History Recap / TheWestWingS02E20TheFallsGonnaKillYou

C.J. is waiting in the White House Council's office. Oliver Babish enters and questions her about whether anyone saw her. He then turns to the subject of th President's MS, asking her when she found out about it, which was last night. He asks her if she's ever lies about the President's health, she asks if she needs her lawyer, and Babish assures her that he is her lawyer. He goes on to ask her some more hard questions, about the timeline and so on. They spar a bit, and he asks her again:

Outside the Whtie House, Abbey arrives in a black limo. She heads to the Oval Office, attended by aides, and they talk business. She arives at the outer office, greets Charlie, and goes on in. They tensely discuss the medical form, which Charlie realized was a problem, where they lied about the President's health. Leo had started to talk to Abbey about it, but then realized that Jed hadn't told her yet. Jed tells Abbey that she needs to go see the White House Counsel.

Josh is sitting by Margaret's desk. Leo comes in, asks if the First Ladyis back, and they go into his office. They briefly discuss the previous scene's topic, and then turn to the tobacco lawsuit. Josh wants to give them more money, and Leo is reluctant to do so. Josh is going to the airport, and Leo tells him to "do a job."

This episode focuses on the aftermath of the President revealing to his staff that he has MS. C.J. and Abbey meet with the White House Council to discuss how they may have lied about the President's MS, and Josh talks to Joey Lucas about how they might do a poll to see how to handle the situation. Several other situations arise, among them a satellite that might crash to earth, a speech Sam is writing for a Chicago appearance, and the CBO projections. Those other situations seem very insignificant compared to the MS one. The title comes from an analogy that C.J. makes at the end, of Butch and Sundance looking over a cliff and saying that they shouldn't jump because they might drown in the river at the bottom, but "it's the fall that's going to kill ya."

The camera pans up to the "Pennsylvania Ave 1600 Block" street sign and the episode ends.

Back in Oliver's office again, he and C.J. discuss the President's collapse a year ago (whhich we saw in the episode "He Shall, from Time to Time"). She didn't know that it was caused by MS at the time, but it seems pretty clearIn Mnow that it was. C.J. is pretty mad about the whole situation and tries to take it out on Oliver a little. He coaches her not to answer more than what is asked.

In the Roosevelt room, Sam is reading a draft of his speech to about a dozen aides. He says that they need to get back to fundamentals. There's a knock at the

door and Sam goes to talk to a couple of people. The CBO has issued a new estimate of the surplus, it's down, and it's going to be front page news. Apparently

the estimate going down is good, because it makes some political fights easier. Sam and the other two debate about some points in the speech, and then they

leave.

Back in Oliver's office again, he and C.J. discuss the President's collapse a year ago (whhich we saw in the episode "He Shall, from Time to Time"). She

didn't know that it was caused by MS at the time, but it seems pretty clearIn Mnow that it was. C.J. is pretty mad about the whole situation and tries to take

it out on Oliver a little. He coaches her not to answer more than what is asked.

In the White House mess, Toby is talking with Sam. They got good reviews on a commencement speech, and they discuss how they're the Batman and Robin of

speechwriting, and also the CBO projections. They walk-and-talk back to Toby's office. (One gets the impression that Toby was trying to tell Sam about the MS,

but couldn't quite bring himself to do it.)

Outside the Whtie House, Abbey arrives in a black limo. She heads to the Oval Office, attended by aides, and they talk business. She arives at the outer

office, greets Charlie, and goes on in. They tensely discuss the medical form, which Charlie realized was a problem, where they lied about the President's

health. Leo had started to talk to Abbey about it, but then realized that Jed hadn't told her yet. Jed tells Abbey that she needs to go see the White House

Counsel.

Josh is sitting by Margaret's desk. Leo comes in, asks if the First Ladyis back, and they go into his office. They briefly discuss the previous scene's topic,

and then turn to the tobacco lawsuit. Josh wants to give them more money, and Leo is reluctant to do so. Josh is going to the airport, and Leo tells him to

"do a job."

Sam goes into the Roosevelt room. He briefly discusses the CBO estimate with several members of Congress, and they turn to the Chicago speech; the Congressmen

want to add a line to it: "Our opponents want to help the rich pay for bigger swimming pools and faster private jets." Sam refuses, saying it's bad writing.

He then gives a longer reason, about how the rich really do pay their fair share.

At the airport, Josh greets Joey Lucas and her interpreter in the terminal. He takes Joey aside (away from her interpreter) and tells her about the MS

situation.

Abbey arrives at Babish's office. They talk a little, and then he asks her about the medical form. She's a bit testy. After a bit, she even accuses him of

wanting the publicity that would com with defending the President on TV. They then discuss the way that they will go public, and the scene ends with Oliver

saying,

Joey and Josh are still talking at the airport. They have a conversation similar to the one Oliver and Abbey just had. They turn back to the polling

questions, and Joey describes how to pull it off: make it a governor of an industrial state, like Michigan, and give him a degenerative illness. Her departing

flight is called, and they say goodbye.

In the exterior of the Oval, Donna and Charlie are talking about the NASA satellite situation. Donna leaves and bumps into Abbey, who then goes to C.J.'s

office. They talk about how C.J. was told the previous night. Toby had told her "I'll be here in my office when you're done," which he repeats to Sam later.

C.J. asks Abbey about an injection she saw her give Jed during the campaign, which was Betaseron, which reduces the frequency of MS attacks. C.J. repeats that

she asks the president "Is there anything else I need to know?" after a physical.

Josh goes into Leo's office and they discuss Joey's plan for the poll. They also discuss the big tobacco lawsuit. Leo goes into the Oval Office to tell him

about the poll.

In Sam's office, Toby is there and they discuss Sam's earlier meeting. Leo calls Sam to his office, and Toby says "I'll be here in the office when you're

done."

'''Act II'''

C.J. is waiting in the White House Council's office. Oliver Babish enters and questions her about whether anyone saw her. He then turns to the subject of th President's MS, asking her when she found out about it, which was last night. He asks her if she's ever lies about the President's health, she asks if she needs her lawyer, and Babish assures her that he is her lawyer. HE goes on to ask her some more hard questions, about the timeline and so on. They spar a bit, and he asks her again:

Cut to Leo' office. Leo's there with Josh and Toby. They want to do some polling about the MS, to see what to do next, and that they suggest getting Joey Lucas to do it. They also haven't told Sam about the MS yet, and they discuss when to do so. They are pretty nervous to do it, as Sam has been shown to be a little bit hot-headed.

The guy (Connelly) tells Josh that "the case" is running out of money. The case turns out to be the one against five tobacco companies. They need more, and it's a fight worth winning. Josh says he'll talk to Leo about it. Connelly leaves.

Josh and Toby leave. They both comment that they are having some trust issues at the moment. Toby splits away, and Donna approaches to tell Josh about the NASA satellite memo. They meet up with the man that Donna saw in the first scene and go into Josh's office.