Manchester, Part I - TWW S3E2

Original airdate: October 10, 2001

Written by: Aaron Sorkin (45)

Directed by: Thomas Schlamme (8)

Synopsis

• As the President prepares for the official announcement of his reelection campaign, we bounce back and forth between the frenzied excitement of the night he made his decision and the aimless stalemate the staffers find themselves in four weeks later: the speechwriters are at a deadlock over tone and a Bartlet apology; CJ contemplates her future after a terrible gaffe with the press; an FDA announcement may overshadow the campaign's plans; the situation in Haiti remains volatile; against all advice, Josh is dead set on going after Congress for tobacco lawsuit funding; and Jed and Abbey still haven't dealt with how the President's decision will affect their relationship.

"Leo, I'm running for President. And I'm gonna win."

After the bumpy detour of Isaac And Ishmael, Season 3 kicks off for real with this dramatic, well-constructed two-parter (the two-part structure being a hallmark of Aaron Sorkin's season premieres). Boy, things are a mess - but we can't quite put our finger on why.

We careen between the initial excitement, energy and frenzy of the night President Bartlet announced (against all prior indications) that he is running again, and a month later. There's no frenzied excitement now, no pumped-up energy - just frustration and anger and exhaustion. The genius of the episode's structure, switching back and forth from the present (a trip to New Hampshire where the President will officially kick off his reelection campaign) and the days following his stunning turnaround press conference, is that it slowly gives us bits of information by which we can start to piece together why things have changed so drastically in four weeks.

We start almost exactly where we left off in Two Cathedrals - CJ is dealing with the raucous press conference at the State Department after Bartlet and the First Lady revealed his multiple sclerosis to the nation, then the President takes the podium. We get a better look at the "tell" Mrs. Landingham let us in on than we did at the end of Two Cathedrals; the hands in pockets, slight head turn, and smile that shows us Jed has made up his mind:

We also get to hear his answer to the reporter's question:

Reporter: "Yes, sir, can you tell us right now if you'll be seeking a second term?"

President (pauses, puts hands in pockets, smiles slightly): "Yeah. And I'm gonna win." 

We are then thrown to the present, four weeks after that night, to a distracted and moody CJ sitting in her car waiting to board Air Force One for their trip to New Hampshire. This jumping back and forth in time continues throughout the episode, and it's a fantastic storytelling construction that keeps us viewers off-balance as we try to put things together. Why is CJ off her game? Why are speechwriters Sam and Toby so frustrated with their progress? Who is this Bruno character, and why are these strangers involved in writing speeches? Why is Haiti still being discussed, and why is it discussed as a success but could have been an even bigger political win? We'll eventually find out what we need to know (some of these things not until Part 2), but that's all part of the plan Sorkin has with his plot structure.

The scenes from the past show us the initial excitement of the staffers after Bartlet's bombshell. They're all fired up, setting up calls with Congress, arranging appearances on TV news, and most importantly, getting a new poll in the field to gauge public reaction to the announcement. Joey Lucas, Sam, CJ ... everyone is ready to roll.

This comes in stunning contrast to what we see in the present:

Reporter 1: "The speech is done?"

CJ: "It's done, they're just ironing a few things out."

Reporter 2: "Toby and Sam don't have any problem with Bruno's people?"

CJ: "They're getting along great, they're just dotting the Is and crossing the Ts."

Sam (storms out of room behind CJ): "This thing reads like an Andy Williams special. We're starting all over again with a white piece of paper!" (He throws the speech into the air)

CJ: "I'm going to take my seat now."

The neatly constructed plot gives us little tidbits, in the past and present, that we as viewers have to piece together. We see Bruno and his team onboard to help advise the campaign, but why? We find out later that Joey's poll numbers didn't turn out to be all that great, and they haven't budged over the past four weeks, so Leo and the staff brought in some help to jump start the campaign. Haiti is mentioned as both a success and a missed opportunity - and we then discover the rescue mission ordered by the President to evacuate Americans and the elected President of Haiti from the embassy encountered trouble, with American helicopters firing on the Haitian military. Casualties were incurred, and the prospect of an American invasion was very much alive.

In a quick little flashback scene, we see Oliver Babish telling Charlie that, as the President's closest personal assistant, he's going to need a lawyer for the oncoming subpoenas and investigations. When the expense of that is made clear to Charlie, a young guy trying to save for college while taking care of his younger sister, that falls on him like a thunderbolt.

Charlie: "So they can just knock on my door one morning?"

Babish: "They will. Knock on your door. One morning."

Charlie: "How much? You know, how much do you think ... ?"

Babish: "Assuming you did nothing wrong, saw nothing wrong, and heard nothing wrong ... about a hundred thousand dollars."

The speechwriters are in conflict over a Bartlet apology to the nation; Doug has submitted a draft that he thinks shows an apology can work, but Toby and Sam are dead-set against any apology from the President. But wait! A later flashback scene shows Sam bringing up the idea of an apology, Sam actually thinking the President might be well served with such a statement to the voters. We are a bit whipsawed with the contradiction of the same staffers we see in the present dismissing an idea out of hand, while talking favorably about that same idea in a flashback.

Some other complications are revealed, with the FDA's planned announcement of approval of an abortion drug set to take attention away from the President's campaign kickoff, and Josh's dogged determination to go after the Congressmen holding up tobacco lawsuit funding (against everyone's advice). But there is a another very important, long-lasting note of trouble in the flashbacks. The personal relationship between Jed and Abbey has taken a serious hit with the President's sudden change in course. As we saw all the way back in Bartlet's Third State Of The Union, the couple had an agreement that Jed would only serve one term, as a stipulation for him keeping his medical condition secret. In Two Cathedrals, the President came to the decision that he would not run again after attending Mrs. Landingham's funeral, and that was the unspoken foundation behind Jed and Abbey when they went on television that afternoon. Of course, as we saw, the President changed his mind and blindsided everyone at the press conference. But there ain't no blindsiding like blindsiding your wife, and Abbey is quietly furious:

Jed: "You'll be up later?"

Abbey: "When?"

Jed: "Probably three or four."

Abbey: "Am I usually up at three or four in the morning?"

Jed: "Not usually."

Abbey (bitingly): "Then let's assume I won't be tonight." 

The status of the First Couple's relationship is a topic of the staff's discussion throughout the episode, with Josh concerned about the optics of the President flying to New Hampshire without his wife along, some sardonic comments from a couple of divorced guys,

Leo: "You know, I think with everything on our plates, we don't really need to be marriage counselors."

Toby: "No, we should, 'cause you and I would be really good at it." 

and a slapdown from Charlie when Toby's questions to him go a bit too far:

Charlie: "I can't do the job if he thinks he's got to send me out of the room every time -"

Toby: "No, you're right. You know what? Look, it's a typical marriage, I've been there."

Charlie: "Well, I haven't, but he's the President of the United States, so my guess is no, it's probably not a typical marriage."  

But the deep, emotional throughline in the episode belongs to CJ. As mentioned, we see her at the beginning sitting in the car at Andrews Air Force Base, distracted and lost in her thoughts. She's off-kilter just a little throughout the scenes in the present, not quite the quippy, quick-witted CJ we've seen so much of. She's completely in her own world in that scene in the bar, half-heartedly playing pool with Toby and reading a historical flyer about Colonel John Goffe's mill. And then Toby says:

Toby: "Leo talked to me. I know what you're thinking about doing."

What? What is CJ thinking about doing?

We go back to the scenes in May. CJ has her hands full with a demanding, shouting press corps - quite natural, considering the news that's just dropped about President Bartlet's health, the "elaborate plot to conceal a life-threatening illness from the American people," and the ongoing Haiti crisis to boot. Sorkin and director Thomas Schlamme do a great job of showing us the increasing pressure on CJ, with the press briefing room more raucous and CJ looking less composed and less under control with each passing briefing room scene. Finally, after a particularly persistent reporter keeps hammering at making a link between the President's MS and his decision-making about Haiti, she snaps:

Reporter: "CJ, would you say that the President's situation makes it harder for him to focus on the situation in Haiti?"

CJ: "To be honest with you, Carl, I think the President's relieved to be focusing on something that matters." 

The entire episode comes to a halt. Toby, watching from the back of the room, is in shock like Toby's never been before:

Sam illustrates the public perception problem with CJ's statement quite succinctly:

Sam: "'He's relieved'? ... He might have to put American lives at risk and kill Haitian civilians 'cause it takes his mind off having lied to the electorate?" 

And when CJ bursts out of the room, finding Toby, Sam, and Josh in the hallway, her reaction shows her distress, her exhaustion, her frustration:

"Dammit!"

So what's CJ thinking about doing? She's thinking about quitting.

And there we are, left in the middle of what feels like quicksand: CJ is adrift, contemplating leaving the administration; Jed is facing personal and marital challenges he's likely never seen before; Josh is hell-bent on attacking over the tobacco suit, an attack everyone tells him is a bad idea; and the entire campaign can't figure out what's the best approach, the best case Bartlet can make to the country for his reelection. I suppose we'll have to tune in for Part II to see what Sorkin has in store for us next.

Tales Of Interest!

-  As always, I like to see how The West Wing works with their script-established timelines. We know the bombshell press conference happened on a Wednesday night sometime in early May (during May sweeps, as CJ clearly indicated in 18th And Potomac). The onscreen graphics tell us the trip to New Hampshire is happening four weeks later, so we're talking early- or perhaps mid-June. It must have been unseasonally chilly in DC for mid-June, considering all the coats and outerwear we saw on the tarmac.

- The opening credits have added Stockard Channing as a regular cast member. We also get some new video in the credits for Rob Lowe, Allison Janney, and Janel Moloney.

- It's a West Wing tradition - that shot with the camera spinning around a character as they are speaking. Schlamme pulls it off well with one of CJ's press briefing scenes:

Quotes 

Sam: "Public Liaison?"

Toby: "Yeah."

Sam: "Half an hour."

Toby: "Fifteen minutes! (talking over Sam) Sam, we've got to -"

Sam (as Toby speaks): "You'd better -"

Sam and Toby (simultaneously): "- call the networks and make sure we've got one of our people in every single broadcast tonight."

Toby: "Okay, let's try not to do that a lot." 

-----

Josh: "What are they talking about back there?"

CJ: "Leo and Bruno?"

Josh: "Yeah."

CJ: "The lack of yeast in our numbers. Yeast is a fun word to say."

Josh: "I'm sorry I got in your face before."

CJ: "Our numbers are less than yeasty."

Josh: "They are."

-----

Reporter: "I think the question was, was he physically and emotionally prepared to make a life-and-death decision after what he'd just been through?"

CJ: "He'd been through a TV interview and a press conference. The President finds you all annoying but not prohibitively debilitating."

-----

Sam: "She actually is tired, Leo, we all are."

Leo: "Well, why don't we go with that, Sam, let's go out and say we're all tired. The President's tired, complications due to MS."

Sam: "We haven't had much time -"

Leo: "You had a week, how much time do you need?"

Sam (pointedly): "Some of us have had more time than others."   

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

• Ron Silver (Timecop, Reversal Of Fortune, Veronica's Closet) makes his debut as campaign strategist Bruno Gianelli. He will turn into one of the series' recurring characters.

• Evan Handler (Sex And The City, Californication, Ransom) plays Doug Wegland, one of the writers on Gianelli's staff. He will not become a recurring character, as he disappears after about two more episodes.

• The fantastic Connie Britton (Spin City, Friday Night Lights, Nashville) appears as the aptly named Connie Tate, another Gianelli staff member. She lasts only one episode longer than Handler, which is too bad for The West Wing but worked out okay for her career.

• It's a true case of "I know I've seen that guy before in something, but I don't know his name" when it comes to Earl Boen (perhaps best known as Dr. Silberman in The Terminator films). He plays Paulson, the contact who tells CJ about the FDA's impending announcement on RU-486.

• Our favorite fake newsman Ivan Allen is back, as the unnamed news anchor covering the President's surprise announcement. He first appeared on The West Wing in A Proportional Response, and has been seen several times since (sometimes named as Roger Salier).

• Martin Sheen's daughter Renee Estevez pops in as Nancy, with a few lines in a scene with Sam.

• The military advisor Mike Chysler, played by Glenn Morshower (the Transformers movies, 24, Friday Night Lights, video game voice acting) is back in the Situation Room helping with the Haiti situation. Morshower was first seen in Bartlet's Third State Of The Union and most recently appeared in 18th And Potomac. 

• Josh's determination to light a fire under the Congressmen holding up approval of funding for the government's suit against Big Tobacco goes back to 18th And Potomac, and that arc continues as an important part of Josh's character development.

DC location shots    

• I don't know if the Andrews/Air Force One scenes were filmed at Dulles airport outside of DC. It's likely, though ... previous episodes with Air Force One were filmed there, using a Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747 that had the Air Force One livery digitally superimposed on the fuselage.

• The Bartlet farm scenes were filmed in Virginia, specifically at the home of the mayor of Purcellville, and the town scenes were shot in Middleburg, Virginia. The hotel Josh and Donna pull up to is the Red Fox Inn in Middleburg.

Here's the Google Street View of the inn today.

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

• Mifepristone, or RU-486, is indeed a real drug that can induce an abortion in the first few months of pregnancy. It was approved by the FDA in September of 2000, just over a year before this episode aired.

• "Presidential M&Ms" are mentioned a couple of times. Connie talks about them to CJ and Toby gives a box of them to the bartender in Manchester. They are handed out as mementos to people on Air Force One or other presidential gatherings, and actually replaced cigarettes as the standard gift given to guests of the President.

• Col. Gantry, the Air Force One pilot, says they're landing at Pease Air Force Base in New Hampshire. While the airport still exists at Pease (near Portsmouth) and serves as an Air National Guard base, the actual Pease AFB was closed in 1991.

• Sam describes a draft of the speech as "an Andy Williams special." Williams hosted a series of Christmas television specials, known for their family-friendly nature and traditional holiday songs.

• Leo scoffs at the idea of the President apologizing, saying he's not going to appear on Oprah Winfrey.

• We can hear "Rock The Boat" by the Hues Corporation playing in the bar. While other incidental background music is heard as well, that's the only song I personally recognize.

• The flyer CJ reads about Colonel John Goffe and his mill describes a real person from New Hampshire history.

• We definitely see logos for CSPAN/CNN on TV coverage of CJ's press briefing:

• Bruno says the downbeat speech draft written by Toby's staff would make even the ever-smiling singing group Up With People break down and cry. And did you know Up With People is still a thing, even in 2019?

• Product placement: Doug orders an Absolut martini on the rocks at the bar, while Toby gets a Jack Daniels. Surprisingly, nobody gets a Dewar's, rocks, which has been the traditional West Wing drink order since Pilot.

• Also in the bar, we see Charlie drinking a Michelob;

• And cans of Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, and a bottle of Amstel beer on a table.

End credits freeze frame: Josh and Toby in the Oval Office (Josh: "You know, at some point we're going to have to check the First Lady's temperature." Toby: "Okay, you first.").

Isaac And Ishmael - TWW S3E1

Original airdate: October 3, 2001

Written by: Aaron Sorkin (44)

Directed by: Christopher Misiano (5)

Synopsis

• With the nation on edge due to some unspecified event, a possible link between a terrorist entering the country and a low-level White House staffer causes the building to be locked down. A group of high school students caught inside have a give-and-take with senior staffers, and even the President himself. Leo goes a bit off the deep end in questioning the suspect government employee.

"Bad people can't be recognized on sight. There's no point in trying."

Isaac And Ishmael was Aaron Sorkin's instant reaction to the 9/11 attacks on the United States, and boy, are opinions divided about this one. On one hand, it's been widely criticized for its preachy tone, its overly simplistic takes on terrorism and America's response, and (certainly for me) its radically out-of-character portrayal of Leo as a closet racist. On the other hand, it's been noted as a well-intentioned, if not entirely successful, attempt to respond to the events of 9/11, to lay out the differences between radical fundamentalists and the Muslim faith, and an effort to apply logic and reason to the anger and fear radiating throughout the nation. While it rates among most critics' least favorite episodes of The West Wing (although not much can get lower than Access or Ninety Miles Away), there are a few who put it among their favorites - or, at least they did in the immediate aftermath of 9/11. I think with nearly 20 years of reflection, it doesn't completely hold up. Even Sorkin himself, in interviews he gave the following year in 2002, recognizes the fact that maybe the episode wasn't what he hoped it would be.

Sorkin: "Some sort of respect had to be paid to the event that just happened. We couldn't just do a regular West Wing. I don't think that it was a good episode of The West Wing. I don't think it was an episode of The West Wing. I don't even know if it was good television. But what I do know for sure is that it was well-intended."

In another interview he said:

"I know there were ways to deal with September 11 on the show and do it well. But I wasn't able to find them."

But let's give Sorkin a little bit of credit. The reverberations of the attacks in September affected almost every aspect of life in America, including prime time television. Every network delayed their fall season premieres from their original September airdates, with many series not starting until October. NBC wanted to get The West Wing's third season started the first week of October with the originally scheduled two-parter that would kick off President Bartlet's re-election campaign - but Sorkin insisted that this special episode addressing terrorism, racism, and the differences between religion and fundamentalism be aired first.

A typical West Wing episode would have about three weeks between the end of shooting and the episode going to air, three weeks for editing, post-production, and everything involved in getting the show ready - and that was after the writing, casting, and filming process that took several weeks as well. Sorkin started thinking about this special episode immediately after the attacks, then he wrote the script, the guest roles were cast, the episode was filmed and went through post-production, and it hit the air three weeks and one day after 9/11. Sorkin's script was delivered September 20, production started the next day, and the last day of filming was October 1, two days before the episode aired. That's a ridiculously fast turnaround from genesis to final product; given that, some of the preachiness and odd tone can be excused.

First off, we're told this episode doesn't fit into the timeline continuity of the series; it's a Very Special Episode, a play, if you will, and it's not meant to be part of the storyline of the overall series. This information comes to us in an opening segment (not seen on the Netflix version, but included on the DVD, and I definitely remember it from watching the broadcast in 2001) where the actors, as themselves and not their characters, explain why this episode exists. There is no "previously on The West Wing," there is no cold-open teaser segment, there are no opening credits - just  a few somber piano notes of the show's theme, then Martin Sheen, Rob Lowe, Allison Janney, John Spencer, Dulè Hill, Bradley Whitford, Richard Schiff, and Stockard Channing talking about this special episode, and how profits will be sent to relief funds for New York City firefighters and police and their families.

The actors then plug the upcoming season and the premiere airing the following week, mentioning some of the storylines that will be included. So this is very, very obviously different from a regular episode. And instead of the normal opening of the show, more somber music plays with a graphic encouraging viewers to donate to the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund.

Just seeing that (again, only on the DVD and not the Netflix version) takes me emotionally back to that fall in 2001, when Americans were giving to the suffering residents of New York and Washington, and everyone was still in shock and on edge after that fateful day. So at least that part is effective.

We can dispatch with the plot fairly quickly. A suspected terrorist caught crossing the border from Canada to Vermont gives up the names of other suspects, and one of those names matches someone working in the White House. As the Secret Service investigates, they "crash" or lock down the building, meaning no one can enter or leave. This means a group of high school students (the "Presidential Classroom") are stuck inside with Josh as their host. He takes them to the Mess, where a discussion is kicked off by the question, "Why is everyone trying to kill us?" Josh, Toby, Sam, CJ, and Charlie all step in, covering various angles of the threat of Islamic fundamentalist terrorism:

• Josh draws the parallel of Islamic fundamentalism being to the Muslim faith as the Ku Klux Klan is to Christianity, meaning the efforts of terrorists to attack America shouldn't be confused with the religion of Islam as a whole (just as American Christians would not consider the KKK a valid expression of their faith).

• Toby builds on that, radically, by comparing the Taliban takeover of the government of Afghanistan to the Nazi invasion of Poland in 1939.

• Sam is shown to be an expert on terrorism, for some reason ("I dabble"), and he talks about the origins of terror as a religious and political tool, as well as terrorism's consistent failure to achieve its aims.

• CJ pipes up as the defender of the CIA and the intelligence community, making the point that since our enemy is not a nation with capitals and elected leaders, some of these people will need to be taken out by "a busboy with a silencer," and there has to be a balance between civil liberties and actions taken for our safety. That viewpoint also riles up Toby, our resident moralist and old-school civil libertarian (even though her views are not even close to the trampling of the civil liberties of white-power groups Toby wanted in The Midterms).

• Charlie makes a quick point about the respect and "honor" terrorists can earn in their communities, similar to gang members right here in his neighborhood in America.

Then the President and First Lady breeze in, as Jed is looking for apples and peanut butter (although the students have eaten all the apples; looks like Sam got the last one).

President Bartlet gets to make his point about martyrdom not being the same as killing yourself along with innocents. Abbey sticks around to get to the Biblical basis for conflict in the Mideast; the story of Isaac and Ishmael, two sons of Abraham by different mothers who are seen as the beginnings of the tribes of Israel (Isaac) and the Arabs (Ishmael).

So, yeah, boiling down the conflict in the Middle East and the basics of Islamic fundamentalism and terrorism into a part of one episode of an American TV drama can get, well, simplistic and preachy. No two ways around that.

The other part of the episode involves the White House staffer whose name matches that given by the captured terrorist in Vermont. Rakim Ali is taken at gunpoint by the Secret Service, then interrogated in some unused room somewhere. Oddly (I know, dramatic license by Sorkin) Leo is included in the questioning, and even grills Ali himself for a while (I'm trying to picture Mick Mulvaney sitting across from a suspected terror suspect, giving him the third degree while actual interrogation experts sit and watch, and I can't quite make that work in my head).

This is where things get jarring for me. We've had absolutely no reason to believe Leo, a staunch old Democrat liberal from way back, would be any kind of secret racist or hardcore law-and-order trampler of civil rights. But here, with Ali, he acts very un-Leo-like:

Ali: "It's not uncommon for Arab-Americans to be the first suspected when that sort of thing happens."

Leo (sarcastically): "I can't imagine why."

Ali: "Look -"

Leo (still sarcastically): "No, I'm trying to figure out why anytime there's any terrorist activity, people always assume it's Arabs. I'm wracking my brain."

Ali: "I don't know the answer to that, Mr. McGarry, but I can tell you it's horrible."

Leo: "Well, that's the price you pay."

I suppose part of this approach shows the emotional gut punch 9/11 gave to America as a whole, causing even rational, level-headed Americans to want to lash out at those who looked like the people who attacked us. But I'd rather go by Toby's words from earlier in the episode:

Toby: "Bad people can't be recognized on sight. There's no point in trying."

It sure doesn't seem like the Leo we've gotten to know over the past two seasons.

Eventually the actual Rakim Ali they are looking for is found in Germany, and the questioning of the White House staffer Ali is abruptly ended, without even a "sorry" or a "thanks for your time." Later, Leo goes to see Ali at his desk, and makes a convoluted, almost incomprehensible attempt to apologize for how he treated him earlier.

Leo: "I think if you talked to people who know me, they'd tell you that ... that was unlike me. You know? (pause) We're obviously all ... under, um ... aaaa greater than usual amount of ... you know. And like you pointed out with the shooting, and everything ... (pause) ... yeah. All right. Well, that's all."

And then makes it worse, if that's possible, with his parting comment:

Leo: "Hey, kid ... way to be back at your desk."

Holy moley, that's a tone-deaf thing to say to a guy who obviously passed multiple security checks, is serving his country by working for the government, and has just been unfairly and seriously accused of being involved with terrorists. Sorkin even sets this up to intentionally make us feel better about Leo, and Ali as well. "Way to be back at your desk"? I wouldn't have blamed Ali for flying the finger at Leo and walking out at that moment. Of course, maybe he was distracted by the Buffalo Springfield song that began playing under that scene and on through the closing credits: "There's something happening here ... what it is, ain't exactly clear ..."

So that's it, that's how Season 3 gets underway. I can't blame Sorkin for wanting to address the issues of 9/11 right away, right after it happened. I can't say I think it was a bad idea to have a show so deeply tied to political issues and the government as a whole take a moment to recognize the impact of this real-world event that shook America to its core. And I have to agree that doing it before kicking off the scripted events of the season, with Bartlet's campaign and all there is to follow, was probably better than addressing it later. Was the execution as good as it could have been? No, not quite. But I do give credit where credit is due - it was a good effort (under the three-week circumstances of its production), it came from a good place, and it tried to answer some of the questions we as Americans were struggling with after the attacks. Does that make this episode more than a curiosity in West Wing and American cultural history? I don't know about that.


Tales Of Interest!

- While the opening segment has the cast members appearing as themselves and not their characters, as they describe events to come in the third season we see Janel Moloney say, "And I get a boyfriend," with a hopeful smile that really does not fit into the mood. Does that mean Janel is getting a boyfriend? No, obviously, it means Donna will get one, but it's a weird approach in the opening segment that falls completely flat.

- The graphic in the scene with Rakim Ali smoking by the window just before the Secret Service arrives places that room in the Old Executive Office Building. The name of that building (just west of the White House, where we've seen exterior shots filmed in The Short List and The Fall's Gonna Kill You) was officially changed to the Eisenhower Executive Office Building by a bill signed into law in November, 1999 (nearly two years prior to this episode), although the official re-dedication ceremony didn't occur until May of 2002.

- Ron Butterfield tells Leo they captured the terrorist Khuram Sharif as he crossed the border from Ontario into Vermont. Vermont does not share a border with Ontario, but with Quebec.

- There's a directorial/lighting choice that is subtle until you notice it, then it's like a hammer to the forehead. In the background as the students and staffers talk is the whiteboard Josh used to make his Islamic fundamentalist/KKK syllogism. Notice here how there's a spot of light directed right on that "KKK."

Quotes    

Josh: "This is the White House, the home of the President and the Executive Branch, the most powerful of the three branches of the federal government. (pointing to student) Yeah?"

Billy: "Actually, Mr. Lyman, isn't it true that the Framers made sure that the Executive Branch was the weakest of the three branches? Because we were breaking off from the royalist model that put absolute power in just one place. I mean, isn't that why they made the Legislative Branch - or, peoples' branch - the most powerful?"

Josh: "What's your name?"

Billy: "I'm Billy Fernandez."

Josh: "I'll call you Fred. A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing. I don't know how long we're all going to be here, but you just made my list." 

-----

Josh: "It's not just that they don't like Irving Berlin."

Donna: "Yes, it is."

Josh: "No, it's not."

Donna: "No, not about Irving Berlin, but your ridiculous search for rational reasons why somebody straps a bomb to their chest is ridiculous."

Josh: "You just called me ridiculous twice in one sentence."

Donna: "Hardly a record for me."

-----

Josh: "We are a plural society. That means we accept more than one idea. That offends them."

-----

Toby: "And by the way, there's nothing wrong with a religion whose laws say a man's got to wear a beard or cover his head or wear a collar. It's when violation of these laws become a crime against the state and not your parents that we're talking about lack of choice." 

-----

Girl: "Weren't we terrorists at the Boston Tea Party?"

Sam: "Nobody got hurt at the Boston Tea Party. The only people that got hurt was some fancy boys that didn't have anything to wash down their crumpets with. We jumped out from behind bushes, while the British came down the road in their bright red jackets, but never has a war been so courteously declared. It was on parchment with calligraphy and 'Your highness, we beseech you on this day in Philadelphia to bite me, if you please.'"

-----

Girl: "Well, what do you call a society that just has to live everyday with the idea that the pizza place you're eating in can just blow up without any warning?"

Sam: "Israel."

-----

Boy: "Well, don't you consider - I mean, I know they're our enemy, but don't you consider there's something noble about being a martyr?"

President: "A martyr would rather suffer death at the hands of his oppressors than renounce his beliefs. Killing yourself and innocent people to make a point is sick, twisted, brutal, dumbass murder."

-----

Ali: "You know what, Mr. McGarry? You have the memory of a gypsy moth. When you and the President and the President's daughter and about a hundred other people - including me, by the way - were met by a hail of .44 caliber gunfire in Rosslyn, not only were the shooters white ... they were doing it because one of us wasn't."

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

• It's always good to see Ron Butterfield, head of the White House Secret Service detail. Michael O'Neill does a great job playing him.

• The student that Josh picks on, Billy Fernandez, is played by Josh Zuckerman (the young Dr. Evil in Goldmember, as well as stints on 90210 and Desperate Housewives):

• Another student is played by Marcus Toji (Little Giants, Patriot, appearances on Maniac and Workaholics):

• And yet another is played by Arjay Smith (The Day After Tomorrow, Sons Of Anarchy):

• Rakim Ali is played by Ajay Naidu, who you've probably seen somewhere (Office Space, Blindspot, lots of other appearances):

• Josh makes a reference to being shot at Rosslyn, and Ali makes the point he was there when the West Virginia White Pride gunmen took aim at Charlie (from What Kind Of Day Has It Been and In The Shadow Of Two Gunmen).

DC location shots    

• None.

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

• Josh gets pretty emotional when he recalls the Yankees cap signed by Joe Pepitone that his mother wants him to keep in his emergency box. 

• Songwriter Irving Berlin gets mentioned, as well as Founding Father Benjamin Franklin ("Hey, look, I invented the stove"), former Soviet Premier Nikita Krushchev and actor and posse-organizer John Wayne.

• There's a lot of products to see here in the Mess. It's Skippy brand peanut butter they're using on the apples:

• Sam drinks a Coca-Cola:

• And the students have enjoyed Mtn Dew, Dr Pepper, Minute Maid soda, and Snapple (among other snacks):

End credits freeze frame: There is none. The episode ends with a black background as the cast and crew names are displayed, with For What It's Worth by Buffalo Springfield playing, Eventually the closing music of The West Wing is heard (how jolly it sounds after this dead serious episode), but we never get the typical freeze frame.