Bartlet Rallies Leo with Blunt Orders, Banter, and Unwavering Loyalty
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Margaret interrupts Leo's hearing prep with an urgent call from President Bartlet, asserting the President's authority over Jordan's attempt to shield Leo.
Bartlet orders Leo to prioritize political survival over legal consequences, joking about perjury while Leo deflects for eavesdroppers.
Bartlet insists Leo accept Josh's help, shifting to cryptic questions about Jordan's appearance that reveal his protective surveillance.
Leo and Jordan engage in rapid-fire banter about her attire, masking deeper trust issues with screwball comedy repartee.
Leo forgets Christmas Eve plans, prompting Bartlet's reminder of normalcy as both men avoid acknowledging the hearing's gravity.
Bartlet pledges White House solidarity before Leo takes the oath, privately confessing his alcoholism to Jordan as 'a family thing'.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Implied fierce determination (via reference)
Josh is referenced by Bartlet as the operative who will take protective actions on Leo's behalf during the hearing, invoked to underscore unwavering team intervention.
- • Execute disruptive tactics to shield Leo
- • Advance administration's defensive strategy
- • Loyalty requires bold, even risky actions
- • Team coordination outmaneuvers adversaries
Curious protectiveness blending concern with light amusement
Jordan initially blocks calls to protect Leo's focus, engages in playful banter by disclosing her gray Armani suit (rebuffed as 'spandex'), and afterward questions Leo curiously about the call's content before he swears the oath.
- • Shield Leo from distractions during hearing prep
- • Understand the call's impact on Leo's mindset
- • Leo's focus is paramount in high-stakes testimony
- • Team transparency strengthens their bond
Formally impartial command presence
The Chairman directs Leo to rise, raise his right hand, and swear the written oath before God, formally transitioning the interlude back to testimony proceedings.
- • Enforce oath for credible testimony
- • Resume hearing without undue delay
- • Oath ensures accountability in oversight
- • Procedural rigor upholds institutional integrity
Resolute calm overlaying vulnerability, fortified by loyalty
Leo receives the President's call, publicly disclaims the perjury suggestion for security, banters playfully about Jordan's outfit, reassures her it's a 'family thing,' and solemnly swears the written oath to resume testimony with reinvigorated poise.
- • Maintain integrity while accepting team protection
- • Reassure allies and steel self for testimony
- • Family loyalty trumps personal peril
- • Truthful testimony upholds duty despite risks
Urgently professional with underlying concern for Leo
Margaret interrupts the hearing preparations, overriding Jordan's block to urgently announce the President's call to Leo, facilitating the pivotal morale-boosting conversation amid high tension.
- • Connect Leo with the President immediately
- • Ensure critical communication bypasses barriers
- • Presidential calls supersede all restrictions
- • Leo needs this support during crisis
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
The written oath lies prominently before Leo in the witness chair, invoked by the Chairman; Leo raises his right hand and swears upon it solemnly, symbolizing his recommitment to truth after the call's emotional fortification, marking vulnerability's pivot to testimony resolve.
Leo's phone serves as the vital conduit for President Bartlet's morale-boosting call, clutched tightly amid hearing tension; it enables witty deflection of perjury talk, screwball banter, and solidarity pledge, narratively bridging executive loyalty with Leo's frontline resolve.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The House Hearing Room frames the interlude's dramatic pivot: Margaret's interruption, the phone call's banter and loyalty infusion, Jordan's query, and Leo's oath, its panelled windows and witness chair amplifying tension from vulnerability to resolve amid political scrutiny.
Organizations Involved
Institutional presence and influence
The White House is invoked by Bartlet as a unified bastion with 'a thousand people standing with' Leo, its loyalty pledged on Christmas Eve; this reinforces institutional solidarity, countering hearing isolation and fueling Leo's resolve against scandal fallout.
The Subcommittee oversees the hearing interlude, manifesting through the Chairman's oath directive and ambient procedural authority; it frames Leo's call and reassurance as prelude to scrutinized testimony, embodying investigative pressure on Bartlet administration secrets.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Bartlet's instruction to Leo to let Josh protect him leads to Leo's public disclaimer about perjury."
"Bartlet's reassurance of widespread support mirrors Leo's dismissal of the phone call's importance, both reinforcing the facade of control under scrutiny."
"Leo's insistence on facing the hearing directly contrasts with Bartlet's trust in Josh's disruptive tactics, showing both Leo's protective nature and Bartlet's strategic delegation."
"Leo's insistence on facing the hearing directly contrasts with Bartlet's trust in Josh's disruptive tactics, showing both Leo's protective nature and Bartlet's strategic delegation."
"Leo's defiance in the press scrum mirrors his playful banter with Jordan and Bartlet, illustrating his use of humor as a coping mechanism under stress."
"Leo's defiance in the press scrum mirrors his playful banter with Jordan and Bartlet, illustrating his use of humor as a coping mechanism under stress."
"Bartlet's protective surveillance of Jordan echoes in Leo and Jordan's banter, reflecting unspoken trust and authority dynamics."
"Josh's offer to help Leo disrupt the hearing is followed by Bartlet's call instructing Leo to let Josh act on his behalf."
"Josh's offer to help Leo disrupt the hearing is followed by Bartlet's call instructing Leo to let Josh act on his behalf."
"Leo forgetting Christmas Eve plans contrasts with Bartlet's later reminder, symbolizing their shared avoidance of looming personal and professional crises."
"Bartlet's joke about perjury mirrors his later cryptic questions about Jordan, both serving as veiled directives to Leo about navigating crises."
"Bartlet's instruction to Leo to let Josh protect him leads to Leo's public disclaimer about perjury."
"Bartlet's reassurance of widespread support mirrors Leo's dismissal of the phone call's importance, both reinforcing the facade of control under scrutiny."
"Bartlet's protective surveillance of Jordan echoes in Leo and Jordan's banter, reflecting unspoken trust and authority dynamics."
"Leo forgetting Christmas Eve plans contrasts with Bartlet's later reminder, symbolizing their shared avoidance of looming personal and professional crises."
"Bartlet's joke about perjury mirrors his later cryptic questions about Jordan, both serving as veiled directives to Leo about navigating crises."
Part of Larger Arcs
Key Dialogue
"BARTLET (on phone): "Listen, I don't care that much about your ass but if you need to perjure yourself to protect me you're going to damn well do it.""
"LEO: "Sir, this isn't a secure call, so I'm going to say to the 17 global intelligence agencies that are listening in that he was kidding just then.""
"BARTLET: "You got about a thousand people in this building standing with you right now.""
"LEO (to Jordan): "It ain't nothing but a family thing.""