Monday night broke my brain, Part II

[dealan311]

Okay see now that? That should have been the season opener.

1. MUCH better showing of layers and complications for Hassan's family, Hastings and Cole. Hastings is now a character rather than an obstacle, and I now look forward to the Chloe and Hastings snarkfest to come, since Hastings is probably the closest to George Mason than any other CTU director so far. Cole is still Captain America giving dork speeches, but I liked that he showed more steel.

And I like how, despite the fact that Hassan's wife doesn't love him anymore, she also doesn't want to see him die. Also, I found myself caring a lot more about Hassan because he owned up to his affair and because he ended it with Reed. Nothing is simple and everything has contradictions. Nice improvement, writers.

2. Likewise, I think they're doing a good job with the rotating villains and collateral damage. Reed served her part and now it's over and I hope never to see her again. It's not that hate the character, just that her function in the storyline is done. Same goes for Eugene Tooms Davros. Good run, but now it's over and we get OMG David Anders. Sans accent but I had to do a little dance of squee. I love him and not just because he and I share the same birthday. Also kudos to the writers for Officer Phil, both because it's nice to see a rookie's loyalties get tested and because we got an incidental minority. Yay for blind casting.

3. However, the writers are still lagging in developing some of the other characters. Arlo is still useless. Please make him stop. Also, I'd be interested in finding out why Farad is so willing to take out his brother other than just regime change. It's still his brother. What is their history that he's so willing to betray a brother that clearly loves and trusts him? I need to know these things if I'm supposed to care, because an action story is only as good as its villains, after all.

4. Also, the writers are totally mishandling with Dana's backstory.

The thing that pisses me off is, I actually *like* Dana the agent. In my rewatch, I can see why she and Cole work, both as a couple and as field ops/analyst team. They always gravitate toward each other, they bounce ideas off each other and consider new points of view, and you know, she was right that Reed was withholding something. It just wasn't what she thought, and I chalk up her not seeing the frame up job to the fact that Chloe has more experience in the field. And if that threat had been real, well, she certainly handled it correctly and efficiently. I'd really like to see how she'd perform if she was supporting Jack with Chloe. (Also, she worked the tattoos lead and was the one who brought in Renee, so I can't hate on her skills.)

HOWEVER, the stupid backstory they're giving us is a) dragging, b) irrelevant to the plot and c) too soon for her to be carrying a storyline all by herself. It's not even that they're making her act like an idiot around her Redneck Past, because I was expecting that and it's okay to flaw her up a bit. But I think it reeks of laziness on the writers' part to expect us to like Dana just because she's played by Starbuck instead establishing her likability within the show first before handing her so much screentime. And to be clear, I don't blame Katee for this. She's doing the best she can with the stuff she's given, and I can't think of any actor who would refuse airtime when given it. But there's no reason why I should care about Dana's drama in the season opener, when I don't know the character yet and it's doubly hard to care when they make us wait so long for Renee, whom they KNOW we love.

On top of that, they aren't even including Cole into the mix. 24 is all about the clash between the personal and the professional, and I'm actually curious now to see what Cole's reaction will be when these things comes to light, both professionally and personally. Because like I said above, they have a good working dynamic, and I WANT to see that tested, much like the way they tested Larry and Renee last season, the way they tested Tony and Michelle in S3.

When I step back and analyze where I think they're going with this, then yes, this backstory has potential to bring about some interesting repercussions on how Cole and Dana interact in their support of Jack, Renee, and Chloe. And it could even tie in with themes of debt and penance for past mistakes with Dana's character. But right now, they're going about it the wrong way by isolating her too soon, and it's only serving to test my patience. Fix this writers. Now. I'd much rather have 3 awesome female characters instead of just two.

5. Thankfully, that was balanced out by the arrival of my girl, Renee. And holy shit, did she arrive with a bang. I guess "I'm not gonna cut the bracelet" is the new "I'm gonna need a hacksaw." Also, it's wrong that the overriding thought in my head as Jack was all aghast in horror at Renee chopping off some dude's thumb was OMG HOW CUTE IS HE WHEN HE'S ALL FLABBERGASTED, right? Hehe.

But wow. She's a lot darker now, and I'm not just saying that because of the heavy eyeliner. The scars, guys. And how she totally misinterpreted Jack's "this is too important" and thought that he was expressing his concern not because of her but for the mission. And how all she wants is for Jack to tell her that it's gonna be okay and that he thinks she's going to make it, like he did last season, because she's totally scared that she's not in the clear yet and she needs to borrow faith from him.

And when he didn't give that for her, she got pissed off because she doesn't want it to be true. She just wants to be better, and she's out to prove it, which I can't help but think is part of why she chose such an extreme act of cutting a guy's thumb off with seemingly no remorse. It reeks of overcompensation, but it does send a very strong message that she's in it to win it, despite the flair of her dramatic walkaway. She's turned into such a woobie, guys, and my heart can barely take it. I can't wait to see where they're going to take her next.

On a final note, I'm also happy to see her back because I really do think she brought back that missing element of unpredictability that makes the show stand out from the rest. From a storyteller's POV, you need to have that wild card in the mix, and now that Jack's so happy and whole again, he doesn't serve that function anymore. She does, and I like that nice reversal of him handling her instead of her handling him [insert obligatory joke about them handling each other here]. I'm curious to see how Jack will play the sane man to Renee's lone wolf act.

All in all, much better than the first two episodes. My dream team is back, and I'm officially excited about the rest of the season, even if Monday night programming proves to be my downfall.

Comments

[anne63.livejournal.com]

i completely agree with u on them bringing renee back the way that they did. i also can't wait for monday's now . i am hoping that jack can help her through this tough part that she is going through.

[dealan311.livejournal.com]

How much she'll be willing to take his help though is another matter entirely.

[marinw.livejournal.com]

I like the President of Fakestan too. I wish they would give POTUS Taylor more to do, perhaps it will when things play out as they are fotold in one of the few spoliers I've read.

I LOVE CTNew. Very swank.

Also love Happy!Jack. He does seem a lot older all of a sudden. Is that just me?

[dealan311.livejournal.com]

I'm not really surprised that we're not seeing a lot of Taylor right now. I think that they take their time on the new stuff in the beginning because they have establish everything first before they set all the craziness in motion. I wouldn't worry though. Now that most of the major threads are in place, soon we'll be seeing them start to intersect and we'll have more of a rotating focus in a single episode. It just happened faster last year because a lot of the exposition for Taylor and the villains was taken care of in Redemption.

CTNew is very restobar in its design, no?

Eh, younger than a grandfather should be, older than Jack of S1. If it is deliberate, then I'm chalking it up to the makeup and lighting department trying to sell the idea that the biotoxin took its toll on him.

[marinw.livejournal.com]

In all the papparizzi/awards shows photos I've seen, Kiefer looks quite fresh-faced and glowy, although not younger than his age.

I had thought that his time in prison would have aged him. Maybe not.

I find CTNew quite refreshing after the blah of Day 7's FBI headquarters. I also love that CTU is underground and apperently only accesible by tunnel and the elevator leading to the helipad. That kinda makes sence.

[dealan311.livejournal.com]

And yet their perimeters still suck and they can't do background checks to save their lives.

[marinw.livejournal.com]

Just once, I'd like a perimeter that peremitizes, or does whatever it is that perimeters do.

[dealan311.livejournal.com]

The day that happens, Jack Bauer can really retire.

[leigh57.livejournal.com]

WARNING: I've already talked about this so much that anything I say here is going to be both repetitive and random, but since of course I can't shut up now that Renee is back, I'll talk anyway!

First, I'm all good with both Cole and Hastings, although I did have to die laughing reading the TWOP recap of 8x04 where the guy said of Freddie Prinze, Jr. "Because here's a man who looks like he's in the market for weapons grade uranium." Yeah. I mean that was kinda silly, since he looks like the leader of a Boy Scout troop. I think Jack is probably a much more solid choice. *snerks* In any case, at least Cole and Hastings don't bore me at this point, and they don't annoy me either. Anything could clearly happen, but at the moment they're the two new people of whom I am most fond.

President Hassan has very tall hair. (But then again, Renee looks as if she hasn't shampooed in two weeks, so I can't really have hair quibbles, huh? At least Hassan washed his tall hair?) I'm really glad that he didn't sell out his silly blond gf, but holy crap can I not get myself invested at ALL in the UN plot. Honestly I feel a little fail for this, but it's the truth.

Also, word to what you said about Katee Sackhoff doing everything she can with what she's given. I don't know and love the actress the way all you BSGers do, but I need to be a lot more careful about harshing on Dana and not Katee. I am bored out of my MIND with that plot, but it's entirely not her fault. Please let them connect this shit to the rest of the show at some point. Also though, as I've said in like eight thousand other places, I think it was such a tactical mistake to withhold Renee for as long as they did, because NO we're not going to get all invested in some chick we just met five minutes ago when a fav character is nowhere to be found. Fail.

Also, it's wrong that the overriding thought in my head as Jack was all aghast in horror at Renee chopping off some dude's thumb was OMG HOW CUTE IS HE WHEN HE'S ALL FLABBERGASTED, right?

*giggles* Totally not wrong at all. I was thinking exactly the same thing. His little face! *squishes Jack*

I'll spare you any more Renee diatribes, because we all know I could yap about her until the end of time. Just thank god she's fucking back and I have rediscovered my ZOMG TOTAL FUCKING FLAIL. God I heart her so hardcore it hurts. And it's going to hurt like a mofo to watch this storyline. Meh.

[dealan311.livejournal.com]

Haha, man those TWOP posts went up fast. I have to catch up on those at some point.

I dunno what it is about Cole that I'm not having strong reactions to him, good or otherwise. I mean, he's getting better, but maybe I just keep comparing him to Chase and feel like they've done this before. Or maybe he's just too passive and lets other people maneuver around him that I can't get a proper read on his character. I hope he gets better, because after catching up on some interviews with FPJ, I have to say, the guy is pretty funny. Dorky, but funny and I'd like to see some personality injected into Cole soon.

Hassan DOES have very tall hair, doesn't he? It's kinda jarring to see him as a Middle Eastern president just because the actor is a really really famous Bollywood actor, and I keep expecting him to break out into song. But so far, I'm slowly warming up to him. I worry now that the assassination attempt is over that he may become superfluous to the main threat, which is now finding the nuclear weapons. But again, you never know.

Oh it was TOTALLY a tactical mistake to withhold Renee. I almost feel like they should have switched it and made the first threat we encountered intel that nuclear weapons were on US soil for sale by Fakestan terrorists and THEN reveal the tie to Hassan's brother/do the Hassan assassination attempt. Cuz then we'd get Jack and Renee in all the action right off the bat, and the writers would have more time to make us care about Hassan's life (other than the fact that peace talks end without him) and get some insight into Farad's motivations. As it is, I have no idea how they're going to tie together all the storylines next, but here's hoping they can pull it off.

[evilmissbecky.livejournal.com]

Awesome post!

I loved seeing Renee again, and how dark she has become. I think she's become the Jack of former seasons, sort of moving on automatic pilot through her own life, until something so horrible comes along that it forces her into taking action. Only in this instance, I'm not so sure that she cares if she lives or dies, only that she succeeds. Whereas with Jack, I never felt he had a deathwish, no matter how bad things got for him.

I too was quite pleasantly surprised when Hassan owned up to the affair -- and then ended it. My feelings for his character leaped miles when that happened, and suddenly I found myself caring about what happened to him.

Dana...*sigh* I'm still suspending judgement on this storyline, but frankly I'm not feeling very optimistic about it.

But I can forgive that all for the wonderful surprise of having David Anders appear so early. For some reason I thought he wasn't going to arrive until later in the day, so when I saw his name in the credits, I let out a squee of delight that my neighbors probably heard. XD

[dealan311.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah totally. I said it time and again that S7!Renee was like S1!Jack, which makes her a LOT like S2!Jack who totally was struggling with keeping a will to live. Renee might have had it a little harder than Jack, and I'm gonna channel Rachel here and say that's because Jack always had Kim. However, I'm also reminded of Jack volunteering to blow up the plane in S2, as well as Jack wanting to "die for something" in S6. So maybe not so far off from Jack as we might think.

Yeah, that was when I started to care about Hassan as well. I like my characters layered and conflicted, so for me that was a nice little turning point.

I'm not feeling optimistic about Dana at this point either. Which again, makes me mad because I can see some pretty awesome shades in the character already because Katee gives us flashes of different emotions every so often. I just wish they'd unsaddle her with this storyline and bring in other characters into the loop (NOT ARLO) so we can move the fuck on.

Heheh. David Anders. It's weird to hear him without an accent, despite the fact that guy is from Oregon.

[allisnow.livejournal.com]

I think I agree with everything you said :D

[dealan311.livejournal.com]

Hehe. Word vomit. Sorry. I tend to do that a lot.

[cybertoothtiger.livejournal.com]

I always love the depth of analysis in your posts. As opposed to my "OMG!!!! EEEEEE!!!" reactions. Ahem. I totally agree with everything you said, especially about it being too early for Dana to have her own sub-plot. Particularly one as re-hashed as this one.

Oh, man, I loved officer Phil! He was a shining example of how throw-away characters can totally rock on this show. I kept thinking how he would go back to the precinct and do some research on Jack and think "Holy shit!" Good career move on his part to help Jack out. It was risky, because all to often local law enforcement gets killed when helping Jack, but he had no way of knowing that. ;)

I love Dark Renee mostly for where it puts Jack's character. But I'm not sure that I believe Renee was undercover with the Russian mob 6 years ago. Her character last year was too innocent for that. I'm thinking of the baby scene in particular. I'm expecting her to have to do some very dark things as part of this mission, and I'm kinda not buying that she was carrying that sort of baggage at the beginning of S7.

Also, I'm kinda doubting Jack's usefulness as an undercover operative after the Senate hearings. Surely there is a risk someone will recognize him? I do think he's a more believable choice than Cole.

Oh well. I have a handy-dandy hoist with which to suspend my disbelief because I love this storyline so much.

[leigh57.livejournal.com]

I'm threadjacking just for a second to say that now that I am 1) calmer and 2) sober, I entirely agree with everything you said about Renee and the Russian mob. When they said six years ago (on the rewatch, obv), I snorffled. I was like really? I don't THINK so.

But eh. I love her too much to quibble on this. Quibble is my word for the day. /threadjack.

[dealan311.livejournal.com]

Hehe. I can be flaily too. And just as shallow. But my brain is wired funny and I always seem to be in analysis mode, even when I'm trying to enjoy the shallow. *points to icon*

Officer Phil reminds me of TJ Thyne's character in S4- the camper who found the football and helped Jack in S4. Or Meredith the waitress in S1. I enjoy these types of characters because it's a nice reminder that the rest of the world doesn't know that there's a terrorist plan afoot and it's cool to get that outsiders' POV. I really want someone to fic him now.

Yeah the undercover thing makes me wonder. I reserve judgment until later when we'll get more details on what her exact role used to be and for how long. Because if she was constantly surrounded by criminals and her main role was to set up the buyers for the arms trafficking ring, then it might work. The baby thing bothered her because it involved civilians. If, even at her darkest moments undercover, she only ever dealt with bad guys, then I could see why that would be a problem for her in S7.

Also, they place her stint at 6 years ago. That's enough time for her to get therapy on it and might even explain why she never seemed to follow the rules of waiting for back-up and why she made the jump to torturing Tanner so quickly. In fact, ooooh. What if all that angst we saw in the hospital room wasn't so much her angsting of not being able to torture Tanner, but being scared about going into that grey area again? What if all those reminders that Larry kept saying about how they follow the letter of the law wasn't just because of Jack but also because it's *her* and she's been there before. OOOOH and that might also be why Larry was so intent on keeping Renee away from Jack's influence.

Hmm. This is sparking new thoughts in my head now. I have to think about this some more.

Actually the Senate hearings thing doesn't bother me. I'm guessing no one but C-Span aired the actual hearings, and while Mayer was out to make an example of Jack, he was hardly the one witness he wanted to nail to the wall. If there was a picture in the newspaper at the hearing, it would have been of Mayer and I'm almost willing to bet that terrorists don't sit around watching C-Span. If they have heard of Jack, it's by name and reputation only, not by face, so as long as he doesn't go in as Jack Bauer, they're cool.

[leigh57.livejournal.com]

Heeeeeeee. I can't help myself, but I have to point out there that no matter how you wank it, Renee had not in fact gone undercover in S7, because the writers thought it up in between seasons. THIS is what cracks me up when people talk about this, because uh, it's like Jeffrey Nordling not knowing Larry had an ex until he read the script in which he had to say it.

So I mean sure. Now that she HAS gone undercover according to canon, the backstory is there for the taking. But as for the acting in the Tanner scene, it's not as if Annie was all, "Ooooh! I can play Renee as completely traumatized by her background in the Russian mob!" (which yes, I know you know, Kay. I'm the one who has trouble wrapping my brain around all this.)

Just sayin'.

All this crap makes it very hard for me to figure out how to fic this. I'm still trying to get used to being a 24 fan, where you can drive universes through the story gaps. Wait can you drive universes? Probably not. Anyway.

[dealan311.livejournal.com]

Hehe. Yes well, that's true. The show is like the king of retconning. It's like in S6 when all of us were like, wait, what? Jack was rich?

But yeah, new readings of past scenes are always fun to try and reconcile. So much of this show is left up to the viewers' imagination, which is part of the fun. It can be really frustrating, though, when it doesn't jive with actual facts in the timeline (see: Marilyn).

Oh. Hehe, and uh, Jeffrey Nordling actually found out that he had an ex wife at the same time we did. He never saw any scripts after 7x18, so it wasn't until 7x19 aired and Renee mentioned the ex-wife that he found out about it. Hilarious, no?

[leigh57.livejournal.com]

hahahaha. Damn you with your comprehensive knowledge! I was so laughing, because I wrote that last comment and walked out the door. As soon as I got in the car I was like, wtf? Jeffrey found out when Renee said it, not Larry. Given that Larry never said it. Duh. And yes, it does rock socks that he's like, "Wow I had a wife? Who knew?" Also what I love? We will probably never know whether he and Renee actually got it on. I sort of love that in a weird way.

D'oh. See how I just run off at the mouth? But you knew that:-P

Oy. Honestly my brain is breaking from not writing but I don't know how to get in a ficcy place right now. My girl's total fuckedupedness is screwing with my brain. Like, it's not that I can't go there. Just that huh. It requires rearranging.

[dealan311.livejournal.com]

Hehehe. My brain is filled with useless knowledge.

[leigh57.livejournal.com]

LOL! Yes it is! But this was one rare time where I actually shared that useless knowledge with you and just typed sloppily. I knew you were gonna get all correcty (totally a word) the minute I got in the car:-P

[dealan311.livejournal.com]

Because I'm a total insufferable know-it all. Yeah, I know. It's something I'm working on. ;)

[leigh57.livejournal.com]

Psh. You're not insufferable. Besides, you put up with my ludicrous shippiness, which has to be infinitely worse:-P

[dealan311.livejournal.com]

Haha, I will never cease to laugh at your icon.

[cybertoothtiger.livejournal.com]

Ooooh, I like the fic possibilities of your back story for Renee. I got the vibe that she was pretty new in S7, rather than someone with a past. But hey, I can live with an alternate explanation.

The Senate hearing could go either way. On the one hand, he didn't actually testify as far as we know, so not so much publicity there. But on the other hand, I remember Oliver North. I can see Jack getting a fair bit of attention if any reporters figured out how close he was to various Presidents, and his name would surely come up in relation to Palmer, as he was on the news for saving him.

*squeak, squeak, squeak*

That's my hoist. The pulley is a little rusty, as it's been a long time since last season. *G*

Really I think it's my own little fan wank that he was featured in Rolling Stone before the hearings, on account of my Professor Bill fic.

Hee - re. your icon, I finally saw that episode of Bones. It made me think of you.

[dealan311.livejournal.com]

I'm spinning stories in my head now of how Larry fits into all this.

My default icon is one of my favorite quotes from Bones. I miss Zack.

[century-fox.livejournal.com]

I loved Officer Phil, too! :D I have so much love for characters who have really small roles but do awesome things, hehe.

I'm not feeling the Dana Walsh storyline, either. Like you said, we don't know her character so it's hard to care about/be interested in her backstory, especially since we were all really looking forward to seeing Renee again. The writers definitely should have spent more time getting us to know Dana's character first before getting into this subplot- it's frustrating to me that they made her almost entirely about this mysterious past she wants to be kept secret. Hopefully they'll be able to come up with a good way to integrate it into the main plot, though. Until then, I'll just sing 867-5309 in my head every time her sleazy ex-boyfriend calls her Jenny :P

RENEE. Holy fuckcakes I've been flailing and keymashing ever since Monday night about 8x04. I'm SO fucking excited that she's back and I can't wait to see more of how Jack's going to try to do whatever he can to help Renee, even though, like you said, it's not his help that she wants right now- she just wants him to have faith in her abilities out in the field, and it's hard for her to deal with the fact that he doesn't think she can handle things on her own.

And how she totally misinterpreted Jack's "this is too important" and thought that he was expressing his concern not because of her but for the mission. THIS. GAHHHH I just wanted to hug her there.

[dealan311.livejournal.com]

The funny part is that when he said Jenny, I kept getting flashes of Jenny Burton Sarah Walker on Chuck. Very jarring. I'm ready for them to start making it relevant.

Yeeeeeeeeeah. It's gonna be a bumpy night for Jack and Renee. I can't wait to see where they'll take the two of them.

[catch22girl]

I wanted to answer this about 12 hours ago but had to run to work.

1. I loved Cole after he risked his life to save Hassan! He's really grown on me although I liked him right away I now see he's more than a pretty face. I also like that his inexperience is part of the storyline. I liked that Hastings was trying to use it against him and the way that part of the plot is working out.

I agree that they did a better job on Hassan's family. I also loved when he admitted to the affair. I started shipping them right before they had to break up. Yeah, I'm easy. As far as Farad goes, I think they did a better job explaining Omar's brother betrayal's than Graem's (yeah I went there). Farad hates the West and doesn't trust them, it's not just regime change, at least that's what I think. Plus it puts him in the same category as the villains of season two, at least the ones who were afraid that Palmer was too "soft". I'm totally ready to be proved wrong.

Arlo is skirting the sexual harassment edge *way* too close - Dana should be putting him down harder. I find Dana/Jenny's ex creepy as hell. I want to know what she did, and I'm hoping that the ending involves that guy dying a slow horrible death. It doesn't bother me as much as it does a lot of other people, as I want to see where it's going. Katee's totally selling it, whatever is going on. And I really like her and Cole together, I want to see them kiss, dammit.

What you said there about Jack no longer being the wild card is so so so true. I think that's why the first few hours felt so weird because he wasn't going to do anything crazy. We have Renee for that now. I actually think the further she goes into the darkness the more Jack will follow her.

I don't think it's being better, I think it's more that she's willing to do whatever it takes. I was thinking about season seven in light of her undercover time. I think you're right what you said above, that it does work. I think of it as her seeing the Russians doing awful things to people and they're the bad guys. Except when she met Jack, he wasn't bad, he was doing it for "good reasons". Larry's whole speech about the laws and what makes them different and what she'd clung to during her undercover time suddenly isn't so clear cut.

It explains why Larry almost babysat her - and omg I loved that line last Monday "me and the babysitter." Oh she's so angry that Jack's treating her like a child, telling her she's not up for the field (would he do the same thing to a male agent? Wait, we already saw season four...). Uh also healed Jack tends to get kind of 'holier than thou' when giving advice to the ones left behind. Renee isn't his student anymore, she's not anyone's anything anymore. She's dangerous. I love it. I can't wait to see more. I look forward to her eating my brain whole.

[dealan311.livejournal.com]

1. Yeah, I dunno why, but I'm only now starting to warm up to Cole. Maybe it's as you say, the inexperience is part of the storyline and I keep feeling like we've done this before and better with Chase. I'm trying to go in with an open mind, however. For all that I was disappointed by the first two episodes, they did pick up the pace in second night, and I really want the characters to pop. I don't want to hate any of the characters (unless it's a love to hate kind of way).

2. Psahahaha. Yeah, well, saying they did a better job with Farad than Graem isn't saying much. LOL. I will be curious to see, though, how much he differs from his brother and if they'll go there. Right now we're getting a really rosy picture of Hassan, but they are still brothers so I gotta wonder how much darker they're going to go the "human rights things" alluded to in the promo I watched.

Dana/Jenny's ex is creepy as hell, but Arlo- well I can't tell right now. He is skirting the sexual harassment edge a LOT, but I'm getting the sense that she knows she can take him down if need be. She seems to see him as harmless, only getting upset when it got in the way. I'm not saying it's right, what he's doing. But I wonder about their history. Like did they almost have a thing before she met Cole?

Yeah, agreement on everything you said about Renee. She's totally GOING there and Jack's just gonna follow her back down the rabbit hole. (Why am I suddenly thinking about Leo McGarry's "friend in a hole" story that he told Josh on TWW?)