THE WEST WING "COMMENCEMENT" WRITTEN BY: AARON SORKIN DIRECTED BY: ALEX GRAVES TEASER FADE IN: INT. JOSH'S OFFICE - DAY The TV in Josh's office is muted, but the reporter is reporting a story on: "Hoynes: Farewell to Politics". Josh is looking through folders. A board behind him is loaded with pictures of different people. He pulls out a seating chart of the Senate and crosses off a name. We can assume that he's looking for a replacement for Hoynes. Charlie knocks on the door and enters. CHARLIE Josh? The President wants to know if we still have the vetting files from five years ago? JOSH For Vice President you mean? CHARLIE Yeah. You crossed off McKenna? JOSH For health. CHARLIE Ryan Lyndell? JOSH Yeah. I'm a fan of Lyndell, so is the President, but the Speaker's not, and this guy has to get confirmed. CHARLIE To much of a moonshot for the Speaker? JOSH He's got an Asian garden in the back of his house where he meditates. CHARLIE Asian garden? Asian garden, I know what the... He reaches in his pocket and pulls out his wallet. CHARLIE A note fell out of my wallet yesterday, and I couldn't remember what it... "5/7, 10 PM, Paeonia Japonica/Bamboo." JOSH Both of which one would find in an Asian garden. CHARLIE Next to each other at the Arboretum. Josh walks out into his BULLPEN AREA to get a folder from Donna's desk. Charlie follows. CHARLIE [cont] I wrote this note three and a half years ago, right after Zoey started school. We buried, like, a $14 bottle of champagne, and decided we'd dig it up and drink it right after she graduated. JOSH You buried the champagne at the Arboretum? CHARLIE Between the Paeonia Japonica and the bamboo. JOSH How do you get away with digging up the National Arboretum? CHARLIE Oh, well, you gotta to do it at night. JOSH Well, today is the... Today's 5/7. CHARLIE I know. JOSH You got to get the bottle back. CHARLIE No. JOSH You do. CHARLIE No. I'm done. I gave it a shot. She said no. She said it clearly. JOSH You shoud dig it up, it's a good idea. CHARLIE She's going to France tomorrow with Tartuffe. I'm gonna eat the fourteen bucks. JOSH No, I mean, as a friend. You give it to her as a graduation present. You give it to her at one of the parties tonight. That way she goes off without thinking you're mad at her. CHARLIE I am mad at her. JOSH Yeah, but it's not really her fault, and she's going away for a while. And... anyway, I don't know what I'm talking about. Let me ask you something. Just between you and me... and... I'm not looking for this particular promotion, but... just between you and me... what would you think about this choice? Josh rips something from a newspaper and sticks it on the board. Charlie looks at the picture. CHARLIE You got the vetting file? Josh hands Charlie a folder and he walks out. JOSH See you later. We see that it is a picture of Bartlet waving and Leo walking behind him. SMASH CUT TO: MAIN TITLES. END TEASER * * * ACT ONE FADE IN: INT. THE SITUATION ROOM - DAY NANCY No, the FBI found the van abandoned in Sacramento. BARTLET How were they able to rent a van? NANCY Sir, I'm joining those who are recommending Threat Condition Bravo. I think at the very least we have to increase security at the airports and the seaports. BARTLET [reading a note] "A torrential downpour in the Pacific Northwest." NANCY Yes, sir. BARTLET "A torrential downpour." NANCY Yes. BARTLET And they're just missing? FITZWALLACE Yes. BARTLET The five of them, they're just missing? FITZWALLACE Yes, sir. BARTLET We're going to work on that? AIDE Yes, sir. BARTLET Threat Con Bravo. Find them. Threat Con Bravo. Leo and I will be back. CUT TO: INT. JOSH'S BULLPEN AREA - DAY AMY Hey, Donna, the First Lady wanted you to know that Mary and Fred Wellington are back on the trip, so we need to deal with that. DONNA All right. AMY Yeah. You know Josh came by this morning to show me a list of six possible nominees, and I thought it was a very good list. And I said, "Wow, well, this is a windfall." And... he got very quiet, and it occured to me after he left that I he may have thought I meant it's great that the Vice President had to resign 'cause now we get one of these guys. Did he happen to mention anything about that? DONNA No. AMY I didn't mean it was good the Vice President had to resign. DONNA I'll tell Josh about the Wellington's. AMY Okay. CUT TO: INT. OUTER OVAL OFFICE - DAY Toby is pacing back and forth when C.J. enters. C.J. Good morning. TOBY Good morning. C.J. Big day. TOBY Yes. C.J. Are you nervous? TOBY How do you know about this? C.J. The house? TOBY Yeah. C.J. Not because you told me. TOBY That's right. WILL Hey. C.J. Hey. TOBY Hey. WILL I'm glad he's finally asking for help with the speech. TOBY It's not going to be about commencement. WILL Why not? TOBY 'Cause he's not going to call the four of us in Saturday morning at 8:00 to work on a commencement speech. WILL Aren't you nervous you haven't seen it? TOBY I'm choosing to be nervous about other things today. WILL Oh, hey, that's right, big day. TOBY Is he taking about the house? WILL It's romantic. TOBY [to Josh who has just walked in] They know about the house! JOSH Did you tell them? TOBY No. Did you? JOSH It's a bold, romantic gesture. I spread it around, got you some good will. I think I turned some people around on you. Charlie enters from Oval Office. CHARLIE You can go in. CUT TO: INT. THE OVAL OFFICE - CONTINUOUS Bartlet is talking on the phone. LEO Go ahead and sit down. He's going to be a second. How you doing? TOBY Good. LEO What is it, two weeks? TOBY In ten days, we can pick a day on the calendar and they'll induce. LEO You can pick a day? TOBY Yeah. LEO That's great, so you can do it on a Friday, let the kids get their feet wet over the weekend. TOBY Yeah. LEO Let me tell you something... you know what I'd do? I'd check into the hospital today. You can't do it too soon. Mallory was very nearly born at Exit 322 on the Long Island Expressway. BARTLET [into phone] Thanks. Bartlet hangs up the phone and walks over to the staff. BARTLET Yeah, listen, I don't think this is going to come as a galloping shock to anyone here, but last May I ordered a Special Ops unit to kill Abdul Shareef, and that's what they did, and we we made it look like what got reported. LEO Anybody need him to stop? JOSH No, sir. LEO Anybody need a minute? TOBY No, sir. C.J. No, sir. LEO There was considerable evidence presented to a group that included Fitzwallace, Nancy, Berryhill, Babish, the Attorney General and a few others. We gave it to the gang of eight. The man had committed crimes and remained a threat. For instance, we stopped him from blowing up the Golden Gate Bridge. Were U.S. laws broken? No. International law? Possibly. BARTLET See, I said we took Shareef, and they said fine, and then you went on talking for another five, ten minutes. C.J. Mr. President... BARTLET Yes? C.J. Why the decision to tell us this morning? BARTLET Well, I just ordered Threat Con Bravo, so people are going to be seeing some heightened security this weekend. C.J. What's the threat? LEO Increased chatter about torrential rain in the Pacific Northwest. It's pouring rain in the Pacific Northwest. WILL I'm sure the analyst have already thought of this, but, you know, it is raining in the Pacific Northwest. LEO For a couple of years we've been keeping an eye on five possible Bahji sleepers in Central New York. And last night they disappeared. We lost them. JOSH We lost them? BARTLET We did. JOSH And we're worried about retribution for Shareef? LEO Yes. JOSH Can I ask, how hard can it be to keep an eye on five Qumari religious fanatics in Schenectady? BARTLET Tell him, sister. LEO I think you'd both be surprised. Anything else? WILL How'd you get Shareef's plane to land? LEO Thank you. C.J. Thank you, Mr. President. TOBY Thank you, sir. BARTLET Oh, hey, Toby, big day. C.J. and JOSH Big day. BARTLET The house, a masterstroke. Come on, give us a kiss. TOBY Thank you, no, sir. BARTLET Okay. They all exit except for Will. BARTLET Yes? WILL Well, sir, I have time today... right now. I was wondering if you'd like me to look over the Georgetown speech? BARTLET No, I don't need help. WILL Yes, sir. BARTLET Yeah... I need help. WILL Yes, sir, I'd be happy to. Why don't you let me read what you have? BARTLET What I have? WILL Yeah. BARTLET Well, it's been said that I have a pleasant speaking voice and oratorical style. WILL You don't have anything? BARTLET On paper? WILL Yeah. BARTLET No. WILL It's at 4:00. BARTLET Yeah. WILL We should probably get started. BARTLET Yeah, right away I would think. WILL Yeah. BARTLET Except at this minute, I have to go over and meet the agents who are beening detailed to Zoey for France. They speak French. As well as being secret service agents. I didn't mean they speak French and so therefore are guarding Zoey in France. WILL Yeah, I got it, sir. BARTLET I have been thinking that I'd like to talk about creativity. Why don't you get started on some thoughts, and I'll join you. WILL Yes, sir. CUT TO: INT. NORTHWEST LOBBY - DAY Josh meets SPECIAL AGENT WESLEY DAVIS, head of Zoey's detail. JOSH Wesley. WESLEY DAVIS Hey, Josh, how's it going? JOSH You back? WESLEY No, I go to France tomorrow morning. I'm leading Bookbag's paparazzi patrol for three months. JOSH Really? WESLEY Yeah. JOSH It's a bit of a powder-puff detail there, isn't it, fella? WESLEY I go where I'm told. JOSH So, in your training, what were you taught to do if, say a stringer for Town and Country were to get in her face? They walk to the HALLWAY. WESLEY You know I can kill you and just make up the reason why I did, right? JOSH Oh, yeah. CUT TO: INT. RESIDENCE HALLWAY - DAY Bartlet enters the hallway where two women and a man are waiting. BARTLET Hi. JAMIE REED Good morning, Mr. President. BARTLET Are you friends of Zoey's? JAMIE REED No, sir. Special Agent Jamie Reed, U.S. Secret Service. MOLLY O'CONNOR Molly O'Connor, sir. RANDY WEATHERS Randy Weathers. Ron Butterfield enters with Wesley Davis. RON Excuse me, Mr. President. BARTLET Hey. RON You remember Wesley Davis. BARTLET Wes, thanks so much for doing this. I know it's not what you like. WESLEY No, sir, I'm flattered you asked. BARTLET So, let's talk about how this is going to work. RON Well, these four agents will be assigned to the current team of 14 that gets supplemented by a rotating backup group from the Paris office that's more familiar with the region. Wes is the Special Agent in charge. BARTLET Well, here's my question. These guys look pretty young to me, and I'm looking for something very specific with this detail. This is a father-daughter situation, and so what I think I'm looking for in terms of protection would best be categorized as, well, overwhelming force. Do they have that? Do they have the ability to just overwhelm any danger that might...? Do you have overwh...? Do they have overwhelming force? RON Attack Randy. Wes rushes towards Randy but Molly steps out in front of her, grabs Wes by the arm, flips him to the ground, pulls out her gun and points it in his face. BARTLET Wow! Zoey enters and sees what is going on. ZOEY Oh, God, Dad, what are you doing? BARTLET This one here tossed Wesley like a bag of potato chips. ZOEY Molly, get off of Wesley. WESLEY [to Ron] You like calling on me for that one, don't you? RON Yep. BARTLET You guys know each other? ZOEY Molly was on Ellie's detail for a while. BARTLET Oh, good. Okay. Well, Ellie's still up and running. ZOEY Hi, Wes. Sorry about this. WESLEY We're going to be just fine. It's wide-perimeter protection. I'm just going to need you to show me your panic button every day. BARTLET When do you start? WESLEY 1800, sir. 6:00 p.m. tonight. BARTLET [to Zoey] Are you going back to the campus? ZOEY Yeah. BARTLET Okay, well, let me ask you this. Would you consider instead of living in France with your boyfriend for three months, staying here, living in your room, being a candy striper, or surfer? ZOEY A candy striper? BARTLET Or surfing? You could spend the summer working in a pet shop. We could play Yahtzee, and watch movies at night. ZOEY Dad, what fantasy is it that's going through your head right now? BARTLET What daughters would do their whole lives if I had my way. ZOEY I'll see you later. Zoey leaves. BARTLET [to Wesley] Before I forget, if something comes up and you're faced with the choice of killing the boyfriend or not killing the boyfriend -- kill the boyfriend. Leo enters with Fitzwallace. LEO Excuse me, sir. BARTLET [to Wesley] Excuse me. RON Thank you, Mr. Presidnet. FITZWALLACE How are you doing,Wes? WESLEY Well, Mr. Chairman, thank you. FITZWALLACE You take care of that new detail now. They got some mimes over there that can be pretty nasty. WESLEY Yes, sir. Leo, Bartlet and Fitzwallace enter the PRESIDENT'S PRIVATE STUDY. LEO Harbor Patrol in Portland is reporting that the Agile, a cargo ship in port for 14 hours now, has a container missing. They're supposed to have 46. They have 45. BARTLET What's the registry? FITZWALLACE They're flying a Nigerian flag, but it's Syrian ownership. BARTLET What are we doing on the ground? FITZWALLACE The FBI's hunting down everyone who was on the ship. BARTLET How long have they been at it? FITZWALLACE One hour. BARTLET All right, let's give them another hour. Then have the Coast Gurad close the port. Is it the port of Portland? Is it really the port of Portland? LEO Yeah. BARTLET They're going to lose $700 million a day 'cause these five guys are missing. And I just now got why we're having this meeting. LEO What do you mean? BARTLET Portland. Torrential rain in the Pacific Northwest. LEO Yeah. BARTLET Screw the hour. Let's close it down. FITZWALLACE Yes, sir. BARTLET Thanks. FITZWALLACE Thank you, Mr. President. [exits] LEO Hey... did you know that ten days from now Toby and Andy can pick a day and the doctor's going to induce. Thay can decide what day the twins are going to be born. BARTLET Well, it's about the last thing they're going to get to decide. So you choose Tuesday. 20 years later, look what happens. Bartlet and Leo exit the office. FADE OUT. END ACT ONE * * * ACT TWO FADE IN: INT. C.J.'S OFFICE - DAY C.J. walks into her office, sits down at her desk and opens up the newspaper. She looks over at her couch and sees someone lying there and screams. Danny Concannon, who was asleep on the couch, wakes up and yells. C.J. You scared me! DANNY I was sleeping. C.J. What are you doing in here? DANNY Hang on a second. I'm not sure. C.J. Carol! Carol enters. CAROL Sorry. Yes, Danny's here. Sorry. [exits] C.J. Can I help you? DANNY I'm a little groggy. It's from when you wake up after you've just fallen. You know, it's one of those that really takes you a good long while to snap out of. C.J. Can I help you?! DANNY You are. I just flew back from Boston. Not Boston. Augsburg, Germany. I just flew back from Augsburg, Germany. C.J. Danny, you want to go home for a while and then talk to me? DANNY No. This, uh, this is important to you. I've been on trains and planes... C.J. What? DANNY I have a link between the U.S. Government and Abdul Shareef's plane and it's enough and we're going to print it, so I'm here to ask the White House if they'd like to comment. C.J. We'll comment as soon as you show me the link. DANNY I have a link. It's the pilot. It's Jamil Bari. C.J. You've been saying that from the beginning. DANNY I've got it now. C.J. We'll show it to me and I'll comment on it. DANNY We don't need a White House comment to run it. C.J. Well, you are not going to run it like this. There are national security issues involved. DANNY My paper's not going to hold off on it unless there are lives in immediate danger. C.J. There are. DANNY Show me. C.J. Classified security information? I don't think I'm allowed to do that. DANNY Then what do we do? C.J. Don't run it. Not this weekend. I'm not lying to you about security concerns. DANNY Except you've been faffing me around for months. C.J. Of course, I have. DANNY I'm going to give you a couple of hours to sit down with Leo and figure out what you can tell me to convince me I shouldn't print what I have. Otherwise, comment on it or don't comment on it, but it's the lead in tomorrow's paper. And by the way, that's the brand of courtesy that you have never extended me. C.J. I extend you courtesy all the time. DANNY When? C.J. You just slept on my couch. DANNY Oh, right. C.J. All right, you'll give me a couple of hours. DANNY You know, I got it. So off the record, did we kill Shareef? C.J. looks at Danny then turns around and walks out of her office. CUT TO: EXT. NEIGHBORHOOD - DAY A car pulls up in front of a house. Toby gets out of the driver's side and walks over and opens the door for Andy, who is blindfolded. TOBY All right. Careful stepping out. [helps her get out of the car] There's a street right there. And there you go. ANDY If someone sees us, they're going to call the police. TOBY Well... I hadn't actually factored that into the plan, but if you'll just come over here. [leads her to the walkway] And... there you go. Go ahead. Andy takes off the blindfold. ANDY You brought me to Jefferson Wyler's house. TOBY Yeah. ANDY Why? TOBY Everytime we drive past you say that it's your dream house. They begin to walk up the walkway. ANDY It is. TOBY And every time the Congressman's had us over, you've said it was your dream house. ANDY I wasn't lying. TOBY You told Jeff Wyler that if he ever put it on he market, you wanted to buy it. ANDY I do. TOBY Well, as it turns out, he was going to put it on the market, but he's not anymore 'cause I bought it. ANDY You bought this house? TOBY Yeah. ANDY You bought this house?! TOBY Yeah, I did. ANDY How did you afford it? TOBY Well, I put together some money for the down payment by selling my soul. He holds out his hand and Andy places her hand in his. He opens the door and leads her into the house. The walk into the LIVING ROOM where Toby opens the curtains. ANDY This is your house now. Andy walks into the DINING ROOM. Toby follows her. TOBY Well, as a matter of fact, it'll... Toby walks into the chandelier that is hanging from the roof. TOBY ...it'll be your house if... if... if you say yes to this. They walk down a step into the SUN ROOM at the back of the house. TOBY Um... will you marry me? ANDY Oh, Toby, you gotta tell me you didn't buy this house to... TOBY No, no. I mean... ANDY I thought you were just moving out of the apartment and wanted a... TOBY If we could just get back to the original question. ANDY Can you get the down payment back? TOBY You're saying no? ANDY Yeah, Toby. I said no many times. I mean this... is an incredible gesture, but... TOBY I don't think you've noticed the things I've done to alter the behavior that's troubled you in the past. Giving up what you felt was a bachelor apartment is only the most recent of gestures which included eating salads. ANDY I have no problem with where we've lived or what you ate. I do, but I don't care that much. TOBY Then why aren't you remarrying me? ANDY You don't really want to talk about this, do you? TOBY Yeah, I do. I thought you were just being cute. I just thought you were making me chase you as a punishment for the first marriage, and that was okay with me. ANDY I wasn't being cute, no. TOBY Why? ANDY You're just too sad for me, Toby. TOBY What? ANDY You're too sad for me. You're just sad. You bring the sadness home with you, and you're sad. TOBY I'm not sad. ANDY You are. I don't know if anything can change that, but I can't. TOBY I'm not sad. I take things seriously. ANDY I take things seriously, too. TOBY I'm not comparing myself to anyone. I'm saying... ANDY You're sad, and you're angry, and you're not warm. You take forever to trust someone. TOBY Well... My father used to kill people for a living, so, generationally, the Zieglers are making lots of progress. I wouldn't worry about the kids. ANDY I do worry about the kids. TOBY Don't. ANDY Because instead of showing them that the world is for them, you're going to be telling them that they have to work hard in school so they can bone up for a life of hopelessness and despair. TOBY Wouldn't it be ironic if our kids were the only ones who were properly prepared? ANDY Toby, I'm as serious as a person as you are, and I'm able to see the glass as half full. TOBY Great! Half full, half empty? Can we at least agree it's not full yet? ANDY Well, this is what I'm talking about. TOBY That was a joke! ANDY You indicated that you wanted to talk about this seriously. TOBY Did you feel this way when we were married? ANDY Come on. I... TOBY I mean, it's not just now? ANDY Come on. I'm... sorry about all that. I'm only pregnant. Please, I take it all back. TOBY Really. Hmm. Did you feel this way when we were married? That I was sad? ANDY No. I'm going to go sit in the car. My ankles are starting to... TOBY Did my friends feel like that? Andy walks out of the room. Toby walks to one of the Fench doors and opens it, looks out and closes it back. ANDY [OS] Toby! Toby runs OUTSIDE THE HOUSE where Andy is leaning against the car. ANDY My water broke. TOBY Okay. FADE OUT. END ACT TWO * * * ACT THREE FADE IN: INT. WEST WING HALLWAY - DAY Will is talking to Abbey. WILL We just wrote 3,900 words in five hours. ABBEY It's terrific so far. WILL Later, he quotes Cicero, Thomas Aquinas and Rudy Vallee in the space of two pages. ABBEY How does he connect them? WILL Three people you've never heard of. ABBEY It's about creativity? WILL Well, he decided that's what he wanted to talk about. Now the trick is, he's got to not change his mind. They reach the LOBBY. BARTLET Good! You're here! I want to make some changes. ABBEY Jed... BARTLET Look at you. There is no way you have three adult children. ABBEY You like the suit. BARTLET I do, but the neck... ABBEY What? BARTLET Eh, it seems empty to me. Attention should be drawn to it. He pulls out a case and opens it up revealing a strand of black pearls. ABBEY Oh... BARTLET Nice job with the, you know, raising of the kid. ABBEY They're beautiful! BARTLET They're real, too. They can cut glass. ABBEY That's diamonds that can cut glass. BARTLET Aw, damn it, what are these, then? WILL Excuse me, you say you wanted to make some changes? They go out to the DRIVEWAY. BARTLET Yeah. Get in the car. We'll do it on the fly. WILL Sir. BARTLET Get in the car... WILL What kind of changes do you have in mind, sir? BARTLET Small ones-- instead of talking about the internal muse, I want to talk about the limits of reason, and about passion and intuition in American life. Abbey, Bartlet and Will get into the LIMOUSINE. ABBEY These are just gorgeous. BARTLET You can eat them, too. They're gumballs. Coop? COOPER [DRIVER] Shoot One. We're going to go. WILL Uh, the limits of reason and passion and intuition in American life. BARTLET Yes. Let's think. The motorcade pulls off. CUT TO: INT. LEO'S OFFICE - DAY Leo is sitting at his desk looking at papers. MARGARET Here is the pen. LEO Look... MARGARET I've gift-wrapped the pen. LEO It's a good pen. MARGARET You're giving Zoey a pen. LEO It's not just a pen. MARGARET Does it do other things? LEO No. I meant it's a really good pen. C.J. enters. C.J. He's meeting us in the upper press room. LEO He said his link was the pilot. They start to the HALLWAY. C.J. Yeah. You know what he has? LEO Well, Shareef's pilot, who died in the crash, was Jamil Bari, who had a Qumai passport and is alive and American, and not named Jamil Bari, so he could have any number of things. C.J. Man, the things we can do. LEO Yeah. C.J. You're giving Zoey a pen? LEO Yeah. C.J. Does it do anything? CUT TO: INT. UPPER PRESS ROOM - CONTINUOUS C.J. and Leo enter. They walk over to Danny, who is sitting at his laptop with sunglasses on. LEO Danny, C.J.'s going to talk to you for a second, and then you and I are going to work together. Danny doesn't respond. LEO Danny? C.J. He's asleep. LEO What are you talking about? C.J. He was in Augsburg. He hasn't slept yet. LEO So here's the national security threat. C.J. picks up a stack of papers and slams them on the table. C.J. Wake up. DANNY I heard every word you said. My covert skills are honed. LEO Good for you. Follow me. CUT TO: INT. COPIER ROOM - CONTINUOUS C.J., Danny and Leo enter. C.J. closes the door. C.J. We're at Threat Condition Bravo right now. DANNY Why? C.J. [to Leo] Why? LEO 'Cause five Bahji sleepers we were watching disappeared. DANNY They disappeared? LEO Yeah. And it coincides with increased chatter we're hearing. You print we did this right now, and I'm worried what the five guys are going to do. DANNY Three days. And I get an exclusive on the sleepers. LEO Done. C.J. Thank you. LEO So you found the pilot? DANNY Special Ops in Florida. He had an American passport when he went to flight school. LEO In Augsburg. DANNY Yeah. LEO The things we can do. CUT TO: INT. JOSH'S BULLPEN AREA - DAY AMY Donna, I was just coming to see you. I love what you're wearing. DONNA You, too! I wasn't able to talk to Josh yet about the Wellingtons. AMY Yeah, you don't need to. They're off the list again. That's why I was coming. They walk to the HALLWAY and out the DRIVEWAY. DONNA Okay, then. One less thing. AMY Josh was offended 'cause I called the list a windfall, wasn't he? DONNA I'm sure he's not. AMY I meant the list of candiadtes was good. I didn't mean-- aye, yi, yi. Why does he take these things this seriously? DONNA If it bothered him, he's forgotten it by now. Like the car that was supposed to be here. AMY Well, come in mine. A car pulls up and Amy and Donna get in it. CUT TO: INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - DAY Andy is lying in the bed. Toby is standing in the corner behind the door when the doctor walks in. DOCTOR Andrea, what are you doing to me? We got schedules. We got bookkeepers. ANDY What happened? DOCTOR Nothing happened. You're having a baby. Two of 'em, as a matter of fact. ANDY But it was supposed to be ten days. DOCTOR Yeah, well, what do you know? ANDY Well, when am I going into labor? DOCTOR When are going in...? Andy, your water broke. You're having the babies now. Now, this isn't going to happen the way we talked about, but it is going to happen, and it's going to happen right now. You're at ten centimeters. Their heads are down, so there's no reason to do a C-section. Oh, hey, Toby. I'm sorry. I didn't even see you there. TOBY [walking over] Is she going to be able to get the epidural? DOCOTOR No, we're going to tough it out. Andy moans. TOBY And when you say "right now," what do you mean? DOCTOR We'll, you're going to see at least one of your kids in about 15 minutes. ANDY Toby... Toby sits next to her. ANDY I can't believe... If I would've known this was going to happen today, I never would've... TOBY No, don't. What... what are you talking about? D-don't worry about it. ANDY No. I know I hurt you back at the house. I can't believe you bought the house, and I... She starts to cry, but she has an contraction and begins to moan. Toby lifts up his hand and shows a rag wrapped around it. TOBY Bite my hand when it hurts. CUT TO: EXT. GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY - DAY The parents are standing up as the graduates are filing into their seats. CUT TO: INT. GEORGETOWN BUILDING - CONTINUOUS Bartlet and Will are standing at the top of a staircase making last minute changes to the commencement speech. BARTLET What do you think about using the Eudora Welty quote instead of the Gandhi? WILL Well, I think they both work, but since I wouldn't make anymore changes, I'd stay with Gandhi... BARTLET "You must be the change" - is that it? "You must be the change you wish to see in the world." Sounds too much like Eastern philosophy. WILL Well, it was bound to, sir. BARTLET 'Cause Ghandi lived in India? WILL Yeah. Sir, this speech is about creativity and in my judgement, it's a home run. Now, what it isn't is a speech that will convince Zoey not to go to France tomorrow. BARTLET Well, let's write that one. AIDE Mr. President? BARTLET Yeah. The aide comes over and places on Bartlet. GEORGETOWN CHANCELLOR Are you ready, Mr. President? BARTLET Yeah. Thanks, Will, for the help. WILL Use the Eudora Welty, it's better. BARTLET Thank you! ANNOUNCER [VO] And now ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States, Josiah Bartlet, accompanied by the President of Georgetown University. Bartlet and the Chancellor walk down the flight of stairs. "Pomp and Circumstance" can be heard playing. They walk out the double doors. The crowd applauds as Bartlet and the Chancellor walk out front. They talk to each other as they wave to the crowd. CHANCELLOR I understand you're not using the TelePrompter. BARTLET Yeah, no. I've got it down here in this folder, and on some napkins in my pocket. CHANCELLOR Okay. Listen, are you going to be all right with that? BARTLET Oh, yeah, I'll be fine. You know, unless something comes up. CHANCELLOR Uh, like what? BARTLET Well, for instance, I just realized I don't have access to my pockets anymore. But, you know, what are you going to do? Bartlet laughs to himself. The crowd continues to cheer. Zoey pulls outa camera and snaps a picture of her father. He looks at her and she smiles back at him. FADE OUT. END ACT THREE * * * ACT FOUR FADE IN: INT. JOSH'S BULLPEN AREA - NIGHT DONNA You're here late. AMY I can't believe you're here. I was going to leave a note on your desk. DONNA I had a thing canceled, so I'm catching up. AMY I just wanted to let you know, the Wellingtons-- back on. DONNA For A-PEC? AMY Yeah. DONNA Ugh. It's going to be a problem. AMY I know, but Human Rights Watch, Amnesty-- we need their help three times a week. Is there a side meeting they can play a role in? DONNA There might be. That's a good idea. AMY You got a few minutes to work with me? DONNA Yeah. CUT TO: EXT. NATIONAL ARBORETUM - NIGHT It is dark out, and Charlie and Josh are walking through the park. JOSH Charlie? CHARLIE Yeah. JOSH I need you to tell me now that you have some sense of where were going and that we're not... you know, spending the night here. That were not making camp. CHARLIE You were the one who said dig up the champagne and give it to her tonight. JOSH Yeah, but didn't I almost immediately take it back? CHARLIE No, I liked it. It was a good idea. Send her off knowing we're cool. JOSH You sure? CHARLIE No. JOSH It's pretty dark. Ohh! Josh and Charlie have accidently stepped into a brook. JOSH Yeah, we're in a brook now. CHARLIE Good. I think it was near a brook. JOSH It's like I'm in 'Nam, basically. I'm in a rice paddy. CHARLIE Yeah, you'd have done well there. JAMIE Someone there? CHARLIE Hello? JAMIE Yeah, I'm a Federal Officer. Is someone there? CHARLIE Jamie? JAMIE Charlie? CHARLIE What are you doing here? JAMIE [into his cuff] P-3, Charlie Young's coming. CHARLIE You're kidding me. JOSH Josh Lyman. I'm with him. I'm going to stay here, though, 'cause you know... Charlie leaves Josh standing in the brook. He gets out and walks across a bridge through bamboo, past a sign that reads "Paeonia Japonica." He sees Zoey sitting in the dark along the bank. ZOEY You're late. CHARLIE You're here. ZOEY It's 10:07. I've been here for seven minutes. CHARLIE Well, you drove in a sedan. I had to climb over the wall. ZOEY Shouldn't you have allowed for that? CHARLIE I didn't think you were going to be here. ZOEY Well, why'd you come? CHARLIE I was going to dig up the bottle and give it to you as a graduation present. Why'd you come? ZOEY Oh. To drink it. CHARLIE Oh. ZOEY I'm kidding. I came 'cause I thought you might, too. Though I have been drinking it. CHARLIE You know there are people at a party that a radio station's throwing. At that techno place that looks like the end of the world. I think they went 'cause you said you'd be winding up there. I didn't come 'cause I thought you'd be here. I wasn't trying to... ZOEY You don't want to have champagne with me? CHARLIE No, no. I do. I do, I just thought if I should call people and tell them... ZOEY You're such a good guy. You were raised in horror. What is it along the way that made you a good guy? CHARLIE I try to eat right. You know what's funny is, when I first saw the note, I... Zoey leans over and kisses Charlie. CHARLIE We shouldn't do that. What's going on? ZOEY Nothing. CHARLIE Come on. ZOEY Don't ask me that now. CHARLIE I am asking you. ZOEY Nothing. Just, you know, a lot of things. Dumb stuff. Jean-Paul wants me to take a hit of ecstasy with him tonight. CHARLIE Okay, but your kids are going to have gills. ZOEY I don't care about that. I'm honestly-- I'm-I'm worried a little about my father. My leaving for three months isn't exactly going to do him any favors. And I'm confused about you. CHARLIE Well, I can't advice you on that. ZOEY Why not? CHARLIE Because I think this is tonight, and tomorrow you're on the Concorde. ZOEY I deserved that. You think we could just sit here... and enjoy the night for a while? CHARLIE Actually, I... I think it's a bad time in a person's life to stop showing up at... at places they say they're going to show up. ZOEY I should go to the party. CHARLIE Yeah. Zoey leans over and kisses Charlie again. She hands him the bottle of champagne then gets up. Charlie watches her walk away. CUT TO: INT. THE SITUATION ROOM - NIGHT Leo, Nancy McNally, Fitzwallace and several other aides are meeting. NANCY Well, the FBI has got the crew of the container ship accounted for. LEO What are the rules in questioning foreign nationals? NANCY I think we can keep them for up to seven days, isolation, well-light room. LEO What's the well-light room for? FITZWALLACE Sleep deprivation. LEO All right. Let's go around the table one last time. Where are we with this? What kind of day has it been? CUT TO: INT. NIGHTCLUB - NIGHT There are blue lights everywhere and techno music is playing. The crowd is young. Zoey enters the club. RANDY [into cuff] All right, she's clear. Zoey hugs a girl she knows. ZOEY Hi. Jean-Paul walks up. JEAN-PAUL Now is it my turn? ZOEY Hi, sorry I'm late. JEAN-PAUL Yes, where were you? You've been missed. ZOEY I was at the National Arboretum, if you can believe that. JEAN-PAUL As long as you're here now. ZOEY Can we talk for a minute? JEAN-PAUL Of course. Jean Paul leads Zoey away to a seating area. JAMIE [into cuff] All right, station. I'm on the front door. WESLEY [into cuff] Okay. Molly? CUT TO: EXT. BACK ALLEY - NIGHT Molly is walking down a back alley. MOLLY [into cuff] Yes, sir. I've got 183 cars. WESLEY [VO] You counted the cars? MOLLY [into cuff] Yes, sir. WESLEY [VO] Okay. CUT TO: INT. JOSH'S BULLPEN AREA - NIGHT DONNA There's a side meeting, closed to the press, on agricultural concentration. AMY I was thinking more in the... human rights family. DONNA Mmm, a group session on displaced workers. AMY What about prison labor? DONNA No, but labor law enforcement, a joint DRL/USTR session. AMY Mmm... sold. DONNA There it is. AMY I'm not going to get an answer about what I said to Josh, am I? It's just eating at me. DONNA I don't know why. AMY 'Cause it's eating at him, and I don't know why. DONNA Really? CUT TO: INT. PRESS ROOM - NIGHT C.J. is standing behind the podium when she sees Danny in the upper press room working on his computer. C.J. Danny? DANNY Yeah. C.J. What are you doing here? Why aren't you asleep? DANNY I really don't know. C.J. begins to walk to the UPPER PRESS ROOM. C.J. Well, what are you writing? DANNY A volume of springtime haiku. C.J. Three days, Daniel. DANNY I'm filing in three days, I still got to write it. C.J. The President's speech was good this afternoon, didn't you think? DANNY You want to comment on a wire report that says the President lifted his gown and groped himself during the invocation? C.J. Yeah, that was a troubling moment, but he had to get his napkins. DANNY All right, then do you want to comment on a gulf stream jet flown by...? C.J. Madras research project. That's what we'll call it for a few days. CUT TO: INT. NIGHTCLUB - NIGHT A slow pulsating song called "Angel" is playing. The camera parts through kids dancing to Zoey and Jean-Paul sitting on a couch. "You are my angel Come from way above..." JEAN-PAUL Well, three months is a long time. Maybe you just come for a few weeks, we go to some parties, and then you decide. ZOEY Maybe... but then I guess the whole point was to... was to check out... Going just for parties just doesn't seem... JEAN-PAUL The parties are at night. You can't check out during the day? ZOEY I'm sorry. We're having this conversation, and I'm just feeling a little lightheaded. I had champagne before and now I'm mixing it with this. JEAN-PAUL Well, lightheaded is good. It's better than the opposite. CUT TO: INT. JOSH'S BULLPEN AREA - NIGHT Donna and Amy are sitting at Donna's desk drinking beer. AMY I understand why Josh may have been offended by what I said even though it was misinterpreted. What I don't understand is that both times we've spoken about it, it seemed like you were, too. DONNA No, I understood what you're saying. Josh worked for Hoynes for a long time. There was a reason. AMY He left him. DONNA And if you think that was easy, you're crazy. Josh doesn't leave people. AMY I get that he was close to Hoynes. What I don't get... DONNA You have to get Josh. CUT TO: EXT. FRONT OF NIGHTCLUB - NIGHT Josh is talking to Wesley. They're sitting on the hood of a car. Charlie is pacing in the background. JOSH We scaled the wall, we didn't hop it. It was like 30 feet tall. It was like a castle gate. We took it. Buzzards, wilderness life everywhere. WESLEY [into cuff] Someone give me a SitRep please, anyone. CUT TO: INT. NIGHTCLUB - NIGHT ZOEY I don't want to lie to you, but I, I don't want to... I'm sorry, I meant... I don't want to hurt you, but I shouldn't lie to you either. A waitress walks by with a drink. Jean-Paul takes the drink and places it in front of Zoey, removing her other glass, which is empty. ZOEY Yes, I... I feel very strange. JEAN-PAUL You're drunk. Enjoy it. CUT TO: INT. JOSH'S BULLPEN AREA - NIGHT DONNA His sister died in a fire while she was baby-sitting him. She tried to put it out, he ran outside. He went off campaigning, his father died. He wakes up in a hospital and discovers the President's been shot. He goes through every day worried that somebody he likes is going to die, and it's going to be his fault. What do you think makes him walk so fast? Donna gets up and walks over to the mailboxes. DONNA Anyway, when you look at the list of replacements and said, "That's a windfall," what he heard was "Thank you Josh, you did it again. More for us." AMY You said you have to get Josh. DONNA Yeah. That was... I didn't mean to say that you don't... get him. AMY You in love with Josh? Donna is reading a red book, then she closes it shut. CUT TO: INT. NIGHTCLUB - NIGHT ZOEY Did... you put ecstacy in my drink? JEAN-PAUL I put... a little bit. I put a half. ZOEY Wow. I kind of wish you hadn't done that. JEAN-PAUL You're not sick. This is how you're supposed to be feeling. Listen to the music. ZOEY Yeah, I'm okay. I'm going togo to the restroom and put some water on my face. Zoey gets up. CUT TO: INT. PRESS ROOM - NIGHT Danny and C.J. are sitting in the front row press seats. DANNY I'm going to need the following five questions to start with. You want to write these down? C.J. I don't want to write anything down right now. DANNY Was Madras research retaliatory or preemptive? Were any allies in the Arab world, or Isreal for that matter, notified either before or after? How involved were Congressional leaders, and how involved will they be in the next few days? C.J. I don't know, but the answer to the last two questions will be the same. DANNY Especially in the absence of executive orders rendering them legal... C.J. There was an NSC decision directive. DANNY Does this create a precedent for future Madras reseach projects? C.J. That was four. What was the fifth? DANNY Does the President or his national security advisers fear attempts at retribution? CUT TO: EXT. FRONT OF NIGHTCLUB - NIGHT Josh, Wesley, and now Charlie are sitting on the hood of the car. JOSH It's true that you adapt to the terrain. Of course after a little while I just said to hell with it, took my pants off. WESLEY [into cuff] Uh, Randy, does it look like she's thinking about leaving? CUT TO: INT. NIGHTCLUB - CONTINUOUS RANDY [into cuff] Well, she's still in the restroom. JAMIE [into cuff] No she's not, I got her right here. RANDY [into cuff] You have her? The girl who Jamie is following turns around. She's not Zoey. JAMIE No, check that, I'm wrong. WESLEY [VO] Oh, come on, people, let's get past the first day kinks. RANDY [into cuff] I think she's still in the restroom. CUT TO: EXT. FRONT OF NIGHTCLUB - CONTINUOUS Wesley has jumped off the hood of the car, leaving Josh and Charlie. WESLEY [into cuff] Okay, I want a 20 on Bookbag right now. Wesley begins to run into the club. CUT TO: INT. NIGHTCLUB - CONTINUOUS RANDY [into cuff] I'll go into the restroom. Wesley is now in the club. WESLEY [into cuff] No, no, keep your distance. Let her get pissed at me. Wesley walks past Jamie and taps him on the arm. He walks up to Randy when a waitress walks by. WESLEY [to waitress] Excuse me. I'm with the Secret Service. Do you work here? WAITRESS Yeah. Something wrong? WESLEY No,no. Would you mind going into the ladies' room for me, please, and checking to see if anyone's in there. WAITRESS Yeah. WESLEY Thank you. The waitress puts down her tray and walks into the restroom. WESLEY [into cuff] P2, Molly, did she come out back? Are there people back there? Wesley looks up and sees a back door ajar. The waitress comes out of the restroom. WAITRESS No. Wesley runs into the RESTROOM. He checks and sees that all the stalls are empty. WESLEY [into cuff] P2, Molly, did she come out back? Are there people out there? Molly, are you reading this? Molly? Wesley walks back to the NIGHTCLUB. WESLEY [to waitress] This is the fire alley? WAITRESS Yeah. Wesley pulls out his gun and walks down the stairs. He exits to the ALLEYWAY. WESLEY [into cuff] P2, Molly, what's your position? Wesley walks out and sees Zoey's panic button on the ground. He picks it and begins to run down the alley. He turns a corner. We see Molly lying on the ground in a pool of blood. She's shot square between the eyes. WESLEY [into cuff] Bookbag's been taken. She's been taken and I have an agent down. We're black. Go to black. CUT TO: INT. THE SITUATION ROOM - NIGHT NANCY FBI field office have all 98 members of the Agile crew at Sheridan Federal Prison for interrogation. Fitzwallace begins to laugh. NANCY It's not funny. Apparently the captain is scared to death. His manifest only says 45 containers. He swears it's a typo. LEO Well, if it turns out we closed the Port of Portland because of a typo, it's only going to fuel Margaret's insanity. I'm going to go home for a few hours. Call me if something happens. The doors to the Situation Room open and Ron Butterifeld appears in the doorway. Ron is breathing hard. Leo walks over to him. LEO Ron? RON We have a situation. We're up at black, and procedurally, the Chief of Staff is told before... LEO What happened? RON Zoey Bartlet is missing, and there's a dead agent at the scene. Leo absorbs the information. A black and white photo of Zoey's face flashes on the screen. We see Leo walking through the BASEMENT HALLWAY. A black and white photo of Zoey holding her hand in front of her face flashes on the screen. Leo is now in the WEST WING HALLWAY. He begins to run past THE ROOSEVELT ROOM. A black and white photo of Zoey's eye flashes on the screen. Leo runs through THE OVAL OFFICE and out to the PORTICO. As he runs to the Residence, the camera zooms in closer to his face. DISSOLVE TO: END TITLES. FADE TO BLACK. THE END * * * The West Wing and all its characters are a property of Aaron Sorkin, John Wells Production, Warner Brothers Television and NBC. No copyright infringement is intended. Episode 4.22 -- "Commencement" Original Air Date: May 7, 2003, 9:00 PM EST Transcibed by: ck1czar June 20, 2003