Bartlet Confesses MS Diagnosis to Stunned Toby
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
President Bartlet reveals his long-hidden Multiple Sclerosis diagnosis to Toby, shattering the latter's perception and trust.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Calm professionalism amid underlying Oval tension
Charlie emerges from the Oval Office to signal Leo and Toby can enter, facilitating the pivotal meeting where the MS confession unfolds, his crisp intervention bridging outer wait to inner revelation.
- • Efficiently coordinate access to President
- • Maintain seamless operational flow
- • Protocol ensures critical meetings proceed without delay
- • Discretion protects Oval sanctity
Analytically engaged shifting to profound shock and disbelief
Toby enters the Oval Office, greets the President, accepts a bourbon and white, engages in light trivia before sharply questioning FAA protocols and evidence requirements on the terror threat, then freezes in shocked speechlessness as the MS diagnosis is revealed, his probing interrupted by personal bombshell.
- • Fully interrogate security response gaps to terror threat
- • Comprehend the President's abrupt pivot to personal disclosure
- • Government must demand rigorous evidence for security actions
- • Unwavering loyalty to President demands full transparency
Irrelevant (arrested off-screen)
Redin Hassan is invoked by the President as the Algerian-born terrorist arrested at the border with nitroglycerin, his plot catalyzing the briefing that precedes the MS disclosure.
- • Smuggle explosives across border
- • Borders are permeable to terror operations
matter-of-fact
greets Toby in the Oval Office, offers and pours bourbon drinks, shares trivia about bourbon, briefs Toby on Redin Hassan's arrest with nitroglycerin and responses including embassy closures and FAA advice, abruptly confesses decade-old symptoms leading to relapsing-remitting MS diagnosis
- • reveal his MS diagnosis to Toby
Neutral (off-screen)
Sam is referenced in Outer Oval conversation as the staffer tasked with fixing the unfunny Correspondents' Dinner speech, his absence underscoring the late-night crisis focus on Toby's confrontation.
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
Outer Oval televisions flicker with The Tonight Show and CNN during pre-entry wait, their discordant glow bathing Leo and Toby's brief speech talk, subtly underscoring media intrusion into late-night power dynamics that lead into the Oval revelation.
The bourbon and white serves as a social prop poured by the President for Toby, facilitating casual trivia exchange that eases into terror briefing before the raw MS confession, symbolizing fleeting normalcy amid shattering revelation and underscoring deflection tactics.
Redin Hassan's U-Haul truck is cited by the President as the smuggling vehicle carrying nitroglycerin across the Canadian border, heightening threat stakes in the briefing and prompting Toby's FAA scrutiny, functioning as narrative detonator for procedural debate before personal pivot.
The ten 2-ounce jars of nitroglycerin are detailed in the President's account of Hassan's arrest, embodying volatile peril that justifies embassy closures and fuels Toby's insistent questions on FAA evidence, amplifying crisis tension as prelude to MS trust rupture.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The U.S.-Canadian border is referenced as the arrest site of Redin Hassan with his nitroglycerin cargo, injecting immediate transnational terror into Oval discourse, sharpening Toby's FAA probes and framing vulnerability that Bartlet exploits to segue into MS confession.
U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Brussels are noted as closed on State and Intelligence advice due to Hassan's threat, demonstrating decisive response in briefing and contrasting FAA hesitance, building procedural rhythm toward Bartlet's personal disclosure.
Organizations Involved
Institutional presence and influence
Intelligence provides advice leading to embassy closures in Tanzania and Brussels following Hassan's nitroglycerin seizure, positioned by Bartlet as swift action contrasting FAA delays, embedding shadowy advisory weight into Oval tension preceding revelation.
The FAA is grilled by Toby via the President on evidence requirements, timelines, and holiday hesitations for heightened security and Air Force orders post-Hassan arrest, their protocols clashing with executive urgency and fueling debate before MS pivot.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Leo convincing Bartlet to reveal everything to Toby leads to Bartlet's revelation of his MS diagnosis."
"Toby's confrontation with Bartlet about his MS diagnosis continues his relentless pursuit of truth."
"Toby's confrontation with Bartlet about his MS diagnosis continues his relentless pursuit of truth."
Key Dialogue
"BARTLET: "Toby, about 10 years ago, for a period of a few months, I was feeling run down and had a pain in my leg. They both subsided, but 8 years ago, the pain came back, as well as numbness. My vision would become blurry and I'd feel dizzy. During an eye exam, the doctor detected abnormal pupil responses and ordered an MRI. The radiologist found plaque on my brain and spine. I have a relapsing-remitting course of MS.""
"TOBY: "I'm sorry, sir?""
"BARTLET: "I have Multiple Sclerosis.""