Authority Attempt Deflated in the Hallway
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Will and Elsie move to the hallway, where Will tries to assert his relevance by mentioning the Bitanga Airport operation.
Elsie challenges Will's attempt to tie himself to the Bitanga operation, exposing his need for validation.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Anxious and searching for validation; trying to appear authoritative but undermined by self-doubt.
As the communications lead (represented here by the Communications Staff entry), Will aggressively solicits Elsie's help for the weekend, confesses that the staff 'don't like' him, and attempts to shore up authority by name‑dropping Bitanga Airport and past competence — exposing anxiety more than confidence.
- • Secure Elsie's weekend help to cover speechwriting duties.
- • Assert managerial authority and gain practical control over the communications workload.
- • Association with presidential events (e.g., Bitanga Airport) confers influence and legitimacy.
- • If he can get trusted personnel to follow him, the staff resistance will dissipate.
Not emotionally present in the scene; referenced as a stable, action‑oriented figure contrasted with Will's insecurity.
Mentioned indirectly in the exchange: Will invokes the President's military/tactical success (Bitanga Airport) as rhetorical leverage; the President himself is off-stage but functions as the ultimate authority Will tries to borrow from.
- • Secure strategic objectives abroad (e.g., Bitanga Airport).
- • Rely on staff and military to execute decisions.
- • Fast-moving events require decisive action.
- • Operational success is driven by competent execution, not rhetorical posturing.
Mildly skeptical and detached; professionally focused with a hint of wry amusement at Will's plea.
Elsie enters carrying the First Lady's Convocation remarks, answers Will's late-night recruitment directly, refuses to be co-opted, and watches him walk out to the West Wing — steady, efficient and quietly superior in control of the moment.
- • Complete and protect the First Lady's remarks for the Convocation.
- • Maintain professional boundaries and resist being conscripted without proper authority or justification.
- • Work belongs to those assigned; redistribution of duties requires clear authority.
- • Citing news events does not equal managerial authority or personal influence over the President.
Not present physically; implied resentful or indifferent toward new leadership.
Referenced by Will as the resistant group — the hard‑boiled speechwriters who reportedly 'don't like' the new leadership and whose loyalty and seniority complicate operations; they are invoked as the obstacle to Will's authority.
- • Maintain autonomy and established working practices.
- • Preserve status and relationships tied to the President rather than to new management.
- • Experience and personal history with the President matter more than new managerial claims.
- • They can resist new leaders without immediate professional consequences.
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
The First Lady's Convocation remarks are physically in Elsie's hands and represent the work she is committed to completing; Will interrupts their drafting to request weekend coverage, using the document as the immediate reason for the interaction and as evidence that Elsie's time is occupied.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The West Wing hallway functions as the transitional space they move into while the power dynamic plays out; Will exits toward the broader West Wing from here, and Elsie watches him go, marking the moment's emotional and physical conclusion.
The Communications Office is the immediate setting for the exchange: a late-night, work-focused room where staff and drafts exist, and where leadership is tested face-to-face. It functions as the organizational heart of messaging and the stage for fragile internal power dynamics.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
No narrative connections mapped yet
This event is currently isolated in the narrative graph
Key Dialogue
"WILL: I need you the rest of the weekend."
"ELSIE: You've got a staff."
"ELSIE: You think the President took Bitanga 'cause you told him to?"