Bartlet Exasperatedly Defies Albie's Submarine Disaster Warnings
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Albie recounts harrowing submarine disasters to Bartlet, emphasizing the dire stakes of the current crisis.
Bartlet bangs his head in frustration, reinforcing the internal crisis and mounting pressure to resolve the submarine situation.
Bartlet asserts his readiness for aggressive action, contrasting Albie's passive approach.
A tense exchange escalates as Albie repeats his warning and Bartlet pushes back with frustration about international alliances.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Tentative deference pierced by raw presidential candor
Enters post-Charlie's ushering, greets cautiously sensing tension, probes 'Why do you want to be President?' for campaign prep despite hesitation, absorbs blunt 'I don't,' drafts it mentally, and exits with thanks.
- • Secure authentic response to pivotal campaign question
- • Exploit crisis distraction for staff business
- • Honest vulnerability strengthens political messaging
- • President's fatigue yields unfiltered truth
Sarcastic resolve veiling grave institutional caution
Delivers vivid recount of submarine disasters—Glomar's failed salvage, Gudgeon's oxygen-starved trap, Wasp in Solomons—twice jabbing sarcastically that Bartlet 'lost the boat in the wrong part of the world,' persisting despite rebuttals and Leo's mediation.
- • Deter presidential rush to deploy fast-attack submarines
- • Impress historical precedents to enforce restraint near North Korea
- • Rash naval actions mirror past catastrophic failures
- • Allies won't back adventures in volatile regions
Professionally detached amid enveloping tension
Knocks decisively at Oval door during heated exchange, announces 'Josh' upon presidential prompt, enabling intrusion of campaign business into submarine crisis debate.
- • Interrupt protocol-correctly to relay visitor
- • Facilitate Bartlet's requested distraction
- • Aide's role demands unflinching message delivery
- • President's needs supersede meeting decorum
exasperated
Bangs head on desk in frustration, snaps that he hasn't lost the boat yet, insists on sending fast-attack subs and convening NSC, invokes Korean War legacy, bluntly admits he doesn't want to be President when asked by Josh.
- • defy Albie's warnings and assert decisiveness by deploying fast-attack subs and convening the NSC
- • invoke unresolved Korean War to justify action
Steady command tempering crisis urgency with gallows poise
Wryly interjects on submariner smoking habits amid Albie's tales, pivots gaze to Bartlet's desk-banging, mediates tension by invoking Albie's name, and snaps 'Fifty-five minutes' post-Josh's exit to yank focus back to NSC timeline.
- • De-escalate Oval Office friction between Bartlet and Albie
- • Anchor discussion to the ticking NSC convocation clock
- • Humor punctures high-stakes deadlock
- • Deadlines override personal fractures in command chain
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
Endures Bartlet's repeated forehead slams in visceral outburst of frustration against Albie's dire warnings, transforming from executive fixture into raw emblem of leadership's breaking point, channeling pent-up crisis rage without yielding.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
Conjured by Albie as watery grave of USS Wasp amid WWII carrier infernos, its reefs and volcanoes haunting current North Korean gambit to amplify perils of shadowed naval pursuits.
Organizations Involved
Institutional presence and influence
Bartlet vows post-NSC call to Tokyo, weaving it into rescue calculus near North Korea, testing alliance sinews amid historical sub snares.
Bartlet defiantly schedules its assembly in one hour to deliberate fast-attack sub deployment, overriding Albie's ghosts to escalate USS Portland crisis into full war council thunder.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"The urgent news of the missing submarine compels Albie Duncan to recount past submarine disasters to inform Bartlet's decision-making."
"Bartlet's assertiveness in declaring political record reflects his same decisiveness on the submarine crisis."
"Both beats explore the challenge of answering why one wants to be President, from the Majority Leader's gaffe to Bartlet's raw admission."
Themes This Exemplifies
Thematic resonance and meaning
Key Dialogue
"BARTLET: Oh, God, I'm sorry, am I still here?"
"BARTLET: I haven't lost the boat yet, Mr. Secretary, and I happen to be the only one in the building who thinks we should be sending the fast attack subs right now. And I'm an hour from gathering the NSC and calling Japan."
"JOSH: Why do you want to be President? BARTLET: ([without hesitation]) I don't."