Bartlet Overrides Albie's Dire Warnings, Orders Rescue as Portland Breaks Silence
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Albie recounts past submarine disasters in tense detail, but Bartlet interrupts, signaling impatience and a shift to decisive action.
Bartlet overrides Albie's objection to the timeline, asserting presidential authority to act immediately on the submarine crisis.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Earnest urgency laced with surprised disbelief at presidential impatience
Recounts a grim catalog of historical submarine disasters near North Korea—Wanson Harbor mine strikes, Korean War shellings—to urgently caution against premature rescue, expresses polite shock at Bartlet's interruption with 'I beg your pardon?' and notes the remaining ten-minute window on his watch.
- • Persuade Bartlet to wait the full ten minutes before launching risky rescue
- • Invoke submarine disaster precedents to avert potential catastrophe
- • History's submarine losses demand deliberate caution near adversarial coasts
- • Rushing rescue operations invites repeats of past naval tragedies
Focused professionalism under pressure
Interjects crisply en route to Situation Room to clarify 'Whiskey Three' as Portland's callsign for the President, anchoring cryptic naval codes into the unfolding rescue briefing amid Bartlet's rapid-fire questions.
- • Decode specialized terminology to ensure presidential comprehension
- • Maintain operational clarity during transit briefing
- • Clear communication prevents command misunderstandings in crises
- • Naval protocol demands instant jargon translation for civilian leaders
Rigid attentiveness signaling operational readiness
Barks 'Ten-hut!' upon Bartlet's Situation Room entry, snapping all to rigid attention and enforcing military discipline as the command center activates for rescue push.
- • Honor presidential arrival with full military protocol
- • Instill disciplined focus in the room for crisis response
- • Chain-of-command rituals sharpen crisis execution
- • Formal honors underscore the gravity of Situation Room pivots
Operational confidence affirming allied success
Crackles over Situation Room radio as VOICE 1ST, hailing 'Whiskey-Three-Charlie, this is Pac Fleet, report you whiskey,' then acknowledging Portland's status with 'Roger all, and happy hunting,' funneling naval coordination into White House triumph.
- • Confirm U.S.S. Portland's status post-evasion via direct radio query
- • Relay positive operational update to sustain rescue momentum
- • Seamless fleet comms transform peril into controlled recovery
- • Crew evasion tactics merit swift affirmation and clearance
impatient and decisive, later relieved
Interrupts Albie abruptly, overrides warnings by ordering immediate rescue launch, strides with Leo to Situation Room while grilling officers on DSRV plan, rallies room with 'Let's go get 'em', reacts positively to restored contact with Portland.
- • Override Albie's caution and initiate rescue immediately
- • Gather details on the rescue plan from officers
- • Rally team to proceed with rescue
Heightened alertness shifting to quiet vindication amid unfolding success
Accompanies Bartlet from Oval Office to Situation Room in resolute stride, queries 'Sir?' amid rallying cry, then crisply decodes Officer 3rd's report by explaining 'We have the Portland on satellite. We have them,' bridging military jargon to presidential relief.
- • Support Bartlet's decisive pivot to action despite diplomatic cautions
- • Facilitate clear communication of restored sub contact to de-escalate tension
- • Presidential instinct outweighs historical warnings in high-stakes crises
- • Trust in naval crew competence can override institutional hesitations
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
Referenced by Officer en route as primed C-141 Starlifters at North Island, tasked to airlift DSR-V rescue submersibles westward, embodying logistical backbone that converts presidential order into tangible extraction assets amid the urgent transit briefing.
Officers detail DSR-V submersibles' harrowing procedure en route—submerging to dock with Portland's hull, blowing docking collar, evacuating 24 survivors per forward escape trunk across six trips with medevac for injured—serving as the mechanical lifeline Bartlet seizes to override caution.
Invoked in Portland's triumphant radio report as the evaded Luna-class destroyer via 'close-aboard contact,' its lurking threat dissolved by sub's deep-and-quiet dive, retroactively validating Bartlet's gamble and deflating Albie's dire warnings.
Activates in Situation Room as Officer 3rd announces Whiskey-Three-Charlie contact on Sat-Hi Com, channeling Portland's voice to report evasion and full ops, shattering dread into vindication and propelling narrative from brinkmanship to extraction.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
Invoked en route as NAS North Island staging C-141 Starlifters for DSR-V haul, its Pacific tarmac urgency anchoring the briefing's logistical chain from San Diego relays to deep-sea salvation.
Organizations Involved
Institutional presence and influence
Relayed in en route briefing as initial contact point—Pac Fleet to Ballast chain—and manifests via radio VOICE 1ST querying then affirming Portland's status, channeling hierarchical naval precision into White House vindication.
Breaks silence as VOICE 2ND over Sat-Hi Com, reporting precise position, destroyer evasion via deep-and-quiet, and full mechanical ops—its crew's grit directly vindicating Bartlet's trust and transforming event from potential loss to recovery.
Integrated into officer's briefing as second link in Pac Fleet contact chain to facilitate DSRV deployment, underscoring naval hierarchy propelling rescue from White House fiat to Pacific execution.
Shadow antagonist via its Luna-class destroyer's 'close-aboard contact' evaded by Portland, its predatory patrol spiking stakes until sub report renders it neutralized, heightening the event's brinkmanship drama.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"The initial silence of the submarine is resolved when contact is re-established."
Themes This Exemplifies
Thematic resonance and meaning
Part of Larger Arcs
Key Dialogue
"BARTLET: "Okay." / ALBIE: "I beg your pardon?" / BARTLET: "It's time.""
"ALBIE: "You still got ten minutes by my watch, Mr. President." / BARTLET: "Yeah. We're going now.""
"LEO: "We have the Portland on satellite." / BARTLET: "We have them." / BARTLET: "What you gotta do in these situations is you trust the captain, you trust the crew.""