Intern's Eggplant Bong

A hastily improvised smoking device fashioned from a whole eggplant: glossy deep‑purple flesh hollowed to form a small chamber, the calyx/stem pressed into service as a mouthpiece and a crude side bowl cut into the side. Handheld and fragile, its surface bears faint scorch marks and a smear of vegetable juices. Not physically present in the office; characters recount it with embarrassed amusement, using the memory as a tone‑shifting anecdote rather than inspecting or handling the object.

2 appearances

Purpose

An improvised smoking apparatus repurposed from a vegetable, intended to channel and inhale combusted material.

Significance

Functions as a comic, humanizing pivot that loosens formality and diffuses tension briefly before the scene pivots to a political crisis. The anecdote enables Josh's flippant cover for pressing Leo, amplifying vulnerability and converting a private embarrassment into an immediate narrative lever that precipitates Leo's admission and reframes the nomination fight as targeted blackmail.

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

2 moments

S1E9 · The Short List

Door Slam and the Revelation

The eggplant bong is invoked as an anecdotal prop — the colorful pivot from levity to seriousness. It humanizes the scandal, provides gallows humor, and demonstrates how small embarrassments escalate into political ammunition.

Before: Not physically present; exists as an offstage anecdote told by Josh about the intern.

After: Remains a referenced, offstage object — a narrative device that both lightens and sharpens the conversation.

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S1E9 · The Short List

Leo's Recovery Threatened

The eggplant bong is invoked by Josh when describing his interrogation of the intern; it serves as a tonal pivot — gallows humor and a humanizing, slightly absurd anecdote that temporarily lightens the room before the conversation darkens into personal danger. The object is not physically present; it exists as a memory that illustrates how trivial incidents can be weaponized.

Before: Not physically present; exists as a recounted object in Josh's anecdote.

After: Still not present; its anecdotal use is overshadowed by the revelation of Leo's treatment records.

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