History Recap / TheWestWingS02E01InTheShadowOfTwoGunmenPartOne

In Leo's office, [=McNally=] continues to try and convince Leo (and Toby, who's also there) to upgrade their [=DefCon=] posture, saying because the shooters had a plan, they should assume the worst and Vice President Hoynes should upgrade to [=DefCon=] 4. However, according to Leo, the council's office says they can't do that, because President Bartlet never signed a letter authorizing Vice President Hoynes to take over. C.J., who's joined them, mentions Danny has been asking her about that, and [=McNally=] brings up the National Security Act of 1947, which let's the Secretary of Defense be the principal assistant to the President in issues of National Security, but is pretty vague in its language. Toby and C.J. excuse themselves; Toby to go to his office, C.J. to the hospital (Leo says he's going there in a little bit as well).

* OnlyAFleshWound: Ron Butterfield completely shrugs off the fact that he got ''shot in the hand'' and is more focused on getting the President to safety. As Jed's being wheeled into the emergency room he jokingly asks the paramedics if one of them could get Ron an aspirin

* PromotionToOpeningTitles: Janel Moloney as Donna.

-->'''Zoey:''' And Dad's making jokes.
-->'''Abbey:''' Good ones, or...?
-->'''Zoey:''' No.
-->'''Abbey:''' Okay.

-->'''Ron Butterfield''': [[CodeEmergency GW! BLUE! BLUE!! BLUE!!!]]

** ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Cathy and Mandy (also, Gina after this episode, though it's likely she was PutOnABus after her HeroicBSOD). Played with in Admiral Fitzwallace's case; he doesn't appear throughout this season, but he's referred to from time to time. In this episode he's visiting Manila when the assassination occurs.

* ThisIsNotADrill: Played with; when Butterfield is calling in the President's imminent arrival to the hospital, the nurse who responds asks if this is a drill. Although Butterfield responds with "No!" it doesn't really sink in for her and she spends a few moments complaining that it's not really a good time. It quickly registers when she spots the unmarked black cars rushing into the emergency bay with sirens blaring, at which point CodeEmergency kicks in.

* HeroicBSOD: Gina. Also, Donna after she finds out about Josh.

The day after, Josh is back in New York, yelling to a phone booth operator about finding Gage Whitney because he can't remember the name. It's important because he was just in Nashua, New Hampshire and he saw the most amazing thing and he needs to find the law firm, now. He gets hung up on, and he decides to leg it to the law firm instead. Meanwhile, Sam is in the same conference room as before, only this time, he is urging Kensington Oil to forget about the ships they wanted and proposes other, more expensive ships because they would work better than the ships Kensington wants. His boss tells him to knock it off, but as they are about to start signing, Josh shows up at the door. Unallowed to come in, he gestures to his "bad poker face" to Sam about what he saw. Satisfied, Sam gets up and leaves the conference room. When asked where he's going, he simply says "New Hampshire."

-> "GW! BLUE! BLUE! '''BLUE!'''"

Bartlet isn't as sure as Leo is that he is that good man, but Leo is confident, and tells him Bartlet's "[[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming gonna open your mouth and lift houses off the ground. Whole houses, clear off the ground]]."

The day after, Josh is back in New York, yelling to a phone booth operator about finding Gage Whitney because he can't remember the name. It's important because he was just in Nashua, New Hampshire and he saw the most amazing thing and he needs to find the law firm, now. He gets hung up on, and he decides to leg it to the law firm instead. Meanwhile, Sam is in the same conference room as before, only this time, he is urging Kensington Oil to forget about the ships they wanted and proposes other, more expensive ships because they would work better than the ships Kensington wants. His boss tells him to knock it off, but as they are about to start signing, Josh shows up at the door. Unallowed to come in, he gestures to his "bad poker face" to Sam about what he saw. Satisfied, Sam gets up and leaves the conference room. When asked where he's going, he simply says "[[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming New Hampshire]]."

* CodeEmergency: "Trauma One Blue! Trauma One Blue!"

The presidential limo is racing back to the White House. President Bartlet keeps telling Ron to get Zoe on the phone; Ron explains she threw up and can't talk. Bartlet also wants to know where Gina is, and Ron explains they need her for the ID agent at the scene, and Zoe is well-protected. Bartlet notices Ron's been shot in the hand, and wants the limo to turn around and head for the hospital, but Ron points out the first priority is getting Bartlet back to a safe place. Bartlet gets furious about that and goes on a rant but [[CollapsedMidSpeech stops all of a sudden]]. Ron checks and discovers President Bartlet was shot, and he orders the limo to turn around and go to the hospital.

* BaitAndSwitch: A kind-of obvious one, considering that we're watching a flashback and know exactly who stayed with the campaign and who didn't, but nevertheless, when Bartlet's campaign team are discussing Toby's continued presence on the staff after he advises Bartlet to tell the truth to a question when it will make him unpopular:
-->'''Cal:''' I am talking about the Governor's answer tonight, but I'm also talking about... every day, there's... look, Toby, we can talk about this with you in the room, or if you're more comfortable we can--\\

** The nurse's face on seeing Secret Service vehicles rushing into the hospital emergency bay and realising that ThisIsNotADrill.

* CallBack: Before Hoynes tells Josh to walk with him, he tells his staffers to work on the [[Recap/TheWestWingS01E16TwentyHoursInLA ethanol tax credit]].

This episode contains examples of:

* ShownTheirWork: The shooting's aftermath closely resembles the attempted assassination of UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan. While preparing the script, one of the show's consultants interviewed a member of Reagan's Secret Service detail, who recalled that he only realized Reagan had been shot when blood started coming from the President's mouth (a detail repeated with President Bartlet and Agent Butterfield).

* OhCrap: Hoynes' reaction to the Secret Service escorting him to safety.

* ThisIsNotADrill: Played with; when Butterfield is calling in the President's imminent arrival to the hospital, the nurse who responds asks if this is a drill. Although Butterfield responds with "Negative!" it doesn't really sink in for her and she spends a few moments complaining that it's not really a good time. It quickly registers when she spots the unmarked black cars rushing into the emergency bay with sirens blaring, at which point CodeEmergency kicks in.

* BaitAndSwitch: A kind-of obvious one, considering that we're watching a flashback and know exactly who stayed with the campaign and who didn't, but nevertheless, when Bartlet's campaign team are discussing Toby's continued presence on the staff:

* WhamShot: When Ron realizes the President's been shot, and when Toby discovers Josh has been shot.
* YouLookFamiliar: Andy Umberger appeared in "Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc" as Stevie, an aide to Vice President Hoynes. Since in this episode the character he plays and his team are fired from Bartlet's campaign (at least one of whom is identified as Steve by Leo) and are later replaced by the senior staff we're familiar with, the implication is that he's the same character and went to work for Hoynes' failed campaign for President after Josh quit to work for Bartlet.

* ShownTheirWork: The shooting's aftermath closely resembles the attempted assassination of UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan. While preparing the script, one of the show's consultants interviewed a member of Reagan's Secret Service detail, who recalled that he realized Reagan had been shot when blood started coming from the President's mouth (a detail repeated with President Bartlet and Agent Butterfield).

** ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Cathy and Mandy (also, Gina after this episode, though it's likely she was PutOnABus after her HeroicBSOD). Played with in Admiral Fitzwallace's case; he doesn't appear throughout this season, but he's referred to from time to time.