Talking Points (21 Apr. 2004)

The president and staff are about to head for Brussels to sign an international free trade deal that Josh has just spent a lot of time and effort negotiating, to nearly everyone's ... See full summary »

Director:

Richard Schiff

Writers:

Aaron Sorkin (creator), Eli Attie,

Stars:

Dulé Hill, Allison Janney, Joshua Malina

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Dulé Hill	...	Charlie Young
Allison Janney	...	C.J. Cregg
Joshua Malina	...	Will Bailey
Janel Moloney	...	Donna Moss
Richard Schiff	...	Toby Ziegler
John Spencer	...	Leo McGarry
Bradley Whitford	...	Josh Lyman
Martin Sheen	...	President Josiah 'Jed' Bartlet
Mary McCormack	...	Kate Harper
Jesse Bradford	...	Ryan Pierce
John Amos	...	Percy Fitzwallace
Lily Tomlin	...	Deborah Fiderer
Anna Deavere Smith	...	Nancy McNally
Steven Culp	...	Speaker of the House Jeff Haffley
Sam Robards	...	Greg Brock

Storyline

The president and staff are about to head for Brussels to sign an international free trade deal that Josh has just spent a lot of time and effort negotiating, to nearly everyone's satisfaction; at the 11th hour, the CEO of an IBM-like company tells Josh that the first effect of the new agreement, of which his company is a huge beneficiary, will be the immediate transfer of 17,000 programming jobs to India; the head of the communications workers' union, which is representing the affected programmers, brings one of the programmers to Josh's office, and they refuse to leave, leading Josh to question the underlying adverse effects of the trade deal. Throughout the episode, Ryan tries to make Josh care that he's completing his internship that day, while Donna pesters Josh to bring her on the Brussels trip in an effort to make her a more active player in west wing activities, eventually leading to a trade-off that will mean even bigger things for Donna in the long run.

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 April 2004 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Stage 23, Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

John Wells Productions, Warner Bros. Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

42 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

Josh hands a passport to Donna, she looks at it and asks "What is this?" Josh replies "It's your Diplomatic Passport." The passport Josh hands Donna is maroon in color which is an "Official Passport" issued to Members of the U.S. Government. Diplomatic Passports are black and ordinary citizens are issued blue passports.

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Connections

References The Exorcist (1973)

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Soundtracks

"West Wing Main Title"
(uncredited)
Written by W.G. Snuffy Walden
Performed by Pete Anthony

User Reviews

Kate Harper's debut

C.J. tries to get the press corps upset that the FCC is in monopolistic collusion with the major media outlets. Unfortunately, the press corps works for the major media outlets. Josh has his feet taken out from under him by the computer industry shipping 17,000 white collar jobs to India because of a trade agreement he brokered, which breaks a promise Bartlet made to unions. The return of John Amos, for the first time since he left the show to do ALL ABOUT THE ANDERSONS, which ran for all of about, oh, sixteen episodes. The debut of Mary McCormack (PRIVATE PARTS), who would do 43 episodes as Deputy National Security Adviser Kate Harper. She would be wonderful...and criminally underused. GALACTICA fans, listen for the voice of Anne Lockhart. The greatest C.J./Ben scene, a painfully realistic rendering of the romantic self-sabotage we all engage in.