The Warfare Of Genghis Khan - TWW S5E13

 

Original airdate: February 11, 2004

Written by: Peter Noah (2)  

Directed by: Bill D'Elia (3)

Synopsis

• News of a secret nuclear test in the Indian Ocean has the United States on the brink of attacking Iran - until Vice President Russell remembers something that could be pertinent to the situation. Josh goes out stargazing with a cute NASA administrator. CJ gets called "chicken" by a conservative TV show host.

"It's not over. And, we need a better plan." 

I don't think it's just me. It's not just me, right? Season 5 is continuing to be kind of a slog ... partly because this year's post-Sorkin John Wells-led team is treading ground already worked over in the past, while ignoring some key chain-of-command consistencies at the same time. I mean, keeping important knowledge away from CJ so she can unknowingly mislead the press? Didn't we do that in Lord John Marbury, and wasn't it made clear that the President and is men weren't going to do that again (spoiler alert: they did that again)? How about bringing Toby in on the top-secret news of nuclear tests and attacks on Iran while Leo keeps Josh out of it - Toby, the Communications Director, gets in on high-level secret meetings while Josh, the Deputy Chief of Staff and Leo's right-hand man, blissfully goes out stargazing without being told of the impending crisis? How about hard-nosed political realist and arm-twister Josh going from telling off NASA about their failures to suddenly cheerleading for a mission to Mars just because he looked through a telescope?

A lot of what we see in this episode just doesn't make a lot of logical sense considering what we've learned over the past 4 1/2 years. Not to mention the structure is somewhat clunky, Donna is kinda uncharacteristically pissy, and the big story of the episode doesn't actually resolve. President Bartlet isn't going to actually do anything about Israel's nuclear test, the Israelis don't care that the United States is formally against any expansion of the nuclear club, and the threat of North Korea or Iran developing nukes remains as real as ever. And what's with the President going back down to the Situation Room at the end of the episode just so he can watch a replay of the nuke test? Or is this a new, second test the Israelis are conducting? It's so damnably unclear from the context - seems like President Bartlet would have far too much on his plate to waste a few minutes just to stand around and watch the satellite footage of the blast again, but that's pretty much what we are led to believe.

Sigh. Okay ... as you know, if you've watched the episode, our story begins with the President awakened with early-morning news of a nuclear explosion somewhere in the Indian Ocean. None of the countries known to have nuclear weapons report a test, which means somebody new is proving they have the capability to detonate a nuke. Who is it? North Korea? Iran? Islamic terrorists? Diplomatic messages are urgently sent to find out.

Eventually suspicion centers on Iran, which leads the administration to call the Iranian UN ambassador to DC for a stern talking to. This does not have the hoped-for result, as the ambassador takes Leo and his crew to task for America's non-proliferation preaching to the world despite being the only nation to ever use nuclear weapons in battle. 

As the timeline shortens, a military response against Iranian nuclear research sites is readied, with bombers in the air.

In a seemingly unrelated story, Will continues to beg the White House for some sort of policy issue Vice President Russell can use to shore up his bona fides as he lays the groundwork for his 2006 presidential run. Toby isn't interested in giving him much of anything:

Leo: "We've got to give him something."

Toby: "What can he handle? Potholes."

Leo: "You mean infrastructure?"

Toby: "No, I mean actual potholes, on, I don't know, the Interstate."

Leo insists, Toby comes up with "good government" (reducing bureaucracy, using plain English in regulations, that sort of thing), Will is less than enthused, knowing Toby is just going through the motions of "helping."

Russell isn't that excited, either. For one thing, one of the "good government" proposals is to reduce the number of junkets, overseas trips made by lawmakers ostensibly to gather information from foreign allies but seen by the public as government-funded vacations. In a conversation with Will, Russell defends the use of junkets as a valuable information-gathering tool, and then:

A light bulb goes off in his head.

A little background: Russell, who was basically forced on the Bartlet administration as a Vice Presidential choice by the Republicans in Jefferson Lives, has never been seen as a full partner in the administration. Only informed of the nuclear test as a courtesy (Bartlet almost forgets to tell him), he completely misconstrues the situation as Leo tries to explain it to him (multiple times, in fact). Nobody really thinks the Vice President has any knowledge or ability when it comes to foreign policy or diplomacy ... but this discussion of junkets and how they sometimes allow a more frank sharing of information reminds him of something. Something rather important, as it turns out.

Russell asks to see the President, urgently. In a Situation Room meeting, he tells the story of a boozy Mediterranean boat trip where secrets may have been let slip:

Russell: "I was on a Congressional junket to the Mideast last year. Wound up at a party on a boat cruising the Mediterranean. The combination of jet lag, booze, and choppy seas made some guests sick. As they leaned over the rail, one of our high-level government hosts came over to me and drunkenly mused he hoped they weren't puking on one of their nuclear subs. He winked and lurched off. And the host country was ... Israel."

Israel! Perhaps it wasn't Iran after all, but Israel conducting a secret nuclear test. Now, why would Israel need an atmospheric test? Technology has come far enough that an advanced nation could develop nuclear weapons without actually detonating them, right? The Vice President happens to have an answer for that, too:

Russell: "Getting nuclear warheads on submarine-based missiles requires miniaturization technology that could need to be tested."

How does Bingo Bob, the Congressman from Western Colorado (not the state, the mining company) have this kind of knowledge about nuclear weaponry? Turns out, he tells Leo and the President later, Colorado mines are the nation's biggest source of uranium. As he turns to leave, after confounding the belief that he's a low-IQ placeholder as Vice President, Jed gives Leo a look of surprised satisfaction, or perhaps a little smugness.

It's almost a smirk that says, "See how well I did when I chose the best of the worst Vice Presidents that was forced on me by the Republicans and who I picked only because his cowboy boots reminded me of Zoey riding a horse? Suck it, Leo." Which would make more sense if the President actually showed he'd had much faith in Russell before this moment.

President Bartlet calls back the bombers on their way to Iran and demands a meeting with the Israeli Prime Minister, where ... nothing much really happens. Would nuclear war be a devastating event with no winners? Yes. Does the proliferation of nuclear weapons make nuclear war more of a threat? Sure. Does Israel have the right to defend itself from others who wish to wipe them off the earth? Of course. So what's the final answer? We don't know, and we don't find out here. Then Jed goes back downstairs to watch the explosion again, for ... reasons.

Meanwhile, Josh has a meeting with NASA administrators hoping to increase their visibility in the administration and perhaps get some space initiatives funded. Josh blasts them for screwing up past missions and flatly tells them the White House has no interest in spending more money on space. This leads to one of the administrators coming straight to Josh to beg their case.

Alex Moreau insists on Josh coming out with her that night to take a look at what the exploration of space might really mean, and that brings out a bit of petulant jealousy in Donna.

Donna: "Stargazing?"

Josh: "You were listening?"

Donna: "I'm right outside. (pause) Would you be going if she weren't attractive?"

Josh: "We'll never know."

Somehow gazing at the planets and nebulas on a chilly night stirs something in Josh, as he asks Moreau to tell him more about the plans for exploring Mars. Then he goes on to write up a policy statement in favor of more space exploration, waxing rhapsodic about the Voyager I spacecraft and its journey outside the solar system, carrying the music of Blind Willie Johnson.

Now, I admit, the idea that a song from a blind, penniless blues musician who died from pneumonia after sleeping in wet newspapers in the ruins of his burned-out home could actually someday be found and heard by interstellar aliens is almost literally mind-blowing. It's a bit hard to believe that Josh could change his attitude toward NASA so quickly, though - he's never been afraid to leave scorched earth behind when he's trying to get his priorities funded by defunding others (he got his own girlfriend fired with his pressure in Posse Comitatus and ended up causing a Senator to change parties in Constituency Of One, for goodness sake - a cute NASA administrator bats her eyes at him and he's ready to argue for billions for a Mars mission?).

Maybe it was the bribe, er, I mean, gift that Alex sends Josh:

It's also strange to me that Toby gets brought in on the nuclear test/attack on Iran stuff while Josh doesn't. Josh, as Leo's number two, has always been in the loop on pretty much everything going on. While it makes some sense, I guess, to have Toby included (his policymaking status is supposed to be going up, as we saw starting with Han, and as Leo says he'll need to have a statement ready once the bombs hit Iran), there's no reason to keep Josh in the dark.

CJ has very little to do in this episode, except - as I mentioned earlier - get shut out of any info on the nuclear test, the pending bombing run on Iran, or why the Israeli Prime Minister is called to the White House - which ought to really make her furious considering Leo and the President promised they wouldn't keep things from her again. She does get called out by a conservative TV show host, Taylor Reid, who attacks the administration as liars and calls CJ "chicken" for refusing to come on his show. CJ makes the convincing argument that it's hard for her to refuse to go on a show she's never heard of. There's nothing more to this yet, as the showrunners are setting up a situation for future episodes, but it does give us this cute moment when Toby comes in and plops down in CJ's office while she's watching a tape of the show. As CJ angrily punches the remote to turn off the TV, Toby exclaims:

Toby: "I want to see where he calls you a chicken."

Resulting in this glare of doom:

 And Toby's backpedaling response:

"But it can wait."

Items of great import - the spread of nuclear weapons, the survival of Israel in the Middle East, the exploration of space, the very fate of all mankind, CJ getting insulted by a TV talking head - they are all the subjects of this episode, but nothing gets settled. They all get talked about, talked around, acknowledged and put on a shelf, but that's it. Maybe that's why this all feels so ... unsatisfactory. Like a lot of Season 5.

Just wait until next episode, where we meet a young Leo shot down in Vietnam. Ooh, flashbacks! Is it like In The Shadow Of Two Gunmen?

No. No, it's not.

Tales Of Interest!

- It's the second consecutive episode that begins in the wee hours of the morning - in Slow News Day it was Toby unable to sleep while he thought about Social Security, here the President is awakened by a phone call about the nuclear test. Also, isn't it interesting that while President Bartlet throws on a fleece jacket to go to the Situation Room, Leo, Nancy, Secretary Hutchinson, and everyone else is nattily dressed in their professional attire at 3:30 in the morning.

- Just wanted to mention, I think it's also cool that we get to see all of President Bartlet's top military/diplomatic advisers together. We've got National Security Adviser Nancy McNally (Anna Deavere Smith), Defense Secretary Miles Hutchinson (Steve Ryan), Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Nicholas Alexander (Terry O'Quinn), and Assistant Secretary of State Bob Slattery (Thomas Kopache), all in one place (which hardly every happens), all top-notch performers.

- McNally mentions that none of the "other six declared nuclear powers" had a nuclear test scheduled or declared. At the time of the episode, the nations known to have detonated nuclear explosions were:

• United States
• Russia (formerly the Soviet Union)
• United Kingdom
• France
• China
• India
• Pakistan  

North Korea - a subject of concern in this episode - joined the nuclear club with a test in 2006. Meanwhile, Israel - who turns out to be the secret detonator in this episode - has never confirmed that it has nuclear weapons in its arsenal, but it is widely suspected that they could have had some nukes as early as 1966. Obviously any atmospheric or underground testing by Israel would likely be discovered immediately, just as we see in this storyline - which makes the entire plotline about the test ridiculous, as it's incredibly unlikely that Israel would actually perform such an atmospheric test. They'd know that the United States, Russia, and China would discover the blast almost instantly, the trail would lead back to Tel Aviv, and then ... there's a lot of enemies of Israel who might think it necessary to strike against the country's nuclear assets once it was proven they had weapons. Keeping their enemies guessing is about all that's keeping Syria, Iran, certainly Hezbollah, maybe even Saudi Arabia or Egypt from raining some bombs down on Israel.

- Once again the showrunners of Season 5 seem to have forgotten all about where Qumar is located. That country played an essential part of the storyline from the end of Season 3 through the beginning of Season 4, not to mention Ba’ji terrorists from Qumar were involved in the Zoey kidnapping at the climax of Season 4 and the beginning of this season. In the Sorkin years we got several good looks at Situation Room maps depicting Qumar, which the show had located in what is actually southern Iran directly across the Persian Gulf from Dubai and the United Arab Emirates. Here's a shot from 7A WF 83429 (which was this season) that shows the location of this fictional country:

But even in The Dogs Of War, which was the very next episode, a map of the Persian Gulf area failed to show Qumar. And here's a shot of a Situation Room map from this episode that clearly shows that part of the world, but Qumar isn't acknowledged at all:

- I really like the composition of the shot with Josh and Alex out in the country stargazing. The tree behind them, the house in the background, a chilly night ... 

- The shot of Josh with his gift telescope somewhere in DC, though, kinda gets me because I know there's going to be far too much light from the city for him to be able to see much of anything from there.

- Why'd They Come Up With The Warfare Of Genghis Khan?

From the Hans Bethe quote President Bartlet tells Prime Minister Zahavy:

"If we fight a war and win it with H-bombs, what history will remember is not the ideas we were fighting for, but the methods we used to accomplish them. These methods will be compared to the warfare of Genghis Khan, who brutally killed every last inhabitant of Persia." 

Quotes    

Josh: "Why am I even meeting with some geeks from NASA?"

Donna: "I'm sure they're not geeks. I'm sure they're not all geeks, and it's to discuss administration space priorities. Do we even have space priorities?"

Josh: "Exactly." 

-----

Carol: "It's him again."

CJ: "Him, who? Ben? Take a message."

Carol: "He gets any more persistent, they're going to open a case file. Can I just tell him you're not worth it?"

CJ: "We used to date, he knows better." 

----- 

Will: "Not that chestnut. Reducing bureaucracy, rewriting regulations into plain English ..."

Toby: "Extremely important."

Will: "And incredibly boring."

Toby: "As is the Vice President. A match made in heaven."

Will: "I don't think many theologians would stipulate Toby Ziegler's office as heaven."  

-----

Moreau: "The Orion Nebula. Gas and dust. Stars are born in that. Well, born and die, actually. Everything, every atom in our bodies comes from exploding stars. I guess Joni Mitchell was right. We are stardust."

Josh: "Or, put another way, nuclear waste."

-----

(Donna is less than impressed with Josh's pro-space statement, saying it needs 'inspiration')

Josh: "Voyager, in case it's ever encountered by extraterrestrials, is carrying photos of life on earth, greetings in 55 languages, and a collection of music from Gregorian chants to Chuck Berry. Including Dark Was The Night, Cold Was The Ground by '20s bluesman Blind Willie Johnson, whose stepmother blinded him when he was seven by throwing lye in his eyes after his father had beat her for being with another man. He died, penniless, of pneumonia after sleeping bundled in wet newspapers in the ruins of his house that burned down. But his music just left the solar system."

Donna: "Okay, that got me."

-----

Toby: "We bomb, then they nuke, then we nuke. This is the best we've gamed this out? The fate of the world just hung on a Bingo Bob brainstorm. You want to live by those odds?"

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

• The CIA Director played by Ryan Cutrona (Hot Shots, Mad Men, 24) reappears, mainly to have eye-rolling fun poked at his overly cautious approach. This character appeared in Lord John Marbury and The Stormy Present (although a different person was introduced as the CIA Director in Lies, Damn Lies And Statistics).

• As mentioned above, Thomas Kopache reappears as Assistant Secretary of State Bob Slattery. This is his 12th appearance on the show.

• The recognizable Armin Mueller-Stahl (Oscar-nominated for Shine, Eastern Promises, Amerika) shows up as Israeli Prime Minister Efraim Zahavy. While this is his first appearance on the show, it will not be his last.

• I'll put this in callbacks/threads instead of things that actually exist - President Bartlet continues to rock the Notre Dame apparel, this time in a fleece jacket. Martin Sheen insisted that the character of Jed Bartlet be a Catholic and a graduate of Notre Dame.

• Another appearance by Martin Sheen's daughter Renée Estevez as Nancy.

• Steve the reporter shows up in the press room.

• Speaking of reporters, there's a mention of reporter and CJ's old flame Danny Concannon, who was a big part of Season 1, disappeared after The Portland Trip, showed up again at Christmas just after Bartlet's re-election with information about Sharif's killing, but hasn't been seen since 7A WF 83429.

• Speaking of old CJ flames, she's still getting phone calls from Ben, the Alaska park ranger. We learned in Constituency Of One that CJ lived with this guy for six months, they drifted apart, and now he's been calling (and being put off by CJ) ever since that episode.

• The snarky TV show host Taylor Reid is played by Jay Mohr (Jerry Maguire, Pay It Forward, Ghost Whisperer), which means we are going to see more of him than we get in this episode.

• Leo is still wearing his wedding band. His wife left in Five Votes Down, we saw the divorce papers come through in The Portland Trip, he went on several romantic dates with his lawyer Jordon Kendall between Christmas 2001 and at least late 2002 ... yet he won't give up that ring.

• Reid accuses CJ of being kept out of the loop by the President, which nags at her enough that she snaps at Toby -

CJ: "You mean the thing you had me shrug off yesterday as a non-story?"

Toby: "That was yesterday."

CJ: "I'm trying to decide if I'm gullible, an idiot, or being completely left out of the loop."

This reminds us of Lord John Marbury, when information about a border incursion between India and Pakistan was intentionally kept from her for fear she might leak the news to Danny Concannon. After her embarrassment in front of the press in that episode, it seems she was assured it would never happen again. Well, guess what ... it happens again right here. I think CJ has the right to be furious about this, even if it is about a highly sensitive national security topic like unexpected nuclear explosions.

• The Truman biography we see President Bartlet reading (Man Of The People by Alonzo L. Hamby) is the same book we saw Abbey reading in On The Day Before. Although it looks like she had the softcover version ...

DC location shots    

• The shot of Alex's car driving her and Josh across the Arlington Memorial Bridge with the Lincoln Memorial in the background was shot on location.

• I would guess the stargazing scene was also shot somewhere in Virginia, rather than California. It's obviously cold, the camera crews (and at least Josh) were already there getting some location shots, so it probably was near DC somewhere.

• Josh with his telescope and the Capitol Dome in the background was in DC. My guess is that was shot on the higher elevation north of the Capitol in Northeast Washington, maybe around the National Arboretum. I'm thinking that columned building to the right of the shot is Union Station.

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

• There's quite a selection of space-based topics mentioned with things and people that do exist in reality.

Josh talks about "telescopes that can't focus," which is a reference to the problems the Hubble Space Telescope encountered soon after it went into operation, as well as the shuttle missions used to correct those focusing problems.

Josh also mentions "planetary probes that crashed because engineers mixed up meters and feet" which actually happened with the Mars Climate Orbiter in 1999.

Of course both the Hubble Space Telescope and the Webb Space Telescope are referred to. The Webb is kind of interesting, given the contract for its construction had just been granted less than a year before this episode aired, with a proposed launch date in 2011. Obviously that didn't happen - the telescope finally launched in 2021 and images from that have just started being revealed to the public in the second half of 2022.

Neil Armstrong walking on the moon gets a shoutout, as well as the International Star Registry, the International Space Station, and Galileo.

Josh waxes eloquently to Donna about the Voyager I probe, how it just left the solar system (which actually occurred in 2012, so it hadn't really happened at the time Josh was talking to Donna), and some of the items included on the spacecraft, which does include recordings of many songs and greetings from humans - yes, music by Chuck Berry and Dark Was The Night, Cold Was The Ground by Blind Willie Johnson is traveling out there right now somewhere beyond our solar system. 

• The New York Times is mentioned.

• There's a quick reference to (Christopher) Columbus. We also get a shoutout to Joni Mitchell and her song Woodstock ("We are stardust").

• There's also a lot of references to people and events related to the development of nuclear weapons.

The Iranian ambassador talks about (Albert) Einstein, (Robert) Oppenheimer, and (Edward) Teller.

President Bartlet muses about the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II, and Charley asks him if he'd make the same decision as Truman did.

The President wonders if Truman's desire to show off America's atomic power to Stalin was as much of a motivation in dropping the bombs as staving off a costly invasion of Japan.

President Bartlet evokes (Leo) Szilard and Hans Bethe in his discussion with Prime Minister Zahavy. 

End credits freeze frame: President Bartlet and the Israeli Prime Minister meeting in the Oval Office.

Previous episode: Slow News Day

Next episode: An Khe

Slow News Day - TWW S5E12

 

Original airdate: February 4, 2004

Written by: Eli Attie (10) 
Directed by: Julie Hébert (1)

Synopsis

• Toby's secret effort to build a bipartisan solution to Social Security blows up in his face. Rena gets a secret project after she is shunned by the other aides. CJ is enamored with an Argentinian cabbage expert.

"Maybe we pay a little more attention to what's being rendered ... and the rendering takes care of itself." 

Something's bugging Toby.

His mind keeps drifting back to the State of the Union speech, and one Republican Senator who stood up to applaud President Bartlet's call to raise the minimum wage. He goes to his office, digs through old commission reports on Social Security, discovers that one particular Senator has almost nothing in his campaign fund - could a Senator not running for re-election be willing to go against party orthodoxy and help with a Hail Mary effort to save Social Security?

And we are off on what turns out to be a very long day in the West Wing, even if it is one with a purported lack of events making it a "slow news day." This episode is knotty, complicated, overly stuffed with twists and turns, and maybe a bit too much wrapped up with itself - and once again we get a bold move forward with legislation spurred by the White House that they end up not being able to take credit for (we saw this already in Five Votes Down). Not to mention a staff resignation that ends up being trumped by a wild last-minute move that falls apart again before being saved by another bold move ... it's just a little too much. And it's all in one day!

Let's deal with CJ first. The fact it's a slow news day is driving her nuts, because she's certain a press corps bored without nuggets of administration action will dig around and find something she'd rather they not report on. Carol comes up with a meeting concerning the Argentinian economic attaché and cabbage imports, which CJ jumps on because there's literally nothing else happening. When the attaché actually arrives at CJ's office, she might be thinking about something else to jump on ...

She's so cute when she's flustered! "Do you like cabbage?" Carrio asks, to which she responds with a giggle, "Not so much, really. On occasion, I see the appeal." Carrio is a bit enamored with her, too, sending her a present of a head of cabbage that even makes Toby grin:

In a fun little moment of the episode, after Toby asks CJ to try to divert the press (and the Wall Street Journal reporter) from his secret maneuvering with Senators, it turns out the press corps doesn't care about that - they want to discuss changes to adoption restrictions, which leads to a rumor that the Bartlets are considering adoption, which leads to CJ calling in a reporter and leading him to believe CJ wants him as a "donor" for her to have a child ... which, of course, is all just so CJ can prove this entire angle is ridiculous and the press needs to find some actual news to report on.

"Get out!"

I've said it before - Allison Janney, national treasure.

But the real focus of the episode is the secret plan Toby has come up with. He thinks if he can get a Republican Senator (who he believes isn't running for re-election) to budge on higher taxes or his commitment to private accounts, and a Democratic Senator to give ground on benefits, he might be able to broker a plan to keep Social Security solvent in the future. President Bartlet is skeptical, but Toby's appeal to the historic mark this could leave on the legacy of his administration helps him to finally agree to let Toby reach out - but no one else can know.

That goes awry right from the start, as Toby's meeting with Senator Gaines that morning is seen by press sources, and Gaines (upset once Josh and Will cook up a plan to attack his small campaign fund) lets his staff leak the word that the discussion was about Social Security. Once news of Toby's meeting with Democratic Senator Brainerd also reaches the same Wall Street Journal reporter who had the original leak, the entire framework of any possible deal looks to be crashing down.

Senator Brainerd, first willing to consider a plan, tells Toby she's out. There's no give on her side. Senator Gaines sees Josh's antics as just more double-cross from the Bartlet White House, and he can't trust Toby. Polk, the reporter, says he's running the story and there's nothing anyone can do about it. President Bartlet is furious, telling Toby to find a way to fix it and put any public declaration of the White House starting these discussions back in the box.

Toby can't see a way through, so he writes up his resignation from the administration. President Bartlet and Leo can't see any way that they can refuse to accept it. Josh comes to Toby to ask why he was kept in the dark, that the very idea of either party giving on the issue of Social Security is impossible, until:

Josh: "I could have told you Gaines wasn't going to move."

Toby: "He did. He said he'd move on private accounts."

Josh (surprised): "You got the chairman of the Social Security subcommittee to move on private accounts? That's like ... inhaling a baby grand." 

Toby: "Huh. Yeah. Well, he's out now."

Josh has an idea.

Josh: "Turner."

He's got another Democratic Senator, one who might be willing to get a deal through with the Democrats if Gaines can continue to give ground on the Republican side. That meeting is going great, both parties willing to compromise, to make a deal, until the issue of credit threatens to blow the whole thing up:

Gaines (to Toby): "A lot of Republicans would like to end the demagoguery on this issue, they'll be grateful you approached me with a deal."

Turner: "Actually, to sell this to Democrats I have to say you approached me first."

Gaines: "No, that's a deal breaker for me. If it looks like a Democratic setup -"

Turner: "I can't look like a fig leaf for some risky scheme to shred Social Security."

Well, there is one final play the White House can make to save the deal, and if they could have just remembered the events of Five Votes Down and letting Vice President Hoynes take the credit for the gun control bill, they could have gotten here faster. They agree to let Gaines and Turner say they approached each other, that the White House wasn't involved at all, and this landmark move to save a critical part of the government's promise to its citizens will not be a part of President Bartlet's legacy after all.

(Remember, Polk and the Wall Street Journal still has the story of Toby meeting with Gaines and Brainerd, still has the confirmation with multiple sources that the meetings were about Social Security ... writer Eli Attie tries to wallpaper that over with CJ's story that "they asked us to be a part of this, and we said no." I'm not so sure that would cover all the information Polk already had in his story, but whatever.)

There's some subplottery about Will trying to make the VP look more presidential, and Rena getting mistreated by the other aides in the Communications bullpen, and Donna being sent by Josh to spy on Rena and Toby, but nothing of a lot of substance (with the exception of Josh and Will's shenanigans with Senator Gaines unknowingly be part of what causes him to leak the story of meeting with Toby - and Rena's line to Donna "sure, if you ever want for me to teach you how to put on makeup, I'll be happy to" being pretty funny). It's a dense, packed, sort of angry episode, with a whole lot of stuff all crammed into one single, solitary day in the life of the White House. Social Security, also, is a very serious topic in real life, and while that gives this episode a lot of high stakes, at the same time we know it's fiction and in the end won't have a real impact on the actual lives of the viewers.

It has its moments, but ... I think it's trying too hard.

Tales Of Interest!

- Let's talk Social Security for a bit. The issue of Social Security and its long-term solvency have been a real problem for the United States government for quite some time. It's no mistake we see Toby carrying binders of years' worth of government commission studies on the problem, and his description of some of the issues facing the program are accurate - the decreasing numbers of current workers supporting each recipient of Social Security, the longer lifespans of Americans meaning longer periods of benefits being paid out, not to mention the fact that the government has used Social Security trust funds to count against the federal deficit, instead of walling those funds off into their own budget line - remember Al Gore's "lock box" idea from his 2000 campaign, which was actually about Medicare and not Social Security but was the same notion of separating these trust funds from other government spending?

Toby is also right when he says we know how to fix the problem - some combination of increasing revenue to the system and reducing the benefits paid out are the only pathways. The first major moves  to address the problems of Social Security running out of money happened in the 1970s, while significant changes happened in the early 1980s, including higher tax rates, delays in cost-of-living adjustments, and making some benefits taxable for high-income recipients. These changes were hailed as ensuring the survival of Social Security well into the 21st century. Even so, a 2009 study showed the trust fund could completely run out of assets as early as 2029.

Privatization of Social Security is a strongly held conservative view, as represented here by Senator Gaines. The idea is to give Americans the right to invest their Social Security funds in the market however they see fit, instead of relying on the government's investment strategy/interest accumulation. This seems okay in theory, but what will happen at the first market downturn when Grandma is seen losing her home because her Social Security investments went bad? To me (not an economist, mind you), one of the simplest and most effective ways to solve the problem of paying future Social Security benefits is just to increase or eliminate the cap on earnings subject to Social Security tax. As of 2022, any earnings over $147,000 are not taxed by Social Security - there's nothing withheld for earnings above that limit. Getting rid of that cap entirely would vastly increase the amount of money going into the Social Security trust fund, and while it might not solve the crisis forever and for all time, it would go a long way towards improving the situation for many years to come. Senator Turner even mentions a this type of change in his meeting with Gaines near the end of the episode, a conversation that shows some serious compromise from both parties (and something that likely never would happen in current politics):

Gaines: "So, you're saying that you'll ask the Democrats to trim benefits over the next 20 years, raise the retirement age over the next 60 years, and give up on this issue forever."

Turner: "If I can tell them that you'll settle for small, optional private accounts on top of Social Security, and raise the income level on Social Security taxes."

  

- Toby must live very close to the White House: the onscreen time stamps show him lying in bed at 2:47 am, and he's coming into his office 19 minutes later at 3:06 (that was some fast showering and dressing!). Not a lot of DC traffic at 3 in the morning, of course.

- In some ways it's yet another dark, dark, darkly-shot episode, which we've seen a lot of in Season 5. While it's certainly a choice to help with the notion of an early-morning pre-dawn meeting, the scene with Toby and the President meeting in his study is dark.

- We've got to have a list of the self-deprecating things Will tells Josh Vice President Russell says about himself:

"Bob Russell is so dull his Secret Service codename is Bob Russell."

"Bob Russell is an inspiration to the millions of Americans who suffer from Dutch Elm disease."

"Fun? From a guy who needs a strobe light to look like he's moving?"  

- Gail's fishbowl has a pile of round green decorative globes, which represent all the Argentinian cabbages on CJ's mind.

- Why'd They Come Up With Slow News Day?

CJ remarks several times it's a "slow news day," meaning nothing much is happening on the political front and the press corps will jump on any rumor or crumb of a story because they have nothing else to focus on.

Quotes    

Toby: "Let's talk about reality. More college kids think they'll see UFOs than Social Security checks."

President: "But they don't tell you how many believe in UFOs. That's the number we ought to be worried about." 

-----

President (to Toby): "You can't save Social Security without cutting benefits or raising taxes, and this is the largest meeting in Washington where anyone's ever admitted it."

----- 

Josh: "Maybe no news is good news."

CJ: "No news is very, very bad news. If we're not running offense, we're running defense. And if we're playing defense, then ... there's some clever sports analogy that explains what happens then." 

-----

Rena: "Can I ask you a question?"

Toby: "What?"

Rena: "Well, there's something I don't understand about Social Security."

Toby: "Then you could be a member of Congress."

-----

Toby: "So we exploit the hard stuff 'til it can't be solved? That's what we want to be remembered for?"

Josh: "We do what's possible, we exploit what's not. That's how we win elections."

Toby: "Well, I came up on losing campaigns. And every time I lost, at least I knew what I went down for."

 

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

• The "previously on" scene just before the opening titles isn't a compilation of scenes from earlier episodes, it's just a part of one single scene from Han, where Toby and Leo are discussing Toby taking on more of the policy-setting responsibility.

• Senator Gaines is played by recognizable character actor Josef Sommer (Dirty Harry, Witness, the President in X-Men: The Last Stand).

• Senator Brainerd is played by Kate Burton (Richard Burton's daughter, seen in Big Trouble In Little China, Inventing Anna, Law & Order, Rescue Me). She is also part of the Shonda Rimes West Wing-to-Scandal pipeline, appearing in 42 episodes of Scandal.

• Carlos Carrio, the Argentine economic attaché whose dashing good looks flusters CJ, is played by the Portuguese actor Joaquim de Almeida (Fast Five, Clear And Present Danger, 24).

• Senator Turner, the Democrat who ends up coming to the rescue of Toby's plan, is played by Michael Nouri (Flashdance, The Terminal, Damages, lots of daytime drama work). It's a pretty recognizable face for such a small role in the episode.

• Toby's Spaldeen makes a appearance, the pink rubber ball he bounces around when he's thinking about things (first seen in Ellie, most famously in 17 People).

• CJ tells Toby "It's a glacially slow news day, Toby. I've had three calls about staff financial disclosure forms ... " Financial disclosure reports, their use as distraction for the press, and their unexpected impacts on Josh and Toby were a part of Five Votes Down.

• Here's reporter Chris seen momentarily in the press room.

• Josh's comment to Leo when he's wondering if he's being kept out of the loop with whatever Toby is working on ("Don't leave me hanging out there again") is a direct reference to Josh being "benched" after his pressure caused Senator Carrick to switch parties in Constituency Of One, a benching finally lifted with the help of the First Lady in Shutdown.

• Toby's line to Josh about "I came up on losing campaigns" is a callback to In The Shadow Of Two Gunmen Part I, where Toby is drinking at the bar having a discussion with a woman before he expects to be fired by Bartlet:

Woman: "How many elections have you won?"

Toby: "Altogether?"

(The woman nods)

Toby: "Including city council, two congressional elections, a Senate race, a gubernatorial campaign, and a national campaign? ... None."  

• While we don't see him this time, I'm almost certain the TV reporter's voice we hear at the end while Toby lights up a cigar and watches the news is that of Ivan Allen. Allen has appeared in numerous movies and TV shows, almost always as a TV news anchor, and he's shown up in 13 previous episodes of The West Wing (he has a credit for this episode, which confirms that it is his voice we hear).

DC location shots   

• Quite a few, and it's apparent they got them all filmed on the same chilly day in DC. Toby meets with Senator Gaines at the Grant Memorial, a favorite West Wing location, just west of the Capitol at the end of the National Mall.

• Toby later meets with Senator Brainerd walking along the National Mall. This shot has the National Gallery of Art in the background.

The reverse angle shows the Air and Space Museum behind the Senator.

• The later meeting with Toby and Gaines is supposedly outside the Russell Senate Office Building, but that's not where they filmed it (despite the sign conspicuously posted outside the building). In reality the Russell building is immediately to the northeast of the Capitol, just across Constitution Avenue, but this was shot about four blocks further north, at the Smithsonian Postal Museum, on the corner of Massachusetts Avenue NW and North Capitol Street.

Here's the Street View shot of the building today.

•  The shot down the street with the Capitol Dome in the distance was filmed as they crossed North Capitol Street to the west.

The brown brick building on the corner is now the Phoenix Park Hotel, with The Dubliner restaurant (which explains the Irish flags).

• There's an establishing shot of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, which is just west of the White House and where the offices of the Vice President are located (along with Will's office). It's interesting that Will and Josh joke about how far away Will is now, with all the "easy parking," when the building is literally on the same block as the White House. Also, we get a clue about when they filmed location shots for this episode, as there are holiday wreaths visible on the gates.

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

• We get shots of logos for both C-SPAN and MSNBC (also Bloomberg television).

• Krazy Glue gets a mention, which is a trademarked product name.

• Toby uses the line "We'll always have Paris," which is a quote from the movie Casablanca. Later he tells Josh "Let thy discontents be thy secrets," which was written in 1741 by Ben Franklin in Poor Richard's Almanack.

• Senator Grimes scoffs at Toby's plan with references to car wax and hydropower projects (and a former President in the bargain), saying "And we'll Simonize the Hoover Dam?"

• A reporter from The Wall Street Journal plays a prominent role in this episode.

• An upset Rena is seen with a can of Pringles after feeling shut out by the others in the Communications bullpen.

• Will has The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents on his desk (this appears to be the version written by William D. Gregorio, first published in 1997), as well as something from the "For Dummies" series. I guess he's really trying to get Vice President Russell to look more, well, presidential.

• CJ brings up the Dalai Lama as someone who should have the right to adopt a child.

• Charlie calls Toby "Kojak" for some reason. Is it because he's bald? Who loves ya, Toby?

• Leo compares Toby's plan to get both parties together on Social Security to "Never-Never Land," which means J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan books exist (or at least the 1904 play, which is the first time "Never-Never Land" was coined).

• FDR and his New Deal get mentioned, which one would expect in an episode about Social Security.

End credits freeze frame: Toby's early morning meeting with the President.

Previous episode: The Benign Prerogative

Next episode: The Warfare Of Genghis Khan