Fabula
S1E10 · In Excelsis Deo
S1E10
· In Excelsis Deo

Holiday Reception and Toby's Reckoning

In the Mural Room, President Bartlet offers a warm, public moment—shaking a child's hand and greeting a visiting choir—briefly humanizing the presidency. The camera cuts to the Outer Oval where Toby receives a terse, moral rebuke from Mrs. Landingham for using the President's name to secure a military funeral for a homeless veteran. Her admonishment converts Toby's private act of decency into an urgent administrative problem: she orders him to bring the matter directly to the President, turning conscience into a political confrontation.

Plot Beats

The narrative micro-steps within this event

1

President Bartlet warmly welcomes a children's choir to the White House, establishing a festive contrast to the serious events unfolding.

warmth to tension ["Mural Room with children's choir"]

Who Was There

Characters present in this moment

4
Josiah Edward 'Jed' Bartlet (President of the United States)
primary

Genuinely warm and present in the public moment, while performing the role-expected cordiality of a president.

Enters the Mural Room, greets assembled visitors and supporters, notices a young boy named Joey and shakes his hand—performing the ceremonial, humanizing work of the presidency in public view.

Goals in this moment
  • • Humanize the office through small, personal gestures.
  • • Maintain calm, celebratory tone for the reception and staff.
Active beliefs
  • • The presidency requires public gestures of warmth to connect with citizens.
  • • Ceremonial moments protect institutional goodwill and matter politically.
Character traits
affable ceremonial attentive
Follow Josiah Edward …'s journey
Toby Ziegler
primary

Quietly resolute and subdued—proud of the humane act but aware of bureaucratic consequences and slightly apprehensive about being called before the President.

Enters the Outer Oval, answers Mrs. Landingham’s questions directly and without defensiveness—admits he used the President’s name to arrange the funeral and accepts her rebuke, signalling moral resolve over procedural concern.

Goals in this moment
  • • Secure dignity for the homeless veteran through a proper military funeral.
  • • Face the administrative consequences and, if necessary, justify his choice to the President.
Active beliefs
  • • Honoring the dead is a moral duty that can supersede procedural hesitation.
  • • The President’s office can be used to restore dignity to the marginalized when others fail.
Character traits
conscientious contrite determined
Follow Toby Ziegler's journey
The Boys Choir
primary

Quietly reverent—serving as emotional underscoring to the President’s public gesture.

Arranged at one side of the room as a silent ceremonial presence, the children's choir contributes atmosphere and sanctity to the reception without speaking.

Goals in this moment
  • • Provide musical and emotional framing for the White House reception.
  • • Lend dignity and warmth to the public ceremony.
Active beliefs
  • • Music can elevate the tone of public rituals.
  • • A choir’s presence signals institutional care and tradition.
Character traits
solemn supportive ceremonial
Follow The Boys …'s journey
Mrs. Landingham
primary

Firm, slightly exasperated and protective of institutional protocol—moral disapproval mixed with practical concern about precedent and optics.

Confronts Toby in the Outer Oval with brisk, maternal authority: greets him, states that the President would like to see him, then sharply questions and rebukes him for using the President’s name to arrange a military funeral for a homeless veteran.

Goals in this moment
  • • Enforce White House protocol and prevent misuse of the President’s name.
  • • Ensure the issue is routed to the President so it can be managed appropriately.
Active beliefs
  • • Institutional procedures and the President’s name must be guarded.
  • • Personal conscience should not create administrative or political complications for the office.
Character traits
no-nonsense protective procedural
Follow Mrs. Landingham's journey

Location Details

Places and their significance in this event

3
Roosevelt Room (Mural Room — West Wing meeting room)

The Mural Room serves as the ceremonial stage for the President's public greeting; its arranged choir and applauding crowd frame Bartlet's warm gestures and create the optics of a humane, festive White House moment.

Atmosphere Cheerful, ceremonial, warmly public—festive noise from applause and a positioned children's choir.
Function Stage for public presentation and humanizing presidential optics.
Symbolism Embodies the public-facing, ceremonial face of the presidency—comforting, performative, morally uplifting in appearance.
Access Open to invited visitors and assembled guests; monitored and staged for White House ceremonial events.
A crowd of people applauds as Bartlet enters the room. A children's choir is arranged at one side of the room. The space is public, performative, and immediately visible to many witnesses.
West Wing Corridor (Exterior Hallway Outside Leo McGarry's Office)

The White House as institution contains both the public Mural Room and the private Outer Oval; it frames how individual acts (Toby's arranging a funeral) collide with ceremonial duty and administrative protocol.

Atmosphere Dual-toned—public warmth in ceremonial spaces and tight, managerial tension in back-office areas.
Function Host institution that organizes optics, enforces protocol, and channels moral decisions into political consequence.
Symbolism Embodies national authority and the tension between humane action and institutional risk.
Access Public in ceremonial areas but tightly controlled in staff-only spaces.
Ceremonial sounds (applause, choir) versus quiet staff corridor where the rebuke occurs. Thresholds (doorways) convert public performance into private accountability.
Outer Oval Office

The Outer Oval Office functions as the private anteroom where Mrs. Landingham confronts Toby; it concentrates administrative friction and moral authority, transforming a behind-the-scenes act into an issue that must be brought before the President.

Atmosphere Terse, reproachful, quietly charged—intimate enough for rebuke, removed from the performative cheer of the Mural …
Function Buffer and private workspace for internal admonition and administrative escalation.
Symbolism Represents the seam between personal conscience and institutional protocol; where private ethics bump against official …
Access Restricted to senior staff and White House personnel; serves as a transitional space between public …
Camera moves to the Outer Oval Office as Toby enters. An intimate verbal exchange occurs there between Mrs. Landingham and Toby. The room's quiet contrasts the applause heard earlier in the Mural Room.

Narrative Connections

How this event relates to others in the story

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Key Dialogue

"BARTLET: "Hello everybody. Welcome to The White House. Joey. Welcome to the White House.""
"MRS. LANDINGHAM: "Good morning Toby." TOBY: "Good morning Mrs. Landingham." MRS. LANDINGHAM: "The President would like to see you." TOBY: "I know." MRS. LANDINGHAM: "Did you use his name to arrange a military funeral for a homeless veteran?" TOBY: "Yes." MRS. LANDINGHAM: "You shouldn't have done that Toby." TOBY: "I know." MRS. LANDINGHAM: "You absolutely should not have done that." TOBY: "I know." MRS. LANDINGHAM: "The President is in the Mural Room." TOBY: "Thank you.""