• "It's a hectic day for everyone.
• "The President's on a Road Trip. Charlie and CJ are with him. They're somewhere in the Central Time Zone (one place, 'Maysville', is mentioned). Anyone know where that is? Anyway, a tornado blew through the town and there are many dead and injured. There'll be title cards throughout the episode, emphasizing the date and the amount of time the President is off-schedule. Bartlet and the Governor are in Marine One, where she gives him the details of the devastation. He visits a school gymnasium, where many of the town are being placed.
• "The President makes an impromptu visit to a Red Cross shelter (this is the school gymnasium). Over the phone, Leo tells CJ that Bartlet must be back on time for his Germany briefing. The Secretary of State later calls Leo because he heard about Bartlet's impromptu visit and wants to make sure the President's back on time. Seems the Chancellor's only visiting DC after months of painstaking negotiations.
• "The President sits and talks with an elderly man who just lost his wife. Another couple lost their young son, who was hit by a tree limb. He just learned how to walk. They're over 30 min. off schedule.
• "The President decides to attend a memorial service for the victims the next day. A member of the Press asks CJ if they stopped there on purpose so that the President could be seen as compassionate. CJ tells him if that were true, then why doesn't she have a change of clothes? They're 7 hours off schedule.
• "It's late at night, and Bartlet's walking around the gymnasium. Some people are sleeping, some are watching TV. He walks into the cafeteria and asks a volunteer if he can help them. They're 10 ¹/₂ hours off schedule.
• "Site of the memorial service. CJ's on-site talking to her state counterpart about procedure. Her counterpart mentions to CJ that CJ's the reason she wanted to become a Press Secretary. They're 20+ hours off schedule.
• "The press are irritated - it's hot, they have to stay overnight, and one of them complains about the eggs he had for breakfast and the long walk he had to take to keep up with the President. One of the newspaper bureaus calls CJ, telling her that one of their reporters had to walk miles to get to Bartlet's location.
• "New Chairman of the Joint Chiefs is a 4 star Army general named Nicholas Alexander. He speaks to Leo regarding politicizing career advancement -- Secretary of Defense Hutchison is apparently interviewing Generals who will be receiving their 3rd or 4th star, and Alexander's none too happy about that. Leo's unaware of Hutchison's doings.
• "Leo tells Josh that he will be decreasing his responsibilities. Josh tells this to Toby. Later on, a reporter tells Josh that he knows Leo's looking for someone to take over some of Josh's responsibilities and asks him for a comment. Later, Josh and Toby try to speculate on candidates, and they focus on someone named Angela, who used to be Leo's right-hand man while he was working in Labor. Toby doesn't think she'll take it (sounds like she has a great job already).
• "Toby talks to Leo, telling him that they've all made mistakes and Josh should be at a meeting with Whitfield (see below). Leo tells him the only reason they're having a meeting with Whitfield is because Leo told him that Josh wouldn't be there. Looks like Angela has taken the job; she will be leading budget negotiations.
• "Leo, Toby and the VP meet with Congressman Whitfield and his staff, supposedly regarding capital gains (Will and Angela are there, but not sitting at the table). Toby thinks the Congressman is actually uniting with someone named Carrick (I think he's the Speaker), who is working against the WH. The exchange between Toby and Whitfield is getting heated, so the VP steps in. He says that he can't allow the Speaker to attach a tax rider onto an appropriations package; they'd never get budgets passed. Unfortunately, the VP painted himself into a corner with that remark, because the Congressman asks if the VP would agree to a tax cut if it wasn't included in the appropriations package. Leo gets them out of the predicament by saying that they're not even going to think about it while it's part of the package. Whitfield wants to meet with the President before a decision's made, but he can't. Leo tells him that the vote for the appropriations package is a high priority for the President.
• "Meanwhile, Josh is in a nice restaurant, waiting for a Senator Blakemore. A friend sees him and chats with him; he knows about Josh's huge mistake. Taking pity on him, he asks Josh if he wants to join him until his dinner companion arrives, but Josh declines. Ryan is in the restaurant (Josh doesn't know this) and is standing near the Maitre'd, who has just received a call. It's the Senator, asking the Maitre'd to let Josh know that he won't be coming. Ryan offers to tell Josh, and walks over to his table. Josh asks what Ryan's doing there, and he realizes that Donna sent him, just in case the Senator never showed. Josh is humiliated. Later on, Josh and Ryan are sharing a cab. Josh has had a lot to drink. He tells Ryan that he didn't have to have dinner with him so that he could save face, but Ryan says he was hungry, anyway.
• "Dispute re the Isle of Croxys in the Ionian Sea. Seems Greece believes the land belongs to them, not the Albanians, and they forcibly removed 6 Albanian soldiers occupying the land. Albania believes this is an act of war, and Greece has its fleets surround the island to defend it. The Albanians are ready to send in their Navy. (BTW, the Isle of Croxys is primarily used to graze goats). They want Bartlet to negotiate a deal, since the 2 countries involved refuse to meet each other. Leo quips that the President's not a marriage counsellor, but Alexander tells him that they're trying to avert any action from warships in the area."

"I was told that the scenes today were being shot for Episode 8. As for tonight's filming, it seems that there will be two locations. I got this information from an extra on the set (overheard conversation). Seems one location will have John Spencer and another will have Brad Whitford. The only scene information I was able to cobble together from bits and pieces of conversation was that Josh is drunk in his scene, and that he's not dealing with something well.

"I have no idea what he's supposed to not be dealing well with, nor what episode this is being filmed for. However... I think it's gonna have to do with 'Constituent of One'.... I saw that title on a call sheet I glimpsed...

"Monday's filming is somewhere out in the sticks of Virginia, to mimic the NH farm...."

"West Wing filming in Washington DC this weekend. The one exterior shot that I was able to see involved Josh & Donna right outside the OEOB (Old Executive Office Building) next door to the White House. They were walking by a candlelight vigil for Zoey, complete with posters and pictures. Couldn't make out what they were saying, if anything.

"Later that evening (around 2:30am) came across the crew again filming inside the Daughters of the American Revolution Building. Couldn't make out much, except there were a lot of people in tuxedos...yeah I've got no idea what that one is about."

• A star North Korean keyboardist will ask to defect in 5.4's teaser. (5.4 is titled "Han," which means something in Korean.)....
• Pretty Amy Gardner is in this one, still working for Dr. Abigail Bartlet.
• We meet Donnatella Moss' aunt and uncle, both Republicans.
• The Senate unanimously confirms Colorado congressman Bob Russell (Gary Cole) as the new vice president. (We will meet Russell among several veep candidates in 5.3, titled "Jefferson Lives." Russell wears cowboy boots, which causes Josh and Toby to exchange looks.)
• The House is ready to do the same, almost. One congressman, fellow named Thiele, refuses to make it unanimous and labels Russell a "party hack." "Russell's not good enough," Thiele tells Josh.
• By 5.5, titled "Constituency of One,".... Will Bailey meets the new vice president, whom Toby calls "an empty cowboy suit." The veep offers Will as job as chief strategist.
• Toby scoffs. "Russell's an empty cowboy suit. You work for the leader of the free world."
• Will is more contemplative. "I work for a guy who works for a guy who works for the leader of the free world."

"'There's a lot of family conflict because it's revealed that I gave the OK to assassinate Sharif,' Sheen told AP Radio. 'And this kidnapping of my daughter is a retaliatory action it seems. So I have to confront the family on my decision.'

"...For the first time in four seasons, the cast is having to do without Sorkin. After a few weeks of shooting without him, Sheen said his absence can be felt.

"'We appreciate Aaron's talent now, perhaps more than ever,' Sheen said. 'That doesn't belittle what we're doing now. It's just different. And we have to let go of the old and accept the new.

"'Nonetheless, it's still 'The West Wing.' It's still his creation. We are still the characters he started with. And we're still going in the direction he pointed us.'..."

• Will meets with VP Russell. Will's job is to make sure Russell follows out the tasks Leo/Bartlet set for him, but it looks like Russell's reticent in carrying out the orders. He offers Will a job as his Chief Strategist. Toby laughs when he hears about the job offer ­ it seems Toby's not too thrilled with the new VP and calls him an "empty cowboy suit". Will hasn't said whether he'll take the job or not.
• We get to meet Russell's 2 female aides.
• The President's upset that it seems he has to go back to basics in his second term. He talks about this with Leo.
• It's Josh's birthday. He tells Donna he doesn't celebrate it; bad clown experience when his parents threw him a 7th birthday party.
• Josh has a meeting with Amy. Seems Amy's had a hard day.
• Josh meets with a Senator from Idaho (under his own volition: it seems no one asked Josh to meet with him). The Senator's blocking military promotions and Josh doesn't want in-party fighting when they have other problems with Republicans. The Senator won't block the promotions once he's given what was promised: a missile launcher built in Idaho. Josh tells him that the missile doesn't work and is very expensive. Nobody wants it built. The Senator continues to argue, and Josh finds out this promise to build the missile in Idaho was made to him under a different President. The Senator won't budge.
• Josh is in the papers today. The reason could be that he leaked the Senator's anonymous hold on promotions to the press. The Senator visits Josh and tells him that he's reversed his decision. He'd also like Josh to deliver a letter to the President: a letter of resignation. He's going to run as a Republican in the next election. The Senator explains the reason why he wanted to build the missile: to show rogue nations that they're willing to continue to perfect missile systems, which might be a deterrent to those nations building up their own missiles. Josh tells him they can't take the Senate without Idaho. The Senator makes a crack at him. Josh offers to get him a meeting with Fitz, but he says no. Josh asks the Senator if he's resigning because of Josh. He says no, but the meeting with Josh made his decision a lot easier. The Senator leaves, and Josh makes his way to Leo's office with the resignation letter. He bumps into Margaret, who tells him where to find Leo. Josh goes there, opens the door, and finds... a SURPRISE birthday party (sans Amy)! Donna gives him a cake that looks like a dead fish wrapped in newspaper. He's internally freaking out (about the resignation) and ....END OF EPISODE.

• Josh saying, "Walken plans to nominate a Vice President."
• A voice says, "A truck loaded with TNT drove into the lobby of the cinema."
  Leo asks, "How many dead?" The voice answers, "At least 14 Americans."
• Bartlet askes Leo "What's Walken going to do?" Leo answers, "I'm really not at liberty to discuss that with you, Sir."
• The narrator says, "If you thought last May's finale was something. Get ready. 'The West Wing's' back."
• Walken says, "If Zoey Bartlet turns up dead, I am going to blow up something." We see scenes with the situation room and commandos with guns. "And God knows what happens next," says Walken.
• Leo says, "I need you to start two speeches."
  Will asks, "Why two?"
  Toby says, "The first one if they find her alive. The other one if they don't."
• The screen announces the Premiere date of September 24.

"eta: Just a reminder that all the spoiler info comes from early drafts and might not make it into the episode."

• "Han" is the title of this episode. It's the sad piece the pianist plays to Bartlet during rehearsal after Bartlet tells him he will not help him defect.
• It seems everyone wants to know how POTUS, the First Lady and Zoey are doing. None of them tell the staff anything. Charlie and Zoey keep in touch by phone and email. She tells him she's fine, but Charlie says she always says that.
• Donna introduces her aunt and uncle to Josh. They want to go to the concert, but Josh tells them they can't ­ there are Senators on the wait list. He dryly notes that they're mostly Republicans. It turns out the aunt and uncle are Republicans as well (heh). Josh tells them that they can watch the rehearsal instead. They have a conversation about a meeting Josh is having with the Economic Advisers, and Donna makes an incredibly stupid analogy of dealing with economists and dieting. (The funny thing is, Bartlet later gives advice to Josh on handling the economic advisors, and it amounts to the same thing Donna was saying. Josh tells her about that, and also makes fun of the state where her aunt and uncle reside). Josh asks the uncle what he does for a living ­ he's a a sales rep for cheese. Donna's uncomfortable during this entire conversation, knowing that Josh is going to tease her for this at some point. Donna continues to give them the grand tour, and they head into the room where the pianist is rehearsing. Donna asks the handlers if they could meet the pianist. They say it's OK, but on approaching him, they're blocked by American security and are told they can't meet him; they can only take pictures. Donna wonders why this happened.
• The Economic Advisors Meeting: consumer confidence is low, the economy's heading towards recession, and unemployment rates have increased. There's some discussion as to the reasons why it's happening (one thinks it's because of the kidnapping, the other thinks it's due to high investment in technology). Bartlet wants them to come up with a recommendation on how to turn the economy around.
• WRT the defection: In Act I, Leo meets with the NSC and a few other important people. He's told North Korea's unpredictable and they don't want to blow the agreement over one person. If the pianist defects, U.S. law prevents them sending him back to a place where they know he will be persecuted for what he's done (the penalty for defection in North Korea is death). They're worried that their conversation about his attempt to defect will get out and are making sure it doesn't. CJ's angry with the whole situation. She's shocked when she's told that the pianist can't be let into the building and, in private, argues with Leo.
• CJ's talking to Charlie, giving him some info on North Korea: it's the only country that doesn't have access to the internet, and TVs can only receive state-controlled stations. CJ thinks they should help the pianist defect. They later have an argument about the pianist's predicament.
• In Act 2, Colorado Congressman Robert Russell is confirmed to be the new VPotus. One Democractic Congressman is going to vote against his confirmation. Josh and Ryan, the new intern, sit with him and tell him that he shouldn't do it. It's not what the President wants, and the Congressman will have a hard time getting things done in the future. He'll also embarrass himself. The Congressman states that he doesn't think Russell's good enough and he knows why they picked Russell instead of Berryhill. He calls that embarrassing.
• Also in Act 2, Will writes Bartlet's "Intro to the VPotus" speech. He's stunned ­ the President loves it.
• In Act 4, the President's told that he should cancel the concert because they're unsure if the pianist understood what the Pres told him. He doesn't want to cancel, so Leo tells him that he shouldn't attend ­ they'll say he came down with the flu. He doesn't want to do that either, so Leo makes sure something's set up in case the pianist defects.
• Amy's in this episode.

• The teaser: Walken's going to wage war if Zoey's dead.
• Leo meets with a woman (a "political insider") in some clandestine location. He doesn't want to appear as if the administration's interested in politics during the Zoey kidnapping/Bartlet invoking the 25th crisis. He's worried about the future of the Democratic party. It appears that Bartlet's approval ratings are very high, but she believes they're going to bottom out fast --- nobody wants to have a President they "have to pull for". She elected Bartlet to lead, not to be a father, which they believe echoes the sentiments of the nation. Josh wants to do a poll, but they can't be caught doing that. Leo's hoping she'll do the poll, but doesn't ask her outright. She also believes there'll be impeachment hearings initiated by another Democrat over the Shareef assassination. She thinks there should be photos of Bartlet handling official matters, and a statement from him that makes him look strong and is taking care of business. He's got to appear as if he's willing to sacrifice everything (including his family) for the sake of the country. She also says that if Zoey's found dead, Bartlet's approval ratings will skyrocket. End of teaser.

• The teaser: Bartlet's meeting with a young, North Korean pianist. They pose for photo ops, and the usual thank yous are exchanged. Bartlet's not too thrilled about the pianist's handler's statement, and challenges him. Later on, Leo asks the handler about their sightseeing agenda, and the handler brings up some uncomfortable info --- they're going to visit the Vietnam Wall and the Lincoln Memorial. Leo's not thrilled with the handler, but maintains his composure. The pianist autographs a few of his CDs for the staff, and CJ promises she won't sell it on the internet. Being isolated from the world in North Korea, he doesn't know what the internet is, and his handlers don't want him to know either. After the pianist & co leave, Leo opens his CD to the autograph page. He doesn't have an autograph, but a written message that says the pianist wants to defect. End of teaser.
• In Act 3, as the pianist is rehearsing, Leo and Bartlet enter the room. As Leo distracts the handlers, Bartlet walks over to the pianist, pretending to watch him as he plays. Bartlet tells him he can't help him defect, due to an important nuclear agreement that's about to be negotiated. He can't risk that falling through. The pianist wants to know if he's going to be placed under arrest if he stays, and the Pres says no. The handlers come over and they pretend to be talking about music. The pianist starts playing a sad melody.
• Later, the pianist is playing for an audience. At the end, he gives an impromptu speech. The Marines, NSC, and the handlers are in the wing, wondering if he's going to express his wish to defect. He doesn't. Instead, he thanks the President and says he hopes relations between the 2 countries improve --- pretty much the same words Bartlet used during the photo op.
• Donna's aunt and uncle visit the WH.

1. "Si Finis Bonus Est, Totum Bonum Erit"
2. "Dogs Of War"
3. "Jefferson Lives"

"Bradford is set to appear in 10 episodes of the show, playing a spoiled twentysomething intern from a known political family. He joins Annabeth Gish and Steven Eckholdt, who also have signed on to recur on the Emmy-winning drama during its upcoming fifth season."

• This episode looks like it takes place on July 4.
• Act One: Josh, Toby and Leo inform the Speaker and Senate Majority Leader that Bartlet has picked Berryhill as Vice President, who has stepped down as Secretary of State. They're being told the decision because they have to confirm that Bartlet's choice for VP is qualified, and Josh, Toby and Leo are hoping this will be an easy confirmation. The Speaker tells them choosing Berryhill would be like picking a fight. The Speaker has other names that should be considered.
• Bartlet's meeting with the most boring of Senators. I believe the title has something to do with the story the Senator is telling about both Adams and Jefferson dying on the same day -- July 4th. Bartlet excuses himself and steps out to ask Debbie Fiderer why she hasn't interrupted him after 5 minutes, as asked, and is informed that it's been less than 5. He has to meet a few more people (other Senators, maybe) after that and is none too pleased. Josh and Toby appear to be meeting with the Senators before they sit with the Pres.
• Terrorist plot: blueprints to create a Radiological Dispersion Device are found somewhere in Portland, and a few people are detained in Tanzania because they're found with toxin and cyanide. Norfolk is at ThreatCon 5, and extra security and restrictions are being planned around D.C.
• Bartlet gives a speech to about 100 people waiting to take the oath and become an American citizen. These people were originally supposed to take the oath in another building, but were moved due to a bomb threat. After his speech, Bartlet raises his right hand and recites the Pledge along with them.