History Recap / TheWestWingS02E18SeventeenPeople

** In a more light-hearted example, Donna -- who is clearly making use of the joke-writing session to vent some passive-aggression over her annoyance with Josh -- at one point makes a (mostly) unprovoked jab at Sam over his call-girl scandal the previous season. When a rather wounded Sam points out that this is clearly just some misdirected anger over her issue with Josh, Donna snidely retorts that she's actually okay with that... which, unfortunately for her, riles Sam into making it clear that this is a game that two people can play:

'''Donna:''' ''He was being '''you''.''

--> '''Sam:''' Problem is, there aren't any jokes you can make about me.\\

** Bartlet, meanwhile, is furious and hurt that Toby focusses single-mindedly on the political and ethical aspects of the situation, to the extent that he does not at any point actually ask how Bartlet is feeling or how his health is. He also accuses Toby of using self-righteousness and lofty rhetoric to mask what is actually more of a wounded ego, as he was only the sixteenth person to learn of Bartlet's condition (not including Bartlet himself): "I feel fine, by the way, thanks for asking!"

* AcceptablePoliticalTargets: InUniverse. In a Democrat White House, of course:
-->'''Sam:''' We're not making fun of the host.
-->'''[[BlondeRepublicanSexKitten Ainsley]]:''' Who are we making fun of?
-->'''Sam, Josh, Ed and Larry:''' [[SpeakInUnison Republicans!]]

** Bartlet, meanwhile, is furious and hurt that Toby focusses single-mindedly on the political and ethical aspects of the situation, to the extent that he does not at any point actually ask how Bartlet is feeling or how his health is. He also accuses Toby of using self-righteousness to mask what is actually more of a wounded ego, as he was only the sixteenth person to learn of Bartlet's condition (not including Bartlet himself): "I feel fine, by the way, thanks for asking!"

* JerkassHasAPoint: In-universe, Toby mainly finds out about Bartlet's condition because of the conspicuous clues that Hoynes left behind. Leo calls this "a jackass move", but Toby disagrees, thinking that the Hoynes was acting more responsibly than the President by preparing the Democratic party for the possibility of Bartlet having to step down after one term.

Donna walks over to Josh's office, and sees him standing on a chair trying to grab something on the top of a bookcase. Sure enough, when Donna calls for him, he accidentally knocks down a number of books and folders. As the two of them try to clean the mess up, Donna points out the speech he's looking for is on computer. They look at each other for a moment, and Josh wonders what's happening. Donna says she thinks the whole anniversary thing he's fixated on is because he thinks he was her second choice. She reminds Josh when she came back, she had a bandage on her ankle, but she lied about why; she really was in a car accident, and when she called her boyfriend to come pick her up from the hospital, her boyfriend stopped to have a beer with his friends, which is why Donna left him for good. Josh can't believe she lied, or what really happened, or how [[WhatAnIdiot dumb her ex-boyfriend was]], and Donna says Josh only needs to remember she came back and he took her back, no questions asked.

->'''Toby:''' It's [[TitleDrop 17 people]], by the way.
->'''Bartlet:''' I'm sorry.
->'''Toby:''' You knew. We weren't counting you. It's 17 people.

** Toby calls Bartlet out on keeping his health secret from the public and not allowing them to factor it into their decision to vote for him. He also accuses Bartlet of recklessness in keeping his secret, as following his shooting earlier in the season there were no preparations to establish a clear chain of command in the event of Bartlet experiencing a medical episode, something especially likely given his MS. Their failure to do so for fairly self-serving reasons meant that, until Bartlet was out of surgery, the country was essentially being governed by Leo, an unelected official: "For ninety minutes there was a coup-de-tat in this country!"
** Bartlet, meanwhile, is furious and hurt that Toby focusses single-mindedly on the political and ethical aspects of the situation, to the extent that he does not at any point actually ask how Bartlet is actually feeling or how his health is. He also accuses Toby of using self-righteousness to mask what is actually more of a wounded ego, as he was only the fifteenth person to learn of Bartlet's condition (not including Bartlet himself): "I feel fine, by the way, thanks for asking!"

* BothSideHaveAPoint: Bartlet argues that he has a right to keep his health private and shouldn't have to share everything about himself with the public, feeling that his health condition is not an impediment to performing his job. Toby argues that the public have a right to know and and decide for themselves what information about their elected officials they consider relevant, especially when it concerns a neurological and degenerative condition such as MS.

* WhamEpisode: Toby figures out Bartlet's secret illness, and points out that it ''is'' something - because of possible cover-ups and legal evasions - that could lead to the President's impeachment.

* ForgottenAnniversary: Subverted; Donna's upset because Josh *remembered* this particular anniversary, which she thinks is just him being mean.

* AbsenteeActor: C.J. doesn't appear in this episode as Allison Janney was unavailable during filming.

* BerserkButton: Bartlet resents the entire conversation with Toby, but particularly the fact Toby doesn't ask how he's feeling. Of course, Toby resents the fact that Bartlet kept his MS from the country, the staff and him personally, so it's pretty much even in this case.

Ainsley is working in her office, dressed casually, when Sam walks in; he'd been shouting at her, but she ignored him. Ainsley is preparing to go back to Smith College (her alma mater) for a panel about resurrecting the ERA. Sam is shocked to learn Ainsley's opposed to the ERA. He came to see her to see if she wants to help Josh and him punch up the President's speech. Ainsley says she's busy with what she's doing, [[BigEater but when Sam points out there'll be Chinese food]], she agrees to come along.

* TheyCallMeMrTibbs: When Toby asks Bartlet if "your wife" gave him injections, Bartlet says since tempers are high, he'd appreciate it if Toby referred to her as either "Mrs. Bartlet" or "Dr. Bartlet".

This episode contains examples of: