Object

Margaret's Plastic Sandwich Bag (raisin muffin)

A small, clear, crinkly polyethylene sandwich-style plastic bag—thin, slightly translucent, and hand-sized—used in Margaret's office to hold a single raisin muffin. Characters handle it casually: Margaret slides the muffin into the bag and passes it to Toby for testing.

2 appearances

Purpose

To contain and transport a muffin (sample) from Margaret to Toby for lab testing.

Significance

Functions as a prop that bridges comic domesticity and procedural seriousness: the bag enables the muffin-sample beat that undercuts a political crisis while also facilitating a concrete action (sending the sample for testing), emphasizing small, human details amid larger stakes.

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

2 moments

S1E19 · Let Bartlet Be Bartlet

Muffins, Polls and a Reckoning: Let Bartlet Be Bartlet

The plastic bag is requested by Toby as a sterile container for the muffin, playing into the scene's comic attention to bureaucracy and the staff's reflex for process even amid crisis; it underscores the contrast between petty procedure and systemic failure.

Before: On Margaret's desk or in Margaret's office, available as an ordinary office supply.

After: Held in abeyance (Margaret is told to bag the muffin); narratively present but not further used in the scene.

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S1E19 · Let Bartlet Be Bartlet

Polling Meltdown — Let Bartlet Be Bartlet

A plastic bag is referenced as the suggested container to send the muffin to the lab; it functions as a small domestic detail that humanizes the staff and undercuts the high stakes of ensuing political talk.

Before: Available in Margaret's office to receive the muffin for testing.

After: Unused or set aside as attention shifts to the memo and polling news.

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