Leo Dispatches Mike to Josh and Rejects Hearing Sabotage Offer
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Leo prepares for the hearing while managing the Tennessee church crisis, dispatching FBI agent Mike Casper to assist Josh.
Josh offers to help Leo disrupt the hearing, but Leo refuses, insisting on facing the consequences himself.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Anxious concern fueling compulsive intervention
Josh speaks urgently over the phone, reports new Tennessee threats, acknowledges Mike's support, urges Leo to focus on hearing but persistently pitches 'ways to get the guy out of the room,' invokes his fixer expertise and hole parable before being shut down.
- • Protect Leo by disrupting hearing to buy relief
- • Coordinate church crisis remotely with incoming support
- • Loyalty demands aggressive fixes for loved ones in peril
- • Political maneuvering can ethically extract from tough spots
Professional poise tinged with patient exasperation
Jordan enters to urge Leo into the hearing, reassures him against nervousness, firmly counters his stalling breakfast banter and crisis venting, lightly spars with him and press as they close in.
- • Propel Leo into the hearing without delay
- • Bolster his confidence amid mounting pressures
- • Direct confrontation builds strength over avoidance
- • Humor diffuses tension before high-stakes battles
Steadfast resolve overlaying simmering frustration and burdened duty
Leo sits alone at the table, summons Mike for briefing on church threats, dispatches him to Josh, takes the cellphone call from Margaret, sharply rebuffs Josh's disruption schemes with pointed parable and guilt reference, then stalls Jordan with banter about breakfast and crises while venting frustration.
- • Delegate church crisis response to maintain hearing focus
- • Reject evasion tactics to own personal accountability
- • True leadership demands taking the hit without shortcuts
- • Josh's fixer impulses stem from unresolved guilt and must be checked
Focused attentiveness in high-pressure support role
Margaret responds to Leo's request by indicating the cellphone, facilitating the immediate connection to Josh for the crisis discussion.
- • Ensure seamless communication handover to Josh
- • Minimize disruptions during Leo's preparations
- • Quick administrative action sustains command chain
- • Leo's directives take absolute precedence
Calm professionalism amid escalating crisis
Mike enters, briefs Leo concisely on seven new threats across five Tennessee counties, reports 25 agents on ground with ATF incoming and Governor briefing underway, agrees to stay with Josh, wishes Leo good luck before exiting.
- • Update Leo on threat status accurately
- • Coordinate on-site support with Josh as directed
- • Rapid information sharing enables effective crisis response
- • Federal-local coordination strengthens threat mitigation
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
The clock ticks steadily on the wall, its relentless rhythm underscoring the isolation and urgency of Leo's solitary command post, amplifying the weight of divided crises and impending hearing as time presses forward inexorably.
Leo's cellphone, indicated by Margaret, serves as the vital lifeline for the secure hookup to Josh, enabling real-time crisis coordination and the tense exchange rejecting disruption schemes, transforming the hearing room into a remote command hub.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The Congress Meeting Room confines Leo alone for strategic briefings and calls, its harsh daylight through blinds and long table with documents framing his divided duties—personal reckoning inside, national crisis commanded remotely—as press gathers outside, heightening isolation before entry.
Tennessee Church Sites loom as the crisis epicenter, with seven new threats across five counties briefed by Mike and echoed in Leo-Josh call, galvanizing federal dispatch and underscoring the racial violence pulling at Leo's focus during his hearing.
Organizations Involved
Institutional presence and influence
The Press closes in on Leo and Jordan at the room's threshold, amplifying scrutiny as Leo quips about a Grammy, their presence ratcheting tension before the hearing and underscoring public stakes of his testimony.
ATF is referenced by Mike as sending a team to reinforce 25 agents at Tennessee church sites, bolstering the multi-agency response to new threats that Leo delegates, highlighting federal escalation in crisis management.
Tennessee National Guard is invoked by Leo to Jordan as a potential federalization option amid church threats and Governor involvement, signaling readiness for escalated state-federal intervention in the brewing unrest.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Josh's insistence on strategizing leads to Leo's metaphorical rejection, deepening the tension between their approaches to crisis."
"Leo's refusal of Josh's help in disrupting the hearing stems from his sense of guilt and responsibility, a trait established in his initial preparation for the hearing."
"Leo's assertion of control over the Tennessee crisis escalates to Jordan probing for undisclosed secrets, tightening the narrative tension."
"Leo directing Mike Casper to assist Josh leads directly to their strategic clash over handling the hearing and crisis, showing the chain of command in action."
"Leo's deflection with humor contrasts his later grave revelation to Jordan, illustrating his dual nature of masking vulnerability with levity."
"Josh's insistence on strategizing leads to Leo's metaphorical rejection, deepening the tension between their approaches to crisis."
"Leo's refusal of Josh's help in disrupting the hearing stems from his sense of guilt and responsibility, a trait established in his initial preparation for the hearing."
"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."
"Leo's assertion of control over the Tennessee crisis escalates to Jordan probing for undisclosed secrets, tightening the narrative tension."
"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 directing Mike Casper to assist Josh leads directly to their strategic clash over handling the hearing and crisis, showing the chain of command in action."
"Leo's deflection with humor contrasts his later grave revelation to Jordan, illustrating his dual nature of masking vulnerability with levity."
Part of Larger Arcs
Key Dialogue
"JOSH: There are ways to get the guy out of the room."
"LEO: Don't help me."
"JOSH: I'm going to help you, 'cause you know why?"
"LEO: Cause you walk around with so much guilt about everybody you love dying that you're a compulsive fixer?"
"JOSH: No, Leo, no. It's 'cause a guy is walking down the street and he falls into a hole, see."
"LEO: It's my day, Josh. I got to take the hit."