Jeremy: You've got trip sevens and I have a straight. (stands up) I want you to trust me right now. I want you to say to yourself, "Yeah, I've dated a string of jerks in my life. They were stupid. They were mean to me. But maybe this one's different. Maybe I should take a chance and not adopt the 'break up with him before he breaks my heart' strategy." I want you to remember that when I started liking you, I didn't stop liking tennis. And I want you to know that I don't think there's a woman in the world that you need to be threatened by, no matter how glamorous you think she is. But mostly, I want you to trust me, just once, when I tell you that you have three sevens and I have a straight. (long pause as everyone looks at Jeremy and then Natalie)
Natalie: You're bluffing so hard it's coming out your ears.
Directed by Dennie Gordon
Written by Aaron Sorkin
Casey and Dan have to cancel their trip to Atlantic City after that night's broadcast because the anchors doing the 2 am broadcast are stuck at the airport. They decide to turn that to their advantage by having a poker game with the staff in between shows. Dana is jealous of Sally Sasser (Brenda Strong), the producer of the 2 am show, especially when she finds out Casey accepts Sally's rundowns for the show without asking about them. Jeremy and Natalie have their first fight when he blows off the first night off they've had together to go play tennis with an old actress friend of his.
This episode contains examples of:
- Actually Pretty Funny: Could be this or
Corpsing, but when Dana comes into the poker game and asks in mock horror, "Did somebody step on Isaac?", Isaac can be seen chuckling at this, although when the next shot cuts to him, he's stone-faced and threatening to fire Dana again. - Curse Cut Short:Dan: Isn't osteoporosis pretty common?Isaac: Very common. Especially among Caucasian women.Dan: Bummer.Isaac: Yes.Dan: What are you gonna do with your old suits?Isaac: I was thinking about shoving them up your-Dan: No problem.
- Department of Redundancy Department:Dan: I'm in the zone.Casey: There's no zone.Dan: There's a zone.Casey: There really isn't.Dan: There's a very palpable zone, my friend. And I am in it.
- Foreshadowing: This isn't the last we see of the Casey/Sally relationship.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Both Dana and Natalie here.
- It's All About Me: Sally, or at least Dan seems to think so ("Like she's listening to anybody but herself").
- Lampshaded Double Entendre:Jeremy: Natalie and I can't play (poker). It's important we spend these precious moments together.Natalie: Oh, they'll be no precious moments tonight, darling. You know what I mean?Jeremy: I think I do.Natalie: No precious moments of any kind.Jeremy: (irritated now) I understand.
- Lysistrata Gambit: In addition to what Natalie says about (see Lampshaded Double Entendre), Dan suggests Jeremy do the same thing. He actually tries it after winning the poker game, but it doesn't work.
- Ms. Fanservice: Casey feels this way about Sally.Casey: I'm just saying that it's hard not to notice that the woman's body was put together by a technician very close to God.Dana: A technician close to God?Casey: Well, not God himself, but a high level staff person. Senior VP.
- Oh, Crap!: Dan when he realizes he's no longer "in the zone".
- Oh, Wait!:Dana: I downloaded some stuff on osteoporosis.Isaac: Dana, this is no joke.Dana: I know. And the good news is it says here that osteoporosis isn't an inevitable part of aging as once was thought. In fact, if you haven't reached menopause yet...(gasps) No, wait. Hold on.Isaac: Thank you very much.
- Phrase Catcher: Dan and then Dana talk about how they're "in the zone".
- Rhetorical Question Blunder:Isaac: You wanna listen to me or you wanna tell your funny jokes?Dana: I can do both.
- Really Gets Around: Lampshaded:Natalie: Of my entire roster of boyfriends, and it is, believe me, quite the lengthy list, you are my least favorite.Jeremy: Hey, I'm just happy to be on the team.
- Running Gag: Dana continually teases Isaac about the fact he's shrinking, and Isaac keeps threatening to fire her.Dana: Isaac, I'm gonna bring along this material on shrinking and read it aloud as we play. Unless you think that's gonna distract you?Isaac: No, I just want to make sure you've got time to put your resume together and clean out your desk.Dana: (to Dan) He's nuts about me!
- Shaped Like Itself:Dan: Either of you interested in playing the sport of kings?Dana: We're gonna race horses?Dan: We're gonna play poker.Dana: That's not the sport of kings.Dan: What's the sport of kings?Dana: Racing horses?Dan: What's poker the sport of?Dana: People who play poker.
- Shout-Out: During their argument, Jeremy and Natalie mention Henny Youngman, Benny Goodman, and Jack Benny. Also, after Chris praises Jeremy's actress friend, Natalie grouses, "Thank you, Siskel & Ebert!"
- Stepford Smiler: Casey and Dan after they find out they can't go to Atlantic City.
- Talk About That Thing:Jeremy: I'm taking a break, if anyone wants my seat.Will: It's the good chair.Jeremy: I'm just gonna run to the bathroom. Do you want to come with me to the bathroom, Dan? (everyone looks at Dan)Dan: Why no, Jeremy, I don't.Jeremy: You don't want to step outside with me and talk on our way to the bathroom? (everyone looks at Dan again)Dan: Sure.Jeremy: We're just stepping out and going to the bathroom. (after they leave the conference room) I didn't really have to go to the bathroom.Dan: Really.Jeremy: I just wanted to talk.
- Title Drop: Dana yells it out three times during the episode, much to Isaac's annoyance.
- You Know What They Say: Played with.Dan: You know what they say?Casey: About what?Dan: About money won.Casey: What do they say?Dan: I don't know. I'm asking.Casey: They say it's twice as sweet as money earned.Dan: How come you said 'what do they say'?Casey: It was an alley-oop pass.I was dishing you the ball.Dan: You were. And I completely missed it.Casey: I was there for the putback.Dan: I wouldn't have been able to do anything with it anyway.Casey: That's right.Dan: Because I didn't know the expression.Casey: Not only that, but it was like half an hour ago and we're still talking about it.
