Walking And Talking And Yelling At Clouds: Life On Mars

Original airdate: April 30, 2003

Teleplay by: Aaron Sorkin (83)
Story by: Paul Redford (12) & Dee Dee Meyers (5)

Directed by: John David Coles (2)

Synopsis

What a first day for newly hired associate White House counsel Joe Quincy, as he unravels a thread starting with a minor news leak that ends up bringing down the Vice President. Will and his interns work on a response to an attack ad. A bird drives Donna crazy.

"Yeah, we're gonna need a new Vice President."

An early morning rain pelts the White House. Charlie waits alone outside as a taxicab draws up and a woman gets out. She and Charlie make their way through the West Wing to the Oval Office, as CJ, Josh, Toby, and Donna look on somberly. A bit of small talk with the President, and then the letter she carries is opened.

Roll opening titles.

And we are swept into a whodunnit, an engrossing detective story starring the most unlikely of central figures - newly hired associate White House counsel Joe Quincy, on his first day on the job. Aaron Sorkin and his team deliver a whip-smart, tight script as Quincy puts the pieces together to find the evidence that brings down Vice President Hoynes in literally just 24 hours. It's a storyline so driving and so well-constructed that there's barely a B story at all (Will And The Interns' - there's a band name! - attempts to come up with a response to the fuel efficiency attack ad) and simply a whisper of a C plot (the bird pestering Donna - taptaptap "Stop it!").

Let's get a couple of things out of the way first: Sorkin admits the entire purpose of this episode is to set up the season climax coming over the next two telecasts. He's had an idea for a story brewing for quite a while - perhaps even as far back as Mr. Willis Of Ohio, if you remember President Bartlet's monologue to Zoey about her safety - and that story requires the office of the Vice President to be vacant. So he had to find a way to get Hoynes out of office, which leads us to what we watch here.

The other thing is Sorkin (more likely, former Bill Clinton White House press secretary Dee Dee Meyers) doesn't actually have to come up with a far-fetched fictional reason to have Hoynes resign. He and Meyers just copied the real-life story of Clinton confidant and political strategist Dick Morris. Morris resigned his White House position in 1996 after admitting he let a woman he was sleeping with listen in on his conversations with the President - and also told her about a then-secret report outlining the possible discovery of evidence of life on Mars. They even used the actual background of that 1996 event, with an asteroid from Mars found in Antarctica that carried that possible fossilized evidence.

But it doesn't matter that much that Sorkin and Meyers use something that really happened to get the result Sorkin needs, not when the real fun of this episode is watching Quincy's slowly growing realization as he puts things together piece by piece. It all starts with CJ getting called out by a Washington Post reporter and her science editor, claiming they have a source saying the government is covering up evidence of life on Mars. CJ thinks she can prank the new guy by giving him the job of tracking this far-fetched, outlandish, obviously crazy story down.

Science Editor Gish: "Is there an existing report that says anything at all, and if so, what? And will it be made public, and if not, why? And, if not, isn't that illegal?"

CJ: "Um, I don't know. But I'll find out to the first bunch of questions and, as for 'legal' and 'not legal,' that's a matter for the counsel's office. (light bulb goes on)

"Oh, hey, yeah, that's a matter for the counsel's office! I know the right guy to speak to down there. He's going to fix you right up."

The source says the Vice President, as head of the NASA Commission on Space Science and Research, was the person who let the story out. So immediately Quincy is tasked with having to speak with the Vice President himself - again, on his very first day.

But before he can get to that, word of another news leak arrives. Another reporter from the Post is claiming they have evidence the White House leaned on the Justice Department to drop an antitrust case against a computer manufacturer. Josh and Leo know that's not true, that a settlement was reached instead, but when that reporter reveals details of that settlement from his source that weren't made public, eyebrows are raised.

Josh: "There's a leak. This, the Mars people ... don't even get me started on that 'cause the stuff I think you still won't tell me. Who knew about the terms with Casseon outside us ... and now them?"

Leo: "The President, me and you, Counsel, Counsel at Treasury and Commerce. Two, three guys at NEC. Hackley, Little, May --"

Josh: "The Vice President."

Leo: "Yeah. The Assistant Attorney General for Anti-Trust. Did we say the --?"

Quincy: "Excuse me. Are you saying the Vice President knew the terms of the Casseon settlement?"

Josh: "Sure."

Two confirmed news leaks; both possibly connected with Hoynes. Quincy's suspicions grow.

Then, another random piece of the puzzle, as Toby and Charlie are eating lunch and watching tennis in Toby's office. Charlie is reading the Post.

Charlie: "Helen Baldwin is gonna write a book. She's retained an agent, who sent around a two-page outline, and there's a bidding war. Random House has bought it for low seven figures, according to Stu Winkle. Could that possibly be his real name? (reading) 'Baldwin, long a fixture in DC and Manhattan society, whether for her work on charity boards or her position on the arm of some of Wall Street, Washington and Hollywood's most eligible men, as well as hosting some of the beltway's favorite ...' What the hell kind of sentence is this? (pause) There's this 73-year-old lady who works in the residence, cleaning and winding all the clocks. She won't retire. She inherited it from her mother who inherited it from her mother. She earns $22,000 a year. She's trusted to walk in and out of rooms where there's personal correspondence, where she can hear if the President and First Lady are having a fight, where she can see people come for secret meetings, and she's been doing this for five decades worth of presidents. Her name is Mrs. Willey, and I said, 'Mrs. Willey, you really should write a book,' and she said, 'No, no, no, we don't do that.' Twenty-two thousand a year."

Toby (chewing on his salad): "You said I wouldn't even know you were here. Just so you know, I can tell that you are."

Quincy stops by, as he's concerned about a note Toby wrote on a draft statement about an appeals court decision, but as Toby laughs off his concern (of course CJ will clean up the language before it goes public) he drops in a mention about Baldwin's book.

Charlie: "Toby is distracted by a woman. And salads."

Toby: "You know, when you do ten minutes of Helen Baldwin getting a book deal, it's righteous, but I speak my mind after getting poked with a stick and it's 'cause of Andy."

Quincy: "Helen Baldwin has a book deal?"

Quincy has two separate news leaks at the Washington Post, possibly tied to the Vice President; he discovers Baldwin is preparing to write a tell-all book, and the Post's new gossip columnist has the details about that; and - as we'll discover later - he's heard rumors of a relationship between Hoynes and Baldwin. Connecting all the dots, he's starting to develop a theory - but he needs to confirm that the gossip columnist, Stu Winkle, was indeed the science editor's source for the Mars life story.

He goes to CJ, asking her to call Winkle and try to get him to spill that he knew about the Mars story. It takes some convincing, but she eventually goes along with Quincy and lays the trap for Winkle:

CJ: "Stu, I wanted to get you a direct answer to that NASA Commission question that Ralph Gish and Katie brought to me this morning. It was the Defense Department and not the White House that classified the report."

(long pause - CJ and Quincy stare at the phone)

CJ: "Stu?"

Winkle: "Uh, well, that makes perfect sense. I hope, I hope you don't mind, that sounded crazy enough ...."

As Winkle blathers on obviously, astonished by the fact that CJ Cregg herself would call him, Quincy lays out the evidence he's found - White House call sheets showing many telephone calls between Vice President Hoynes and Helen Baldwin.

And everything becomes clear. Hoynes has been involved with Baldwin, he's been in contact with her, and he's been sharing confidential, classified information with her, information she's now willing to share in her tell-all book, information she's slipped out in her two-page outline.

When Quincy finally makes his way to Hoynes' office that evening (Hoynes having been made aware of the purpose of the visit), he brings along a delegation of Josh, CJ, and Toby.

Hoynes: "You brought friendly faces. That was considerate. You're Joe Quincy?"

Quincy: "Yes, sir."

Hoynes: "This is your first day?"

Quincy: "Yes, sir."

Hoynes: "Well, they're going to put your picture up someplace. They're going to honor you at a luncheon."

You can tell Hoynes' admission of his guilt hits the staffers hard, especially Josh, who's almost tearing up.

(Remember, Josh had been on Hoynes' staff helping prepare him for his Presidential run before joining up with the Bartlet campaign in In The Shadow Of Two Gunmen Part I.)

Even later that night, Hoynes meets with the President and Leo on the Portico outside the Oval Office. They try to convince him to stay on and fight, but Hoynes has made up his mind.

President: "In the middle of MS, it looked like we were never going to recover, and we did."

Hoynes: "Which is why it is never going to happen again."

President: "John ..."

Hoynes: "That was it. That was the one you get."

President: "Well, I'm sorry, Mr. Vice President, if my multiple sclerosis was a bummer for your sex life. How the hell did you do this to us? You can't resign, John. It's a terrible signal to send."
Hoynes: "Sir, if I stay, it sabotages an entire agenda, and you know I'm right, and the party's going to need a candidate that can win. And I think, the least I think I can do for Suzanne is not to drag her through it so much."

But of course, by this point, we've already seen what happens the next morning. We know the decision Hoynes has made. And, as the President somberly tells Leo in the episode's final line, "We're gonna need a new Vice President."

The lever has been pulled. The necessary story-building steps have been taken. Sorkin has made the office of the Vice President vacant. Now he's ready to snap the rest of his pieces into place over the next two episodes to create yet another season-ending cliffhanger - which turns out to be not only another patented Sorkin season wrapup but a hard-to-solve "screw you and good luck" situation for the show runners he leaves behind for Season 5.

Tales Of Interest!

- The title Life On Mars? (with the question mark) was used by David Bowie for a song he wrote for the 1971 Hunky Dory album. The lyrics of the song actually have nothing to do with, well, life on the planet Mars. The song was, however, key to the 2006-07 BBC television series Life On Mars, about a present-day policeman who apparently transports back to 1973 (a series adapted for American television in 2008). The song doesn't have any relationship to this episode - rather, the question of "life on Mars" is the subject of the original news leak that leads to Hoynes' eventual resignation.

- Speaking of that leak, in 1996 scientists actually revealed evidence of fossilized bacteria on an asteroid that originated on Mars, leading to speculation about the possibility of life on that planet. (If you remember the news clip of President Bill Clinton used in the film Contact addressing the possible discovery of extraterrestrial life, that was from a news conference about that announcement.) The notion that any fossils found on the asteroid actually proved there was life on Mars was later discredited.

The story used in this episode aligns closely with reality: an asteroid discovered in Antarctica, originating on Mars, contains fossils that might show the possibility of life (in reality, fossilized bacteria; in The West Wing, fossilized water molecules, however that's supposed to work). Unlike the fictionalized version that sees this discovery classified by the Defense Department, in 1996 news of the find was published in a major magazine a few days after the announcement.

- And furthermore, Clinton political strategist Dick Morris' story is almost exactly the same as Vice President Hoynes' in this episode ... in 1996 news broke of Morris' affair with call girl Sherry Rowlands, who kept notes about their discussions, some of which included private details about the Clintons' personal life. Morris also told Rowlands he had seen evidence of life on Mars prior to the public announcement of the discovery, exactly the same story as this episode's plot, and also leading to Morris' resignation from his government post after Rowlands made plans to sell her story to the tabloids. I feel like a lot of the details about this plot line came from Dee Dee Meyers' personal experience as the press secretary in the Clinton White House at that time.

(Also, can you imagine in today's world of the 2020s that a sex scandal involving pillow talk could bring about the resignation of the Vice President in just 24 hours? We're into the world of "grab 'em by the pussy" and serious allegations of sexual misconduct against Congressmen and former Presidents, and even the looming recent past of an outgoing President firing up a seditious rabble to overthrow election results ... and nobody's resigning, nobody's going to jail, no massive scandal is being covered in the mainstream media. It's refreshing and yet depressing at the same time, to see a world not all that long ago where a political leader would take responsibility for their mistakes and give up his power, rather than double down to hold onto and expand his influence and authority. But I digress ...)

- Rain is a traditional dramatic go-to for authors and directors, often used to indicate things are going from bad to worse, or to signal the reader/viewer to prepare them for something serious yet to come (West Wing examples include the hurricane in The State Dinner that leads to the loss of at least one naval vessel, or the unusual tropical storm in Two Cathedrals as President Bartlet makes his way to the dramatic season-ending press conference). Sorkin goes to that well again here, with a drenching early-morning rain in the cold open leading us to the reveal of Hoynes' resignation letter.

- The famous West Wing spinning camera technique is seen early, in the hallway as CJ spars with the reporters in the morning gaggle.

- There's a quick glimpse of Gail's fishbowl on CJ's desk when Katie and Gish are in her office, but you can't see what kind of themed decoration is in there this time.

- Okay, follow along with me here - we know Danny Concannon has been the longtime Pulitzer-Prize winning White House correspondent for the Washington Post. While Danny was apparently out of the country for a time, we saw him return in Holy Night, and he's seen working at his old desk in the press room. Here, reporter Katie comes after CJ about the potential Mars-life leak, with her paper's science editor doggedly asking for more information based on a tip he received. CJ says the science editor is from the Washington Post, meaning that's where Katie works, meaning ... she's the White House correspondent? What about Danny? And if Danny's no longer the official correspondent, who was Katie working for previously when Danny definitely was the Post correspondent?

- Blair Spoonhour tells Quincy his new office is located in the Steam Pipe Trunk Distribution Venue, which was the location of Ainsley Hayes' original office (first seen in And It's Surely To Their Credit). However, Ainsley's office actually was a separate, private room with a door at the bottom of the staircase we see here - the space we see with Quincy's desk was used for the secret "Sagittarius" meetings about President Bartlet's MS revelations at the end of Season 2, and also for meetings to discuss the Ritchie attack ad Sam received in The Black Vera Wang and to inform Congress members about revoking executive orders against assassination in Posse Comitatus.

Quincy's office

Ainsley's office

- We can see the calls between Hoynes and Baldwin highlighted on the White House call sheets Quincy shows CJ - all the other names included on those pages are names of crew members working on The West Wing. Two I saw that jumped out to me (because I've looked them up for other blog entries in the past) are costume designer Lyn Paolo and property master Blanche Sindelar.

- The final scene with the President closing the door to Leo's office, shutting out the viewer, is reminiscent of the scene from The Godfather when the door to Michael's office closes, shutting out Kay (and the audience).

- EDITED TO ADD: Both Tim Matheson and Matthew Perry received Emmy nominations, partly for this episode. Both were nominated in the category Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series; Charles S. Dutton won that award for his work on Without A Trace.

Quotes

CJ: "Well argued, though I do hate you and everything you stand for."

Quincy: "Claudia Jean, you've only known me for four minutes. It usually takes people the better part of an hour to hate me and everything I stand for."

-----

Donna: "So you're our new sawbones."

Quincy: "A sawbones is a doctor."

Donna: "Is it?"

Quincy: "Yeah. Lawyer's a shyster."

Donna (to Josh): "I got him to say it."

Quincy: "I don't ... Josh is a lawyer."

Donna: "Well, yeah, I mean he went to law school but ..."

-----

Quincy (to Toby): "Okay. The northwest lobby is ... (points) that way?"

Toby: "Yeah. You just go that way and then, you know, ask somebody else."

-----

CJ: "How would a gossip columnist get a story about the Pentagon?"

Quincy: "I'd rather not say yet."

CJ: "Why?"

Quincy: "Cause if I'm wrong, it'll be inappropriate that I suggested it and I'll be held in contempt."

CJ: "You are wrong."

Quincy: "No. I'm not."

-----

Hoynes: "I leaked classified information. It is their business. It's also a felony."

Leo: "Are you in a position to deny it?"

Hoynes: "No."

-----

President: "Didn't you have any sense that this was the kind of person who would do this?"

Hoynes: "Hasn't it been your experience that they look pretty much like the people who wouldn't?"

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

Blair Spoonhour, seen assisting Joe Quincy moving into his new office, is played by Kiersten Warren (the doomed kooky friend on the rooftop in Independence Day, also 13 Going On 30, Divine Secrets Of The Ya-Ya Sisterhood, Desperate Housewives). Warren was born in Creston, Iowa, so hooray for another Iowa actor!

I have done a poor job of keeping you in the loop on when we see the usual suspects in the reporting pool. In the morning gaggle here we find Katie, Mark, and Chris; Steve doesn't appear in the gaggle; and Danny Concannon (while he returned to the White House press corps in Holy Night after a two-year absence) hasn't been seen since Inauguration: Over There.

Always good to see Tim Matheson as Vice President Hoynes, here in his last appearance as he resigns --- what's that? This isn't his last appearance on the series? Well, hold the phone and hide the spoilers ...

Former associate White House counsel Ainsley Hayes is recalled as Joe Quincy gets settled into her old basement office - well, sort of (it's not the exact same room).

Will's interns Lauren, Lauren, Cassie and Lauren (first seen in The California 47th) are back, trying to brainstorm a response ad to a spot attacking the administration's bill requiring higher vehicle fuel economy standards.

As CJ takes Quincy past the Roosevelt Room, he remarks, "I've been in there." That's where he was interviewed by Josh in Evidence Of Things Not Seen.

Toby throws his trusty rubber Spaldeen at Will when Will explains how effective the anti-fuel-efficiency ad is (the bouncy rubber ball has been seen quite a bit with Toby, most memorably in 17 People).

Charlie and Will both make digs at Toby for not convincing Andy to remarry him; we found out Andy is pregnant with Toby's twins (and refusing his entreaties to get married) in Debate Camp.

White House Counsel Oliver Babish is flying back to Washington to help deal with Hoynes' issues, according to Quincy: Babish was first seen in Bad Moon Rising, and while his name has come up several times recently, his last appearance was in Gone Quiet.

Hoynes' meeting with Quincy and the senior staffers has a couple of subtle throwbacks/flash forwards - seeing Josh get so emotional about Hoynes' fall reminds us that he was a true believer back in the day, working for then-Senator Hoynes as he was preparing a Presidential run ... until Josh saw Jed Bartlet speak to a bunch of New Hampshire farmers. Second, Hoynes' remark "I've spoken with CJ," letting the staffers know he already knows why they're there, is interesting considering a storyline coming up in Season 5. CJ giving him a heads-up about their visit seems, well, pretty normal, although I might expect it to come from Josh instead ... but a non-Sorkin-approved plotline next year about a past connection between CJ and John Hoynes makes that line a bit interesting in retrospect (the episode is Full Disclosure, if you're interested). Even though there was nothing implied when Sorkin wrote it, it's just the way things play out in the post-Sorkin universe.

President Bartlet's multiple sclerosis - revealed in He Shall, From Time To Time ... and key to events at the end of Season 2 and beginning of Season 3 - and the administration's/campaign's survival of that issue is politically compared to Hoynes' current situation as the President and Leo debate with the Vice President.

DC location shots

None.

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

I don't see where the law President Bartlet mentions regarding the Vice President's resignation going to the Secretary of State actually exists. Title 3 of the US Code does pertain to the Presidency, and Chapter 4 (Delegation of Functions) includes sections 300-303; but there is no section 320.

The asteroid in Antarctica containing possible evidence of life on Mars actually does exist, although it was thought to be fossilized bacteria that it carried and not "fossilized water molecules."

I was unable to find any reference to a "Dolley Madison staircase," as CJ tells Quincy, but Dolley Madison, of course, did exist and was President James Madison's First Lady.

Toby talks about the mountains K2 and Kilimanjaro and the Ford Falcon automobile when he's complaining about the fuel efficiency attack ad with Will. Fun personal fact, my parents had a Ford Falcon station wagon around the late 1960s/early 1970s - I can remember going to drive-in movies in my pajamas and eating from a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken in that car. And no, it would not be able to pull "the kids, the camping gear, Rex the dog, and what would appear to be his den" up any kind of hill.

Author Ray Bradbury (The Martian Chronicles) gets a shoutout from Leo in the Martian life storyline; the bird tapping at the window brings Donna to compare herself to actress Tippi Hedren (The Birds).