Bartlet Grants Barrie Meet the Press Freedom and Rushes to Abbey
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Bartlet grants General Barrie permission to speak freely on Meet the Press, honoring the veteran's combat service despite political disagreements.
Bartlet eagerly dismisses C.J. to finally reunite with Abbey after resolving official business.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Playfully affectionate with seductive intent
Watches Bartlet's address approvingly from across the room, offers warm praise, engages in playful coded flirtation about 'sweet knees' and urges him upstairs twice, exits coyly invoking a 'special garment' after failed interruption block.
- • Secure intimate time with Bartlet post-duty
- • Deflect CJ's intrusion to preserve their moment
- • Jed merits personal respite after public service
- • Their marriage thrives on stolen intimacies
Calmly procedural
Stands at technical station, crisply announcing the radio address conclusion with 'We're out,' efficiently wrapping the broadcast amid the room's shift to personal banter.
- • Finalize the recording session flawlessly
- • Signal readiness for post-broadcast activities
- • Technical precision ensures institutional reliability
- • Presidential addresses demand seamless execution
triumphant, flirtatious, and authoritative
delivering triumphant radio address on overlooked women in history, engaging in flirtatious banter with Abbey, overruling C.J. to grant Ed Barrie Meet the Press freedom honoring his Vietnam service, then rushing to leave for personal time
- • reconnect intimately with Abbey
- • honor General Ed Barrie's Vietnam service by allowing his unfiltered Meet the Press appearance as political resolution to C.J.'s prior confrontation
Empowered by presidential reprieve (inferred)
Absent but pivotally invoked by CJ's query and Bartlet's monologue, positioned as the freed critic whose Vietnam valor earns unfiltered airtime despite administration tensions.
- • Voice unvarnished critiques publicly
- • Leverage service for platform access
- • Military honor outweighs political loyalty
- • Personal experience justifies bold speech
Urgently concerned yet swiftly adaptive
Enters the Oval purposefully, acknowledges Abbey's deflection but presses on with Barrie concerns, seeks presidential guidance, accepts the override decision crisply with 'Yes, sir,' confirming no further issues before Bartlet departs.
- • Resolve the Barrie media crisis decisively
- • Align staff response with presidential directive
- • Presidential authority supersedes staff strategy
- • Veterans' sacrifices demand respect despite disagreements
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
Serves as the conduit for Bartlet's just-concluded radio paean to women like Ellen Swallow Richards and Maria Mitchell, now silenced post-'We're out,' its grille lingers as a symbol of public duty yielding to private flirtation and snap judgment on Barrie.
Organizations Involved
Institutional presence and influence
Emerges as the redemptive platform Bartlet greenlights for Barrie, overriding CJ's containment amid Vietnam homage—transforms ambush risk into valor showcase, underscoring media's role in civil-military dialogue.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Abbey's discussion of Nellie Bly directly inspires Bartlet's radio address about overlooked women in history, linking personal conversation to public action."
"Abbey's discussion of Nellie Bly directly inspires Bartlet's radio address about overlooked women in history, linking personal conversation to public action."
"C.J.'s exposure of Barrie's stolen medal leads to Bartlet granting him leniency on Meet the Press, showing the aftermath of her confrontation."
Key Dialogue
"BARTLET: Go ahead and let him out of the box. Say what you want about Barrie, and I could say plenty, but the man was the first one in and the last one out of a war that I didn't want anything to do with. Man's earned the right to say whatever he wants. Let him out of the box, would you?"
"C.J.: Yes, sir."
"BARTLET: I'm outta here."