline discover (well, Sam has that power as long as he signs the note, and as long as the White House Counsel happens to be standing behind him).

Ainsley's second day starts out much better, as Toby, Josh, Sam, and CJ all surprise her by decorating her office with Gilbert and Sullivan posters and singing "He Is An Englishman" as she makes her way down the stairs to work on a Saturday morning. With live flowers this time! It's a touching way to wrap up the episode, particularly given the initial reaction the staff had to Ainsley's hiring:

CJ: "Have you noticed that I'm one of the few people around here whose nose isn't bent out of shape over Ainsley Hayes?"

Toby: "Yeah. Listen -"

CJ: "I'm serious!"

Toby: "Well, you heard the news and you slammed the door so hard it broke. Okay. You heard the news and you broke the White House."

Let's be sure to mention the wonderful John Larroquette, seen here as White House Counsel Lionel Tribbey. His first door-slamming entrance, brandishing his cricket bat and threatening to kill Joyce and Brookline for their incorrect testimony in front of a Congressional committee, is a great moment in West Wing history.

It's just too bad scheduling difficulties prevented Larroquette from returning to the role later (a terrific actor, with four Emmy awards from his time on Night Court and two more as a guest star on The Practice). The position of White House Counsel becomes extremely important later this season, and we'll discover by then there's a new person in the post (perhaps Tribbey ended up in prison after all?):

President (after being interrupted while recording his radio address): "Obviously, Lionel Tribbey is a brilliant lawyer whom we cannot live without ... or there would be very little reason not to put him in prison."

(Also, I'm sure you remember in He Shall, From Time To Time ... President Bartlet had his Secretary of Agriculture, Roger Tribby, be the Cabinet member left in the White House during the State of the Union address. What it is with this President and guys named Tribby/Tribbey?)

Other plotlines: CJ discovers that the retiring Army Chief of Staff, General Ed Barrie, has plans to go on multiple TV political talk shows to attack President Bartlet for his position on military spending and readiness. She goes on the counterattack, first dressing down an aide whom Barrie sends in his place, then face-to-face threatening to expose the general for wearing a medal he didn't actually earn should he follow through on his plans to go on TV. CJ makes a great stand here defending the President, although I really doubt the White House press secretary would be the one to personally take on a three-star general - there's a discussion with Toby early in the episode (overtly referring to Ainsley) about the difficulty of women earning respect in the political arena, and CJ's straight backbone and fearlessness when she's facing down Barrie (even as he calls her "kitten" and scoffs at her administration's point of view) is a fantastic callback to that.

Josh is faced with a $50,000 hospital bill for his treatment after the Rosslyn shooting, as the insurance company is denying the out-of-network hospital claims as well as making the point his (emergency, life-saving) treatment wasn't preauthorized. Sam comes up with the notion of a civil suit against the groups behind the shooting, essentially going after the Ku Klux Klan for monetary damages. Josh eventually decides not to go that route, but some of the real-life cases Sam refer to spur some really interesting background to the tactic of going after hate groups' money.

And Abbey's back, and she's ready for some Presidential action! When she brings the message to the Oval Office that Jed is medically cleared to have sex (after his recovery from the shooting), he's ready and raring to go:

(Jed brings Abbey into the Oval Office and closes the door before Mrs. Landingham can follow)

Abbey: "Blood pressure 120 over 80."

Jed: "Who cares? It's been 14 weeks! Do these curtains close?"

Abbey: "Not here, Jed!"

Jed: "Yes, you're right. Where?"

Abbey: "How about our bedroom?"

Jed: "New Hampshire is an hour and a half away by plane. I don't think I have that kind of time."

Abbey: "How about our bedroom in the residence?"

Jed: "Yes! We have a bedroom right here in the building. That was so smart!"

Of course, matters of government get in the way, including Jed's attempt(s) to record the weekly Presidential radio address and Abbey's trip to Pennsylvania to dedicate a statue of Nellie Bly, but by evening it looks like it will all work out (with Abbey ready to put on her "special garment") - until Jed, like a typical man, derails the whole thing by offhandedly dismissing the importance of Bly and women's impact on history in general.

Jed: "You don't have to accept every invitation from every yahoo historical society that knows someone in the Social Office. If you want, I can have Charlie -"

(turns and sees Abbey staring him down)

Jed: "You haven't changed into the 'special garment.'"

Martial relations will have to wait.

As will the radio address, which sees the President going through about two dozen takes on Friday in an attempt to record the message for broadcast on Saturday morning. He ends up doing it live from his desk, after rewriting the speech to focus on the accomplishments of American women, heralded or not. That topic has the desired effect on Abbey, as well as softening the President to tell CJ to let General Barrie "out of the box," and let him state his case on TV.

President: "Say what you want about Barrie, and I could say plenty, but the man was the first one in and the last one out of a war that I didn't want anything to do with. Man's earned the right to say whatever he wants."

We can think back to The Crackpots And These Women to see Sorkin's early try at lifting up the women of The West Wing and giving them a voice. I don't think that particular attempt was very good in that aspect, but this episode is a much better effort. Ainsley doggedly keeps after her job to serve the nation, trying to create her place in a cold and rudely disappointing White House that she has worshiped from afar, and finally is able to gain some respect and friendship from fellow co-workers who don't agree with her political opinions; CJ makes a principled stand to defend her boss and the administration against what she views as unfair criticism, and holds firm in the face of condescension and vitriol from a general; and the President himself comes around to publicly honor the women who made their mark in American history and deserve to have more attention paid. It's actually a pretty good female-empowerment theme in this episode (even if Jed might be thinking more with his pants than with his brain), and I really think it's put together well.

Tales Of Interest!

- So the President has apparently never heard of "leaf peeping," the activity of people taking trips to view the fall foliage. President Bartlet. Native of New Hampshire, and formerly congressman and governor of that state. New Hampshire, a New England state where fall leaf-related tourism is the state's second-largest economic driver. Huh.

- Sam looks to be a bit of a space exploration fan (if you remember The Crackpots and These Women, he was the one who talked to the UFO guy). His computer screensaver appears to be NASA photographs.

- Gail's fishbowl features a bed (which is where Jed and Abbey are trying to get throughout the course of the day) and perhaps an additional goldfish (hubba, hubba).

- While it truly is a touching moment when the staffers hide out in Ainsley's office to surprise her with the posters and the Gilbert & Sullivan music on Saturday morning ... Toby, Josh, Sam and CJ had to have been waiting in total darkness for her. Ainsley turned on the lights at the top of the stairs, then turned on the lights when she entered her office - which has no windows or any other access to light. True, they may have turned off the office lights just when Ainsley reached the top of the stairs, so it wouldn't have been that long, but they would have had to turn on the music and sing "He Is An Englishman" in pitch darkness.

Quotes

Josh: "There's fifty thousand dollars worth of hospital bills they're saying they don't cover. You know what that means?"

Sam: "You may have to get yourself a job mowing lawns after school."

-----

President: "Five is my lucky number. 'Fifth-take Bartlet,' that's what Jack Warner used to call me."

Donna: "Did you really know Jack Warner, Mr. President?"

President: "Yeah, because I used to be a contract player in Hollywood and I'm 97 years old."

-----

Ainsley: "It's not gonna be fine. He's gonna yell, and scream - I've seen him on TV."

Leo: "Well, that's TV, he's making a full-throated defense of the President, that's what we do. Believe me, in real life, when the cameras are off -"

Tribbey (banging through the door carrying a cricket bat): Leo! I. Will. Kill people, Leo!"

-----

Ainsley: "I'd like to do well on this, my first assignment, any advice you could give me that might point me the way of success would be, by me, appreciated."

Tribbey: "Well, not speaking in iambic pentameter might be a step in the right direction."

-----

President: "I was on a conference call with Cardinal Law and the Archbishop of Chicago."

Abbey: "You couldn't get off the phone?"

President: "Yeah. 'Excuse me, Your Eminence, but the First Lady is a little randy and she says I'm good to go.'"

Abbey: "I am a little randy, Jed."

President: "Good. Take your clothes off."

Story threads, callbacks, and familiar faces (Hey, it's that guy!)

When Toby tells CJ about General Barrie's plans to appear on TV over the weekend, he says Sam got the news from Mark Gottfried. That's the host of Capital Beat whom we met in the previous episode. (Speaking of that TV show, in Pilot we saw the clip of Josh and Mary Marsh that clearly showed the title as Capitol Beat, with an O. In the previous episode, with Sam appearing on-air with Ainsley, the show is now clearly titled Capital Beat, with an A. Hmm.)

On Josh's blackboard in his office, usually covered with notes about members of Congress and upcoming legislation, we see a note about "Donna's Birthday." Whether that's Donna's way of reminding Josh about it or Josh's reminder to himself, we've seen there's real heart in the relationship between these two (perhaps most pointedly in In Excelsis Deo), and that's something that's going to continue to build.

When Abbey is talking to Jed about working out a common free hour in their schedules, she says "You talk to Charlie, I'll talk to Lilli." We saw Lilli Mays as Abbey's chief of staff in The White House Pro-Am.

The last couple of episodes we've seen photos of Abbey, Zoey, and perhaps another family or wedding picture on the President's desk. We know the Bartlets have at least one other daughter (a granddaughter is mentioned in Pilot) and we'll eventually learn they have three daughters in all. Apparently only Zoey makes the desk lineup.

Shall we talk timeline again? A little? Okay, it's obviously fall (the President's radio address specifically mentions autumn, time for "leaf-peeping" and football). It also was fall in the previous episode, where Sam mentioned winning a Redskins bet and "SNOW" appearing on Leo's computer monitor. We saw in The Midterms that as of November 7, Josh still wasn't back at work. He's obviously back now, and has been for only two episodes, so these events would have had to occur after November 7 ... isn't that a little late for "leaf-peeping"? Jed also says "It's been fourteen weeks" since he's been able to have sex, once again placing the shooting somewhere around early August ... you probably don't want me to go over the timeline inconsistencies between What Kind Of Day Has It Been and The Midterms again, do you?

Another timeline item, but this one checks out. When Toby is telling CJ she's a beautiful woman that no one assumes is ambitious or stupid, she tells him, "It took two years." If you consider President Bartlet took office in January of 1999, and this is late 2000, that works out about right.

Remember Donnie, the Secret Service agent who can't remember if Jed's code name is "Eagle" or "Liberty"? We haven't seen him for a while, but there he is, outside the President's bedroom.

DC location shots

There are no location shots in this episode.

They Do Exist! It's The Real Person, or Thing

President Bartlet mentions old-time Hollywood studio head Jack Warner, one of the founders of Warner Brothers, which happened to be the studio that produced The West Wing.

In Toby's discussion with CJ over General Barrie he refers to Meet The Press, Sam and Cokie, and Late Edition. The general himself later says he'll tell his story to Tim Russert, who was the moderator of Meet The Press at the time.

Toby mentions "Captain Queeg," referring to General Barrie. Queeg is a character in The Caine Mutiny, a book by Herman Wouk later turned into a movie starring Humphrey Bogart as Queeg.

We see former CNN personality Jack Cafferty on the TV when Abbey comes into Mrs. Landingham's/Charlie's office.

A lot of notable women are mentioned in this episode:

- Elizabeth Windsor (Queen Elizabeth II), who gave Tribbey his cricket bat

- Nellie Bly, pioneering investigative journalist and traveler. While she really is from Cochran's Mill, Pennsylvania, there doesn't appear to be a statue of her there, but there is an historical marker.

- Elizabeth Blackwell, first woman to receive a medical degree in the United States

- Belva Lockwood, first woman to argue before the Supreme Court

- Ellen Swallow Richards, pioneering chemist

- Maria Mitchell, astronomer and comet discoverer

- And Jed could go on, and on, and on, and on.

Just before Jed blows things with Abbey on Friday night when he disrepects Nellie Bly, he says he was on the phone with Cardinal Law (Bernard Law, Archbishop of Boston and elevated to the College of Cardinals in 1985. This episode aired mere months before the Cardinal was first named as a defendant in the coverup of child abuse by priests, which developed into the investigation seen in the movie Spotlight). He later brings up Jules Verne after Abbey says Bly beat the "fictional" record of crossing the globe in 80 days.

We see a Pepsi can, logo very evident, on Josh's desk. Later we'll see some Office Depot boxes in Ainsley's office.

Gilbert and Sullivan operettas are featured, with Ainsley, Tribbey and Sam all shown to be fans (Sam was recording secretary of the Princeton Gilbert & Sullivan Society - for 2 years! - which I don't believe is an actual Princeton University group, although the school does have some rare items related to Gilbert & Sullivan works in its library). Specifically mentioned are the operettas The Pirates of Penzance, HMS Pinafore, and Iolanthe. Aaron Sorkin's soft spot for Gilbert & Sullivan has been mentioned in the past.

As Sam is discussing the background materials he could use in Josh's lawsuit against the KKK, he mentions the book Hunter by William Pierce. That's an actual book, which advocates for the murder of interracial couples. He also brings up the very real legal cases Brown v. Invisible Empire, Vietnamese Fishermen's Association v Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, and Donald v United Klans of America. These were all brought by the Southern Poverty Law Center, also mentioned by Sam as a group wanting to take Josh's case. He also touches on the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

General Barrie lists some of the conflicts he's been involved in, including Vietnam, Grenada, Haiti, and Iraqi-occupied Kuwait, all of which are real-life US military operations.