Phone Carrying U.N. Secretary-General's Incoming Call

Leo pulls Charlie into the hallway and directs him to intercept the incoming call before President Bartlet answers. The device carries the U.N. Secretary-General's complaint over New York's towing of diplomats' cars—a routine grievance Leo labels a hot-button risk for international embarrassment. Charlie balks at the deception while Leo presses his authority. Toby joins Leo afterward, linking the intercept to staff strains from Sam's absence and the Vickie Hilton dilemma.

5 appearances

Purpose

Delivering diplomatic complaint from U.N. Secretary-General to President Bartlet about towed diplomats' vehicles

Significance

Triggers damage control operation that exposes Charlie's ethical qualms against Leo's pragmatic calculus; ties into larger tensions over staff discipline and national security trade-offs

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

5 moments

S4E10 · Arctic Radar

Blocking the Secretary‑General (Damage Control)

The incoming phone call carried by this object is the plot engine Leo wants blocked: the U.N. Secretary‑General's complaint about towing diplomats' cars. In the scene it exists as an imminent, audible threat to presidential composure and as the item Charlie is asked to intercept and conceal from the President.

Before: Ringing/incoming, addressed to the President, connected to the White House phone system and visible/audible as a pending communication.

After: Implied to be intercepted or screened by Charlie per Leo's instruction; removed from the President's immediate attention.

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S4E10 · Arctic Radar

Shielding the President — The Hilton Dilemma and Staff Strain

The incoming phone call (device bearing the U.N. Secretary-General's complaint) is the plot catalyst: Leo instructs Charlie to intercept it, making the device the immediate means by which a diplomatic spat could reach the President and therefore the object to be neutralized.

Before: Ringing/arriving at the President's line or a White House switchboard, poised to be connected to the President.

After: Intercepted/blocked by Charlie at Leo's instruction; the President does not receive the content of the complaint.

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S4E10 · Arctic Radar

A Slip in the Draft and a Staff Reckoning

The incoming phone call from the U.N. Secretary-General functions as an objectified operational problem Leo wants removed from the President's attention; Charlie is asked to intercept the phone to prevent escalation while the staff handles other crises.

Before: Ringing at the President's desk; incoming on the Oval Office line.

After: Intercepted/blocked by Charlie per Leo's instruction; the call does not reach the President in this scene.

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S4E10 · Arctic Radar

Briefing Room Optics: Bartlet and the Seats

The incoming phone call from the U.N. Secretary-General acts as an interrupting device. Charlie blocks the call to prioritize the Rwanda memo, so the call functions narratively as an unreceived demand that pressures staff procedural choices.

Before: Active incoming call routed to the President from the U.N. Secretary-General.

After: Held/blocked by staff (intercepted) and scheduled to be returned later after the President reviews the memo.

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S4E10 · Arctic Radar

Diverted UN Call — The Rwanda Memo Arrives

The phone carrying the incoming U.N. call is the mediated threat that prompts Charlie's intervention; its arrival forces a decision about what the President should hear first and serves as the procedural object Charlie blocks or defers.

Before: Ringing through to the Oval Office switchboard indicating a live, high‑level incoming call.

After: Call is not connected to the President — it is deferred/returned per the President's instruction after he reads the memo.

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