Object

Pack of Condoms

A single, pocket‑sized foil packet housing a latex barrier contraceptive—brand‑neutral, individually wrapped, and roughly the size of a postage stamp. The item never appears physically in the room; characters only invoke it aloud. Mary Marsh brandishes the packet as a policy bargaining chip, provoking visible shock, moral outrage, and heated responses from Josh, C.J., Toby, Donna, and the aides and turning a routine damage‑control meeting into an ethical standoff.

2 appearances

Purpose

To function as a barrier contraceptive for pregnancy and STI prevention.

Significance

Functions less as a physical object and more as a rhetorical weapon: the packet crystallizes disputes over sex education and public morality, converts PR theater into an ethical confrontation, and catalyzes President Bartlet's forceful intervention—raising the stakes of the scene and exposing cultural and political fault lines.

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

2 moments

S1E1 · Pilot

Apology, Accusation, and Bartlet's Reckoning

Invoked in argument as the concrete policy demand of the delegation—'condoms in the schools'—the packet operates as rhetorical shorthand for moral territory they want the administration to concede and catalyzes Toby's refusal to bargain.

Before: Not physically present in the room; exists as a talked-about policy object symbolizing the debate.

After: Remains a rhetorical cudgel for the delegation's agenda but is politically sidelined by the President's forceful repudiation of the delegation's tactics.

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S1E1 · Pilot

Bartlet Forces Christian Leaders to Denounce the Lambs of God

Condoms are invoked verbally by Mary Marsh as a bargaining chip ('Condoms in the schools'), transforming a policy detail into a symbolic provocation and illustrating the delegation's demand framing; the packet never appears physically but operates rhetorically to raise the stakes.

Before: Not physically present; exists as a policy talking point referenced by Mary to force concessions.

After: Remains a rhetorical device abandoned when the President interrupts and redirects the meeting to denunciation and ejection of the group.

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