Object

Chili Ingredients (Staff Meal)

A bundled, low-tech array of raw provisions staged for a communal staff chili: sacks and bowls of dried beans, cans of tomatoes, jars of spices, and wrapped cuts of meat or vegetables. The items sit on a side table or makeshift serving surface, roughly the size of a small catering spread, visually domestic and utilitarian rather than plated. Paper labels, grocery sacks, and a few cooking utensils punctuate the tableau; the collection looks handled but not polished, a workmanlike preparation for a large pot.

2 appearances

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

2 moments

S1E19 · Let Bartlet Be Bartlet

Josh Picks a Fight Over the FEC

Chili Ingredients and the staff meal set the scene's domestic, informal surface: aides are mid-meal when the disagreement escalates, which heightens the contrast between casual conviviality and sudden political hostility and frames the exchange as everyday politics turned vicious.

Before: Displayed on a side table or catering surface; being used as the meal for the meeting participants.

After: Still present in the room after the aides leave; the meal's remnants underline the abrupt termination of the social setting into political rupture.

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S1E19 · Let Bartlet Be Bartlet

The Room Empties — Josh's Quiet Resolve

A shared meal (implied side spread/chili ingredients) frames the meeting as informal but intimate — staff eat while bargaining. The domestic tableau softens the room's manners even as the conversation turns sharp, underscoring the contrast between casual dining and high‑stakes threats.

Before: Arranged on a side table; being consumed by aides during the meeting.

After: Left in the room as aides exit; remains a background domestic object while Josh sits alone.

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