Hoops Blunder Sparks Staff's Transparency Blitz
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Toby and C.J. engage in a casual basketball game, with Toby critiquing C.J.'s technique.
Sam discusses the campaign strategy, emphasizing the need to present Bartlet as a serious candidate.
C.J. accidentally throws the basketball through a window, prompting a call for an intern.
Sam proposes a series of major policy addresses and other transparency measures to boost Bartlet's credibility.
The team agrees on releasing Bartlet's tax returns and medical report, with Toby volunteering to take the plan to Leo.
Sam concludes the meeting by urging everyone to get back to work and retrieve the basketball.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Playfully insistent transitioning to resolute focus
Toby actively coaches C.J. on popping the basketball with repetitive instructions, interjects affirmatively into strategy talk, and decisively volunteers to pitch the transparency plan to Leo, shifting from playful mentor to committed strategist.
- • Refine C.J.'s basketball technique for fun camaraderie
- • Secure buy-in for elevating campaign's seriousness via transparency measures
- • Bartlet's campaign must project viability against heavyweights like Hoynes
- • Proactive image-building through disclosures will build credibility
Animated playfulness jolted to surprised determination
C.J. tosses basketball back and forth under Toby's coaching, accidentally hurls it through the window prompting an intern call, then contributes key ideas on tax returns and blind trusts, agreeing emphatically on medical release.
- • Engage in casual team bonding through basketball
- • Advance campaign transparency to counter perceptions of quaintness
- • Full financial and health disclosures signal strength and honesty
- • Bartlet's youth advantage over Hoynes must be highlighted aggressively
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
The basketball serves as a lively prop catalyzing camaraderie and chaos: tossed back and forth between Toby and C.J. under coaching, Sam signals for it, and C.J.'s wild throw sends it crashing through the window, punctuating the shift from play to urgent strategizing and symbolizing broken barriers to bold action.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The informal storefront hosts the basketball game-turned-strategy session, its casual vibe fostering unscripted bonding that erupts into broken glass and high-stakes planning on transparency, embodying the scrappy origins of Bartlet's ambitious rise amid the episode's irony of future scandals.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
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Key Dialogue
"SAM: "We got to show them we're an honest-to-God alternative. We got to show them we're big time.""
"SAM: "What about this. A series of major, national policy addresses. We work with Josh; we pick three issues.""
"C.J.: "We'll release his tax returns, put all his stocks in a blind trust." / SAM: "He should take a physical." / C.J.: "Absolutely. He's got ten years on Hoynes. We should release a medical report." / TOBY: "I'll take it to Leo.""