Could somebody get her a cupcake or something?
Okay, so this thing is about ten months late. I'm a very irresponsible DVD watcher, obviously. I finished watching The West Wing season 1 back in December, finished season 2 right around the beginning of April, and then, uh... Kris Allen consumed my life. Um. Yeah.
I'm slowly making my way back to civilization now, getting back into the fandoms that I'd abandoned and finishing projects~ that I'd been working on. I had a week off from school last month, and now I'm on break - I finally found the time to finish this thing.
You guys. The West Wing is leagues above and beyond any kind of TV before or since. Season 2 was freaking awesome. Season 1 left me in awe, wondering how this amazing show could get better, but then it did. The storylines, the emotions, these beautiful characters and their relationships - especially the buildup and the tension during the last 1/3 of the season, I just. There's nothing else like it. I admittedly like my shows light and cheesy, but I've been through my share of ~serious~ ones too, and The West Wing is just leaps and bounds superior to all of them. If you haven't seen this show, get on it right the eff now.
Without further ado:
2.01: In the Shadow of Two Gunmen Part 1
Bartlet: Let me put it this way, I voted against the bill because I didn't want to make it harder for people to buy milk. I stopped some money from flowing into your pocket. If that angers you, if you resent me, I completely respect that. But if you expect anything different from the President of the United States, you should vote for someone else.
--
Abbey: I told him about Josh.
Bartlet: Please. Help me to the door.
Leo: You should stay in bed.
Bartlet: Charlie brought me some clothes. Please let me see him.
--
Leo: Because I'm tired of it year after year after year after year having to chose between the lesser of who cares? Of trying to get myself excited about a candidate who can speak in complete sentences. Of setting the bar so low, I can hardly look at it. They say a good man can't get elected President. I don't believe that, do you?
Bartlet: And you think I'm that man.
Leo: Yes.
Bartlet: Does it matter that I'm not as sure?
Leo: Nah. Act as if ye have faith and faith shall be given to you. Put it another way, fake it till you make it.
2.02: In the Shadow of Two Gunmen Part 2
Toby: I tried calling you at your office. They said you were fired. Were you stealing things?
CJ: Roger Becker dropped from third most powerful person in Hollywood to ninth most powerful person in Hollywood.
Toby: Does he still make the playoffs, or is the cutoff line...
CJ: Toby.
--
Margaret: I can sign the President's name. I have his signature down pretty good.
Leo: You can sign the President's name?
Margaret: Yeah.
Leo: On a document removing him from power and handing it to someone else?
Margaret: Yeah! Or... do you think the White House Counsel would say that was a bad idea?
Leo: I think the White House Counsel would say it was a coup d'etat!
Margaret: Well. I'd probably end up doing some time for that.
Leo: I would think... And what the hell were you doing practicing the President's signature?
Margaret: It was just for fun.
Leo: We've got separation of powers, checks and balances, and Margaret vetoeing things and sending them back to the Hill.
LMAO I love me some Margaret. She and Leo are awesomely hilarious.
Josh: Donna, this is a campaign for the Presidency, and there's nothing I take more seriously than that. This can't be a place where people come to find their confidence and start over.
Donna: Why not?
Josh: I'm sorry?
Donna: Why can't it be those things?
--
Josh: Donna.
Donna: Look. I think I might be good at this. I think you might find me valuable.
Donna holding her name tag. Oh my gosh. Most heartbreaking moment ever. No matter how many times I've seen this episode, seeing her standing there always makes me tear up. Ugh, I have so much love for this premiere - the cuts from past to present to past are so smart and seamless.
DANCE PARTY! Josh, you dork.
2.03: The Midterms
Bartlet: Good morning, everybody. Anybody know what the word 'acalculia' means?
Sam: It's the inability to form arithmetic functions. I'm sorry, Mr. President. You wanted to answer your own question, didn't you?
Bartlet: Yeah, but I'll get over it.
Sam: Good for you, sir. That's very mature.
Bartlet: Shut up.
--
Leo: You're going out?
Charlie: Yeah.
Leo: Charlie, you're taking extra protection, right?
Charlie: Hey, Leo...
Leo: Secret Service protection, Charlie. But thanks for loading me up with that image.
CJ: Hey! You're wearing my pajamas.
Josh: Yes, I am.
CJ: Take your coat off, let's see.
[Josh stands up and shrugs off his coat to reveal light blue pajamas that are three sizes too big.]
CJ: Those are too big.
Josh: Yes, they are. All this time I've been working with you, did you also think I was playing power forward for the Cleveland Cavaliers?
CJ: I think they look good on you.
Toby: I think you're all freaks.
This is arguably the most talented and definitely my most favorite ensemble cast of all time. I love, love, love scenes like these - you squint and can almost see them as this dysfunctional family who just have a lot of affection for one another and like spending time together. So much pretty, too.
2.04: In This White House
Josh: Toby. Come quick! Sam's getting his ass kicked by a girl!
Toby: Ginger, get the popcorn!
--
Bartlet: Charlie.
Charlie: Yes, sir.
Bartlet: When they close the book on me and you, it will say that at this moment you were not there for me, and for that, obviously, there'll be some kind of punishment.
Charlie: Well, you could sing Puccini for me again, Mr. President. We'll call it even.
--
Sam: You got lost on your way to work.
CJ: Don't make fun of me.
Sam: I wouldn't worry about that.
CJ: I didn't sleep much last night.
Sam: How much did you sleep?
CJ: None, not at all.
Sam: You slept none, not at all.
CJ: Sam!
Sam: I am, today, particularly excited about you being the spokesperson for the President.
AINSLEY. ♥♥♥ I love her so much, omg. Such an excellent addition to the ensemble. It's a pity that (it seemedlike) Aaron couldn't figure out what to do with her during the latter part of the season - I'd have loved to have seen more of her than they showed.
Also, the little exchange between Toby and Ginger - the one where Toby brought her a danish, they didn't have cheese so he got her a boysenberry one instead? That melted my heart with its awesomeness. I love little, throwaway details like that, the intimacy and affection that comes with working together as long as they have. It's another dimension to the show that makes me love it so much.
2.05: And It's Surely To Their Credit
Ainsley: Mr. Tribbey? I'd like to do well on this, my first assignment. Any advice you could give me that might point me the way of success would be, by me, appreciated.
Tribbey: Well, not speaking in iambic pentameter might be a step in the right direction.
--
Sam: I'm -- nothing. I'm not -- nothing. Except it's from Pinafore.
Tribbey: It's from Penzance.
Sam: I hate to stick my head in the lion's mouth, but I got to ask you: were you the Recording Secretary of the Princeton Gilbert and Sullivan Society for two years?
Tribbey: No, but then again I'm not a woman, so.
--
Josh: It ties up the staff indefinitely when there are... I mean, there are other things that they should be doing. I appear to be using a high-profile position for my personal agenda --
Sam: I don't...
Josh: But mostly I just -- I just think a lawsuit is... too small. I can't have it be like I slipped in their driveway. It's different than that to me.
2.06: The Lame Duck Congress
Donna: My value here is that I have no value.
Josh: You have enormous value to me. You have absolutely no value to Eastern Europe.
--
Josh: How can he meet the President accidentally?
Leo: When I was Labor secretary we did it with the Dalai Lama. Obviously Beijing doesn't want the President to have any diplomatic contact, so they arrange a low level meeting, keep the door open, the President wanders by, 'Hey, how ya doing, Dalai Lama.'
Josh: That's the most crazy ass thing I've ever heard.
Leo: It works.
Josh: This is how the world is run?
--
Ainsley: I don't understand.
Sam: Leo said yes, that's the end of meeting.
Ainsley: I was just talking, Sam, I was just talking to you.
Sam: Well, we play with live ammo around here. You convinced me, I convinced Leo, Leo'll convince the President.
Ainsley: Sam, I...
Sam: It's a short day, Ainsley, and a big country. We've got to move fast.
Ainsley: Is it because I said in here, the President in there...
Sam: Yup.
Ainsley: You've got to tell me when that's going to happen. Is this how you guys decide to go to war?
Sam: I don't know, I'm usually not in the room when they do that.
Rob Lowe has chemistry with anything that moves, but there's something about Sam/Ainsley that I'm so enamored with, idek. Their push-and-pull-and-push and their adorable banter, and THE PRETTY. They're so so pretty.
2.07: The Portland Trip
Leo: That's a nice dress.
Donna: Thank you, sir.
Leo: You weren't wearing that dress earlier today, were you?
Donna: You guys are sharp as tacks, you know that?
--
Bartlet: A long flight across the night. You know why late flights are good? Because we cease to be earthbound and burdened with practicality. Asking important questions. Talking about the idea that nobody has thought about yet. Put it a different way...
Sam: Be poets.
--
Bartlet: Talk, Charlie.
Charlie: Mr. President, if this was an idea, somebody would have had it already.
Bartlet: I find fault with that formula.
CJ: You were accepted at Harvard, Yale, and Williams. Why did you go to Notre Dame?
Bartlet: Because I was thinking of becoming a priest.
CJ: Really?
Bartlet: Yeah.
CJ: What happened?
Bartlet: I met Abbey.
Oh God, I don't even know. This is one of my all-time favorite pieces of dialogue in the universe. JED AND ABBEY OMG MY HEART. They don't need to be in the same room for me to be head over heels in love with the two of them. Plus CJ's wistful smile, and just. Yeah. So, so amazing and understated, I'm floored.
2.08: Shibboleth
Sam: Pilgrim detectives.
Toby: Do you see me laughing?
Sam: I think you're laughing on the inside.
Toby: Okay.
Sam: With the big hats.
Toby: Give me the speech.
--
Charlie: Okay, Mr. President, I say this with all possible respect, but each of these knives cut, you know, meat. Why is it important?
Bartlet: Because it's something we pass on. Something with a history so we can say, 'My father gave this to me. His father gave it to him.'
Charlie: Well, okay, sir, but if that's true, then why don't you already have one?
Bartlet: I do have one.
Charlie: Why do you need a new one?
Bartlet: I'm giving mine away.
Charlie: To who?
Bartlet: Whom.
Charlie: To whom?
Bartlet: Funny you should ask. [takes out knife case from his drawer] Charlie, my father gave this to me, and his father gave it to him, and now I'm giving it to you.
--
CJ: They sent me two turkeys. The most photo-friendly of the two gets a Presidential pardon and a full life at a children's zoo. The runner-up gets eaten.
Bartlet: If the Oscars were like that, I'd watch.
CASUAL CLOTHES. Never enough of it on the show, just sayin'. And honestly - the relationship between Charlie and the President is one of my all-time favorites. They're so wonderful together.
2.09: Galileo
Donna: The process by which a stamp enters circulation begins with the American public...
Josh: Well, that's always our first mistake.
--
Josh: We think if we hit the ground hard enough, we can make it to the center of the planet and find water?
Toby: Yeah.
Josh: That's not a theory of Physics pretty much disproved by Wile E. Coyote?
--
Sam: Please, let's remember, it's not like we were dating. It was a flirtation. We had one date. The rest were all with groups of people and... I don't know, I don't even know what dating is anymore.
Toby: Well, that's 20 seconds of my life I'm never going to get back.
--
Charlie: Education's a serious thing. Crime, jobs, national security. In 18 months, I've been to Oregon four times, and not a single person I've met there has been stupid.
CJ: Everybody's stupid in an election year, Charlie.
Charlie: No. Everybody gets treated stupid in an election year, C.J.
2.10: Noel
Josh: How did you know I was going to ask you for that?
Donna: I'm tuned to you.
Josh: Seriously.
Donna: I anticipate your every need.
Josh: Yeah, but to be walking by with the guy's personnel file?
Donna: They called me ten minutes ago, Josh, don't be a yutz.
--
Leo: This guy's walking down a street, when he falls in a hole. The walls are so steep. He can't get out. A doctor passes by, and the guy shouts up "Hey you! Can you help me out?" The doctor writes him a prescription, throws it down the hole and moves on. Then a priest comes along and the guy shouts up "Father, I'm down in this hole, can you help me out?" The priest writes out a prayer, throws it down in the hole and moves on. Then a friend walks by. "Hey Joe, it's me, can you help me out?" And the friend jumps in the hole! Our guy says "Are you stupid? Now we're both down here!" and the friend says, "Yeah, but I've been down here before, and I know the way out." As long as I got a job, you got a job, you understand?
This episode, nnnnngh. Tears down my face. What else can I say. I worship at Bradley Whitford's feet. That's really all there is to it.
2.11: The Leadership Breakfast
Josh: You want to stand them in a tripod right?
Sam: Yeah, standing 3 sticks on an end and slanting them to a common center.
Josh: Isn't that a tripod?
Sam: Yeah, but...
Josh: You just thought you'd say more words.
Sam: Yeah.
--
Sam: You know what?
Josh: You think she was being sarcastic?
Sam: Yeah, I don't think she's getting the leaves.
Josh: You know what we could use?
Sam: Newspaper?
Josh: See, this is what I'm talking about, this is teamwork!
Sam: It really is!
BEST COLD OPEN EVER. EVER EVER EVER. Josh and Sam are the most ridiculously gorgeous dorks ever, oh my goodness.
Josh: What's at Ben and Sally's?
Leo: Karen Cahill.
Josh: And what stupid-ass Irish thing did you say to Karen Cahill that you now need me to apologize at Ben and Sally's like a little girl?
[Leo glares at Josh]
Josh: Let me tell you what was surprising about that moment just then. I said that only 12 hours after you were very cool about my almost accidentally setting the building on fire.
2.12: The Drop-In
Bartlet: It doesn't work.
Leo: It will work. One day soon. There are a couple of three star generals in there. Call any of 'em Lucy and you're on your own.
--
Josh: I know, it's got to be like Davy Jones himself is showing up.
CJ: Okay, don't make fun of Davy Jones, all right? He once wrote me a letter. He took that kind of time. And he still tours! Plus, my love for John Marbury is real, it's not a schoolgirl crush. He calls me 'Principessa'.
Josh: Does he?
CJ: Yeah.
Josh: Well, he calls Leo 'Gerald'.
--
Bartlet: It would be hypocrisy not to hold our friends to the same standard...
Leo: Yes.
Bartlet: Yet it feels strange to score political points by doing the right thing.
Leo: Yeah.
Bartlet: I'm victim to my own purity of character.
Leo: Whatever.
2.13: Bartlet's Third State of the Union
Sam: You look like a Rockette.
CJ: Yeah.
Sam: Yeah.
CJ: You know why I'm not wearing any pants?
Sam: I just assumed it was the usual reason.
--
Sam: They have bathrobes at the gym?
CJ: In the women's locker room.
Sam: But not the men's.
CJ: Yeah.
Sam: Now, that's outrageous. There's a thousand men working here and 50 women...
CJ: Yeah, and it's the bathrobes that's outrageous.
--
Charlie: And why doesn't he ask the First lady about the $500 check himself in the normal course of, you know, being married to her.
Mrs. Landingham: When the President inquires into the First lady's personal bookkeeping, the First Lady gets angry at him... and yells.
Charlie: Well, she's gonna get angry and yell when I inquire too.
Mrs. Landingham: Well, the President doesn't care so much about that. [smiles]
Charlie: Yeah, okay. This is a good job.
2.14: The War at Home
Josh: You wouldn't think she'd be jealous?
Sam: She goes out with guys. Are you jealous?
Josh: No.
Sam: See.
Josh: I don't get jealous.
Sam: So?
Josh: I don't like it and usually do everything within my considerable capabilities to sabotage it.
Sam: Yes.
Josh: Which is why its curious that Donna would do nothing to discourage and in fact everything to encourage a date with Joey Lucas... who, quite frankly, is a very attractive woman!
Sam: Josh?
Josh: Yeah.
Sam: You know your voice just got really high at the end of that.
--
Leo: How you doing, Ainsley?
Ainsley: I'm concerned about peeing on your carpet.
Leo: Okay. Well... now I am, too.
--
Josh: Numbers don't lie.
Joey: They lie all the time. They lie when 72% of Americans say they're tired of a sex scandal, while all the while, newspaper circulation goes through the roof for anyone featuring the story. If you polled a hundred Donnas and asked them if they think we should go out, you'd get a high positive response. But, the poll wouldn't tell you it's because she likes you. And she's knows it's beginning to show and she needs to cover herself with misdirection.
Josh: Believe me when I tell you that's not true.
2.15: Ellie
Josh: The man's gone a hundred and fifty hours. How can it be Thursday the whole time?
Sam: Listen. Japan is nine hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time...
Josh: Don't.
--
Sam: Soon. What's the food for?
Toby: Today's attempt at ensuring our future.
Sam: What's your plan?
Toby: The first thing I have to do is be nice to a liberal Democratic congresswoman.
Sam: Will that be hard?
Toby: Well, it was when I was married to her.
--
Bartlet: Tell CJ when she gives Millie our support on Monday, she can mean it.
Josh: You know, it's going to seem to some people like you did it 'cause your daughter asked you to.
Bartlet: You know, Josh, I think if you ever have a daughter, you're going to discover there are worse reasons in the world to do something.
2.16: Somebody's Going to Emergency,
Somebody's Going to Jail
Leo: Sam, go home, would you?
Sam: No, I'm just going to change my shirt.
Leo: You look bad. You're tired, you slept in the office. It's Friday - go home.
Sam: Why?
Leo: 'Cause I think you're putting too much faith in the magical powers of a new shirt.
--
Leo: Got to. Little thing called team morale, Josh. You gotta make people feel good about themselves.
[Leo and Josh enter the Roosevelt Room.]
Leo: All right, shut the hell up, everybody. I've fired more people than you before breakfast.
--
CJ: No cameras.
Toby: You negotiated that?
CJ: Yes.
Toby: They agreed to it?
CJ: Yes. You want to make out with me now, don't you?
Toby: Well, when don't I?
--
Sam: It's just there are certain things you're sure of... like longitude and latitude.
Donna: Sam, I don't know if this is the best time to tell you, but according to CJ, I wouldn't be so sure about longitude and latitude.
Just when I thought I couldn't love Sam any more than I already do. ♥ And Big Block of Cheese Day will never, ever get old.
2.17: The Stackhouse Filibuster
CJ: Women seeking abortions should not be required by law to be lectured at.
Josh: Yeah, but you're gonna help me out there, right?
CJ: Yes, I will. I will once again and betray the sisterhood.
[Josh and the other men look down with small smiles.]
CJ: Okay, I saw you, you, you, and you roll your eyes.
Larry: You weren't even looking at me.
CJ: I felt you.
--
Josh: I know, I'm thinking seriously about turning pro.
Sam: Yeah?
Josh: Yeah, I got agents talking to me, telling me I could go high in the second round, maybe low in the first if I have a good postseason.
Sam: You don't want to stay in school, get your education?
Josh: Nah, I'm white, nobody's gonna mind.
And my absolute favorite piece of dialogue the entire season:
CJ: Sam, who's your favorite writer?
Sam: Toby.
IT'S THE ABSOLUTE SWEETEST THING, AND I CAN'T EVEN. Sam. ♥♥♥
2.18: 17 People
Josh: It's our anniversary!
Donna: No, it's not.
Josh: I'm the kind of guy who remembers these things!
Donna: No, you're the kind of guy who sends a woman flowers to be mean. You're the only person I've met who can do that!
Josh: I'm quite something.
--
Sam: I could've countered that, but I'd already moved on to other things in my head.
This was such a pretty episode - the camera work in the Oval Office was ace; and casual clothes in pretty lighting FTMFW. I love the contrast between the two things going on in the White House, it's the calm before the huge-ass storm coming their way. I LOVE TOBY.
Josh: Seriously, you were in an accident?
Donna: It was no big deal.
Josh: You told me it was a late thaw.
Donna: Yes. I did. Anyway, they took me to the hospital and I called him and he came to get me and on the way he stopped and met some friends of his for a beer.
Josh: He stopped on the way to the hospital for a beer?
Donna: Yes. And that's why I left him. Which was the point of my telling you this. I left him. So stop remembering that. What I remember is that you took me back when you had absolutely no reason to trust me again, and you didn't make fun of me or him, and you had every reason to.
--
Donna: Does this make you feel superior?
Donna: Yes, you are better than my old boyfriend.
Josh: I'm just sayin' if you were in an accident, I wouldn't stop for a beer.
Donna: If you were in an accident, I wouldn't stop for red lights. Thanks for taking me back. Oh, and the flowers are beautiful.
!!!!!!!!!! Yeah, I can't even. MY SHIP. MY SHIIIIIIIP. The way they look at each other, it's just. a;fajdlfaadkfja;ldfj ♥♥♥
2.19: Bad Moon Rising
Leo: You're a little pissy too, there, my friend.
Oliver: Yeah, well, I'm pissed.
Leo: No kidding.
Oliver: You weren't when you found out?
Leo: I was, but then I remembered.
Oliver:What?
Leo: That I'm a drunk, and he didn't give a damn.
--
Josh: "If your neighbor's house is on fire, you don't haggle over the price of your garden hose." Frank Kelly in South Carolina wouldn't... There are too many things in the world we can't do. Mexico's on fire. Why help them? Because we can.
Bartlet: We won't discuss it except to say this: you're gonna be subpoenaed. I'm confident in your loyalty to me. I'm confident in your love for me. If you lie to protect me, if you lie just once, if you lie just a little, if you lie 'cause you can't stand what's happening to me and the people making it happen, if you ever, ever lie...
[Charlie finally looks over at Bartlet.]
Bartlet: ...you're finished with me, you understand?
Charlie:: Yes, sir.
Bartlet: Say you understand.
Charlie:: I understand, sir.
HEARTS. HEARTS. HEARTS. I love them so much, you don't even know.
2.20: The Fall's Gonna Kill You
CJ: I'll tell you what else. One in forty American men wear women's clothing, and we've had well over forty Presidents.
Oliver: Yeah.
CJ: I'm just sayin', one of these guys was dancing around the Oval Office in a prom dress. Now let's get to the bottom of that.
Oliver: CJ?
CJ: Yeah?
Oliver: In my entire life I've never found anything charming.
--
Toby: We're Batman and Robin!
Sam: Which one's which?
Toby: Look at me, Sam. Am I Robin?
Sam: I'm not Robin.
Toby: Yes, you are.
--
Toby: The projections are lower?
Sam: Measurably lower.
Toby: I'm so happy I could spit.
Sam: This is really the first administration in history to favor slower economic growth.
2.21: 18th and Potomac
Mrs. Landingham: Oh, no. Thank you, but I'm buying this car myself. This car is gonna feel good.
Bartlet: Is it a nice one?
Mrs. Landingham: It's a beauty. It's blue. It has air conditioning. I told 'em I could just roll down the windows, but it comes with it anyway.
--
Josh: Yeah, the problem is, Rossitter sits on the Judiciary Committee and I don't know how many enemies on Judiciary we wanna make right now.
Leo: Both of you listen. We're not gonna stop, soften, detour, postpone, circumvent, obfuscate, or trade a single one of our goals to allow for whatever extracurricular nonsense is coming our way in the next few days, weeks, and months.
Toby: When did we decide this?
Leo: Just now. Light 'em up.
I can't. There are no words. Mrs. Landingham, omg. I knew she was gonna get killed off, but I had no idea it was going to be like this. I sobbed so hard at the end of this episode, so so much that I could hardly breathe. Then I jumped right into the finale and didn't, couldn't stop crying until another hour after that. Just. Aaagh, my heart.
Seriously, you guys. Seriously. The best season finale I have ever seen. I could hours upon hours talking about it, this beautiful picspam by my darling prettyquotable illustrates all the amazing aspects of it and more.
2.22: Two Cathedrals
Bartlet: You're a son of a bitch, you know that? She bought her first new car and you hit her with a drunk driver. What, was that supposed to be funny? "You can't conceive, nor can I, the appalling strangeness of the mercy of God," says Graham Greene. I don't know who's ass he was kissing there 'cause I think you're just vindictive. What was Josh Lyman? A warning shot? That was my son. What did I ever do to yours except praise his glory and praise his name?
--
Leo: Yeah, I got you a lifeboat.
Toby: Do you imagine there are any circumstances under which I would use it?
Leo: No.
Toby: Then why?
Leo: To show him that.
--
Bartlet: 3.5 million kids go to schools that are literally falling apart. We need 127 billion in school construction, and we need it today!
Mrs. Landingham: To say nothing of the 53 people trapped in the embassy.
Bartlet: Yes.
Mrs. Landingham: You know, if you don't want to run again, I respect that. But if you don't run 'cause you think it's gonna be too hard or you think you're gonna lose - well, God, Jed, I don't even want to know you.
Sandy: Mr. President, can you tell us right now if you'll be seeking a second term?
Caps from screenmusings.net and _jems_
Quotes from westwingtranscripts.com and Wikiquote
**
Jed: Why do you talk to me like this?
Mrs. Landingham: You've never had a big sister and you need one. Look at you. You're a Boy King. You're a foot smarter than the smartest kid in the class. You're blessed with inspiration. You must know this by now. You must have sensed it. Look, if you think we're wrong... if you think Mr. Hopkins should honestly get paid more than Mrs. Chadwick, then I respect that. But if you think we're right and you won't speak up because you can't be bothered, then God, Jed, I don't even want to know you.
I'm slowly making my way back to civilization now, getting back into the fandoms that I'd abandoned and finishing projects~ that I'd been working on. I had a week off from school last month, and now I'm on break - I finally found the time to finish this thing.
You guys. The West Wing is leagues above and beyond any kind of TV before or since. Season 2 was freaking awesome. Season 1 left me in awe, wondering how this amazing show could get better, but then it did. The storylines, the emotions, these beautiful characters and their relationships - especially the buildup and the tension during the last 1/3 of the season, I just. There's nothing else like it. I admittedly like my shows light and cheesy, but I've been through my share of ~serious~ ones too, and The West Wing is just leaps and bounds superior to all of them. If you haven't seen this show, get on it right the eff now.
Without further ado:
2.01: In the Shadow of Two Gunmen Part 1
Bartlet: Let me put it this way, I voted against the bill because I didn't want to make it harder for people to buy milk. I stopped some money from flowing into your pocket. If that angers you, if you resent me, I completely respect that. But if you expect anything different from the President of the United States, you should vote for someone else.
--
Abbey: I told him about Josh.
Bartlet: Please. Help me to the door.
Leo: You should stay in bed.
Bartlet: Charlie brought me some clothes. Please let me see him.
--
Leo: Because I'm tired of it year after year after year after year having to chose between the lesser of who cares? Of trying to get myself excited about a candidate who can speak in complete sentences. Of setting the bar so low, I can hardly look at it. They say a good man can't get elected President. I don't believe that, do you?
Bartlet: And you think I'm that man.
Leo: Yes.
Bartlet: Does it matter that I'm not as sure?
Leo: Nah. Act as if ye have faith and faith shall be given to you. Put it another way, fake it till you make it.
2.02: In the Shadow of Two Gunmen Part 2
Toby: I tried calling you at your office. They said you were fired. Were you stealing things?
CJ: Roger Becker dropped from third most powerful person in Hollywood to ninth most powerful person in Hollywood.
Toby: Does he still make the playoffs, or is the cutoff line...
CJ: Toby.
--
Margaret: I can sign the President's name. I have his signature down pretty good.
Leo: You can sign the President's name?
Margaret: Yeah.
Leo: On a document removing him from power and handing it to someone else?
Margaret: Yeah! Or... do you think the White House Counsel would say that was a bad idea?
Leo: I think the White House Counsel would say it was a coup d'etat!
Margaret: Well. I'd probably end up doing some time for that.
Leo: I would think... And what the hell were you doing practicing the President's signature?
Margaret: It was just for fun.
Leo: We've got separation of powers, checks and balances, and Margaret vetoeing things and sending them back to the Hill.
LMAO I love me some Margaret. She and Leo are awesomely hilarious.
Josh: Donna, this is a campaign for the Presidency, and there's nothing I take more seriously than that. This can't be a place where people come to find their confidence and start over.
Donna: Why not?
Josh: I'm sorry?
Donna: Why can't it be those things?
--
Josh: Donna.
Donna: Look. I think I might be good at this. I think you might find me valuable.
Donna holding her name tag. Oh my gosh. Most heartbreaking moment ever. No matter how many times I've seen this episode, seeing her standing there always makes me tear up. Ugh, I have so much love for this premiere - the cuts from past to present to past are so smart and seamless.
DANCE PARTY! Josh, you dork.
2.03: The Midterms
Bartlet: Good morning, everybody. Anybody know what the word 'acalculia' means?
Sam: It's the inability to form arithmetic functions. I'm sorry, Mr. President. You wanted to answer your own question, didn't you?
Bartlet: Yeah, but I'll get over it.
Sam: Good for you, sir. That's very mature.
Bartlet: Shut up.
--
Leo: You're going out?
Charlie: Yeah.
Leo: Charlie, you're taking extra protection, right?
Charlie: Hey, Leo...
Leo: Secret Service protection, Charlie. But thanks for loading me up with that image.
CJ: Hey! You're wearing my pajamas.
Josh: Yes, I am.
CJ: Take your coat off, let's see.
[Josh stands up and shrugs off his coat to reveal light blue pajamas that are three sizes too big.]
CJ: Those are too big.
Josh: Yes, they are. All this time I've been working with you, did you also think I was playing power forward for the Cleveland Cavaliers?
CJ: I think they look good on you.
Toby: I think you're all freaks.
This is arguably the most talented and definitely my most favorite ensemble cast of all time. I love, love, love scenes like these - you squint and can almost see them as this dysfunctional family who just have a lot of affection for one another and like spending time together. So much pretty, too.
2.04: In This White House
Josh: Toby. Come quick! Sam's getting his ass kicked by a girl!
Toby: Ginger, get the popcorn!
--
Bartlet: Charlie.
Charlie: Yes, sir.
Bartlet: When they close the book on me and you, it will say that at this moment you were not there for me, and for that, obviously, there'll be some kind of punishment.
Charlie: Well, you could sing Puccini for me again, Mr. President. We'll call it even.
--
Sam: You got lost on your way to work.
CJ: Don't make fun of me.
Sam: I wouldn't worry about that.
CJ: I didn't sleep much last night.
Sam: How much did you sleep?
CJ: None, not at all.
Sam: You slept none, not at all.
CJ: Sam!
Sam: I am, today, particularly excited about you being the spokesperson for the President.
AINSLEY. ♥♥♥ I love her so much, omg. Such an excellent addition to the ensemble. It's a pity that (it seemedlike) Aaron couldn't figure out what to do with her during the latter part of the season - I'd have loved to have seen more of her than they showed.
Also, the little exchange between Toby and Ginger - the one where Toby brought her a danish, they didn't have cheese so he got her a boysenberry one instead? That melted my heart with its awesomeness. I love little, throwaway details like that, the intimacy and affection that comes with working together as long as they have. It's another dimension to the show that makes me love it so much.
2.05: And It's Surely To Their Credit
Ainsley: Mr. Tribbey? I'd like to do well on this, my first assignment. Any advice you could give me that might point me the way of success would be, by me, appreciated.
Tribbey: Well, not speaking in iambic pentameter might be a step in the right direction.
--
Sam: I'm -- nothing. I'm not -- nothing. Except it's from Pinafore.
Tribbey: It's from Penzance.
Sam: I hate to stick my head in the lion's mouth, but I got to ask you: were you the Recording Secretary of the Princeton Gilbert and Sullivan Society for two years?
Tribbey: No, but then again I'm not a woman, so.
--
Josh: It ties up the staff indefinitely when there are... I mean, there are other things that they should be doing. I appear to be using a high-profile position for my personal agenda --
Sam: I don't...
Josh: But mostly I just -- I just think a lawsuit is... too small. I can't have it be like I slipped in their driveway. It's different than that to me.
2.06: The Lame Duck Congress
Donna: My value here is that I have no value.
Josh: You have enormous value to me. You have absolutely no value to Eastern Europe.
--
Josh: How can he meet the President accidentally?
Leo: When I was Labor secretary we did it with the Dalai Lama. Obviously Beijing doesn't want the President to have any diplomatic contact, so they arrange a low level meeting, keep the door open, the President wanders by, 'Hey, how ya doing, Dalai Lama.'
Josh: That's the most crazy ass thing I've ever heard.
Leo: It works.
Josh: This is how the world is run?
--
Ainsley: I don't understand.
Sam: Leo said yes, that's the end of meeting.
Ainsley: I was just talking, Sam, I was just talking to you.
Sam: Well, we play with live ammo around here. You convinced me, I convinced Leo, Leo'll convince the President.
Ainsley: Sam, I...
Sam: It's a short day, Ainsley, and a big country. We've got to move fast.
Ainsley: Is it because I said in here, the President in there...
Sam: Yup.
Ainsley: You've got to tell me when that's going to happen. Is this how you guys decide to go to war?
Sam: I don't know, I'm usually not in the room when they do that.
Rob Lowe has chemistry with anything that moves, but there's something about Sam/Ainsley that I'm so enamored with, idek. Their push-and-pull-and-push and their adorable banter, and THE PRETTY. They're so so pretty.
2.07: The Portland Trip
Leo: That's a nice dress.
Donna: Thank you, sir.
Leo: You weren't wearing that dress earlier today, were you?
Donna: You guys are sharp as tacks, you know that?
--
Bartlet: A long flight across the night. You know why late flights are good? Because we cease to be earthbound and burdened with practicality. Asking important questions. Talking about the idea that nobody has thought about yet. Put it a different way...
Sam: Be poets.
--
Bartlet: Talk, Charlie.
Charlie: Mr. President, if this was an idea, somebody would have had it already.
Bartlet: I find fault with that formula.
CJ: You were accepted at Harvard, Yale, and Williams. Why did you go to Notre Dame?
Bartlet: Because I was thinking of becoming a priest.
CJ: Really?
Bartlet: Yeah.
CJ: What happened?
Bartlet: I met Abbey.
Oh God, I don't even know. This is one of my all-time favorite pieces of dialogue in the universe. JED AND ABBEY OMG MY HEART. They don't need to be in the same room for me to be head over heels in love with the two of them. Plus CJ's wistful smile, and just. Yeah. So, so amazing and understated, I'm floored.
2.08: Shibboleth
Sam: Pilgrim detectives.
Toby: Do you see me laughing?
Sam: I think you're laughing on the inside.
Toby: Okay.
Sam: With the big hats.
Toby: Give me the speech.
--
Charlie: Okay, Mr. President, I say this with all possible respect, but each of these knives cut, you know, meat. Why is it important?
Bartlet: Because it's something we pass on. Something with a history so we can say, 'My father gave this to me. His father gave it to him.'
Charlie: Well, okay, sir, but if that's true, then why don't you already have one?
Bartlet: I do have one.
Charlie: Why do you need a new one?
Bartlet: I'm giving mine away.
Charlie: To who?
Bartlet: Whom.
Charlie: To whom?
Bartlet: Funny you should ask. [takes out knife case from his drawer] Charlie, my father gave this to me, and his father gave it to him, and now I'm giving it to you.
--
CJ: They sent me two turkeys. The most photo-friendly of the two gets a Presidential pardon and a full life at a children's zoo. The runner-up gets eaten.
Bartlet: If the Oscars were like that, I'd watch.
CASUAL CLOTHES. Never enough of it on the show, just sayin'. And honestly - the relationship between Charlie and the President is one of my all-time favorites. They're so wonderful together.
2.09: Galileo
Donna: The process by which a stamp enters circulation begins with the American public...
Josh: Well, that's always our first mistake.
--
Josh: We think if we hit the ground hard enough, we can make it to the center of the planet and find water?
Toby: Yeah.
Josh: That's not a theory of Physics pretty much disproved by Wile E. Coyote?
--
Sam: Please, let's remember, it's not like we were dating. It was a flirtation. We had one date. The rest were all with groups of people and... I don't know, I don't even know what dating is anymore.
Toby: Well, that's 20 seconds of my life I'm never going to get back.
--
Charlie: Education's a serious thing. Crime, jobs, national security. In 18 months, I've been to Oregon four times, and not a single person I've met there has been stupid.
CJ: Everybody's stupid in an election year, Charlie.
Charlie: No. Everybody gets treated stupid in an election year, C.J.
2.10: Noel
Josh: How did you know I was going to ask you for that?
Donna: I'm tuned to you.
Josh: Seriously.
Donna: I anticipate your every need.
Josh: Yeah, but to be walking by with the guy's personnel file?
Donna: They called me ten minutes ago, Josh, don't be a yutz.
--
Leo: This guy's walking down a street, when he falls in a hole. The walls are so steep. He can't get out. A doctor passes by, and the guy shouts up "Hey you! Can you help me out?" The doctor writes him a prescription, throws it down the hole and moves on. Then a priest comes along and the guy shouts up "Father, I'm down in this hole, can you help me out?" The priest writes out a prayer, throws it down in the hole and moves on. Then a friend walks by. "Hey Joe, it's me, can you help me out?" And the friend jumps in the hole! Our guy says "Are you stupid? Now we're both down here!" and the friend says, "Yeah, but I've been down here before, and I know the way out." As long as I got a job, you got a job, you understand?
This episode, nnnnngh. Tears down my face. What else can I say. I worship at Bradley Whitford's feet. That's really all there is to it.
2.11: The Leadership Breakfast
Josh: You want to stand them in a tripod right?
Sam: Yeah, standing 3 sticks on an end and slanting them to a common center.
Josh: Isn't that a tripod?
Sam: Yeah, but...
Josh: You just thought you'd say more words.
Sam: Yeah.
--
Sam: You know what?
Josh: You think she was being sarcastic?
Sam: Yeah, I don't think she's getting the leaves.
Josh: You know what we could use?
Sam: Newspaper?
Josh: See, this is what I'm talking about, this is teamwork!
Sam: It really is!
BEST COLD OPEN EVER. EVER EVER EVER. Josh and Sam are the most ridiculously gorgeous dorks ever, oh my goodness.
Josh: What's at Ben and Sally's?
Leo: Karen Cahill.
Josh: And what stupid-ass Irish thing did you say to Karen Cahill that you now need me to apologize at Ben and Sally's like a little girl?
[Leo glares at Josh]
Josh: Let me tell you what was surprising about that moment just then. I said that only 12 hours after you were very cool about my almost accidentally setting the building on fire.
2.12: The Drop-In
Bartlet: It doesn't work.
Leo: It will work. One day soon. There are a couple of three star generals in there. Call any of 'em Lucy and you're on your own.
--
Josh: I know, it's got to be like Davy Jones himself is showing up.
CJ: Okay, don't make fun of Davy Jones, all right? He once wrote me a letter. He took that kind of time. And he still tours! Plus, my love for John Marbury is real, it's not a schoolgirl crush. He calls me 'Principessa'.
Josh: Does he?
CJ: Yeah.
Josh: Well, he calls Leo 'Gerald'.
--
Bartlet: It would be hypocrisy not to hold our friends to the same standard...
Leo: Yes.
Bartlet: Yet it feels strange to score political points by doing the right thing.
Leo: Yeah.
Bartlet: I'm victim to my own purity of character.
Leo: Whatever.
2.13: Bartlet's Third State of the Union
Sam: You look like a Rockette.
CJ: Yeah.
Sam: Yeah.
CJ: You know why I'm not wearing any pants?
Sam: I just assumed it was the usual reason.
--
Sam: They have bathrobes at the gym?
CJ: In the women's locker room.
Sam: But not the men's.
CJ: Yeah.
Sam: Now, that's outrageous. There's a thousand men working here and 50 women...
CJ: Yeah, and it's the bathrobes that's outrageous.
--
Charlie: And why doesn't he ask the First lady about the $500 check himself in the normal course of, you know, being married to her.
Mrs. Landingham: When the President inquires into the First lady's personal bookkeeping, the First Lady gets angry at him... and yells.
Charlie: Well, she's gonna get angry and yell when I inquire too.
Mrs. Landingham: Well, the President doesn't care so much about that. [smiles]
Charlie: Yeah, okay. This is a good job.
2.14: The War at Home
Josh: You wouldn't think she'd be jealous?
Sam: She goes out with guys. Are you jealous?
Josh: No.
Sam: See.
Josh: I don't get jealous.
Sam: So?
Josh: I don't like it and usually do everything within my considerable capabilities to sabotage it.
Sam: Yes.
Josh: Which is why its curious that Donna would do nothing to discourage and in fact everything to encourage a date with Joey Lucas... who, quite frankly, is a very attractive woman!
Sam: Josh?
Josh: Yeah.
Sam: You know your voice just got really high at the end of that.
--
Leo: How you doing, Ainsley?
Ainsley: I'm concerned about peeing on your carpet.
Leo: Okay. Well... now I am, too.
--
Josh: Numbers don't lie.
Joey: They lie all the time. They lie when 72% of Americans say they're tired of a sex scandal, while all the while, newspaper circulation goes through the roof for anyone featuring the story. If you polled a hundred Donnas and asked them if they think we should go out, you'd get a high positive response. But, the poll wouldn't tell you it's because she likes you. And she's knows it's beginning to show and she needs to cover herself with misdirection.
Josh: Believe me when I tell you that's not true.
2.15: Ellie
Josh: The man's gone a hundred and fifty hours. How can it be Thursday the whole time?
Sam: Listen. Japan is nine hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time...
Josh: Don't.
--
Sam: Soon. What's the food for?
Toby: Today's attempt at ensuring our future.
Sam: What's your plan?
Toby: The first thing I have to do is be nice to a liberal Democratic congresswoman.
Sam: Will that be hard?
Toby: Well, it was when I was married to her.
--
Bartlet: Tell CJ when she gives Millie our support on Monday, she can mean it.
Josh: You know, it's going to seem to some people like you did it 'cause your daughter asked you to.
Bartlet: You know, Josh, I think if you ever have a daughter, you're going to discover there are worse reasons in the world to do something.
2.16: Somebody's Going to Emergency,
Somebody's Going to Jail
Leo: Sam, go home, would you?
Sam: No, I'm just going to change my shirt.
Leo: You look bad. You're tired, you slept in the office. It's Friday - go home.
Sam: Why?
Leo: 'Cause I think you're putting too much faith in the magical powers of a new shirt.
--
Leo: Got to. Little thing called team morale, Josh. You gotta make people feel good about themselves.
[Leo and Josh enter the Roosevelt Room.]
Leo: All right, shut the hell up, everybody. I've fired more people than you before breakfast.
--
CJ: No cameras.
Toby: You negotiated that?
CJ: Yes.
Toby: They agreed to it?
CJ: Yes. You want to make out with me now, don't you?
Toby: Well, when don't I?
--
Sam: It's just there are certain things you're sure of... like longitude and latitude.
Donna: Sam, I don't know if this is the best time to tell you, but according to CJ, I wouldn't be so sure about longitude and latitude.
Just when I thought I couldn't love Sam any more than I already do. ♥ And Big Block of Cheese Day will never, ever get old.
2.17: The Stackhouse Filibuster
CJ: Women seeking abortions should not be required by law to be lectured at.
Josh: Yeah, but you're gonna help me out there, right?
CJ: Yes, I will. I will once again and betray the sisterhood.
[Josh and the other men look down with small smiles.]
CJ: Okay, I saw you, you, you, and you roll your eyes.
Larry: You weren't even looking at me.
CJ: I felt you.
--
Josh: I know, I'm thinking seriously about turning pro.
Sam: Yeah?
Josh: Yeah, I got agents talking to me, telling me I could go high in the second round, maybe low in the first if I have a good postseason.
Sam: You don't want to stay in school, get your education?
Josh: Nah, I'm white, nobody's gonna mind.
And my absolute favorite piece of dialogue the entire season:
CJ: Sam, who's your favorite writer?
Sam: Toby.
IT'S THE ABSOLUTE SWEETEST THING, AND I CAN'T EVEN. Sam. ♥♥♥
2.18: 17 People
Josh: It's our anniversary!
Donna: No, it's not.
Josh: I'm the kind of guy who remembers these things!
Donna: No, you're the kind of guy who sends a woman flowers to be mean. You're the only person I've met who can do that!
Josh: I'm quite something.
--
Sam: I could've countered that, but I'd already moved on to other things in my head.
This was such a pretty episode - the camera work in the Oval Office was ace; and casual clothes in pretty lighting FTMFW. I love the contrast between the two things going on in the White House, it's the calm before the huge-ass storm coming their way. I LOVE TOBY.
Josh: Seriously, you were in an accident?
Donna: It was no big deal.
Josh: You told me it was a late thaw.
Donna: Yes. I did. Anyway, they took me to the hospital and I called him and he came to get me and on the way he stopped and met some friends of his for a beer.
Josh: He stopped on the way to the hospital for a beer?
Donna: Yes. And that's why I left him. Which was the point of my telling you this. I left him. So stop remembering that. What I remember is that you took me back when you had absolutely no reason to trust me again, and you didn't make fun of me or him, and you had every reason to.
--
Donna: Does this make you feel superior?
Donna: Yes, you are better than my old boyfriend.
Josh: I'm just sayin' if you were in an accident, I wouldn't stop for a beer.
Donna: If you were in an accident, I wouldn't stop for red lights. Thanks for taking me back. Oh, and the flowers are beautiful.
!!!!!!!!!! Yeah, I can't even. MY SHIP. MY SHIIIIIIIP. The way they look at each other, it's just. a;fajdlfaadkfja;ldfj ♥♥♥
2.19: Bad Moon Rising
Leo: You're a little pissy too, there, my friend.
Oliver: Yeah, well, I'm pissed.
Leo: No kidding.
Oliver: You weren't when you found out?
Leo: I was, but then I remembered.
Oliver:What?
Leo: That I'm a drunk, and he didn't give a damn.
--
Josh: "If your neighbor's house is on fire, you don't haggle over the price of your garden hose." Frank Kelly in South Carolina wouldn't... There are too many things in the world we can't do. Mexico's on fire. Why help them? Because we can.
Bartlet: We won't discuss it except to say this: you're gonna be subpoenaed. I'm confident in your loyalty to me. I'm confident in your love for me. If you lie to protect me, if you lie just once, if you lie just a little, if you lie 'cause you can't stand what's happening to me and the people making it happen, if you ever, ever lie...
[Charlie finally looks over at Bartlet.]
Bartlet: ...you're finished with me, you understand?
Charlie:: Yes, sir.
Bartlet: Say you understand.
Charlie:: I understand, sir.
HEARTS. HEARTS. HEARTS. I love them so much, you don't even know.
2.20: The Fall's Gonna Kill You
CJ: I'll tell you what else. One in forty American men wear women's clothing, and we've had well over forty Presidents.
Oliver: Yeah.
CJ: I'm just sayin', one of these guys was dancing around the Oval Office in a prom dress. Now let's get to the bottom of that.
Oliver: CJ?
CJ: Yeah?
Oliver: In my entire life I've never found anything charming.
--
Toby: We're Batman and Robin!
Sam: Which one's which?
Toby: Look at me, Sam. Am I Robin?
Sam: I'm not Robin.
Toby: Yes, you are.
--
Toby: The projections are lower?
Sam: Measurably lower.
Toby: I'm so happy I could spit.
Sam: This is really the first administration in history to favor slower economic growth.
2.21: 18th and Potomac
Mrs. Landingham: Oh, no. Thank you, but I'm buying this car myself. This car is gonna feel good.
Bartlet: Is it a nice one?
Mrs. Landingham: It's a beauty. It's blue. It has air conditioning. I told 'em I could just roll down the windows, but it comes with it anyway.
--
Josh: Yeah, the problem is, Rossitter sits on the Judiciary Committee and I don't know how many enemies on Judiciary we wanna make right now.
Leo: Both of you listen. We're not gonna stop, soften, detour, postpone, circumvent, obfuscate, or trade a single one of our goals to allow for whatever extracurricular nonsense is coming our way in the next few days, weeks, and months.
Toby: When did we decide this?
Leo: Just now. Light 'em up.
I can't. There are no words. Mrs. Landingham, omg. I knew she was gonna get killed off, but I had no idea it was going to be like this. I sobbed so hard at the end of this episode, so so much that I could hardly breathe. Then I jumped right into the finale and didn't, couldn't stop crying until another hour after that. Just. Aaagh, my heart.
Seriously, you guys. Seriously. The best season finale I have ever seen. I could hours upon hours talking about it, this beautiful picspam by my darling prettyquotable illustrates all the amazing aspects of it and more.
2.22: Two Cathedrals
Bartlet: You're a son of a bitch, you know that? She bought her first new car and you hit her with a drunk driver. What, was that supposed to be funny? "You can't conceive, nor can I, the appalling strangeness of the mercy of God," says Graham Greene. I don't know who's ass he was kissing there 'cause I think you're just vindictive. What was Josh Lyman? A warning shot? That was my son. What did I ever do to yours except praise his glory and praise his name?
--
Leo: Yeah, I got you a lifeboat.
Toby: Do you imagine there are any circumstances under which I would use it?
Leo: No.
Toby: Then why?
Leo: To show him that.
--
Bartlet: 3.5 million kids go to schools that are literally falling apart. We need 127 billion in school construction, and we need it today!
Mrs. Landingham: To say nothing of the 53 people trapped in the embassy.
Bartlet: Yes.
Mrs. Landingham: You know, if you don't want to run again, I respect that. But if you don't run 'cause you think it's gonna be too hard or you think you're gonna lose - well, God, Jed, I don't even want to know you.
Sandy: Mr. President, can you tell us right now if you'll be seeking a second term?
Caps from screenmusings.net and _jems_
Quotes from westwingtranscripts.com and Wikiquote
**
Jed: Why do you talk to me like this?
Mrs. Landingham: You've never had a big sister and you need one. Look at you. You're a Boy King. You're a foot smarter than the smartest kid in the class. You're blessed with inspiration. You must know this by now. You must have sensed it. Look, if you think we're wrong... if you think Mr. Hopkins should honestly get paid more than Mrs. Chadwick, then I respect that. But if you think we're right and you won't speak up because you can't be bothered, then God, Jed, I don't even want to know you.