Leo Unveils Antares Chip Recall Catastrophe
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
President Bartlet dismisses a crowd from the Oval Office with casual pleasantries, transitioning to a more private conversation with Leo McGarry.
Leo immediately pivots to crisis mode, revealing that Antares CEO Jake Kimball has arrived with dire news about an 80-million-chip recall that will decimate the company and NASDAQ.
Bartlet processes the staggering economic impact - 98,000 jobs at stake - as Leo darkly predicts Kimball's potential suicide.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Devastated to the point of suicidal despair from corporate ruin
Invoked by Leo as having flown in that morning, physically ravaged like 'a hundred years old,' desperately briefing on the recall's annihilation before retreating, his suicidal edge relayed to underscore the catastrophe's toll.
- • Alert White House to Antares' existential threat
- • Plead implicitly for intervention to avert total collapse
- • The defect's scale precludes company survival unaided
- • Personal ruin mirrors institutional apocalypse
professional
enters Oval Office with uniformed personnel, shakes President's hand, presents SR-71 photo of Bushehr construction site, explains light vs. heavy water reactors and Russian involvement with Iran despite contrary intelligence agency assessments
- • deliver irrefutable SR-71 intelligence exposing Russia's covert heavy water reactor build for Iran
Professionally focused amid surrounding alarm
Enters the Oval Office mid-crisis briefing, respectfully interjects with 'Sir...' to alert Bartlet, his poised arrival punctuating the mounting tension without disrupting the revelation's gravity.
- • Promptly notify the President of an incoming matter
- • Uphold protocol in high-stakes environment
- • Direct access to the President is essential for urgent relays
- • Discretion maintains operational rhythm during crises
Stunned disbelief laced with urgent concern for economic devastation and human suffering
Dismisses the crowd with casual farewells, strides to his desk, probes Leo with escalating questions on Antares' crisis, removes glasses in visceral shock while grasping the job carnage and market blow, embodying presidential poise cracking under crisis weight.
- • Comprehend the full scope and immediacy of Antares' collapse
- • Evaluate the administration's potential role in mitigating fallout
- • Mass job losses demand swift governmental intervention
- • Corporate leaders' despair underscores crisis's personal stakes
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
Bartlet swiftly removes his thin frames from his nose in a propulsive gesture of disbelief during Leo's recall escalation—from 50 to 80 million chips—amplifying his bare-eyed shock and marking the visceral pivot from composure to crisis absorption, narratively underscoring human vulnerability amid economic apocalypse.
Organizations Involved
Institutional presence and influence
Thrust into Oval spotlight via Leo's relay of CEO Jake Kimball's visit, Antares embodies tech implosion with its defective chip forcing Thursday's 80-million-unit recall across all products, dooming the firm and igniting White House triage on job hemorrhages.
Looms as Antares recall's brutal casualty, with Bartlet invoking its impending 'kidney punch' from stock evisceration, framing the crisis as a market-shattering event demanding presidential reckoning amid Oval deliberations.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Fitzwallace's revelation about the Iranian reactor sets up the subsequent decoding of Chigorin's message, which offers a diplomatic solution to the crisis."
Themes This Exemplifies
Thematic resonance and meaning
Part of Larger Arcs
Key Dialogue
"LEO: "We've got a problem. Jake Kimball came to see me this morning.""
"BARTLET: "That's got to be 50 million chips!" LEO: "80 million.""
"LEO: "I think Jake's going to put a shotgun in his mouth, I really do.""