Original airdate: October 8, 2003
Teleplay by: Carol Flint (1)
Story by: Carol Flint & Debora Cahn (4)
Directed by: Alex Graves (16)
Synopsis
- It's Independence Day, and President Bartlet finds himself beset on fronts both personal and political. His rift with Abbey over endangering their family continues to fester, as she plans to take a recovering Zoey back to New Hampshire; meanwhile, his slam-dunk choice for a new Vice President gets rejected by both Democrats and Republicans angling for an advantage in 2006.
We're three episodes into the post-Aaron Sorkin era of The West Wing, and already John Wells is exerting his influence as producer/showrunner to make it a more typical, run-of-the-mill network TV drama. The personal is overtaking the political; relationships are coming to the forefront instead of strategies; while it's not exactly a "soap opera," the overall tone of the show is certainly trending more in that direction.
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| Remember, she was rescued in early May - this is July 4. Still bruised and in a sling? |
President (in flashback, watching Zoey ride): "Look at that. Fearless."
Charlie: "She puts up a good front."
President: "Name one thing, one thing, my little girl's afraid of."
In the present, Charlie has the hard truth for the President.
Charlie: "She knows you like to see her strong. She thinks what happened was her fault."
This, along with Abbey's resentment of the President, of Leo, of Washington in general, brings Bartlet along in agreement with his wife that she should take Zoey out of the White House and back to their farm in New Hampshire. Abbey's motivations are more out of anger with what she believes to be Jed's disregard for his family's safety - but Charlie helps the President realize Zoey's mental health needs the respite away from Washington. And Zoey finally comes clean to her father about the ongoing terrors she's still going through.
Zoey: "There was an arm ... grabbing me. When I start to fall asleep, it comes back."
Jed: "We're going to help you. We're all going to help."
The rift with Abbey continues to be huge. She goes about the residence in a robotically normal way, helps Zoey get to her photo op, but doesn't engage with Jed at all. And when Leo stops by in the middle of her meeting with Ron Butterfield, she makes it clear it's not just Jed she's furious with.
Abbey: "You laid us open. You laid me and my daughters wide open. And God knows what else there is that I don't know about."
Leo: "There is nothing else."
Abbey: "I swear to God, Leo, don't -- 72 hours, the bruises aren't even -- did you see her face? For God's sake, don't ask me to trust you."
Leo: "I'm not."
Abbey: "And don't think you took the bullet. I blame Jed. He did this."
As I said, I understand a mother's grief and resentment in this situation, after her daughter had been kidnapped and nearly killed. It's natural that she'd lash out at anyone she feels had a hand in creating the situation to put her children in danger. But ... this is the First Family, after all. National security decisions have to be made for the good of the country, not for the President's family members alone (this was the entire reason Bartlet used the 25th Amendment to step away from the office, for crying out loud). And we've seen Jed stand up for himself before - it's just off-putting to see him mostly meekly take Abbey's withering fury here.
The other huge focus of this episode is the Vice Presidential pick. The office has been vacant since John Hoynes resigned in Life On Mars, after he admitted to leaking classified information to a woman he was having an affair with. Josh was just getting started with making a list of candidates before Zoey was kidnapped, then in The Dogs Of War (which ended on May 10th, remember) we heard Leo say they had some candidates for the President to consider. Well, now it's July 4, almost two months later, and they're finally ready to go with Secretary of State Lewis Berryhill. He's a slam-dunk nominee, a war hero who did masterful diplomatic work shepherding America's allies through the attack on/invasion of Qumar, and he's already gotten through Senate confirmation once before. He's such a great option, even Toby is ecstatic with the choice.
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| "This is my over-the-moon face." |
But things never go easy for the Bartlet administration and Congress. It's been a truism from Season 1 - the Republican Congress has enough power to keep throwing roadblocks in Bartlet's way, and the President often finds his approval ratings too low to make it a fair fight. (At least, this is what we've been told over and over, even though the list of administration successes over the past four years is pretty sizable.) Now, even though Bartlet's approval ratings have zoomed upward in reaction to the kidnapping crisis, Congress still doesn't want to play along.
One can see the Republican side of this. Hoynes, the obvious front-runner for the 2006 Democratic nomination, is out of the way. Any replacement as Vice President would take on that mantle, so if the GOP could muck up the best Democratic choice in any way, that could prove to be an electoral advantage in three years. What's kind of surprising is the fact the Democratic leadership in Congress isn't onboard, either - they have "issues" with Berryhill, like the fact he's never run for office and that some State Department people don't like how he runs things. But at the center of it, I think, is the same idea as the Republicans: the Minority Leaders in the House and Senate don't want a new VP who might be too tough to run against in the next election.
But yet again, the Republicans. Jeff Haffley has been chosen to take over the Speaker's chair, after Glenallen Walken resigned to take over the office of the Presidency in Twenty Five. He's kind of a firebrand, a loose wheel (Josh called him a "fascist"), and he's frank in the meeting with the White House. He doesn't have the votes to confirm Berryhill. (In the meeting with the Democratic leadership Josh says they need four Republicans to cross over, so that means there aren't four out of 221 House Republicans willing to vote for confirmation.) But he's not just a naysayer, he's cooperative, he wants to work with the administration in this time of national crisis ... and he's got a list.
A list of (five, it looks like, although we only hear about four) candidates who, Haffley says, could be easily confirmed. Imagine the audacity - a Republican Speaker of the House telling the President here are the only Democrat options we'd be okay with as Vice President. It is telling to watch the reactions of Senate Majority Leader Royce as Haffley takes over the discussion - there's some eye-rolling, and an expression of eyebrow-raising surprise when Haffley dismisses Josh's comment about the popularity of Lincoln's Secretary of State by saying he was stabbed in his bed (I mean, it's true, but it was by Confederates as part of the plot to assassinate Lincoln and other members of the government). But Royce can tell which way the wind is blowing, dismissing Leo's attempt to leave the Republicans to fight amongst themselves and instead agreeing to go along with Haffley's list.
When the Democrats take their stand against Berryhill as well, the White House is up against it. They can continue to fight for their man, knowing it means a somewhat protracted battle in Congress, or they can give in and take the best option out of a list of poor choices. Here's where the timelines get a little screwy again - the main reason Bartlet and his advisers decide to go along with the list instead of standing up for Berryhill is because of the ongoing emptiness of the Vice Presidential office and the necessity to get that filled and establish a solid line of succession.
Leo: "You didn't want to fight?"
President: "I did want to fight but the country needs a President who's doing their work, and since they put their trust in a guy whose mortality is showing, they deserve a chain of command that's irrefutable."
But remember - Josh and Leo had their list of candidates ready for Bartlet on May 10, the day after Zoey's rescue. Berryhill was the obvious choice from the start. Why has it taken almost two months for the President to take action? Why is the entire West Wing in a tizzy about the country needing a Vice President right now when they haven't done anything about it since May?
Oh, well. That's a failure of writing, which comes out of the perceived need to have an Independence Day episode.
In any event, the staff and the President meet with everyone on the list, the last being Bob Russell, the congressman from Western Colorado ("And I don't mean the state, I mean the mining company"). Since he's played by Gary Cole, we have a hint he might be a little bit important down the road. And there's something that happens in the meeting with Bartlet that stirs the President, at least a little bit. Russell actually makes some demands of his own - he'll need personal one-on-one time with Bartlet, getting to know each other, and trying to confound the expectations of those who chose Russell thinking he'd be easy pickings in three years. But probably what makes a bit more of an impression on the President is his footwear, and how it meshes with what's really on Bartlet's mind.
President: "Are you a horseman, Bob? I'm looking at your boots."
Russell: "Oh, I love to ride. You?"
President (shakes his head): "My youngest daughter is the one with the talent."
There's really no other explanation for Bartlet choosing Russell over the rest, unless it's the fact that he was the last interview and the President was just over it. At least he got to show up at an immigrant citizenship swearing-in ceremony afterwards.
Then there's those kooky kids Josh and Amy. These two have known each other since college, when Amy was dating Josh's Harvard roommate. They reconnected in The Women Of Qumar, when Amy tossed a water balloon at Josh's head in that flirty way she has. By Dead Irish Writers they were a couple, but that fell apart in Posse Comitatus when a policy dispute ended with Josh getting his way, with the unfortunate fallout being Amy losing her job. She later worked with Senator Stackhouse as he explored a Presidential run, yet still mooning over Josh a little (College Kids, The Red Mass). When Abbey found herself outwitted by Josh over immunization funding in Red Haven's On Fire, she turned to Amy, hiring her as her chief of staff to be a more formidable proponent of the First Lady's agenda.
So they've got a history. And history has a tendency to repeat itself. Amy is trying to keep up with the political interests of the First Lady, digging into a cut into CDC violence prevention spending even as Abbey is occupied with more pressing family matters at the moment.
Abbey: "Amy, you're going to have to handle things for me a little while longer."
Amy: "I know. Do you want me to --"
Abbey: "I trust you. That's why I hired you."
(Remember those words. They may come back to bite someone pretty soon.)
Amy comes to Josh to get a deal done - but Josh has problems of his own, nearly tearing his hair out over Congress' failure to support Berryhill, and the frantic search for somebody, anybody who can fit in the Vice Presidential role. It's quite a combination - Amy, usually so self-assured and always pressing forward, finding herself a bit at odds without guidance from her boss; Josh, equally confident and never satisfied with losing a battle, discovering he has nothing but a losing hand in the VP situation.
Josh begs Amy to be quiet, but she simply can't. Her personality won't let her. She has to keep responding, trying to fill the empty space in the conversation. Finally, though, Josh's desperation gets through to her, and she settles herself into a chair, kicking off her shoes, placing her feet up on Josh's desk.
Josh finally breaks, as he sees Amy studying her watch, proving that she can take Josh up on his request for her to stay quiet for "one minute, in silence." He bursts out in a laugh, moves over to her, and then ...
So I guess they're back together. Seeing them both sneak away from the fireworks viewing party later kinda solidifies that.
Once again, the show has come down to personal stuff - Jed sullenly letting Abbey lash out at him, Zoey dealing with PTSD while trying to prove herself to her father, a singular figure stepping out from Capitol Hill to serve as a symbolic foil, Josh and Amy dealing with professional struggles by reaching out to each other - and that's so much like hour-long dramas we've seen before and since. Even the gleeful excitement of Fourth of July fireworks over the Mall can't quell the looming weight of personal drama, as CJ sits alone in her office mulling over the moral responsibilities of the administration, the rest of the staff outside marveling at the display:
And President Bartlet - the rest of his family gone away - watching gloomily from the residence balcony.
I feel like the series needs a kick in the pants to get things up and running in Season 5, but it's not happening here.
- While we've had rather famous and beloved West Wing episodes centered around Thanksgiving and Christmas, and even several focusing on that special Beltway holiday, the State of the Union address, this is the very first (and only) Fourth of July episode. In the previous four seasons, the events we see generally took place around the time of year they aired - this time we get an episode set in the summer, between the end of one TV season and the beginning of the next. So it's quite different for us to see a July-based episode of the show air in October. The art directors do slip in a few items in the background to remind us of the holiday, if you look closely:
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| A bit of bunting outside Toby's office |
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| A staffer wearing a patriotic hat |
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| Fourth of July decorations hanging over Donna's desk |
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| More Independence Day-themed decorations in Donna's bullpen |
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| A random person walking by with an American flag |
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| Another staffer with a Stars-and-Stripes hat |
- We know it's a Friday because when CJ asks Toby if they'll get a decision on Berryhill in time to get him on the Sunday shows, Toby replies, "Two days? You bet."
- We know it's 2003 because President Bartlet says, "Two hundred twenty-seven years ago, a bunch of guys got together on the Fourth of July and decided, because they didn't have any cherry bombs, they would declare some self-evident truths." Add 227 years to 1776 and you get 2003.
- Zoey's abduction in Commencement came in May, after her graduation from Georgetown - specifically May 7, as outlined in Charlie's note about meeting with Zoey to dig up the bottle of champagne.
- Zoey's rescue in The Dogs Of War came about 72 hours after the kidnapping, in the early hours of Tuesday, May 10 (again, the dates are going by what the show explicitly stated; May 7 was actually a Wednesday in 2003).
- It's clearly the Fourth of July here, almost two months after the kidnapping crisis, there's absolutely no doubt about the date, it's specifically referred to many times ... yet we get a huge number of inconsistencies with what we see in the episode:
- Zoey's injuries are not yet healed, her face is bruised, she's wearing a sling.
- There's some mentions of the support of foreign governments in the wake of the crisis, the impact of getting the President back in the Oval Office, Ryan tells his buddy on the phone they've just been through a national crisis, Josh tells Amy everything "before last Saturday" is a blur ... people, this all happened two months ago, not a few days ago!
- Haffley is referred to as the "new Speaker" as if it just happened, even though his naming as Speaker of the House was a big deal in The Dogs Of War in early May.
- Toby tells us that Huck had his bris in the morning. Remember, Huck and Molly were born between Commencement and Twenty Five, which essentially means the morning of Sunday, May 8. A bris is traditionally celebrated for Jewish boys 8 days after their birth, which would have been Monday, May 16 ... not six weeks after that, on Friday, July 4.
- The President tells Berryhill, "There hasn't been much about the last couple of weeks that I wouldn't rather erase" ... it's a couple of months, sir.
- The big thing, though, is the fact the White House is finally ready to name a new Vice President - something that was an urgent necessity to do right away with candidates being given to the President in The Dogs Of War, which was still May, remember? They sat on that for two months? The fact they are in a frenzy to name somebody instead of fight Haffley and Congress on Berryhill's nomination is based totally on needing to get someone put in the office immediately, to show the American public that everything is under control, and this turns out to be the reason they eventually scrap their slam-dunk choice and go with Russell ... so why didn't they feel this sense of urgency back on May 10 when Josh said they had several great candidates for Bartlet's consideration? Why did they sit on their hands for six weeks and just now decide they have to give in to Haffley because the clock is running out?
So, yeah. While generally speaking, The West Wing tends to keep its episodes grounded in the calendar timeline of when they air, the writers sometimes struggle to keep the timing of things straight - particularly when they find it necessary to shoehorn in a connection to July 4th for no particular reason except to hurry the timeline along. And just hold on, we're going to lose an entire year of timeline by Season 6, wait until we talk about that!
- New showrunners mean less subtlety in storytelling, I guess. Instead of letting us figure things out through dialogue and context, they go with onscreen graphics to explain who Josh and Toby and Leo are meeting with as they try to coordinate their Vice Presidential pick.
- Apparently the GOP holds a 221-214 edge in the House of Representatives. In the meeting with Democratic leadership, Josh says they only need to get four votes on their side to confirm Berryhill. As Section 2 of the 25th Amendment requires a majority vote in both the House and Senate to confirm a new VP, that would mean 218 votes out of the House's 435 members - therefore, with four Republicans joining all the Democrats, that makes it a 221-214 split.
Zoey is talking about her father's love of "Fourth of July stuff" with Charlie and Will, particularly the fact that John Adams and Thomas Jefferson both died on July 4, 1826. Adams' last words were "Jefferson lives," as he wasn't aware that Jefferson had died shortly before.
Quotes
Toby: "He was confirmed by the Senate, not by the House. We've got 24 hours to make this happen. Right out of the gate, even a whiff of a whiff of a rumor, we're ready to bat it down."
CJ: "Smart offense."
Will: "Error-free ball."
Josh: "Knock yourselves out, but he's a slam dunk."
Toby: "Okay, that's one too many sports metaphors."
Josh: "Let it go. You're going to have to breath through it for a while."
Amy: "Not my forte. Waiting."
Josh: "You have other fortes."
Amy: "What's that supposed to mean?"
Josh: "Nothing. I didn't mean that."
Amy: "You absolutely meant that."
Josh: "Okay, maybe I did."
Amy: "Careful what you start."
-----
Debbie: "Uh, Mrs. Bartlet ... I can't tell you how hard I prayed for you."
(pause, as Abbey is genuinely touched)
Abbey: "I appreciate that."
Debbie: "Well, you shouldn't. I'm not very religious, so there's the risk that my praying could be taken as insincere or even an affront, which, if it's a vengeful God, could have made matters worse."
Abbey: "Well, it didn't. So maybe there's a clue."
President (escaping the droning story being told by Senator Adair): "Debbie, you were supposed to interrupt after five minutes."
Debbie: "It's only been three, sir."
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Charlie: "She knows you like to see her strong. She thinks what happened was her fault. I'm sorry, sir, but --"
President: "Her mother wants to take her back to New Hampshire for a while. What do you think?"
Charlie: "I think her mom is right."
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Leo: "Bob Russell? Really?"
President: "He ain't my choice. But hey, we hated the last guy. So ... start the vetting process."
Story threads, callbacks, and familiar faces (Hey, it's that guy!)
- It's our first meeting with the new Speaker, Jeff Haffley, played by Steven Culp (JAG, Thirteen Days, Desperate Housewives).
- Along those lines, we see the Republican Senate Majority Leader Robert Royce, played by H. Richard Greene (The Wonder Years, Armageddon, Mad Men). We've seen Royce previously in 2001's On The Day Before - then he was a member of the House that Sam went after to try to stop an override of the President's veto of a bill ending the estate tax. Now he's been elected to the Senate, and is already the Majority Leader. Quite the advance!
- We also see the Democratic Senate Minority Leader Triplehorn, played by Geoff Pierson (Grace Under Fire, 24, Dexter) and another Democrat (likely meant to be the House Minority Leader) Sheila Fields, played by Charlotte Colavin (Law & Order, Summer Of Sam). Triplehorn has appeared a couple of times, first in Swiss Diplomacy arguing with Josh over Hoynes trying to lock up the 2006 nomination by tying up precinct captains (there's a callback to that scene here when Josh tells Toby, "Our esteemed Minority Leader is running for President in three years"). Fields was previously seen complaining about President Bartlet giving up his office to a Republican Speaker in 7A WF 83429. If she reminds you a bit of real-life Congresswoman (and current Speaker) Nancy Pelosi, it's probably not by accident - Pelosi was elected House Minority Leader in 2002, just a year prior to this episode.
- This is our introduction to Congressman Bob Russell from Western Colorado ("And I don't mean the state, I mean the mining company"). Soon to be the new Vice President, Bingo Bob - played by the wonderful Gary Cole (Midnight Caller, American Gothic, Office Space, The Brady Bunch Movie, Veep) - is going to be an important part of the next three seasons.
- There's a shot of Josh's bulletin board that he used to pare down VP candidates, seen in his office since Commencement; let's compare it in this episode to how it looked in The Dogs Of War.
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| From the previous episode, with Berryhill and four others |
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| As it appears in this episode: Berryhill and Lyndell photos remain, but the one on the left is new and two others have been removed (Sen. Ryan Lyndell and Sen. DeJoie, a name seen on a Post-It, were names we saw during Josh's initial VP search in Commencement) |
- When Leo asks how the Syrians are responding to the attack on Qumar, Secretary Berryhill replies, "Better. Probably afraid they're next." Syria has already been attacked once by the Bartlet administration, with a bombing raid ordered by the President in A Proportional Response as retaliation for Syria's shootdown of an airplane carrying medical personnel.
- Obvious long-playing storylines include:
- Bartlet ordering the assassination of Qumar's Defense Minister Shareef (whose involvement in terrorism against America was first discovered in Enemies Foreign And Domestic, and his killing occurring in Posse Comitatus), leading to Ba'ji sleeper agents escaping from observation in Portland, Oregon (first mentioned in Commencement and referred to in this episode), and possibly Zoey's abduction.
- The search for a replacement Vice President, an office vacated when John Hoynes resigned after a sex scandal in Life On Mars.
- The on-again/off-again relationship between Josh and Amy, which first kindled in The Women Of Qumar, was first seen in public in Dead Irish Writers, fizzled away thanks to Josh's political tactics costing Amy her job in Posse Comitatus, showed a few sparks in College Kids and The Red Mass, and now appears to be igniting yet again.
- Toby's twins (and Andy, their mother) get a quick mention in passing. They were born after Andy turned down Toby's offer of remarriage and a house in Commencement.
- The Bartlet jacket flip makes an appearance, although from behind and out of focus. Martin Sheen's left shoulder was injured at birth, and since he's unable to lift that arm above the shoulder, he developed this "flip" technique to put on a jacket.
- President Bartlet's remark to Leo "We hated the last guy" is a reference to the tension that existed between Bartlet and Vice President Hoynes all the way through their relationship (seen several times, notably in Five Votes Down, Enemies, 20 Hours In L.A., War Crimes, and Stirred).
- WHAT'S NEXT - We get to hear the President say "What's next?" as the camera moves into the Oval Office meeting with Ron Butterfield and other military and security officers.
DC location shots
- None. The "Rose Garden" Zoey-walk scene was shot in California.
They Do Exist! It's The Real Person, or Thing
- Founding Fathers Aaron Burr, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Ben Franklin all get mentioned (appropriately, I suppose, on Independence Day).
- The Truman Balcony is referred to as the White House viewing location for the fireworks.
- Josh scoffingly refers to the green flag at Daytona (meaning the NASCAR race held there around Independence Day prior to 2020, which at one time was called the Firecracker 400) as a reason why Haffley keeps changing their meeting schedule.
- President Lincoln and his Secretary of State William Seward are brought up as Josh and Haffley debate the VP choice.
- John Trumbull's painting of the signing of the Declaration of Independence gets a shout-out.
- We get to see the logos of C-SPAN and MSNBC.
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