Josh's Urgent Airport Recruitment of Joey for Covert MS Proxy Poll
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Josh reveals the urgency of their situation to Joey, requesting a covert poll to gauge public reaction to the President's MS diagnosis without directly asking about it.
Joey proposes using a Michigan governor with a degenerative illness as a proxy model for their poll, demonstrating her quick thinking and understanding of the delicate situation.
Josh warns Joey of the potential legal consequences they all might face, including grand jury appearances, underscoring the gravity of their actions.
Joey asks about the President's well-being, and Josh deflects with a terse reassurance, revealing his own stress and the weight of the situation.
Joey departs to begin her work, and Josh destroys the napkin with their notes, emphasizing the secrecy and danger of their mission.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Determined professionalism veiling personal concern for Bartlet and Josh's strain
Joey nods decisively, proposes and details blind poll via 'Governor of Michigan' with degenerative illness on napkin, accepts grand jury warning stoically, intimately touches Josh's chin to probe President's health, confirms 96-hour timeline before boarding flight amid PA announcement.
- • Design airtight blind poll model for MS tolerance data
- • Assess President's true condition amid deflections
- • Proxy polling can yield reliable disclosure insights without direct risk
- • Grand jury threat is survivable with disciplined secrecy
Detached efficiency underscoring ongoing crises
Donna delivers voice-over narration immediately after napkin destruction, shifting to Chinese Embassy satellite denial, bridging airport intrigue to broader West Wing chaos.
- • Contextualize scene transition
- • Highlight parallel distractions from core scandal
- • Multiple crises demand relentless staff vigilance
- • International incidents pale against domestic health lie
referenced as the subject whose degenerative illness (MS) is being proxied in the blind poll design; health directly inquired about by Joey
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
Joey seizes and scribbles critical blind poll model—'Governor of Michigan' with degenerative illness—on the napkin as makeshift covert notepad amid lip-read secrecy; Josh crumples it post-departure, thrusting into drink for dissolution, erasing tangible proof of conspiracy recruitment and heightening stakes of verbal-only bonds.
Josh's drink serves as ritualistic destroyer: napkin bearing MS-proxy poll secrets is carefully crumpled and submerged, liquid assault bleeding ink into pulp underfoot grind, symbolizing ruthless evidence purge in public venue, ensuring Joey's outsider buy-in leaves no trace amid subpoena shadows.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
Bustling National Airport concourse bar nook shields Josh-Joey huddle from terminal throng, enabling whispered poll plotting, napkin scribbles, health probe, and evidence dump under PA clamor cover—public chaos veils White House's gravest secret, amplifying exposure tension in recruitment pivotal to disclosure strategy.
Organizations Involved
Institutional presence and influence
Grand jury looms as Josh's stark warning to Joey—'we're probably all going to be spending some time in front'—framing her poll complicity as perjury-adjacent peril, her nod sealing commitment; escalates event from data quest to legal gauntlet, quantifying tolerance now burdens conspiracy oath.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Josh's insistence on privacy with Joey underscores the secrecy and danger of their mission, consistent across both beats."
Key Dialogue
"JOSH: "Joey, we need you to put a poll in the field. You got to come up with a model that gets us the answers we need without asking the questions we can't ask. [...] Is what I'm describing possible?""
"JOEY: "We make it a Governor. [...] Michigan. And you give him a degenerative illness.""
"JOSH: "Joey, you understand that before this is over we're probably all going to be spending some time in front of a grand jury." JOEY: "(nods)""