Directed by Vincent Misiano
Written by Aaron Sorkin
Bartlet returns from a trip to India and is thrust into an immediate crisis between China and Taiwan - Taiwan is preparing a missile test of U.S.-made Patriots, and China is threatening war games if they go through with it. Bartlet also brings back some chess sets as gifts for the staff, and engages in matches with Toby and Sam while trying to prevent a shooting war in the South China Sea.
Elsewhere, the town of Hartsfield's Landing in New Hampshire is preparing to cast the first votes in the state's Presidential Primary and Josh is obsessed as to why two Bartlet voters they met are now suddenly supporting someone else. And Charlie and C.J. get into a minor clash over the release of the President's private schedule.
In 2020 the cast performed a staged version of this episode as a fundrasier for When We All Vote with Sterling K. Brown stepping into the role of Leo McGarry in place of the late John Spencer.
Tropes for the episode:
- Batman Gambit: Bartlet never had any intention of selling Taiwan destroyers equipped with the Aegis combat system. But by putting that in the arms deal, he's able to cancel it to placate China without actually giving up any ground.
- Chess Motifs: Bartlet plays chess with Toby and Sam while also engaging in a high-stakes game of chess with the Chinese. With Toby the game is a reflection of the political chess match over the upcoming campaign, while Sam uses his match to puzzle out why Bartlet seems to be deliberately provoking the Chinese.Bartlet: Look at the whole board.
- Escalating War: CJ gets miffed when Charlie makes her sign out a copy of the President's schedule because she can't find hers and Charlie's upset a copy ended up in the press room, which then leads to a prank war between the two that ends when Charlie removes all the screws in CJ's desk.
- "Eureka!" Moment: Bartlet invokes one on Sam during his chess game while simultaneously navigating the diplomatic crisis with China over Taiwan, continuing to talk with him about what's going on and what moves both the US and China are doing while Sam tries to figure out this particular crisis' endgame. When they receive word of the crisis' resolution, Sam guesses the gist of the deal struck (US won't sell Aegis destroyers for ten yearsnote , Taiwan tests one Patriot system, China cancels the military exercises off Fujian) but doesn't understand why Bartlet would offer four such destroyers for sale to Taiwan when those alone would eat half of Taiwan's defense budget and risks China getting their hands on advanced US military hardware if Taiwan did fall to China. Bartlet prods Sam a bit further into the thinking, and Sam realizes that Bartlet never intended to sell Taiwan the destroyers in the first place — the offer had been a Batman Gambit to allow China to say they got something out of the deal.
- Exact Words: When talking about the positioning of the U.S. carrier groups.Sam: Why put the carrier groups in the Taiwan Strait?Bartlet: Are they in the Taiwan Strait?Sam: They're on their way.Bartlet: Is that the same thing?
- Expy: Hartsfield's Landing stands in for Hart's Location and Dixville Notch, two real towns in New Hampshire that cast their votes in the New Hampshire Primary at 12:01am on the appointed day.
- Loophole Abuse: Josh tells Donna to call the Flenders in Hartsfield's Landing to find out why they aren't supporting Bartlet. Donna says she can't do that from a White House phone, then realizes he means take a cell phone and call them from Lafayette Park.
- Rule of Three: Donna calls the Flenders three times - the first time they say they can't support Bartlet because he won't take steps to reopen the local paper mill (which shut due to competition from Canada), the second time because they want a national sales tax instead of an income tax, and the third time because he was censured by Congress for hiding his MS.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Toby tells Bartlet that he needs to stop pretending he's "just folks" and make the election about "smart vs. not", "qualified vs. not", "educated vs. not".Toby: You're a heavyweight. And you've been holding me up for too many rounds. (topples his king)
