Fabula
S3E13 · Night Five
S3E13
· Night Five

Leo Endorses Toby's UN Speech but Probes Strained Iowa Talk with Bartlet

In Leo's office late at night, anxious Toby paces while Leo pores over the provocative UN speech draft. Leo halts the pacing, praises the bold rhetoric they demanded to counter perceptions of scattershot policy, and teases about ex-wife Andy's backlash. Shifting tones, Leo interrogates Toby about a private post-Iowa Caucus conversation with Bartlet, which Toby evasively labels 'personal' amid evident strain. This tense exchange underscores loyalty fractures and decision-making pressures amid White House crises, setting up ideological clashes and revealing Toby's vulnerability.

Plot Beats

The narrative micro-steps within this event

4

Leo interrupts Toby's pacing, highlighting the tension between them as they discuss the UN speech.

tension to frustration ["Leo's office"]

Toby defends the UN speech's bold rhetoric, revealing his unyielding stance on the administration's foreign policy.

defensiveness to affirmation ["Leo's office"]

Leo probes Toby about a personal conversation with President Bartlet after the Iowa Caucus, hinting at unresolved tension.

curiosity to discomfort ["Leo's office"]

Toby evades Leo's questions about his conversation with Bartlet, deepening the mystery around their strained relationship.

evasion to frustration ["Leo's office"]

Who Was There

Characters present in this moment

8

Anticipated anger over Toby's provocative rhetoric.

Referenced teasingly by Leo as Toby's 'wife' (corrected to ex-wife) who will react strongly against the speech's boldness.

Goals in this moment
  • Challenge the speech's content ideologically
  • Highlight personal-professional tensions with Toby
Active beliefs
  • Toby's bold language invites unnecessary backlash
  • Past personal ties amplify policy disagreements
Character traits
ideologically opposed
Follow Andy Wyatt's journey

professional but concerned

enters Leo's office, briefly praises UN speech to Toby before shutting door on him, sits and informs Leo about Leonard Wallace's report on Billy Price's disappearance in Congo, notes State travel advisory and upcoming Congolese attache visit, leaves

Goals in this moment
  • praise the UN speech draft
  • update Leo on missing reporter Billy Price and coordinate response
Character traits
insightful assertive playful terse strategic poised decisive pragmatic dutiful quick-thinking tenacious authoritative wry measured protective charismatic committed resilient witty
Follow C.J. Cregg's journey

Upset by the personal fallout from Iowa talk with Toby.

Referenced repeatedly as having a tense post-Iowa Caucus conversation with Toby that 'didn't go well' and left him upset; noted to approve the UN speech highly.

Goals in this moment
  • Endorse the provocative UN speech
  • Resolve or process personal tensions with key advisor Toby
Active beliefs
  • Bold UN rhetoric strengthens administration's global stance
  • Personal staff interactions influence presidential morale and decisions
Character traits
authoritative emotionally guarded
Follow Josiah Edward …'s journey

Teasing and approving at first, shifting to surprised concern over Toby's evasion and the President's upset.

Sits at desk repeatedly reading UN speech draft from folder, slips off glasses to give Toby a pointed look, halts Toby's pacing and standing with commands, grins while praising the speech's boldness, teases about Toby's ex-wife, probes insistently and surprised about the post-Iowa conversation with Bartlet.

Goals in this moment
  • Validate and endorse the UN speech draft's alignment with directives
  • Uncover details of Toby's personal conflict with Bartlet to assess team impact
Active beliefs
  • The speech's provocative rhetoric fulfills the need to project unified foreign policy strength
  • Personal rifts between staff and President must be addressed to maintain operational loyalty
Character traits
authoritative perceptive teasing concerned persistent
Follow Leo Thomas …'s journey

Alarmed by reporter's peril.

Referenced by C.J. as having urgently approached her with news of Billy Price missing deadlines in Congo.

Goals in this moment
  • Alert White House to Billy Price's disappearance
  • Push for intervention despite State inaction
Active beliefs
  • Congo crisis demands immediate high-level response
  • Protocol barriers must be overcome for rescue
Character traits
urgent persistent
Follow Leonard Wallace's journey

Anticipated tension in crisis confrontation.

Referenced as the Congolese attaché en route to the White House in response to Billy Price's capture situation.

Goals in this moment
  • Address U.S. demands on reporter's behalf
  • Defend Congolese position amid abduction claims
Active beliefs
  • Government rejects ransom to terrorists
  • Diplomatic channels control crisis response
Character traits
diplomatic defensive
Follow McKennen Loboko's journey

Anxiously frustrated with heavy sighs, masking deeper strain from personal-professional rift.

Paces anxiously back and forth, stops pacing and standing on Leo's commands, sighs heavily multiple times, defends speech as matching directives against 'scattershot' critiques, corrects 'wife' to 'ex-wife,' evades Iowa Caucus conversation details as 'personal,' leaves office after tension peaks.

Goals in this moment
  • Secure Leo's approval for the UN speech draft
  • Protect privacy of strained post-Iowa exchange with Bartlet
Active beliefs
  • The speech precisely delivers the bold rhetoric demanded to reshape policy perceptions
  • Personal disagreements with the President are off-limits in professional scrutiny
Character traits
restless defensive frustrated evasive loyal
Follow Toby Ziegler's journey

Objects Involved

Significant items in this scene

2
Leo McGarry's Reading Glasses

Leo slips these glasses off his nose with precision mid-conversation, holding them idle as his unfiltered gaze pierces Toby during speech defense and Iowa probe; prop underscores shift from routine scrutiny to raw, vulnerable command presence, amplifying interpersonal intensity.

Before: Worn on Leo's nose while reading speech pages.
After: Removed and held in Leo's hand during direct …
Before: Worn on Leo's nose while reading speech pages.
After: Removed and held in Leo's hand during direct confrontation.
Toby's Provocative UN Speech Draft Pages

Leo repeatedly reads and flips through these torn folder pages under desk lamp, scrutinizing Toby's provocative UN speech draft; central to praise as embodying demanded bold rhetoric against scattershot policy image, narrative pivot from policy validation to personal probe, heightening tension as ideological stakes collide with loyalty strains.

Before: Pages torn from folder, laid out on Leo's …
After: Unchanged on desk, as Leo announces intent to …
Before: Pages torn from folder, laid out on Leo's desk for review.
After: Unchanged on desk, as Leo announces intent to read a sixth time.

Location Details

Places and their significance in this event

3
Congo

Congo referenced as site of reporter Billy Price's assignment and Mai-Mai capture, fueling emerging crisis relayed via C.J.; functions as distant flashpoint injecting global peril into late-night West Wing tensions, contrasting office intimacy with lawless peril.

Atmosphere Lawless jungle snare thick with rebel violence and ignored advisories.
Function Origin of escalating hostage crisis prompting White House action.
Symbolism Embodies chaotic global threats testing U.S. resolve amid domestic fractures.
Access Under 24-year State travel advisory, highly dangerous for outsiders.
Volatile overgrowth and gunfire haze Mineral-fueled ambushes
Kinshasa

Kinshasa's U.S. embassy cited as confirming Price's capture via cables, anchoring crisis verification in diplomatic channels; heightens urgency as ignored advisories collide with rebel reports.

Atmosphere Twitching with frantic embassy relays amid rebel-riddled volatility.
Function Diplomatic hub relaying capture intelligence to White House.
Symbolism Represents frayed international outposts vulnerable to chaos.
Access Restricted embassy amid broader advisory chaos.
Antenna-twitched nerve center Lawless air buzzing with alerts
Goma

Goma referenced as perimeter where Belgian TV crew witnessed Mai-Mai rebels capturing Price; specific site crystallizes eyewitness peril, propelling crisis into immediate action debates.

Atmosphere Frayed frontier dust and shattered streets pulsing with lethal chaos.
Function Capture site providing visual confirmation of abduction.
Symbolism Frontier of coltan-fueled violence swallowing journalists.
Access Volatile border haze ignored at fatal risk.
Dust-kicking ambushes Tense rebel shadows

Organizations Involved

Institutional presence and influence

2
Mai-Mai Rebels

Mai-Mai rebels identified as captors snatching Billy Price, per embassy and TV confirmations relayed by C.J.; antagonist force escalates crisis, contrasting office policy debates with primal jungle threat, straining diplomatic responses.

Representation Via confirmed reports of abduction action.
Power Dynamics Exerting violent control over hostage, defying U.S. diplomatic reach.
Impact Forces White House into ransom and rescue calculus amid global opacity.
Hold captured journalist amid resource wars Defy governmental and foreign intervention Jungle ambushes and captures Prolonged hostage peril pressuring negotiations
Belgian TV Crew

Belgian TV crew cited as eyewitnesses to Price's Mai-Mai capture outside Goma, their footage relayed through Kinshasa confirming crisis; provides irrefutable visual proof thrusting freelance peril into White House orbit.

Representation Through on-scene footage and reports channeled via embassy.
Power Dynamics Independent observers amplifying rebel actions to global powers.
Impact Transforms ignored story into urgent intervention trigger.
Document unreported Congo stories Broadcast capture evidence for awareness Eyewitness video confirmation Media relay igniting diplomatic frenzy

Narrative Connections

How this event relates to others in the story

What this causes 1
Thematic Parallel

"Toby's defense of the UN speech's aggressive rhetoric parallels his later ideological clash with Andy, both highlighting themes of power, diplomacy, and moral authority."

Toby's Unyielding Defense: 'They'll Like Us When We Win'
S3E13 · Night Five

Themes This Exemplifies

Thematic resonance and meaning

Part of Larger Arcs

Key Dialogue

"LEO: "Toby, the night of the Iowa Caucus when you got back, did you and the President have a... conversation that night?""
"TOBY: "Yeah. I... When he got back, for a minute." LEO: "What did you talk about?" TOBY: "Nothing.""
"TOBY: "It was personal." LEO: "It was personal?" TOBY: "Yeah." LEO: "Well, that always works well with him.""