Plot

In the season finale, Gaza slayings of key U.S. officials might drag the fuming President

Josiah Bartlet

Josiah Edward "Jed" Bartlet is a fictional character played by Martin Sheen on the television serial drama The West Wing. He is President of the United States for the entire series until the last episode, when his successor is inaugurated...

 into an unending cycle of violence. Events in the tinderbox Gaza Strip

Gaza Strip

thumb|Gaza city skylineThe Gaza Strip lies on the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The Strip borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the south, east and north. It is about long, and between 6 and 12 kilometres wide, with a total area of...

 spin out of control after the murders of high-ranking U.S. officials as the angry President weighs appropriate military action—even as Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

 launches its own strikes and surrounds the Palestinian

Palestinian National Authority

The Palestinian Authority is the administrative organization established to govern parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip...

 chairman, prompting more retaliatory action. The dangers are compounded when Bartlet suddenly cannot communicate with the chairman and a strange undertow of intrigue finds a wary Josh

Josh Lyman

Joshua "Josh" Lyman is a fictional character played by Bradley Whitford on the television drama The West Wing. For the majority of the series, he was White House Deputy Chief of Staff in the Josiah Bartlet administration...

 meeting with a mysterious foreign operative while tending to Donna

Donna Moss

Donnatella "Donna" Moss is a fictional character played by Janel Moloney on the television serial drama The West Wing. Donna is a recurring character during the first season, although she appears in every episode, making her a de facto regular...

 in Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

. Meanwhile, Bartlet dons a bulletproof vest and practices his sluggish fastball when he's called to throw the ceremonial first pitch at a game in Baltimore.

The episode also introduces tension between Bartlet and Leo that will play out over the next few episodes of following season.

Series context

During a flashback in this episode we find out Bartlet received 303 electoral votes during his 1998 campaign for the presidency (in which he won 48% of the popular vote). We also do not learn the identity of Bartlet's predecessor – he is mentioned only as the President during the flashbacks set 72 hours after Bartlet's win.

The First Pitch

The episode ends with Bartlet somewhat reluctantly throwing out the first pitch at a Baltimore Orioles

Baltimore Orioles

The Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland in the United States. They are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's American League. One of the American League's eight charter franchises in 1901, it spent its first year as a major league...

 game at Oriole Park at Camden Yards

Oriole Park at Camden Yards

Oriole Park at Camden Yards is a Major League Baseball ballpark located in Baltimore, Maryland. Home field of the Baltimore Orioles, it is the first of the "retro" major league ballparks constructed during the 1990s and early 2000s, and remains one of the most highly praised. The park was...

. The scene was shot prior to a game on April 23, 2004 against the Toronto Blue Jays

Toronto Blue Jays

The Toronto Blue Jays are a professional baseball team located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Blue Jays are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball 's American League ....

. April 23 was a Friday, which is "student night" at Oriole Park; anyone with a valid student ID (or attending the game along with someone who has a student ID) was able to purchase an upper level reserve ticket for $5 (the price has since been increased). As a result, there were significantly more fans in the upper deck at the time the scene was being shot, between 30 and 60 minutes prior to the scheduled start of the game, and the crew invited fans to come down and fill in the sections of the park that would be seen by the cameras in the scene. The scoreboard, visible in the scene, named President Bartlet as that game's first pitch participant.

The scene was shot several times, with the PA announcer introducing President Bartlet and Martin Sheen

Martin Sheen

Ramón Gerardo Antonio Estévez , better known by his stage name Martin Sheen, is an American film actor best known for his performances in the films Badlands and Apocalypse Now , and in the television series The West Wing from 1999 to 2006.He is considered one of the best actors never to be...

 throwing a pitch to the Orioles' then-starting catcher Javy López

Javy López

Javier López Torres is a former catcher in Major League Baseball who played from through for the Atlanta Braves , Baltimore Orioles and Boston Red Sox . He batted and threw right-handed...

. Because of the time needed to set the scene and the number of takes needed, the start of the game was delayed by approximately 30 minutes.

External links

• The West Wing Episode Guide