Bartlet's Graveside Therapy Confession and Shareef's Menacing Intel
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Leo concludes a phone call and approaches Bartlet at Mrs. Landingham's grave, hinting at urgent news.
Bartlet confesses to seeing a therapist and reflects on the anniversary of Mrs. Landingham's death, revealing personal vulnerability.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Arrogant confidence in veiled retribution
Terror mastermind referenced via Leo's intel; his intercepted Bechar meeting with clerics yields translated threats of future attacks, shattering graveside peace and fueling Bartlet's resolve.
- • Coordinate jihadist vows through proxies
- • Intimidate American leadership indirectly
- • Failed bridge strike precedes greater victories
- • Divine assurance trumps enemy's perceived security
Somber empathy shadowed by quiet resolve
Stands silently beside Bartlet at the grave, holding vigil with flowers during the president's intimate confession to the headstone, witnesses Leo's interruption and intel delivery without speaking.
- • Provide unwavering presence for Bartlet's grief
- • Remain alert to shift toward crisis response
- • Bartlet's vulnerability strengthens their bond
- • Personal moments must bend to national security
Raw grief and embarrassment yielding to hardened determination
Stands holding flowers with Charlie at Mrs. Landingham's grave, vulnerably confesses insomnia therapy to grave and aide, lays flowers down, presses Leo twice for intel despite reluctance, reads Shareef's translated threat aloud with piercing focus, removes glasses decisively, enters limousine as motorcade departs.
- • Honor Mrs. Landingham through ritual mourning
- • Seize control of emerging terror threat
- • Duty overrides personal solace in crisis
- • Shareef's veiled promises demand immediate action
N/A (deceased, invoked in grief)
Deceased secretary whose grave becomes the focal point of Bartlet's anniversary mourning; receives flowers as tribute and serves as silent confidant for his therapy confession amid the living's pivot to peril.
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
Leo opens his notepad to reveal hurried translation of Shareef's cleric threats, scanned by three Arabic experts; Bartlet reads the coded vows aloud—'The enemy imagines he is secure...'—Leo clarifies phrasing, transforming scribbled intercept into catalyst for command pivot from grief.
Bartlet grips flowers tightly while confessing at the grave, then deliberately places them down as tribute before turning to Leo's intel; symbolizes fleeting personal ritual crushed by duty's inexorable pull.
Motorcade idles amid cemetery silence as group walks toward it post-intel; Bartlet wrenches limo door open, slides in with jaw set, triggering departure—engines roar, tires crunch gravel, sirens wail, yanking from sacred pause into crisis velocity.
Leo's phone captures urgent intel on Shareef's meeting during his lean against the limo; he concludes the call with 'I will do it again.' Thanks,' hangs up brutally, propelling the interruption of mourning with crisis immediacy, bridging cemetery hush to Oval Office peril.
Bartlet removes his glasses after reading the full threat translation, a ritual shedding vulnerability for unfiltered resolve; amplifies his shift from introspective mourner to steely leader entering the limo.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
Mrs. Landingham's grave anchors Bartlet's raw confession of therapy and disbelief at a year's passage; flowers laid here mark vulnerability's peak before Leo's approach and intel reading pivot the trio toward motorcade.
Bechar invoked as site of Shareef's intercepted cleric huddle, IR-laser spied from afar; its distant shadows birth the notepad threat read aloud, invading cemetery peace to underscore terror's global reach.
Arlington's solemn rows frame the motorcade's restrained thrum and graveside vigil; transforms private anniversary grief into public duty's threshold, where Leo's phone intel breaches mourning hush amid pale markers and distant honors.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Leo's early revelation of intercepted intelligence about Shareef's coded threats leads to the later bombshell that key evidence against Shareef is tainted by torture, invalidating legal options."
"Bartlet's grief over Mrs. Landingham's death mirrors Charlie's search for her successor, both highlighting the lingering absence of a beloved figure in the White House."
"Bartlet's graveside moment of personal vulnerability and therapy confession contrasts with his final, steely decision to authorize Shareef's assassination, underscoring his internal conflict between morality and pragmatism."
Themes This Exemplifies
Thematic resonance and meaning
Part of Larger Arcs
Key Dialogue
"BARTLET: "I've been seeing a shrink, by the way. I had trouble sleeping and Leo brought in a guy. I feel ridiculous talking out loud like this, but he said... Doesn't matter. I just can't believe it's been a year. Anyway.""
"LEO: "This isn't the place.""
"BARTLET: "'The enemy imagines he is secure. The bridge did not fall. He looks down from his high-- or elevated place or places-- but our great victory is still assured. There will be other moments.' [...] 'I have brought him low, and I will do it again.'""