Object

Alabama Ten Commandments Display (Referential Mention)

A civic display typically rendered as human‑scale stone tablets or a mounted plaque inscribed with the Ten Commandments, weathered or polished depending on installation. The item is never physically shown in the processed material; it exists only as Sam's jokey opener about an Alabama town that has adopted such a display. The reference lands as a conversational prop: Sam invokes the image to get a laugh, Toby half‑shrugs, then the mood tightens as the mention segues into a real political problem involving a Georgetown Hoya article and Zoey Bartlet. No character handles the object; it functions as a topical cue that shifts tone from levity to urgent damage control.

2 appearances

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

2 moments

S1E13 · Take Out The Trash Day

Georgetown Hoya Threat: Zoey's Class on the Radar

The Alabama Ten Commandments display functions as Sam's comic icebreaker and tonal pivot: a cultural cue that moves the conversation from parody to constitutional principle and then into a real media problem. It frames the opening banter and reveals how trivial local controversies can have constitutional implications.

Before: Not physically present; referenced conversationally as a topical example to open a joking exchange.

After: Remains a rhetorical prop in the discussion, its comedic function eclipsed when the Georgetown Hoya story shifts the conversation to serious damage control.

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S1E13 · Take Out The Trash Day

Leo Cuts Off Banter — Commands an Office Meeting

The Alabama Ten Commandments display functions as the jokey seed of conversation: Sam's anecdote uses it as a cultural punchline to open banter, which then contrasts with the more sober Georgetown Hoya revelation. The display is purely referential but shapes tonal shift from levity to policy seriousness.

Before: Referenced only as a current news item; no physical object in the room; a topical conversational prop.

After: Remains a rhetorical device in the conversation; its mention has been subsumed by concern over the Hoya/Zoey story.

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