History Recap / TheWestWingS02E13BartletsThirdStateOfTheUnion

[[DescriptionCut Down in the Steam Pipe Trunk Distribution Venue]], Ainsley is wearing a bathrobe, holding a drink, and dancing and singing along to Rosemary Clooney's "Blame it on the Bossa Nova" when Sam enters. She admits she sat on the bench in the sculpture garden but didn't see the "Wet Paint" sign, and her assistant is getting her clothes. She also tells Sam she's drinking a pink squirrel, and admits she is feeling the adrenaline high Sam talked about earlier. Sam tries to tell her the President is coming, but she's too busy singing and dancing...[[RightBehindMe at least until she sees President Bartlet walking behind Sam]]. [[OhCrap She screams and throws the drink away]]. Sam turns around, and President Bartlet casually asks, "[[DeadpanSnarker What's up?]]" Sam introduces him to Ainsley, and Bartlet gives her the little speech Sam had given him, but Ainsley looks mortified. Bartlet reminds Sam they're meeting, and then leaves. Sam tries to say the moment could have been worse, but then sees Ainsley's pained expression and admits it couldn't have been.

-->'''C.J.:''' (''exasperated'') Yeah, and it's the *bathrobe" that's outrageous.

* AbsenteeActor: While not series regulars, [=McNally=] and Fitz are mainstays of the Situation Room scenes. Justified given the sudden nature of the hostage situation and the fact that bulk of the episode takes place at at least 10 or 11pm.

* AbsenteeActor: While not regulars, [=McNally=] and Fitz are mainstays of the Situation Room scenes. Justified given the sudden nature of the hostage situation and the fact that it is likely at least 10 or 11pm.

* CallBack: A very subtle one. In the intro, six minutes before the State of the Union, Leo asks the President, "How you feeling?" with a rather solemn expression on his face. It seems as if Leo might be thinking about what happened with the President [[Recap/TheWestWingS01E12HeShallFromTimeToTime just before the last SOTU.]]

-->'''Sam:''' I think if you said something along the lines of "You know, a lot of people assumed you were hired because you’re a blonde, Republican sex kitten and they were obviously wrong".

This episode contains examples of:

* CommonKnowledge: Josh tells Sam about the power outage, and says he could use "a lightning bolt, a key and a kite". This, of course, is not how BenjaminFranklin invented the lightning rod (though it's likely Josh was only saying this out of frustration).

* HeyItsThatGuy: [[Series/UglyBetty Ignacio Sanchez]] is Secretary Troop, and [[Film/OfficeSpace Tom Smykowski]] is Officer Sloan.

* SpySpeak: This is where it's established "Leo [=McGarry=] would like you to say hello to an old friend of his" is code for "Please leave ASAP."
* StealthInsult: After C.J. praises President Bartlet's public speaking ability, Congressman Shallick concedes it's an admirable quality - "not unlike juggling".

In the West Wing lobby, [[Recap/TheWestWingS02E04InThisWhiteHouse Mark Gottfried]] begins the broadcast of a special edition of ''Capitol Beat'', where he promises to talk to people from both sides of the aisle about the State of the Union. He then introduces his first two panelists; C.J. and [[Recap/TheWestWingS02E11TheLeadershipBreakfast House Majority Whip Henry Shallick]]. C.J. gushes President Bartlet did extremely well in his speech, even for him. Congressman Shallick concedes President Bartlet is a gifted public speaker, but nearly 1/3 of the times his speech was interrupted for applause were for co-opted Republican ideas. Gottfried tells the viewing audience they're taking a break but will be right back. As soon as the cameras are off, Gottfried announces to everyone C.J. isn't wearing any pants. She calls for Carol to bring her a robe. Just then, Sam comes up and asks to speak to her. She points out she's not wearing any pants, but Sam says they need to talk in private. As Carol brings her a robe, C.J. and Sam walk a short distance away, and she explains she sat in the sculpture garden after the speech, [[RunningGag and the bench had just been painted]]. Sam tells C.J. Officer Jack Sloan was cited 17 years earlier for excessive force, even though a criminal charge and civil suit were both dismissed, and there was considerable pressure from local Black Democrats. C.J. tells Carol she needs to see Sloan as soon as possible. She runs back to the stage and puts on her microphone as Gottfried says, "[[DeadpanSnarker Take the desk away and I'd pick up three share points]]."

* MeaningfulEchol: Gottfried brings up the fact he and C.J. "have done some things together" as a reason why he didn't ambush C.J. about Officer Sloan. When she in turn asks him to hold off for 20 minutes, and he asks why, she says because "we've done things together."

* NoodleIncident: We never learn exactly what act of heroism led Officer Sloan to be invited to the State of the Union, let alone mentioned.

[[DescriptionCut Down in the Steam Pipe Trunk Distribution Venue]], Ainsley is wearing a bathrobe, holding a drink, and dancing and singing along to Rosemary Clooney's "Blame it on the Bossa Nova" when Sam enters. She admits she sat on the bench in the sculpture garden but didn't see the "Wet Paint" sign, and her assistant is getting her clothes. She also tells Sam she's drinking a pink squirrel, and admits she is feeling the adrenaline high Sam talked about earlier. Sam tries to tell her the President is coming, but she's too busy singing and dancing...[[RightBehindMe at least until she sees President Bartlet walking behind Sam]]. [[OhCrap She screams and throws the drink away]].

At the National Strategies Group, Donna tells Josh a 13,000 volt cable caught fire in a building on M Street and Washington, which caused the power outage, but she admits she doesn't know when the power will come back on. Josh tells her to call Sam, and yells that he wants numbers. Donna tells Josh everyone else is having fun, but he says Donna is the only one having fun. [[GilliganCut Just then, Joey and Kenny sneak up on Josh and she bumps into him]]. Joey (Kenny) assures Josh the numbers are safe, but she can't make the West Coast calls until the power goes back on, and she has no idea when that will be. Josh takes the cell phone away from Donna, and tells Sam about the power going out.

In the West Wing lobby, Toby and Congressman Shallick are debating the Second Amendment. Gottfried interrupts for a commercial break. As the camera goes off, Toby tells Gottfried he has to sit out the next segment, but he'll get a replacement. He and Ginger walk to his office, where Abbey is waiting. Toby apologizes for being late, and reminds Abbey they're within earshot of the press. Abbey is upset about the implication she's going to throw a fit, but it turns out she's not upset about the Blue Ribbon Commission; she's upset about the language, specifically how "The first fiscal priority of the government must be, will be ensuring Social Security and Medicare" became "setting aside partisan blinders". She wants to know if they're considering raising the retirement age; Toby says there's nothing wrong with just considering, and they're not caving on the retirement age. He also points out on capital gains, missile defense, and the surplus, among other issues, they gave Republicans plenty to be pissed about, and he just pissed off Republicans about guns. Abbey falters and says she just was thrown by the last-minute changes.

In the West Wing lobby, Gottfried shows a clip of the State of the Union where President Bartlet called for, among other things, more character education and requiring public school children to wear uniforms. He then introduces his two latest panelists; Ainsley Hayes and ACLU Public Education Director Gretchen Tyler. Tyler admits she was dismayed to hear President Bartlet come out in favor of school uniforms, and says the ACLU feels this interferes with every child's right to an education. Ainsley concedes Tyler has a point, and she's not sure requiring school uniforms is constitutional, but she also says President Bartlet doesn't want kids who can't afford the same clothes their friends have to feel left out, and points to studies showing kids wearing uniforms do better in school. Sam, who had been watching this last part in his office, looks unhappy and walks towards the lobby. Tyler points out there already are dress codes in public schools, and Ainsley points out the ACLU objected to those as well. Gottfried wants to know how strongly President Bartlet feels about the issue, and Ainsley admits she's never met President Bartlet in person. Gottfried tells the viewing audience they're going to go to New York for a news break, but he'll be back in a few minutes with more coverage. When the cameras go off, Sam asks Mark if Ainsley can be excused, and she follows Sam.

At the reception, Margaret approaches Mickey Troop (Tony Plana), the Secretary of State.

In the West Wing lobby, [[Recap/TheWestWingS02E04InThisWhiteHouse Mark Gottfried]] begins the broadcast of a special edition of ''Capitol Beat'', where he promises to talk to people from both sides of the aisle about the State of the Union. He then introduces his first two panelists; C.J. and [[Recap/TheWestWingS02E11TheLeadershipBreakfast House Majority Whip Henry Shallick]]. C.J. gushes President Bartlet did extremely well in his speech, even for him. Congressman Shallick concedes President Bartlet is a gifted public speaker, but nearly 1/3 of the times his speech was interrupted for applause were for co-opted Republican ideas. Gottfried tells the viewing audience they're taking a break but will be right back. As soon as the cameras are off, Gottfried announces to everyone C.J. isn't wearing any pants. She calls for Carol to bring her a robe. Just then, Sam comes up and asks to speak to her. She points out she's not wearing any pants, but Sam says they need to talk in private. As Carol brings her a robe, C.J. and Sam walk a short distance away, and she explains she sat in the sculpture garden after the speech, [[RunningGag and the bench had just been painted]]. Sam tells C.J. Officer Jack Sloan was cited 17 years earlier for excessive force, even though a criminal charge and civil suit were both dismissed, and there was considerable pressure from local Black Democrats. C.J. tells Carol she needs to see Sloan as soon as possible. She runs back to the stage and puts on her microphone as Gottfried says, "Take the desk away and I'd pick up three share points."

In the outer Oval Office, Mrs. Landingham and Charlie are watching ''Capitol Beat'', and Mrs. Landingham picks up on the fact C.J.'s not wearing pants. Charlie explains what happened, and asks Mrs. Landingham about a note he received. Mrs. Landingham explained President Bartlet was balancing his checkbook (which he does to relax), and noticed Abbey wrote a check for $500 to a woman he never heard of, and it hasn't been cashed. Charlie wants to know why Bartlet can't simply asks his wife about the check, and Mrs. Landingham explains he doesn't want to get yelled at, so he's sending Charlie instead. Charlie sighs and walks away.

After the credits, we see President Bartlet on TV ending his speech as Josh, Donna and the pollsters watch intently. When Bartlet finishes with the traditional ending ("God bless you, and God bless the United States of America"), Josh leads everyone in a standing ovation.