Donna's Warning: Indonesia's Brutal Practice Ups the Stakes
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Josh wraps up a phone call about the hurricane with the Red Cross and shifts focus to the Indonesian deputy's arrival.
Josh tasks Donna with researching the Indonesian deputy's language capabilities while humorously struggling to spell his name.
Donna shares disturbing research about Indonesia's execution of suspected sorcerers, catching Josh off-guard.
Donna confirms her task with Toby and reiterates the sorcerer executions, validating her earlier research.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Harried and defensive on the surface; mildly annoyed and inclined to minimize distractions that threaten operational control and event optics.
Josh moves through his normal crisis rhythm — issuing an instruction about the visiting deputy, asking Donna to confirm language ability, and then brusquely dismissing Donna's alarming research. He physically walks from his office through the bullpen and into Leo's office while trying to maintain control of the evening's logistics.
- • Ensure a private, manageable exchange with the Indonesian deputy (language access if needed).
- • Keep the state dinner and related logistics from being derailed by sensational or unverified claims.
- • Donna's off‑hours research is often unreliable and will exaggerate risk.
- • Operational control and optics (language/interpreter, seating, timing) are the immediate priorities; extraordinary cultural claims are secondary unless verified.
Uneasy and earnest; a mixture of concern and the need to be taken seriously, mildly peeved when dismissed but determined to register the risk.
Donna interrupts routine logistics to deliver a researched, unsettling cultural detail. She presses beyond small talk — spelling requests, following up with Toby, and deliberately foregrounding the beheading detail to force attention from senior staff despite Josh's impatience.
- • Inform senior staff of a cultural practice that could create a security or human‑rights problem at the state dinner.
- • Prompt concrete action (interpreter, vetting, or additional briefing) so the administration is not blindsided by culturally explosive information.
- • Even offhand or localized cultural practices can have major diplomatic and human‑rights consequences if ignored.
- • It is her responsibility as Josh's assistant to surface inconvenient facts even if they make senior staff uncomfortable.
Not present to display emotion; narratively positioned as a potential focal point for external anxieties (vulnerability and political risk projected onto him).
Ramahedi Sumahedjo Bambang is named as the attending senior Indonesian deputy; he does not appear onstage but is the subject whose presence and presumed cultural background are suddenly scrutinized. His arrival is the implicit reason for the language check and the moral concern.
- • (Inferred) Attend the state dinner as a diplomatic representative without causing an incident.
- • (Inferred) Conduct expected diplomatic engagements while respecting protocol.
- • (Inferred) Standard diplomatic protocol and language arrangements will be in place.
- • (Inferred) His personal safety and cultural practices will be respected and managed by his own delegation and receiving staff.
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
Josh ends a call on the desk phone as he finishes coordinating with the Red Cross and FEMA about the storm; the telephone anchors his multitasking and signals the operational tempo that prompts the quick assignment to Donna.
A small AM radio provides background storm reportage that frames the scene's urgency; its low‑fidelity updates punctuate Josh's mood and justify his focus on FEMA/Red Cross coordination rather than prolonged debate about Donna's research.
The scythe is invoked as a horrific image when Donna describes the beheadings; it exists only in dialogue but functions as the visceral narrative object that transforms a protocol task into a moral and security alarm.
The state dinner toast (Toby's draft) is not read aloud here but is referenced indirectly when Leo assigns Sam and Toby to work on the toast; the toast is an implied diplomatic artifact that will have to navigate any new sensitivities raised by Donna's revelation.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The Roosevelt Room appears as staff move through it on their way to Leo's meeting; it is named in passing as the site for the truckers' meeting and highlights the ceremonial-political layer that runs beside the crisis work.
The Hallway functions as the narrative artery linking Josh's office and Leo's meeting; critical micro-conversations occur here (Donna spelling, the 'scythe' image, and Toby's private confirmation), compressing rumor, gossip, and crucial warnings into passing steps.
Leo's Office is the decisive forum where Josh's operational concerns and Donna's warning arrive; Leo organizes tasks, assigns monitoring responsibilities, and folds the diplomatic wrinkle into the broader crisis roster.
Josh's Office is the starting point: a cramped, private workspace where Josh finishes a call, gives Donna a rapid assignment, and demonstrates his operational focus. It is the staging ground where routine logistics bump into moral warnings.
The Communications Bullpen is the transit and listening space where Josh and Donna pass through; it functions as the public side of private decisions, a place where informal warnings get tossed into circulating workflow.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Donna's research on Indonesian executions in Act 2 parallels Bambang's accusation of American hypocrisy in Act 5 regarding human rights."
"Donna's research on Indonesian executions in Act 2 parallels Bambang's accusation of American hypocrisy in Act 5 regarding human rights."
Key Dialogue
"JOSH: A senior Indonesian deputy is coming tonight. Toby and I want to talk to him alone for a few minutes. I need you to find out if he can speak English and if he can't, we need to get an interpreter from State."
"DONNA: I just thought you might like to know that in certain parts of Indonesia, they summarily execute people they suspect of being sorcerers."
"TOBY: Yes."