Faxed Polaroid of Zoey Bartlet

Leo hands President Bartlet a grainy fax-quality Polaroid photograph of Zoey, her condition confirming drugging with GHB and deliberate abduction. The image arrives alongside a translated ransom demand for prisoner releases and U.S. withdrawal from Qumar. Bartlet studies it amid advisors—Ron Butterfield, Charlie Young, MIKE—while Fitzwallace pushes strikes and Nancy warns of fallout. The stark proof hits Bartlet personally, fueling his order to deploy the 5th Fleet.

2 appearances

Purpose

Authenticate the ransom demand by visually verifying Zoey's captivity and drugged state

Significance

Escalates Zoey's disappearance into a confirmed kidnapping with Bahji-backed geopolitical demands, converting personal crisis into national-security showdown that forces Bartlet's military mobilization

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

2 moments

S4E23 · Twenty-Five

Ransom Fax — Zoey Held; Bartlet Orders the 5th Fleet

A fax-quality Polaroid of Zoey arrives with the ransom: it is handed to the President and visually confirms the victim's condition, providing the visceral, personal anchor for the policy debate.

Before: Transmitted from a Kinko's self-serve machine and received at the White House fax line.

After: In the President's hands and on the Oval Office desk as primary evidence compelling action.

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S4E23 · Twenty-Five

Bartlet Sends the 5th Fleet — A Calibrated Escalation

A grainy faxed Polaroid of Zoey is handed to the President; it visually confirms an abducted, drugged victim and converts private alarm into an operational crisis, catalyzing debate and action.

Before: In transit to the White House via Kinko's fax; received and brought to the Oval Office by Leo.

After: In the President's hands and then becomes part of the Situation Room record and investigatory chain.

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