Leo Urges Josh to Commit on Reactor Crisis Despite Chigorin Doubts
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Josh attempts to deflect the gravity of the situation with a sarcastic remark about the President's inability to work a VCR, masking his frustration with humor.
Leo dismisses Josh's deflection and lays out the dire consequences of the reactor news breaking, emphasizing the political fallout and the President's vulnerability.
Josh challenges Leo's certainty about the Russian government's involvement, suggesting rogue elements could be responsible, while Leo insists on the severity of the threat.
Leo escalates the argument, shouting about the immediate threat in Iran and the potential need for military action, while Josh tries to refocus on other diplomatic issues.
Leo physically moves to another chair, reflecting on the irony of their predictions about Russia and the Middle East, while Josh presses him for clarity on Chigorin's involvement.
Josh directly questions Leo's certainty about Chigorin's role, and Leo admits his uncertainty, highlighting the precariousness of their position.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Sarcastic frustration veiling probing determination
Sits across from Leo, launches sarcastic deflection mocking President's VCR struggles and tech distrust, labels crisis 'insane,' counters with NATO and Caspian priorities, relentlessly questions MinAtom rogues over Chigorin as reactor culprits.
- • Test Leo's intel certainty to uncover rogue actor possibilities
- • Elevate competing diplomatic priorities like NATO amid reactor fixation
- • New Chigorin regime unlikely sole culprit; ex-Soviet holdouts probable
- • Geopolitical crises multifaceted, not singularly defined by reactor
N/A (referenced off-screen)
Referenced repeatedly as new Russian President whose Helsinki handshake photo with Bartlet symbolizes vulnerable détente, doubted by Josh as reactor sale orchestrator in favor of rogue elements.
- • Project stability in summit optics
- • Navigate post-Cold War realignments
- • Distrusts old Soviet diplomats per staff intel
- • Prioritizes superpower positioning
referenced extensively as unable to work VCR and distrusting technology, shaking hands with Chigorin at summit in Finland wearing a coat to protect his MS-riddled body
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
Central crisis catalyst igniting the clash; Leo warns its exposure will demolish summit goodwill, Josh interrogates perpetrators, its plutonium peril to Iran framed as existential threat demanding potential U.S. strikes, fracturing internal resolve and amplifying foreign policy dread.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
Helsinki backdrop invoked via summit photo-op where Bartlet endures Arctic cold in coat for Chigorin handshake, heightening reactor leak's sabotage potential against fragile U.S.-Russia optics in this Nordic diplomatic arena.
Proliferation hotspot where reactor emplacement defies U.S. red lines; Leo's explosive rhetoric bans 'putting it on in Iran,' evoking bomb-making bunkers and strike necessities that shatter Middle East assumptions tied to Russian betrayal.
Organizations Involved
Institutional presence and influence
Proliferation enablers receiving Russian reactor at Bushehr; Leo's fury centers on barring nukes 'in Iran,' framing their engineers as bomb midwives in defiance of U.S. intel, catalyzing strike whispers and diplomatic implosion.
Betrayer at heart of confrontation; its reactor dispatch to Iran lamented as hobbled giant's unexpected resurgence, with debate pinning blame on Chigorin or Cold War holdouts like MinAtom, undermining Helsinki gains and forcing U.S. reckoning.
Narrative Connections
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Part of Larger Arcs
Key Dialogue
"JOSH: That's why he can't go, there's something really good on television and the President doesn't know how to work a VCR."
"LEO: ([shouting]) You don't get to put it on in Iran! There are no other issues on the table right now. We're going to have to fly over there and blow this thing up and given what they're manufacturing there, I don't know if that's possible."
"JOSH: How can you be sure it's not a rogue thing? [...] LEO: I can't."