The Black Vera Wang
White House staff reels from a leaked opposition attack ad hinting at Bartlet's MS secret while thwarting a terrorist plot targeting D.C., as C.J. battles her protective Secret Service detail and dons a black Vera Wang gown that draws a deadly stalker's threat.
Sam Seaborn bursts back into the White House communications bullpen, fresh from Helsinki, clutching a mysterious envelope marked 'personal.' Ginger hands it over with a wink—porn? Inside lurks an opposition attack ad shredding President Bartlet's honor, morality, truth, ripping his face in two, slamming his refusal to sign a clean campaign pledge. No sender, no return address. Sam races it to C.J.'s office, where her new Secret Service shadow, Simon Donovan, brandishes her Mustang's spark plug like a trophy, thwarting her wind-in-hair escape. The ad ignites panic: stolen goods? FBI bait? Bruno Gianelli snarls it's Ritchie's drawer weapon, aimed at Bartlet's concealed MS. Sam pushes to confront Kevin Kahn, Ritchie's campaign emissary, despite unanimous 'no's—trust no one across the aisle.
Dawn cracks over hallways alive with post-trip banter. Donna Moss squeals at Josh Lyman's crate of sauna-soaked moose meat, a Finnish folly now spiking to $180 on eBay via rogue intern. Josh fumes, Donna defends the unpaid grunts fueling public service's decline. Toby Ziegler clashes with media directors in the Roosevelt Room, their threat to slash convention coverage to bare acceptance speeches and balloons slicing like a trapdoor under losers. Toby erupts—public airwaves demand full spectacle, not infomercial skimps. He dangles antitrust threats, Justice Department shadows looming over joint non-competition.
Situation Room pulses with dread. Joint Chiefs brief Bartlet: Bahji cells chatter of strikes on Bahrain, Kuwait, Incirlik—Force Protection Delta locks down bases, carriers hug harbors. Intercepts swell the target list to Dover, Fort Myer, the White House itself. Leo McGarry steels Bartlet for bunker descent, combat air patrols over D.C., shoot-down orders on unidentified craft. Bartlet digs in—no coward's hole, even as raids unearth blueprints of National Archives vents, guard counts. Qumari Defense Minister Abdul Shareef's name surfaces in Chechen whispers, Helsinki's fragile peace fracturing.
C.J. endures Simon's unblinking vigilance, her '65 Mustang gutted of battery, fuel pump, soul. Lunch shopping with niece Hogan at Barney's turns tense: Simon scans coats in May heat, recounts Rosslyn gunfire, his hands forever free. C.J. slips into black silk Vera Wang couture, twirling unwittingly into a stalker's crosshairs. Email awaits: 'You should wear it... because you're going to be dead soon.' Simon slams fist on desk, rage exploding.
Sam lunches with Kahn at Charlie's, floats monthly emissary meets, shares the tape. Kahn feigns surprise—'We've seen it.' Betrayal erupts: press blasts Sam's pledge push, ad loops free on every channel. Bruno eviscerates: 'You got played.' Rain-lashed confrontation outside Kahn's Dupont Towers—Sam shoves, old open-mic wounds fester, Ritchie's humiliation fueling deceit. All warfare deceives.
Terror crests then crashes. Coast Guard seizes ammonium nitrate off Oakland, ammonium nitrate aimed at Fort Point's Golden Gate cables—not on lists, but surgically placed. Russians confirm Shareef's hand; diplomatic fury brews for his U.S. visit. Bartlet stands firm—no Marine One, no bunker, resignation threat holstered like a last resort.
Threads tangle in White House frenzy: assistants muzzle salary gripes, Bruno woos Iowa captains, Toby secures media capitulation. Donna wrangles intern Bruce for $210 moose restitution. C.J. corrects Simon on Hogan's Junior Prom, flinching at aunt-age self-consciousness. Yet peril shadows elegance—the black Vera Wang seals her fate in anonymous venom. Staff hurtles through deception's maze, terror's shadow, campaign knives—honor tested, lives teetering, White House unbreakable under fire.
Events in This Episode
The narrative beats that drive the story
Sam Seaborn bursts into the White House, clutching a mysterious opposition attack ad that viciously tears at President Bartlet's integrity, hinting at his concealed MS. Simultaneously, C.J. Cregg clashes with her new Secret Service detail, Simon Donovan, whose protective measures extend to disabling her beloved Mustang, trapping her in a web of constant vigilance. The senior staff reels from the ad's implications, Bruno Gianelli immediately diagnosing it as a weapon aimed at Bartlet's MS secret. Sam, ever the idealist, pushes for a direct confrontation with Ritchie's campaign, a move met with unanimous opposition and distrust. Meanwhile, Toby Ziegler battles media executives threatening to gut convention coverage, fighting for the public's right to full political spectacle. A more sinister shadow falls as the Joint Chiefs brief President Bartlet on an imminent terrorist attack targeting U.S. military installations, escalating the stakes beyond political maneuvering to national security. The White House braces for unseen enemies, both political and existential, as the initial shockwaves of multiple crises ripple through its hallowed halls.
Outside C.J.'s office, C.J. explodes in frustration at Simon's incessant shadowing since Finland, demanding to drive her cherished '65 Mustang home alone for a taste of freedom. Simon calmly reveals …
Amid C.J.'s frustrated standoff with Simon over her disabled car, Sam urgently interrupts outside her office, clutching an anonymously mailed videotape of a vicious opposition ad. He plays it inside: …
Striding down the White House hallway toward the Situation Room, President Bartlet and Leo McGarry share a lighthearted banter about a 'War of the Roses' charity event reenacting Plantagenet history. …
Transitioning from hallway banter, President Bartlet enters the Situation Room where Fitzwallace delivers a dire briefing on a credible Bahji cell threat—via NSA-monitored Syrian websites, Kazakh advisors, and Russian intel—to …
Toby Ziegler intensifies his verbal war with the media directors, refusing to yield the public airwaves to their infomercial demands, while C.J. endures Simon Donovan's relentless, almost suffocating protection during a shopping trip with her niece, Hogan. Simon's unsettling vigilance, born from past trauma, casts a long shadow over C.J.'s personal life, even as she grapples with her own self-consciousness about aging. Josh Lyman discovers his Finnish moose meat, a quirky souvenir, has landed on eBay via a rogue intern, sparking a debate with Donna Moss about the value of unpaid public service. Sam Seaborn, despite warnings, initiates a lunch with Kevin Kahn, Ritchie's campaign emissary, hoping to foster civility, unaware of the trap being laid. The terror threat escalates dramatically, the target list expanding to include Dover, Fort Myer, and chillingly, the White House itself. President Bartlet, defiant, refuses to retreat to the bunker, his resolve unyielding even as the threat tightens its grip, hinting at a deeper, more insidious conspiracy involving Abdul Shareef. The pressure mounts, exposing vulnerabilities across the political, personal, and national security fronts.
C.J. enters her office ribbing Simon about her embarrassing 'Flamingo' Secret Service code name and announces a lunch shopping trip for niece Hogan's Junior Prom dress. Simon lays out rigid …
Immediately after Simon departs, C.J. vulnerably unpacks her awkward insistence on correcting him about 'Junior Prom' versus 'Prom' with assistant Carol, exposing raw fears of seeming 'old enough to be …
In the Communications Office, Margaret and Donna preside over White House assistants, revealing the Washington Times' impending publication of leaked salary lists from congressional subcommittees, courtesy of opposition sabotage. Margaret …
As Donna exits the assistants' salary leak meeting, Josh intercepts her, eagerly asking if she tried his gifted Finnish moose meat. Stunned, he reveals it's auctioned on eBay for $180 …
As Sam enters the Communications Office amid the White House's reeling from the leaked attack ad, Ginger relays messages including a fresh call from Kevin Kahn, Ritchie's emissary. Sensing opportunity …
Bruno banters awkwardly with Margaret, misnaming her before handing her a mysterious gift box (a personalized necklace). Entering Leo's office, the shrewd strategist pushes for Iowa political appointments, invoking Andrew …
Bruno arrives at Leo's reception, engaging Margaret in playful banter—mistaking her name as Stacey, joking about a prior 'Margaret,' and teasing a hair change—before handing her a small box with …
Donna Moss confronts intern Bruce, forcing him to return the eBay profits from the moose meat, underscoring the White House's strict ethical boundaries. Bruno Gianelli unleashes a furious tirade on C.J. and Sam, revealing Sam's lunch with Kevin Kahn was a calculated leak, weaponizing the clean campaign pledge against Bartlet. Toby Ziegler, seizing on the media directors' collusion, leverages antitrust threats from the Justice Department to force their full convention coverage, a strategic victory in the battle for public attention. A rain-soaked confrontation erupts between Sam and Kahn, old wounds from an open mic incident fueling Kahn's calculated betrayal, proving Bruno's axiom: all warfare deceives. The immediate terror threat culminates as the Coast Guard intercepts ammonium nitrate off Oakland, intended for the Golden Gate Bridge, not D.C. The Russians confirm Abdul Shareef's direct involvement in the plot, transforming a national security crisis into a diplomatic powder keg. As the White House staff grapples with the fallout, a chilling email arrives for C.J., a death threat explicitly mentioning her black Vera Wang gown, plunging her into a new, deeply personal terror, leaving Simon Donovan to slam his fist in a violent surge of protective rage.
In her office at night, C.J. dismisses assistant Jamie to confront Secret Service agent Simon privately about his cryptic earlier talk with her niece Hogan. Simon reveals he served on …
After C.J. departs her office following their brief exchange, Simon lingers at her desk and checks her email. He opens a message titled 'Vera Wang,' revealing a stalker's eerie surveillance: …