Toby's Obsessive Ball Ritual and Leo Confrontation
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
The sound of Toby's rubber ball hitting the wall echoes once more, signaling his return to restless contemplation and the unresolved mystery.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Perceived as aggressively opportunistic
Absent but centrally invoked in Toby's obsessive rituals and direct confrontation dialogue as egomaniac polling Big Oil, sparking suspicions of 2002 ticket maneuvering against Bartlet.
- • Gauge public support via polls for future positioning
- • Publicly distance from administration vulnerabilities
- • Personal polling validates his political viability
- • Bartlet's weaknesses create ticket opportunities
Obsessively frustrated with mounting suspicion and stonewalled urgency
Throws rubber ball against wall, pauses at TV report, crumples legal pad sheets into wastebasket over nights, types furiously on laptop before bursting into Leo's office late-night; probes suspiciously on Hoynes' Big Oil attack and 2002 ticket rumors, sighs in frustration, retreats with ball-thuds resuming.
- • Extract confirmation on Hoynes' 2002 ticket ambitions
- • Decode Big Oil polling as betrayal signal
- • Hoynes' actions mask a challenge to Bartlet's re-election
- • Leo knows more than he's revealing about internal discussions
Measured alarm at public health crisis
Broadcast voice on Toby's TV, urgently citing autism's one-in-500 prevalence and funding neglect, halting Toby's ball-throwing and injecting prescient disease foreshadowing into his unraveling night.
- • Highlight autism epidemic scale
- • Press for increased funding awareness
- • Disease prevalence demands urgent policy response
- • Institutional neglect exacerbates family suffering
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
Toby rips fresh yellow legal pad sheets, scribbles theories on Hoynes, then crumples them in defeat two nights after TV report, hurling into wastebasket as visceral evidence of investigative dead-ends fueling his turmoil toward Leo confrontation.
Already brimming with prior crumpled failures in Toby's corner, it receives heavy sighs and new salvos of balled legal sheets two nights post-TV, sagging under avalanche symbolizing escalating obsession before laptop surge and Leo probe.
Glowing on desk two nights after wastebasket ritual, Toby stabs keys in frantic research on Hoynes' polls; freezes mid-keystroke, screen abandoned as he surges to Leo's denial, embodying digital trail to interpersonal clash.
Positioned on Toby's desk, it broadcasts the Autism Expert's stark report on a disease afflicting one in 500—mirroring MS prevalence—interrupting Toby's ball ritual with thematic foreshadowing, yanking his obsession into stunned pause amid crumpling papers and laptop frenzy.
Organizations Involved
Institutional presence and influence
Invoked in Toby's probing dialogue as target of Hoynes' uncharacteristic 'slap down' via volunteered polling critique, catalyzing suspicions of VP's 2002 ticket maneuvers amid Bartlet re-election paranoia, framing corporate power as political lightning rod.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"The unresolved tension in both scenes is echoed by the sound of Toby's rubber ball hitting the wall."
"Toby's initial confrontation with Leo about Hoynes' actions leads to his more direct accusation about Hoynes challenging Bartlet."
"Toby's restless energy and obsessive behavior are consistently shown through his repeated action of throwing the rubber ball against the wall."
"Leo's discomfort and deflection in both scenes indicate his unease about Toby's probing into Hoynes' actions."
"The sound of Toby's rubber ball hitting the wall symbolizes his unresolved tension and obsession, which escalates as he decodes Hoynes' political moves."
"The sound of Toby's rubber ball hitting the wall symbolizes his unresolved tension and obsession, which escalates as he decodes Hoynes' political moves."
"The sound of Toby's rubber ball hitting the wall symbolizes his unresolved tension and obsession, which escalates as he decodes Hoynes' political moves."
Key Dialogue
"TOBY: (comes closer) Leo, has there been a discussion in some room, some place, anywhere on any level about Hoynes being dropped from the ticket in 2002? LEO: No."
"TOBY: You sure? LEO: Yep."
"LEO: No, Toby, I wouldn't give it a lot of thought. TOBY: (walks out) Okay."