Translation Farce and Diplomatic Rebuke
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Toby initiates a multi-layered translation chain with Gomez and Minaldi, attempting to communicate with Indonesian diplomat Bambang.
Josh arrives late, adding to the confusion with more mistranslated pleasantries.
Bambang reveals he speaks English, humiliating the staff who'd constructed an elaborate translation system.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Clinically polite and attentive; slightly amused by the delay, but professional when the encounter turns confrontational.
Minaldi acts as the formal translator, converting Gomez's Batak/Portuguese into English for Toby and others; his precise translations expose the lag and comedy of the chain until Bambang rejects the artifice.
- • ensure accurate, face-saving translation
- • preserve diplomatic protocol in language mediation
- • translation is both technical and political
- • clear language reduces misunderstandings
Righteously offended and steadily controlled; his anger is principled rather than performative.
Bambang refuses the language charade by insisting on English, then rebukes the U.S. for humiliating his President; he rejects Toby's personal favor request and exits, converting embarrassment into formal refusal and diplomatic rupture.
- • defend his President's honor and national dignity
- • avoid being drawn into clandestine or humiliating favors
- • diplomatic face and national pride override personal requests
- • public humiliation cannot be undone by private concessions
Calm, professional; removed from the political stakes though slightly embarrassed by the circuitous translation.
Gomez functions as the first node in the chain, answering in Batak and Portuguese and literally embodying the linguistic bridge; he stands with quiet competence before being ushered out when the conversation turns strictly diplomatic.
- • accurately convey language as requested
- • maintain decorum and complete his work without causing offense
- • language fidelity matters in diplomacy
- • his role is to facilitate, not adjudicate politics
Flushed with righteous urgency that collapses into mortified shock and helplessness when the request is refused publicly.
Toby engineers the ad-hoc translation chain, shepherds the conversation toward a private ask, and then delivers a personal plea for his detained friend; when rebuked he is physically rooted, stunned, and momentarily unable to regroup.
- • secure the immediate release and transfer of his detained French friend
- • avoid public diplomatic spectacle while achieving a discreet favor
- • personal loyalty can and should override bureaucratic procedure
- • moral appeals grounded in human-rights language will persuade foreign officials
Uneasy and apologetic about prior mistakes (the salmon/toast), then quickly pragmatic when the diplomatic rebuke escalates.
Josh arrives late, offers halting small talk that the translation chain awkwardly relays, and then retreats to the sidelines; his arrival increases the social comedy and dilutes the privacy Toby had sought.
- • manage political fallout from the President's toast
- • support Toby where possible and mitigate damage
- • optics are politically consequential
- • quick, pragmatic action can limit long-term harm
Defensive pride turning to discreet retreat as the situation becomes tense and Toby's plea escalates beyond her remit.
Donna provides logistical support and social cushioning—briefly interjecting polite remarks, attempting to manage appearances, and then exits when the conversation shifts into a formal diplomatic exchange.
- • shield Toby and the staff from unnecessary embarrassment
- • preserve the White House's operational smoothness during the state dinner
- • appearance and protocol matter in high-stakes hospitality
- • her job is to contain messes before they become public crises
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
The state dinner salmon is briefly referenced in conversation ('I didn't like the salmon'), acting as a piece of small talk that becomes comic evidence of translation lag — a mundane prop that punctuates how dislocated the improvised exchange has become.
The extradition process functions as an invoked bureaucratic object when Bambang cites it as a procedural barrier; it operates rhetorically to deflect the personal entreaty and to legitimize refusal, converting a personal plea into a matter of legal formality.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The White House kitchen serves as the cramped, behind‑the‑scenes stage for this fraught diplomatic exchange: its hustle allows an improvised privacy while its proximity to ceremony makes any slip immediately consequential. The kitchen's operational bustle contrasts with the delicate politics unfolding there.
The Indonesian jail exists offstage as the concrete locus of Toby's request and the moral fulcrum of the scene; it is invoked to make the plea tangible and to expose the limits of personal diplomacy when confronted with sovereign legal processes.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Toby's insistence on blunt truth in the Indonesian toast directly causes Bambang's retaliatory rejection of his request later that evening."
"Donna's research on Indonesian executions in Act 2 parallels Bambang's accusation of American hypocrisy in Act 5 regarding human rights."
"Donna's research on Indonesian executions in Act 2 parallels Bambang's accusation of American hypocrisy in Act 5 regarding human rights."
"Bartlet's acknowledgment of American electoral hypocrisy foreshadows Bambang's accusation about U.S. human rights history."
"Bartlet's acknowledgment of American electoral hypocrisy foreshadows Bambang's accusation about U.S. human rights history."
Key Dialogue
"BAMBANG: Why don't we just speak in English?"
"TOBY: A friend of mine is in one of your jails. I want you to let him out."
"BAMBANG: Mr. Ziegler. Does it strike you at all hypocritical that a people who systematically wiped out a century's worth of Native Americans should lecture the world so earnestly on human rights?"