Spam Time!
Jul. 19th, 2006 10:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
caz963Well, I didn’t do any ironing today because it was too effin’ hot (93 degrees!) but I did get a bit of time to myself to watch “Take This Sabbath Day.” But I’m gonna do the ironing spam anyway… rather than picpams, these tend to be “wordspams”! hee!
Unusually, this episode only really has an ‘A’ plot and a ‘B’ plot (normally there are 3!) – the real meat of the episode is Bartlet’s dilemma over whether to commute a death sentence, and the subplot is “hungover Josh meets Joey Lucas” – which of course gives us a wonderful comedic performance by Brad – who somehow manages to make looking like total crap cute! (Yes – I’m a hopeless case *g*!)
It’s Friday night and Sam’s going sailing – “Stay in the boat this time, and I’m a happy guy” – so asks Josh to meet with Joey Lucas (who they assume is a man) the next morning. Josh, who’s heading out to a bachelor party, to Donna’s scepticism and disapproval, isn’t pleased and tells Donna she has to come to work too.
JOSH
I'm out of here.
DONNA
You've got to see Sam.
Josh turns back and walks the other way. Donna joins him into the HALLWAY.
JOSH
I'm seeing Sam, and then I'm out of here.
DONNA
Are you going to behave yourself tonight?
JOSH
It's a bachelor party.
DONNA
I'm saying...
JOSH
I can hold my liquor.
DONNA
No you can't.
JOSH
I can drink with the best of them.
DONNA
You can't drink with any of them, Josh.
JOSH
I'm in politics, okay. I can drink.
DONNA
You have a very sensitive system.
JOSH
I wish you'd stop telling people that. It makes me sound like an idiot.
DONNA
You're gonna have two drinks and spend the rest of the weekend sleeping it off.
JOSH
And this is the first time in a long time I've had the opportunity to spend the weekend doing anything but working, is my point.
DONNA
Are there going to be strippers?
JOSH
Nah.
DONNA
Really?
JOSH
Yeah.
DONNA
Tell me the truth.
JOSH
There aren't going to be strippers there. Men don't like that anymore.
DONNA
Men don't like naked women anymore?
JOSH
No, we still like naked women a lot. It's looking at them in a room full of your best friends that makes you feel a little...
DONNA
Sleazy?
JOSH
Uncomfortable.
She seems to cheer up a bit after he offers to take her shopping and buy her some shoes…
(hands up ANYone whose boss has done that? Thought not!) Wonder if she ever got them…
I love Sam’s antics as he’s trying to “cut the cord” – puts down his phone and pager… picks them up again… can’t leave the ringing phone. Oh, Sam – don’t you realise there’s NO WAY you’re going to get out of the office for the weekend now??
The call is from the lawyers for Simon Cruz, the guy on death row whose execution is scheduled for midnight Sunday.
Bartlet has just returned from a trip to Norway – with CJ in tow, who has clearly had it up to HERE …
BARTLET
C.J., look...
C.J.
Don't start with me, Mr. President.
BARTLET
I was helping pass the time. I was being entertaining as well as instructive.
C.J.
I'm back in America now, I have rights. I'm no longer belted down next to the passenger from hell.
LEO
[walks up] Welcome back, Mr. President.
BARTLET
Leo! What're you doing here?
LEO
I needed a minute, sir. How was the flight?
C.J.
It was --
BARTLET
Great!
C.J.
-- gruesome. 'If you'll look out the left side of the cabin, you'll see the fjords.' Then we got a history of the fjords. Then we got a quiz on the fjords.
[to Bartlet] Do you have any idea how much I would like to dress you up in lederhosen and drop kick you into the fjords right now?
BARTLET
Aww. You don't know how to have fun when we're traveling...
Meanwhile, Donna has discovered Josh asleep in his office smelling like he “slept in a dumpster” (one of Mandy’s better lines!). We can probably all quote this scene verbatim, but what the hell…
(The expressions on Donna’s face are priceless!)
DONNA
Did you spend the night here?
JOSH
No. Just since a couple of hours ago.
DONNA
The party went to morning?
JOSH
Yup.
DONNA
Why didn't you go home?
JOSH
What?
DONNA
Why didn't you go home after the party?
JOSH
I couldn't find my keys, or remember where I lived. [pulls the panties off over his head]
DONNA
Josh.
JOSH
I think there might have been strippers there. [gets up]
DONNA
[yells] Oh my God!
Josh shushes her.
DONNA
What happened to your clothes?
JOSH
I may have wrinkled my suit.
DONNA
Josh!
JOSH
Donna. You... You really want to speak very softly.
DONNA
How did you get like this?
JOSH
People were pouring champagne over each other.
DONNA
And then wrestling in dirt?
JOSH
I can't remember, but it's certainly not out of the question.
DONNA
You have a meeting.
JOSH
Yeah, I know. I'm not, you know. Uh... what was the meeting again?
DONNA
Joey Lucas about O'Dwyer.
JOSH
Yes. [puts on his suit jacket.]
DONNA
Josh.
JOSH
I'm fine.
DONNA
You can't wear those clothes. [holds her nose]
JOSH
I'm fine.
DONNA
Trust me.
JOSH
They're the only clothes I got.
DONNA
I'll find some other clothes.
JOSH
Fine. [sits in his chair as Donna starts to leave]
DONNA
Are you going to listen to me from now on?
JOSH
[under breath] I'm not even listening to you now.
DONNA
[shouts] I said, are you going to listen...
JOSH
Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.
*headdesk*
Of course, being Josh, he can’t have the good luck to have been able to get himself cleaned up before Joey arrives… he also has appalling timing, telling her there’s no way she can possibly get to see the President, when guess who turns up at Josh’s office door? Oh, Josh!.
Bartlet is now wondering how on earth he can commute the death sentence – which is of course what he wants to do. He knows that the majority of the people are in favour of the death penalty for murderers, but he doesn’t believe in capital punishment on the one hand, but on the other doesn’t see how he can commute this sentence and then not others, because it’s bound to happen again. Eventually, he accepts the political reality – that he has to allow the sentence to be carried out – but he can’t reconcile what he has to do with his personal and religious beliefs.
Earlier, he’s spoken to Charlie about what he’d want to happen if the person who killed his mother was caught and brought to justice:
BARTLET
I'm gonna ask you a question. And this is one of those times that it's okay to tell me I've stepped over the line, and I should shut my mouth, okay?
CHARLIE
Okay.
BARTLET
What happened to the guy who shot your mother?
CHARLIE
They haven't found him yet sir.
BARTLET
If they did, would you wanna see him executed?
Charlie just looks at him.
BARTLET
Killing a police officer's a capital crime. I figured you must have thought about it.
CHARLIE
Yes sir.
BARTLET
And?
CHARLIE
I wouldn't want to see him executed, Mr. President --
Bartlet nods.
CHARLIE
-- I'd wanna do it myself.
BARTLET
[looks thoughtful] Yeah.
and then asks him to bring his priest, Thomas Cavanaugh, to DC. The scene at the end is quite powerful, as Cavanaugh tells Bartlet that he really has no excuse NOT to have stayed the execution:
FATHER CAVANAUGH
You know, you remind me of the man that lived by the river. He heard a radio report that the river was going to rush up and flood the town. And that all the residents should evacuate their homes. But the man said, 'I'm religious. I pray. God loves me. God will save me.' The waters rose up. A guy in a row boat came along and he shouted,
'Hey, hey you! You in there. The town is flooding. Let me take you to safety.'
But the man shouted back, 'I'm religious. I pray. God loves me. God will save me.'
A helicopter was hovering overhead. And a guy with a megaphone shouted, 'Hey you, you down there. The town is flooding. Let me drop this ladder and I'll take you to safety.'
But the man shouted back that he was religious, that he prayed, that God loved him and that God will take him to safety. Well... the man drowned. And standing at the gates of St. Peter, he demanded an audience with God. 'Lord,' he said, 'I'm a religious man, I pray. I thought you loved me. Why did this happen?' God said, 'I sent you
a radio report, a helicopter, and a guy in a rowboat. What the hell are you doing here?'
He pauses. Bartlet looks very upset.
FATHER CAVANAUGH
He sent you a priest, a rabbi, and a Quaker, Mr. President. Not to mention his son, Jesus Christ. What do you want from him?
then offers to hear his confessiom when the news that the execution has been carried out arrives.
Oh, the nostalgia… *sniff* this show was just SO. DAMN. GOOD!
OK, so I couldn’t help myself… he cleans up nice! *thud!*
Unusually, this episode only really has an ‘A’ plot and a ‘B’ plot (normally there are 3!) – the real meat of the episode is Bartlet’s dilemma over whether to commute a death sentence, and the subplot is “hungover Josh meets Joey Lucas” – which of course gives us a wonderful comedic performance by Brad – who somehow manages to make looking like total crap cute! (Yes – I’m a hopeless case *g*!)
It’s Friday night and Sam’s going sailing – “Stay in the boat this time, and I’m a happy guy” – so asks Josh to meet with Joey Lucas (who they assume is a man) the next morning. Josh, who’s heading out to a bachelor party, to Donna’s scepticism and disapproval, isn’t pleased and tells Donna she has to come to work too.
JOSH
I'm out of here.
DONNA
You've got to see Sam.
Josh turns back and walks the other way. Donna joins him into the HALLWAY.
JOSH
I'm seeing Sam, and then I'm out of here.
DONNA
Are you going to behave yourself tonight?
JOSH
It's a bachelor party.
DONNA
I'm saying...
JOSH
I can hold my liquor.
DONNA
No you can't.
JOSH
I can drink with the best of them.
DONNA
You can't drink with any of them, Josh.
JOSH
I'm in politics, okay. I can drink.
DONNA
You have a very sensitive system.
JOSH
I wish you'd stop telling people that. It makes me sound like an idiot.
DONNA
You're gonna have two drinks and spend the rest of the weekend sleeping it off.
JOSH
And this is the first time in a long time I've had the opportunity to spend the weekend doing anything but working, is my point.
DONNA
Are there going to be strippers?
JOSH
Nah.
DONNA
Really?
JOSH
Yeah.
DONNA
Tell me the truth.
JOSH
There aren't going to be strippers there. Men don't like that anymore.
DONNA
Men don't like naked women anymore?
JOSH
No, we still like naked women a lot. It's looking at them in a room full of your best friends that makes you feel a little...
DONNA
Sleazy?
JOSH
Uncomfortable.
She seems to cheer up a bit after he offers to take her shopping and buy her some shoes…
(hands up ANYone whose boss has done that? Thought not!) Wonder if she ever got them… I love Sam’s antics as he’s trying to “cut the cord” – puts down his phone and pager… picks them up again… can’t leave the ringing phone. Oh, Sam – don’t you realise there’s NO WAY you’re going to get out of the office for the weekend now??
The call is from the lawyers for Simon Cruz, the guy on death row whose execution is scheduled for midnight Sunday.
Bartlet has just returned from a trip to Norway – with CJ in tow, who has clearly had it up to HERE …
BARTLET
C.J., look...
C.J.
Don't start with me, Mr. President.
BARTLET
I was helping pass the time. I was being entertaining as well as instructive.
C.J.
I'm back in America now, I have rights. I'm no longer belted down next to the passenger from hell.
LEO
[walks up] Welcome back, Mr. President.
BARTLET
Leo! What're you doing here?
LEO
I needed a minute, sir. How was the flight?
C.J.
It was --
BARTLET
Great!
C.J.
-- gruesome. 'If you'll look out the left side of the cabin, you'll see the fjords.' Then we got a history of the fjords. Then we got a quiz on the fjords.
[to Bartlet] Do you have any idea how much I would like to dress you up in lederhosen and drop kick you into the fjords right now?
BARTLET
Aww. You don't know how to have fun when we're traveling...
Meanwhile, Donna has discovered Josh asleep in his office smelling like he “slept in a dumpster” (one of Mandy’s better lines!). We can probably all quote this scene verbatim, but what the hell…
(The expressions on Donna’s face are priceless!)
DONNA
Did you spend the night here?
JOSH
No. Just since a couple of hours ago.
DONNA
The party went to morning?
JOSH
Yup.
DONNA
Why didn't you go home?
JOSH
What?
DONNA
Why didn't you go home after the party?
JOSH
I couldn't find my keys, or remember where I lived. [pulls the panties off over his head]
DONNA
Josh.
JOSH
I think there might have been strippers there. [gets up]
DONNA
[yells] Oh my God!
Josh shushes her.
DONNA
What happened to your clothes?
JOSH
I may have wrinkled my suit.
DONNA
Josh!
JOSH
Donna. You... You really want to speak very softly.
DONNA
How did you get like this?
JOSH
People were pouring champagne over each other.
DONNA
And then wrestling in dirt?
JOSH
I can't remember, but it's certainly not out of the question.
DONNA
You have a meeting.
JOSH
Yeah, I know. I'm not, you know. Uh... what was the meeting again?
DONNA
Joey Lucas about O'Dwyer.
JOSH
Yes. [puts on his suit jacket.]
DONNA
Josh.
JOSH
I'm fine.
DONNA
You can't wear those clothes. [holds her nose]
JOSH
I'm fine.
DONNA
Trust me.
JOSH
They're the only clothes I got.
DONNA
I'll find some other clothes.
JOSH
Fine. [sits in his chair as Donna starts to leave]
DONNA
Are you going to listen to me from now on?
JOSH
[under breath] I'm not even listening to you now.
DONNA
[shouts] I said, are you going to listen...
JOSH
Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.
*headdesk*
Of course, being Josh, he can’t have the good luck to have been able to get himself cleaned up before Joey arrives… he also has appalling timing, telling her there’s no way she can possibly get to see the President, when guess who turns up at Josh’s office door? Oh, Josh!.
Bartlet is now wondering how on earth he can commute the death sentence – which is of course what he wants to do. He knows that the majority of the people are in favour of the death penalty for murderers, but he doesn’t believe in capital punishment on the one hand, but on the other doesn’t see how he can commute this sentence and then not others, because it’s bound to happen again. Eventually, he accepts the political reality – that he has to allow the sentence to be carried out – but he can’t reconcile what he has to do with his personal and religious beliefs.
Earlier, he’s spoken to Charlie about what he’d want to happen if the person who killed his mother was caught and brought to justice:
BARTLET
I'm gonna ask you a question. And this is one of those times that it's okay to tell me I've stepped over the line, and I should shut my mouth, okay?
CHARLIE
Okay.
BARTLET
What happened to the guy who shot your mother?
CHARLIE
They haven't found him yet sir.
BARTLET
If they did, would you wanna see him executed?
Charlie just looks at him.
BARTLET
Killing a police officer's a capital crime. I figured you must have thought about it.
CHARLIE
Yes sir.
BARTLET
And?
CHARLIE
I wouldn't want to see him executed, Mr. President --
Bartlet nods.
CHARLIE
-- I'd wanna do it myself.
BARTLET
[looks thoughtful] Yeah.
and then asks him to bring his priest, Thomas Cavanaugh, to DC. The scene at the end is quite powerful, as Cavanaugh tells Bartlet that he really has no excuse NOT to have stayed the execution:
FATHER CAVANAUGH
You know, you remind me of the man that lived by the river. He heard a radio report that the river was going to rush up and flood the town. And that all the residents should evacuate their homes. But the man said, 'I'm religious. I pray. God loves me. God will save me.' The waters rose up. A guy in a row boat came along and he shouted,
'Hey, hey you! You in there. The town is flooding. Let me take you to safety.'
But the man shouted back, 'I'm religious. I pray. God loves me. God will save me.'
A helicopter was hovering overhead. And a guy with a megaphone shouted, 'Hey you, you down there. The town is flooding. Let me drop this ladder and I'll take you to safety.'
But the man shouted back that he was religious, that he prayed, that God loved him and that God will take him to safety. Well... the man drowned. And standing at the gates of St. Peter, he demanded an audience with God. 'Lord,' he said, 'I'm a religious man, I pray. I thought you loved me. Why did this happen?' God said, 'I sent you
a radio report, a helicopter, and a guy in a rowboat. What the hell are you doing here?'
He pauses. Bartlet looks very upset.
FATHER CAVANAUGH
He sent you a priest, a rabbi, and a Quaker, Mr. President. Not to mention his son, Jesus Christ. What do you want from him?
then offers to hear his confessiom when the news that the execution has been carried out arrives.
Oh, the nostalgia… *sniff* this show was just SO. DAMN. GOOD!
OK, so I couldn’t help myself… he cleans up nice! *thud!*
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-07-19 09:46 pm (UTC)It was, it really was. I'm nearly at the end of my rewatch of Season 1 now and it's been a pure joy. The dialogue and the acting are fantastic, but also what is so striking is the way that an episode like this one can combine the hilarity of drunk!Josh with the seriousness of the President and his priest at the end. Classic stuff.
no subject
Date: 2006-07-19 10:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-07-20 12:32 am (UTC)My friend (the WW newbie) loved the bit with the coffee. She made me rewind and play it back. She just loved how the coffee just spilled out of his mouth. Some how despite the nastiness he is still desirable.
no subject
Date: 2006-07-25 09:54 pm (UTC)Sadly, yes... do we need medical help?
no subject
Date: 2006-07-25 11:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-07-25 11:41 pm (UTC)And the long sleeves... I guess there are worse things than being driven insane with lust!
no subject
Date: 2006-07-20 12:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-07-20 02:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-07-20 02:18 am (UTC)Hmm. Must watch more S1+2 tomorrow. <3.
no subject
Date: 2006-07-20 05:31 am (UTC)And I think Josh is an adorable drunk too! ;-) (But damn, yes, indeedy, he does clean up VERY well...)
Some of my favorite lines ever are in this ep- CJ's 'dress you up in leiderhosen and drop kick you into a fjord' and Josh and Donna's exchange on how men don't like naked women anymore and Charlie and Bartlet's little conversation and Fr. Thomas' little parable... Love it all!!