Walking And Talking And Yelling At Clouds: The Stackhouse Filibuster

Original airdate: March 14, 2001

Teleplay by: Aaron Sorkin (38)
Story by: Pete McCabe (1)

Directed by: Bryan Gordon (1)

Synopsis

A cranky Senator mounts a surprise filibuster to delay a health care bill, and the flabbergasted staffers spell out their reactions in emails to family members. Sam gets schooled by an intern over eliminating government reports, and CJ realizes she might be cursed by an Egyptian cat goddess whose figurine she broke. In a bit of foreshadowing for the rest of the season, Toby wants to find out why the Vice President is uncharacteristically eager to speak out against the oil industry.

"Tonight I've seen a man with no legs stay standing, Dad, and a guy with no voice keep shouting, and if politics brings out the worst in people then maybe people bring out the best."

"Mr. Vice President, what do you know that I don't?"

Here we go.

The pot was placed on the stove way back in He Shall, From Time To Time ... when we first discovered President Bartlet suffered from multiple sclerosis, a disease he did not disclose to the public during his campaign. In In The Shadow Of Two Gunmen, Part I we learned only 15 people knew that secret. In Bartlet's Third State Of The Union and The War At Home the pot began to simmer, as we discovered Jed had made a deal with Abbey - in exchange for not disclosing his condition, he would serve just one term as President. The simmer is coming to a boil now, and the lid is about to blow off as Season 2's final episodes develop into an incredible storytelling arc.

While The Stackhouse Filibuster winds its way to the final act appearing to be a somewhat lighthearted look at a Senate filibuster ruining everyone's weekend plans, that last act - President Bartlet revealing his one-term agreement to Leo and letting us know that the Vice President is one of those 15 people, and Toby's curious digging into Vice President Hoynes' out-of-character attacks on the petroleum industry - turns out to be the key that unlocks the rest of Season 2. And of course, it comes down to Toby. Brilliant, questioning Toby, who knows there's something else hidden behind Hoynes' agreeableness (eagerness, even) to back the administration in a fight against gasoline refiners.

A spokesman for a petroleum producers' group has complained about the administration's support of fuel emissions standards, saying requirements for additives like MTBE are resulting in price hikes for gasoline (the use of MTBE as a gasoline additive has declined greatly since this episode aired, due to the contamination problems involved with the chemical). The administration feels the cost of additives is low, and the oil companies are only using that as an excuse to raise prices at the pumps for more profit. Toby plans to have the Secretary of Energy speak against the oil industry's view, and goes to the Vice President to give him a courtesy heads-up.

Surprisingly, Hoynes volunteers to speak out himself. This strikes Toby as extremely odd - Hoynes is from Texas and has deep ties to the oil industry, which is why Toby was giving him a heads-up in the first place - why is he so eager to call them out? Toby digs a little deeper, and uncovers a poll put out by Hoynes' office that shows Americans are concerned about the Vice President's ties to Big Oil. But why would a Vice President be running a poll like that during a President's first term? It seems like something a presidential campaign might do ...

Toby: "Yeah, but what I was wondering is why did you put the poll in the field at all. (pause) Mr. Vice President, what do you know that I don't?"

Hoynes: "Toby, the total tonnage of what I know that you don't could stun a team of oxen in its tracks."

Meanwhile, as the President finally admits to Leo that he told Abbey he'd only serve one term "because of my thing," he also tells him that's why Hoynes stepped up on the fuel producers' issue. What's left unsaid, and what lets us in on what Toby doesn't know, is that Hoynes is positioning himself to prepare for a presidential campaign of his own, as he believes Bartlet won't be running for a second term.

Then we're left with the sight of Toby bouncing his Spaldeen against the office wall, pondering what Hoynes knows that he doesn't know, trying to figure things out:

Aaron Sorkin does an incredible job of setting up this end of the season arc ... a little thing that doesn't seem like much in the moment ties into the fight we saw between Jed and Abbey in Bartlet's Third State Of The Union and The War At Home, and builds into a torrent of story that takes our breath away by the time we get to Two Cathedrals.

The rest of the episode, in retrospect, almost seems like an afterthought. For one thing, there's an odd storytelling device, with plot elements relayed to us through flashbacks while various characters are writing emails to family members. First it's CJ, writing her father to apologize for being stuck in Washington and not being able to get to his birthday celebration. Later we hear voiceovers from Sam writing his father and Josh typing out an email to his mother. And what's really weird and disconcerting (not to mention impossible) is at the end of the episode, when we actually hear all three of them writing the exact same sentences:

CJ (voiceover): "And then came the big moment, Dad. Everyone -"

Josh (overlapping voiceover): "Everyone was enlisted. You called everyone you had a relationship with -"

Sam (overlapping voiceover): "-with and if you didn't get anywhere, they got a call from the President."

I don't know about you, but that's really strange and took me out of the episode for a bit. Let me also add, in the opening pre-credits scene CJ tells her father, "I'm betting when you read this, you're going to be glad I stayed. I'm betting you're going to end up rooting for a Minnesota Senator named Howard Stackhouse." Why would she have that attitude at that point? We don't know exactly why he's holding up the bill, the administration's plans to tout a big victory before the weekend and before a congressional recess are going down the tubes, and CJ's stuck in her office instead of on her way to Napa - none of that sounds like something you're going to be "rooting for." It's kind of lazy writing - but then again, the entire email-writing-voiceover device isn't really that good, either.

Anyway, the filibuster in question (a move allowed by Senate rules, where a Senator can hold up debate as long as he holds the floor) is being conducted by the aforementioned Stackhouse, a 78-year-old Senator who is delaying a vote on a massive health care bill aimed primarily at children's health issues. He had asked Josh to add a provision for autism research and education. Josh turned him down, for now, as the administration had worked hard on getting agreements to put the bill together and wanted to get a vote and a big win before a congressional recess.

Josh: "Senator, there's going to be a vote. The bill's closed."

Stackhouse: "Open it back up again."

Josh: "To do that would mean to postpone the vote, and everyone's breaking for the recess, and -"

Stackhouse: "And you want the story before everyone goes home."

Josh: "Yeah."

Stackhouse: "Okay." (He gets up and moves to the door.)

Josh: "Sir, the next time around, and there will be a next time ..."

Stackhouse: "That's all. I'm done with you now."

The staffers are all hanging around waiting for the vote as they're needed to provide spin and PR for the White House's side of the victory, but they also have plans that the filibuster is throwing a huge wrench into: CJ's father's birthday, Sam's weekend in Sag Harbor, Toby's skiing trip to Telluride, and Josh's baseball spring training trip to Florida to get a "Dude!" from Mike Piazza. The unexpected move from a Democratic Senator is frustrating, to say the least - and the question of why he's making such a dramatic move is unanswered, at first.

It falls to Donna to save the day. While watching TV coverage of the filibuster, campaign footage of the Stackhouse family shows him with six grandchildren. Donna's research shows he actually has seven grandchildren, and she puts two and two together and guesses that his demand for autism research funding might be based on the fact that one of his grandchildren is autistic. Well, she's right, of course, and President Bartlet's grandfatherly instincts kick in (we've known since Pilot that he has a granddaughter himself).

President: "CJ ... if I told you to screw the print deadline, what would you want to do right now?"

CJ: "I'd ... want to see if there was a way I could help him out."

President: "Give him some dignity, right? And give him a rest, the guy's going to collapse out there."

CJ: "Yes, sir."

President: "Screw the print deadline."

Donna again comes to the rescue with knowledge of filibuster rules:

Donna: "He's allowed to yield for a question without yielding the floor."

President: "I was in the House. I know nothing about Senate rules."

Donna: "Yes, sir, but Josh does, and he likes to explain things, and, well, I let him."

They're able to round up some friendly Senators ("grandfathers all," CJ tells her dad) and we get the "gripping" suspense of everyone watching and hoping Stackhouse knows the rules well enough to realize they're trying to help:

And their excitement when he accepts the help:

Stackhouse gets a break from standing and speaking, the bill gets delayed so it can be re-opened with the autism funds attached, everybody gets to their weekend just a bit late, and it's a win all around.

In one flashback, Sam ends up getting schooled (kinda) by a 19-year-old intern from the Government Accounting Office. She's dropping off reports while Sam, Ed, and Larry go over them, deciding which ones can be eliminated to save money (Sam: "Wasn't that program terminated?" Ed: "Yeah." Sam: "But we write the reports anyway?" Larry; "Yeah." Sam: "Lose it."). Her deep sighs each time a report gets nixed bug Sam, and when he asks her about it, she is able to explain the real reason of governing that lies behind these innocuous reports:

Winifred: "You blow through these things like they don't mean anything."

Sam: "They don't mean anything."

Winifred: "You're an idiot!"

Her reasoning (which is better than the quote above, believe me), gets to Sam somewhat, and he's a bit impressed by her:

Sam: "Listen, you're talented. When you get out of school you should come see me for a job."

Winifred: "I .. I suppose you're not a complete loser. And you write very well. So, when I get out of school, you should come see me for a job."

Then there's CJ and the Bast statue. During a presidential trip to Egypt a year ago, the hosts offered President Bartlet several gifts, including a small figurine of the cat goddess Bast. It was handed off to CJ, who tossed it into her luggage, where it promptly broke. She thought nothing of it, but now the same high Egyptian official who offered the gift is coming to visit the White House, and the State Department expects the statue will be on display.

And that's about it. CJ is looking for help anywhere she can (particularly Donna, but she's busy saving the day filibuster-wise), and she jokingly says perhaps it's Bast's curse that's causing the delay on the vote that's screwing up everyone's weekend. Her Krazy Glue repair job probably isn't going to be enough for the visitors, though:

Charlie: "Look, CJ, one of us is going to have to tell the President the statue's broken."

CJ: "It's not broken."

Charlie: "It is broken."

Donna: "She Krazy Glued it back together."

Charlie: "You Krazy Glued it?"

CJ: "I didn't know what it was. I needed a potpourri holder. I have the ancient curse of Bast on me so get off my back, Sparky."

Charlie: "Okay, but when you tell him I'd leave out the Krazy Glue."

CJ: "And the potpourri, right?"

And CJ does indeed tell the President. Sort of. After the excitement of Donna's news about Stackhouse's grandson and the plan to give him a break from the filibuster, everyone leaves the Oval Office except CJ and Donna:

CJ (under her breath): "Oh, and I broke your statue."

Donna: "I don't think he heard you."

One neat thing we get out of it, though, is the decoration in Gail's fishbowl - it's a cat figurine, in honor of Bast, of course.

The big takeaway, though, is that simmering pot coming to a boil on the stove, with the pressure building underneath the lid. Toby's mind is at work, figuring the angles, wondering what Hoynes has up his sleeve, while President Bartlet and Leo mull over what their future plans should be. As Toby's ball bounces, bounces, bounces against the wall ...

Tales Of Interest!

- This was Bryan Gordon's only directing credit for The West Wing (he won a couple of Emmys for Curb Your Enthusiasm), but the look of the episode is pretty cool. I particularly liked this scene in Leo's office, with the strong light source bouncing off the floor and uplighting the characters:

- This ties into mentions of real people, but there's a plaque on the briefing room wall in honor of former Reagan press secretary James Brady. The plaque reads, in part: "This room is named in honor of James S. Brady, White House Press Secretary." Brady, of course, was shot and seriously injured in the assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan in 1981, and the real White House press briefing room was named in his honor in 2000. It's impossible to read the rest of the plaque onscreen, so we're left up in the air about any Reagan presidency in The West Wing universe (perhaps Brady worked for a different, fictional president here).

- Meanwhile, Josh's office wall features a copy of the Bill of Rights.

- The autism storyline was actually pitched to Sorkin by Brad Whitford, who was involved in the Cure Autism Now group and helped lobby Congress to pass the Children's Health Act of 2000 (the basis for the Family Wellness Act in this episode).

- It only makes sense, with Senator Stackhouse being from Minnesota, but he has plenty of Scandinavian items on display in his office, including the flag of Norway, a depiction of a Viking longship, and a banner reading "Uff-Da." "Stackhouse" doesn't appear to be a Norwegian name, though, with evidence showing that's an English name from Yorkshire.

- Bradley Whitford gets his chance for pratfall, sliding to the floor (in his new shoes) when he goes to visit Senator Stackhouse. He does a nice little move, picking up his right foot as his left foot slides, then tumbles to the floor:

- It turns serious pretty quickly, but Jed and Leo bickering over dinner like an old married couple is so true to their relationship (it's been said The West Wing is really a love story about Jed and Leo):

President: "I'm just saying, we work all day, and then the day's over and we go out to dinner, and you're still working. I'm, you know, sittin' here. No time to talk."

Leo: "You know, conversations like this are the reason I got divorced."

Quotes

Sam: "What the hell is he doing?"

CJ: "It's a recipe for deep fried fantail shrimp."

Sam: "Yeah, but what's he still doing up there?"

CJ: "He's got a recipe book."

Sam: "How long will it go?"

CJ: "I don't know."

Sam: "I'm saying how many recipes are there?"

CJ: "All together?"

Sam: "Yeah."

CJ: "I can't cook, but I think there are probably like 20 or 30."

-----

Leo: "You just spent six billion dollars on health care, how do you feel?"

Josh: "I'd feel better if it meant, just once, I could go to a doctor without filling out something on a clipboard."

-----

Charlie: "CJ!"

CJ: "Charlie."

Charlie: "Listen -"

CJ: "May I call you Chip?"

Charlie: "No."

CJ: "Chipper?"

Charlie: "No."

CJ: "Gilligan?"

-----

Charlie: "CJ?"

CJ: "Yes."

Charlie: "You know anything about it?"

CJ: "Well, I'll have to think about it, Charlie, it was a year ago, and it's not like I have instant recall of every ceramic cat statue I've ever been handed in Cairo!"

-----

Toby: "Would you mind if I prepared some notes for you?"

Hoynes (chuckling): "Oh, not at all ... would you mind if I shoved them up your ass?"

-----

Donna: "You're booked tomorrow morning, 8:55, United, direct to West Palm Beach."

Josh: "Which gets in at?"

Donna: "12:58."

Josh: "It's still a seventy mile drive to Port St. Lucie. I'll miss the game."

Donna: "I thought they weren't playing yet."

Josh: "It's an exhibition game."

Donna: "You're flying to Florida to see the Mets play another team in a game that doesn't count?"

Josh: "Actually, it's an intrasquad game."

Donna: "So you're flying to Florida to see the Mets play each other in a game that doesn't count."

-----

President: "He's a curmudgeon, a grouchy old crank."

Leo: "So are we."

President: "You are. I am full of mirth."

-----

President (bitingly): "CJ, let me tell you something. Don't ever, ever underestimate the will of a grandfather. We're mad men. We don't give a damn. We got here before you and they'll be here after. We'll make enemies, we'll break laws and we'll break bones, but you will not mess with the grandchildren."

(CJ looks quizzically at Leo)

Leo: "There was quite of bit of sugar in the creme de caramel."

-----

President: "I want to call senators. We'll start with our friends. When we're done with those two, we'll go on to the other 98."

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

Senator Stackhouse is played by George Coe, who's been seen in many TV shows over the years (interestingly enough, he was part of the cast of the original Saturday Night Live, as well as appearances in The Doctors, Max Headroom, and many, many more).

Speaking of Stackhouse, we've heard the name mentioned a couple of times before. Someone named Stackhouse was among the legislators who had family members receiving lenient treatment after drug arrests in Mandatory Minimums. A Stackhouse was also mentioned as a possible guest on Capital Beat in In This White House.

In a callback to Somebody's Going To Emergency, Somebody's Going To Jail CJ tells Sam she's sorry about what's happened with his dad. He then starts his email to his father with "Dear Jackass" before changing it to "Dear Dad."

As mentioned previously, a lot of events dealing with President Bartlet's MS and the deal he had with Abbey are tied into this episode.

Toby's bouncing ball returns, which we saw thudding against Sam's window in Ellie. We'll see a lot of that ball again in the next episode.

While there aren't any good views of Gail's fishbowl, as I mentioned previously there is a cat figurine placed inside, in a nod to CJ's struggles with the Bast statue.

DC location shots

None.

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

We clearly see C-SPAN 2 coverage of Stackhouse's filibuster. While C-SPAN was instituted in 1979 to cover proceedings in the House of Representatives, C-SPAN 2 began covering the Senate in 1986.

The house in the Hamptons Sam plans to visit for the weekend was designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright. The fact they wear sweaters there in chilly early spring makes it look like a Tommy Hilfiger ad, he says.

Josh is hoping to see Mike Piazza in that Florida spring training game. In addition to the New York Mets, other sports teams mentioned are the New York Jets, the New York Knicks, the New Jersey (now Brooklyn) Nets, and the Atlanta Hawks. Toby mentions he's watching the Nets and the Hawks in his office ... those two actually played on Monday, January 15 and Tuesday, February 6, 2001, neither of which was a Friday night.

CJ is hoping for some Cuervo 1800 tequila along with her pizza to pass the time during the filibuster.

Senator Stackhouse reads from David Copperfield, by Sam's favorite fiction writer, Charles Dickens.

United and Continental are two airlines mentioned in this episode, as well as Amtrak train service.

We can see several CNN personalities on TV screens in the background, including Wolf Blitzer, Peter Arnett, and Christiane Amanpour.

Bloomberg TV is on in Josh's office, as usual. (And Sam has his incorrectly monogrammed shirts on again, just as we discussed in Somebody's Going To Emergency, Somebody's Going To Jail.)

The copy/printing chain Kinkos gets a mention.

President Bartlet says he's shaken hands with Hubert Humphrey, one of Senator Stackhouse's heroes (also from Minnesota). In a neat, easily missed detail, there's also a copy of the St. Paul Pioneer Press newspaper on the senator's desk.

Product placement: Mentioned before was CJ's use of Krazy Glue to patch the Bast statue. On CJ's desk we see a bottle of Keeper Springs water and a box of Raisinets. (Also note the funky onscreen interface that the White House staff has to write their emails. It appears to be an extremely inefficient use of screen space, and very user unfriendly -was this typical of email services in 2001?)