The Grim Aside — 'I Don't Like Mondays' and a Tonal Pivot
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Donna shares a dark anecdote about the origin of the song 'I Don't Like Mondays' after realizing the time zone confusion, to which Josh reacts nonchalantly.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Not present on-stage; his campaign persona is perceived as calculating and populist by the staff.
Governor Ritchie is invoked repeatedly as the object of Josh and Toby's debate — his advisor-branding, speeches, and tone are the subject of strategic critique though he is physically absent.
- • to position himself as a candidate who can blend intellectual staff with populist appeal
- • to win Indiana voters by deploying identifiable advisors and plainspoken rhetoric
- • publicly citing big-name advisors signals competence to some voters
- • populist rhetoric can be blended with expert backing
- • branding advisers by name helps craft an image of seriousness
Frustrated and resentful — anger at perceived elitism mixed with protective urgency for campaign tone.
Josh pushes the argument against Ritchie's advisor-branding, snaps short responses to Donna's story, then resumes a sharp critique about elitism and the campaign's tone, anchoring the populist side of the debate.
- • to expose and frame Ritchie as out of touch with average voters
- • to prevent the campaign from sliding into elitist or therapeutic rhetoric
- • to force concrete distinctions between Bartlet and Ritchie
- • to channel the group's energy into voter-facing messaging
- • voters distrust elites and will reject a campaign that feels like a 'national therapy session'
- • naming advisors publicly is a political signal that can alienate ordinary voters
- • campaigns must be grounded in felt experience rather than intellectual displays
- • operational mistakes (like time zones) compound political vulnerability
Not present; serves as a rhetorical device representing technocratic expertise.
Leonard Tynan is referenced as Ritchie's education advisor — his name functions as shorthand in the staff's argument about perceived elitism and advisor-branding.
- • as advisor persona: to shape Ritchie's education platform
- • to lend intellectual credibility to Ritchie's campaign
- • expert-driven policy lends campaign legitimacy
- • being named can both help and hurt electorally depending on audience
Off-screen concern and control inferred — likely focused and ready to triage the situation.
C.J. is invoked as the operational linchpin to be contacted; she is not on-screen but is the intended recipient of Toby's call and the person who will coordinate responses and information.
- • to reassert control over travel/scheduling chaos
- • to gather information about the group's status and coordinate retrieval
- • to manage press or operational fallout if necessary
- • to provide the staff with instructions to rejoin the motorcade
- • rapid communication solves many operational problems
- • staff rely on centralized coordination from press/advance
- • time-zone errors and missed vehicles can be mitigated with immediate action
- • her involvement will calm and direct the team
Sardonic professionalism — mildly annoyed by rhetoric but focused on fixing the practical problem.
Toby approaches, sits, and engages Josh over what Ritchie's advisor-crediting actually signals, then asks Donna to call C.J. and takes the cellphone, transitioning the scene from argument to action by placing the call.
- • to clarify the strategic meaning of Ritchie's rhetoric
- • to re-establish contact with C.J. for real-time coordination
- • to move the group from debate back to operational tasks
- • to control messaging nuance so the campaign doesn't flail
- • language and crediting in speeches carry deliberate signals
- • campaign problems are solved by quick, direct communication
- • it's important to separate rhetorical analysis from immediate operational needs
- • he can repair or manage the fallout by coordinating with C.J.
Off-screen; mentioned to ground the debate in comparisons of stature and legitimacy.
President Bartlet is invoked by Josh as a foil ('Bartlet's a Nobel Prize winner'), used to contrast Ritchie's advisor strategy with Bartlet's intellectual credibility.
- • as referenced: to represent a high-brow standard the campaign must contend with
- • to serve narratively as a contrast to Ritchie's presentation
- • high credentials influence how publics interpret leadership
- • campaigns will use comparative prestige as a rhetorical weapon
Awkward guilt layered over pragmatic urgency — apologetic about the mistake but determined to fix it.
Donna delivers an uneasy anecdote about the song's violent origin, immediately apologizes for the time-zone error, and physically hands a cellphone to Toby to re-enter campaign coordination.
- • to acknowledge and apologize for the scheduling error
- • to defuse tension caused by the group's debate
- • to re-establish operational contact with the campaign
- • to hand off responsibility to someone who can act (Toby/C.J.)
- • logistical mistakes have real human consequences and require owning up to them
- • tone and timing matter in politics — the personal can puncture pure rhetoric
- • practical action (making a call) is the right response to chaos
- • apologizing helps restore team trust
Neutral and slightly out-of-place — attentive but not engaged in the political dispute.
Tyler sits mostly silent during the exchange, listening to staff argue and Donna's anecdote, an observer whose presence underscores the adult professionals' argument occurring in a small town setting.
- • to remain helpful and available to the staff
- • to learn from the professionals around him
- • to avoid escalating into the adults' argument
- • to keep the group's practical needs in mind (getting them to motorcade/plane)
- • the staff know what they're doing and he'll follow their lead
- • his role is to support rather than direct
- • listening is a useful way to contribute
- • campaign work can be messy and he'll adapt
N/A — referenced historic figure; her action casts a somber shadow over the conversation.
Brenda Ann Spencer is referenced in Donna's anecdote as the historical figure whose flippant motive ('I don't like Mondays') inspired the song; she functions as the grim pivot that punctures the debate.
- • historically: acted in violence (not a goal in-scene)
- • narratively: to make the group's argument suddenly feel small and remote
- • not applicable; referenced as cause of cultural artifact (the song)
- • her quoted remark symbolizes inexplicable cruelty
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
A cellphone functions as the physical pivot from analysis to action: Donna hands it to Toby so he can call C.J. The device turns private conversation and guilt into immediate operational remedy, enabling the team to reconnect with campaign command.
The song 'I Don't Like Mondays' is invoked as a cultural object whose grim origin Donna recounts; it functions narratively to collapse abstract political bickering into a reminder of human violence and consequence.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The parking lot is referenced as the place where Donna realized it was Monday and connected to the song; though not the scene's physical location, it provides recent context that triggered her anecdote and apology.
The small-town diner is the immediate stage for the exchange: a cramped public space where campaign staff argue, exchange confessions, and make emergency calls. Its booths and local rhythms frame the staff's professional conflict as intimate and a little exposed.
Organizations Involved
Institutional presence and influence
Ritchie's Campaign functions as the conceptual antagonist in the scene: staff debate its rhetorical choices, the naming of advisors, and the populist posture. The organization is not physically present but exerts pressure through speeches and branding choices that the Bartlet team must respond to.
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
"DONNA: "Out in the parking lot when you said it's Monday, I flashed on the song. A few days ago, someone told me that a girl shot up her school one morning and we they asked her why, she said, 'I don't like Mondays,' and that's where the song comes from.""
"JOSH: "Why is it we cite Ritchie's advisors by name? The Milton Friedman economic plan? The Leonard Tynan education plan?""
"TOBY: "I give credit where credit's due.""