Undercover at Teddy Tomba's Seminar
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Josh interrupts Donna’s alleged plans to assign her an undercover mission.
Josh reveals Donna’s mission to infiltrate Teddy Tomba's self-help seminar to gather embarrassing material on Ritchie.
Josh instructs Donna on what to look for at the seminar and dismisses her concerns about disguise.
Donna exits to prepare for her mission, marking her acceptance of the assignment.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Pragmatic amusement that masks calculated ruthlessness; calm and confident in using staff as instruments to gain political advantage.
Josh leans into Donna at his bullpen desk, issues a brisk undercover assignment, explains the rationale and logistics (time, prepaid registration), and frames the task as efficient tradecraft rather than a moral question.
- • Acquire embarrassing material linking Ritchie to Tomba's self-help rhetoric.
- • Deploy fast, low-cost reconnaissance to generate campaign ammunition.
- • Preserve campaign momentum by neutralizing a rival's messaging advantage.
- • Teddy Tomba's slogans will be politically exploitable and embarrassing to Ritchie.
- • Campaign advantage justifies ethically gray reconnaissance.
- • Donna is competent and reliable to execute field tasks quickly.
Absent from the scene; implicitly vulnerable and unaware of the specific reconnaissance being planned against him.
Governor Rob Ritchie is invoked as the political figure who has recently consulted Teddy Tomba; he is the target of Josh's planned embarrassment but does not appear in the scene.
- • Use consultants to craft a populist, appealing message.
- • Maintain political advantage and broaden voter appeal.
- • Consultants and simplified messaging will strengthen his political brand.
- • Aligning with popular cultural figures can translate into votes.
Not physically present; characterized as a powerful, market-driven figure whose packaged positivity can be weaponized politically.
Teddy Tomba is referenced by Josh as the influential, commercial self-help guru whose seminars, workbooks, and merchandise are a source of slogans ripe for political exploitation; he is not physically present in the scene.
- • Expand the reach and revenue of his self-help empire.
- • Disseminate easily repeatable slogans and merchandise to followers.
- • Simplified, repeatable slogans can create loyal followers and market opportunities.
- • Cultural influence can translate into political leverage.
Bemused skepticism giving way to professional compliance; outwardly jocular but inwardly aware of the ethical gray area.
Donna receives the assignment with a mix of wry surprise and compliance, asks logistical and disguise questions, registers the moral awkwardness, and agrees to attend and report back as instructed.
- • Follow Josh's orders and gather the requested material (slogans, t-shirts, philosophies).
- • Return to the office with usable evidence to support a political line.
- • Protect her working relationship with Josh by executing the task reliably.
- • This is part of political work and therefore part of her job obligations.
- • Physical artifacts (t-shirts, slogans) will strengthen any embarrassment effort.
- • Josh expects discretion and successful fieldwork from her.
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
Donna's prepaid registration functions as the logistical enabler of the undercover assignment: Josh tells Donna her registration is already paid so she can enter the seminar without administrative friction, reducing risk and speed of execution.
The Teddy Tomba seminar t-shirt is referenced as a likely piece of physical evidence that will contain slogans or philosophies; Josh explicitly anticipates such merchandise as an easy, shareable artifact Donna should secure to embarrass Ritchie.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
Josh's bullpen functions as the operational hub where the assignment is conceived and issued; it is the space where strategy becomes action, and where staff hierarchy and tradecraft collide in casual banter that masks calculated intent.
Organizations Involved
Institutional presence and influence
Ritchie's Campaign is the implicit target of the operation: Josh wants to expose the consultant-client link to Teddy Tomba and thereby undermine Ritchie's message. The campaign's recent use of Tomba is the tactical vulnerability being exploited.
Teddy Tomba's Self-Help Empire is the source of the slogans, workbooks, and merchandise Josh wants harvested; its commercialized philosophy is presented as both cultural phenomenon and exploitable political vulnerability in the campaign's eyes.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Josh's assignment of Donna to infiltrate Teddy Tomba's seminar is directly followed by Donna's return and report, showing the completion of her mission and its impact on their dynamic."
Key Dialogue
"JOSH: "Teddy Tomba.""
"JOSH: "He's consulted for Ritchie in the last few weeks, and I would like for that to be embarrassing for Ritchie.""
"DONNA: "Should I go in disguise?" JOSH: "As what?""