Original subtitles

Previously on The West Wing:

No, Dad, I'm on the plane.

( jet engines humming )

All right, I'll try and call you later

if there's anything interesting to report.

I'm talking about my father.

Why?

'Cause he's not doing fine.

He forgets things.

I know.

He thought this wass the general election todayon.

and... he snaps back in, but...

( sighs )

on Foreign Relations, the President and First Lady

will be on their way to Camp David for the weekend

where the governor of Nebraska will join them.

Wasn't Josh Lyman scheduled

to do the press briefings today

and over the weekend?

You have me, just me.

to your high school Does threunion in Dayton? goi

Yep. If that's all...

We understood you were to deliver a speech

at this reunion entitled, "The Promise of a Generation."

How did you know that?

It's in the Dayton papers.

what you think the promise Coulof a generation is l

I'm not really sure, but like pornography since you're chickening

I know it when I see it.

They came up with the title

I felt it was an assignment andand I couldn't say no.

Unfortunately, my job prevents me from certain pleasures

We don't get Josh andis what you're saying.

No fresh meat for the lions.

That's a full lid.

REPORTERS: Thank you, C.J.

Thank you.

Like they had this sadistic, anticipatory glee.out there.

I agree.

I have to stay.

What are you still doing here?

Josh can't do the briefings.

Anyway, I missed the last flight

No, there's one at 7:50. You're booked on it.

Well, there is.

Go. I'll do the briefings.I don't make the Good luck.

You canYou don't know who It'to call on, where to look

when to smile and interrupt...

Are you scared of that promise thing?

Yes.

No, that can't be it.

It's your dad.

I'm sorry. I... uh...

How's he doing?

You're not allowed to use the words

Nevertheless, those are "Alzhethe relevant words.

The woman who takes care of him scares me.

Molly, she was my English teacher.

Believe me, she was a very tough grader.

You're scared of your high school English teacher.

Well, she's also now my stepmother

so it's just a little bit fraught.

Did you ever not get an "A" in her class?

Nevertheless, Dayton awaits.

Psst.

Finish your speech.

There's a draft of some notes for a speech

on the National Endowment for the Arts

and the President is going to ask for something

maybe over the weekend, and also, Toby,

the section on embassy security

( alarm beeps )

is still being ironed out

by Josh

and I haven't

( alarm beeps )

I haven't...

had a-a chance to work on... Hold on.

Thank you.

No, not you.

No, I didn't mean that you have no social skills, Toby.

I'm sorry if you think I was being insensitive to your...

I-I think you're very... you're a very pretty girl, Toby.

Oh, um, by the way, I have...

( grunting )

I have notes about the SEC appointment speech.

I can't do this.

I'll call you later.

I'm going to have a heart attack.

( airplane engine roaring )

Toby, if you get this, there's also an errant draft

of a briefing paper on the agricultural training exchange

with the South African students

and it has to pass through the...

Um, I think I may have been maybe cut off.

I'll e-mail you.

Wow.

Hmm.

You look basically exactly the same.

Pardon me?

Yeah, you do.

I didn't think you'd be coming.

I feel slightly

so much better now.

I'm hearing Violent Femmes and thinking

Quaaludes and detention and... tacos?

Well, there was a little bit more to it than that.

Marco.

Marco Arlens.

Where's your band?

Ah, alas.

The Mollusks of Lust.

I'm afraid we didn't make it.

Nor did your purple- and-magenta mohawk.

Yeah, but unlike the Mollusks

mohawks are making a comeback

but as fauxhawks.

Are you dreading this?

Yeah,

but I'm not the one who's making a speech about...

"Promise of a Generation."

( laughs )

So what are you up to now?

Uh... sorta... living in Paris.

You were a baseball- playing punk rocker.

And you were the smartest, funniest,

saddest girl in Dayton.

I think that might've. been a compliment.

Mr. Cregg-- he's not still teaching math, is he?

Oh, no. He has a new job now.

He gets married.

After my mom died--

twice, now to a lovely lady in the English Department.

Her job is baking and hating me.

Did you ever have Mrs. Lapham?

Yeah. She hated me, too.

( laughing )

So she's your stepmom. Wow.

So it's just all fun, huh?

Welcome home.

Oh, that's... that's my ride.

Hey...

listen... at the risk of being...

anything, you wouldn't want

to go to this thing together, would you?

I mean, we could get a vodka first

which helps with the fear

and a cracker, which helps with the bad food.

Safety in numbers.

That'd be great.

I'll see you.

Claudia Jean.

you're supposed to call if you come in after midnight.

Aren't you? Hmm?

I'm sorry. I...

( laughs )

Come on in.

Come on.

Come and have a Manhattan.

Molly made cupcakes for us before retiring.

C.J.: Great.

( jazz playing )

Tell me everything.

I want to know everything.

Let's sit up all night and catch up.

I don't seem to do much of that anymore.

Ticking clocks, you know, and so much to do.

Well, I've been a little blue latelyyou, Dad

to go fishing. because I hIt's February.

got these new Italian flies I'm aI want to try out.I'

They're really quite flirtatious.

Would you go to the river with me in the morning for an hour?

You want to go fishing tomorrow? I know.

I know, it's going to be cold

but I thought it might be bracing.

I don't want to be at the mercy

of the seasons, do I, at my age?

Why let meteorology dictate?

We used to go fishing, didn't we?

Yes.

There you go, then.

Once or twice.

I actually don't recallke the loving... Yes, just like.

You know, when you get to a certain age

the little things you used to do

matter more and more.

Old Mr., um...

Moyers, from two doors down

after his Beth died, all he wanted to do

was to be taken to the Astro dinette for tuna melts,

which is what they'd done together

every Thursday. And now...

( music playing louder )

...it's me taking him.

Are we going to wake up Molly?

You could blast Elgar in here with 25 speakers.

You wouldn't wake up Molly.

How is Molly?

Marvelous. Fun. Funny.

Lots of rules.

Ex vice-principals can't give up their principles, can they?

You hungry?

I'm just going to put my bags down and wash my face.here.

( door closes )

About Mr. Moyers.

You think he... Dad?

Mr. Moyers lived in Shaker Heights.

The Astro's in Cleveland.

I meant Marianthall, not Moyers.w that.

Did I say Moyers?

Yeah, I started smoking again.

I'm not supposed to, but there it is.

Um, why is this kitchen such a mess?

Well, we have a nice lady that comes in, but...

who knows when?

In fact

I don't know where anything is in here.

Daddy, um, what do you...?

Lately, I have been perfecting a zabaglione.

You know what that is?

Um... an Italian... custard sauce.

Correct, Miss Cregg.

A custard...

fabled

for its restorative properties.

Somewhere in this kitchen

is a copper pot with a curvy ass.

I need it.

Here?

Yeah. Good. Good.

Can't do it without that.

It facilitates the whipping at a far greater rate.

How's your job?

We're happy.

This is the time we...

Somewhere in this hellhole of a kitchen

is a really good bottle of Marsala wine.

We get to... we have a-a window.

We get to...

we get to do... actual work for awhile.

No more campaigning.

Got it.

Oh, good.

You know, I-I like your man.

His economic theories--

so generous, so good

but he-he hides his light under a bushel.

Why is that?

You already... Dad...

He wanted to, uh... win.

He did so with honor.

We played clean.

Well, that you did, that you did.

I'm proud of you.

Thank you.

You're writing.

Yeah. A handbook for the teaching of mathematics

to a generation

of mathematically illiterate teachers.

That's wonderful, Daddy.

I was thinking of asking you

to write a foreword, but I suppose that's unethical, no?

Not at all. I'd be happy to.

Well, it seems to me that

everything is intrinsically

unethical these days.

Numerical Idiocy. Catchy title.

Yeah, well

go to the supermarket.

They can't make change.

They can't tell you

at 40 miles an hour for three hoursve

you've gone 260 miles.

Daddy, 120.

I have found

that this pot is the very most efficient way

of making a custard and I can only surmise

that it's because it doesn't allow the eggs to stay in one place

long enough for them to get overcooked.

I think you have to keep whipping.

What?

Hundred and twenty!

Oh, God.

Wow. Senior moment.

Yeah, you have to...

Dad... maybe you need more help.

Everybody needs more help.

Yes, but I don't think you're doing as well as...

I have to finish my book.

Kids aren't being taught any of the important things:

Inductive reasoning, estimation.

It's gone. It's all disappearing.

Oh, stop staring at me, darling.

You know you were brought up

better than that.

( jazz playing )

Daddy?

( knocking )

Archimedes is getting old.

Where's Molly?

Well, I mean...

of course... she left.

She left? What does that mean?

This obviously isn't much fun.

Not what she signed on for.

But this is what's happening.

You don't just walk away.

40 miles an hour for three hours has always been... 120.u.

I don't know what I was thinking.

TOBY: Yeah, so everything's going well here.

C.J.: Is it? Good?

I, uh, where's the, uh...?

I lost the, uh, uh, that NEA thing you wanted.

Lost it? It's notes. There's a file.

Yeah, you needed me to polish a draft?

Well, there's no draft to polish.

There's notes. I don't have them here.

I'm sure I can find it.

I want to be clear about the briefing, Toby.

What I meant when I said that you need to know

who to look at and when to ask certain questions

Get the anxious ones out of the way first, sweetie

to give the pros room to figure out

what it is they really want.

And avoid the ones who don't blink;

they're power devils.

I don't know what that is.

Yes, you do. Is anything happening?

The usual chaos, but minus ten percent.

How are things?

Usual. Uneventful.

Daytonesque.

How's your father?

Fine.

And the wicked stepmother?

Even finer.

The weather?

Perfection.

I'll call you later.

Hi, Lib.

You come for the reunion but are staying

for the comfort and ease of home?

Yep, 'fraid so.

You have to stop being beautiful sometime, sweetheart.

That would be today.

The speech, C.J.:

"The Promise of a Generation"?

Really? You going?

No. I think I know exactly why you're here

at 7:05 a.m.

Your stepmom. She's moved right back in.

I prefer to think of your mother

as my dad's third wife, Libby.

Yeah, well, let me tell you, it's been fun.

Come on in. See if you can broker a deal.

God knows I've tried.

I want "lemolaide"!

You'll get "lemolaide" after you wash your hands

which have snail on them, Harry.

Molly...

I failed. I know.

Please, no lectures.

What happened?

Have you been there? Have you seen...?

Mom, nobody is...

I made a mistake.

It was years of him being charming.

You both know how... how charming

the man can be.

Yes, but...

I'm in the English department,

he's in the math.

There were lunches.

There were quiet lunches for years.

And we wait, both of us, waiting for years.

After your mom died

and I had married what's-his-name,

we were still two missed connections.

Two withered, married, ancient people waiting...

Why didn't you call me, Molly?

I didn't get to spend time with your father.

We never had an affair.

I'm sorry, but I don't want to diaper...

Shut up! Shut up.

You were a wonderful teacher, Molly.

You should be ashamed of yourself.

Well, I am.

And did you know

what the nickname for the disease is?

"The long good-bye."

In your case, more accurately, it's the short

"see ya later good-bye," isn't it?

C.J.--

What happened to reciprocity?

Do you ever imagine in a million years

if the roles were reversed

he would ever do this to you?

This is-- what you're doing right now--

invalidates everything that came before

This cancels a good thand valuable life.g.

He needs you!

I need him!

You came for the reunion?

You're giving a speech, aren't you?

It was in the paper.

"The Promise of a Generation."

We were going to go and stand in the back.

You remember how to do this.

It's not the wrist.

It's the fulcrum and lever effect, sort of

and then let it drift, and then let it sink

and, of course, then nothing happens

which is the fun part.

How is she? You went to see her.

No, no.

Oh, sweetie, I know when young people lie.

Did she say how long she's been gone?

It seems like weeks.

Has it been weeks or just a few days?

Dad, you know, we need to get some help

if Molly won't come back.

Oh, someone to come in and referee me.We do.

We would figure something out.

You mean, more than a nice lady

from Catholic Family Services?

Well, we have to find some way

because you being alone won't work out now.

I can work around the clock, there's so much to do.

There's a whole chapter on "Women and Math Anxiety"

because for years-- now, why is that

that women underperformed in math?

The teachers were sexist men?

So there's blocked women to be helped.

Here. Let me help you.

That's good.

Now just... nice and easy.

Nice and easy, like that.

And...

Thank you.

You could hurt yourself.

You could hurt yourself.

Look at that hook.

Practically a nipple piercing.

You will hurt yourself.

We can afford it.

I can afford it.

Molly never liked to go fishing.

She considered it devilish.

I explained to her,

"Well, we throw them back usually."

Mostly I just like to stand and work the odds.

Have you... done...

have you done anything, seen doctors?

Doctors? Ach.

My age smells of liniment and waiting rooms.

No, I've researched.

There's a new drug, Reminyl.

Buys you a few months, they say.

We could arrange to see someone.

Lee Voight, he's your friend.

He's a terrific neurologist.

It's such a beautiful day, Molly.

I'D prefer not to screw it up with all that.

Dad, I'm not...

Molly, please, please!

This nagging-- can't we just enjoy it here?

Dad, I'm not Molly.

You're not Molly. You're not Molly.

Who...

Who the hell are you?

Who the hell are you?

Who the hell are you!

All these damn women hounding me!o are you!

my mother calls this morning to remind me

to fold the socks when I get back in.

And my daughter

just abandoned me!

Mothers, wives, daughters, and none of them stay!

All these damn women!

Dad...

you...

cannot expect me to silently do nothing.

You're going to require care.

I wasn't built for it.

You came for the prom, not for this.

Reunion. I'm not going.

Coward.

That world, the expertise, the solicitude, no.

No, thanks.

I want to go down with some silence

with my music, with some grace.

I'll quit and take care of you.

"We sail," said Pascal, "in a vast sphere," Claudia Jean

"ever drifting in uncertainty,

driven from end to end."

I'd much rather see you on TV, darling

than sitting opposite me,

watching a demolition derby going on in my brain.

I'm here under duress, Lee.

VOIGHT: Yeah, Tal? Big deal, so am I.

I'm very upsetof you. and I don't want to laugh.

Look, it's a subtle disease and it creeps up on you, Tal.

175,000 people will be diagnosed this year.

Why on earth would a statistic like that comfort me?

I thought you liked numbers.

( quiet chuckle )

I'm not trying to comfort you.

I'm talking to you like an old pal.

You used to play golf with me

and you just stopped.

I what?

I used to play golf... and I stopped?

I wondered why; now I know.

We like to say

it's not a disease where you forget where you put the key

it's where you forget what the key is for.

I know what the key is for

and I know what the door is for

and I think I'll use it.

You're not alone.

You're not the first or the last, pal.

Ten percent of the people over 65 have it.

That lumps me in with several million other poor souls. Yay!

There are new drugs.

They're not knock-them-out- of-the-ballpark either.

We can slow it down.

Oh... good. He can slow it down.

What a concept.

You shouldn't be alone, Tal.

Having someone there helps keep it at bay.

Alone is not good.

I'm not alone.

I have my book and a cat, right?

So, we have a little while, unfortunately

before I begin not to recognize you, Lee.

But you didn't recognize me.

You covered and I saw it

and that's going to last longer

and happen more and more

and, by the way, what the hell happened with Molly?

It's, "quote" hard on the spouse, isn't it?

I read that.

We need to make plans, Lee.

Let's not sugarcoat this.

Known you for a long time

because I know you've always been a straight shooter.

Because you hate being a burden

you're probably aware

that it's harder on the people around you

than it will be on you.

For you, it will be not unpleasant

particularly if we put you on the right drugs--

including anti-depressants-- it won't hurt.

( chuckling )

If only that were true, kids.

He's too smart, it's no good.

He's getting paranoid, mad, and trying to fight.

Yes.

Well, that's good. Mad is good.

He should be mad, it sucks.

Look, C.J.

there is a good home.

It's actually not depressing in any way.

We can get him in if we make a call now.

He has a while, I think

to start making plans right now, today.to have

TAL: Shall we buy you a corsage for the prom?

C.J.: Reunion. I'm not going.

You damn well are.

Your speech...

"The Promise of a Generation."

Awfully grand title, no?

I agreed because I wanted to be Thehere to see you.t.

No, you didn't.

You could come and live in Washington with me.

I have room.

Do you? Can you image?

Talk about ruining a good thing.

Is this, uh... Lakeside or Grandview?

I know why you started smoking again.

It's because you use the time it gives you to work stuff out.

You use the cigarette to stall for time.

No, sweetie, I started smoking again

because I forgot that 20 years ago I quit.

Great, that's great.

See, I know exactly what I'm doing.

( cell phone rings )

( horns honking )

Dad! Dad!

Hello?

Please tell me everything's okay. going?

All quite in the West Wing.

( horns honking )

What's all that honking?

You in a parade?

They having a parade for you?

Let's talk later.

Pull over. I'm driving.

( horns honking )

Pull over.

Well, let's go, if we're going.

I mean...

tell me...

things like your checkbook

your money, things like that--

what do you propose to do?

Tell me. You're smart, tell me.

You know, I'm pretty good with numbers.

If we drove for three hours at 40 miles an hour?

I mean, tell me.

You are holding on to something that...

What am I holding to?

My consciousness? My identity?

by sheer force of ...cpersonality, Daddy.

Tell me, brilliant woman that you are

would you hand over those things without a fight?

I need a little more time, C.J.

If I let it in at its own pace, it'll just get dark faster.

( playing jazz )

TOBY ( on TV ): The same is the same, and the same is true

for the bailout of the iron industry.

Nothing was said that has not been...

that has consistently not been said

and is still being not said.

And what's, what's, what's not being said is often

uh, more important than-than

ugh, what's stated particularly by Congress.

That man lacks grace and charm.

Do you think?

( playing resumes )

( stops playing )

They really need you.

C.J.: Yeah, they kind of do.

( doorbell rings )

( piano playing resumes) Dad! Dad, can you get the door?

( stops playing )

Oh, yeah.

Mr. Arlen!

We heard you were back in town.

Mr. Cregg, how's the algebra business?

Abysmal mess, I hear.

But, fortunately, as the waitresses like to say

"Not my table."

Come on in.

Thank you.

You're no longer a rabid punk rocker, I see.

How could you possibly remember that?

I was your student for one semester.

Oh, I remember the detentions

and the ditchings and the low test scores

and your imperviousness to algorithms.

Uh-huh.

Let's get you a drink.

You were better-looking with the mohawk, son.cotch.

Yeah, my mom thinks so, too.

So, what're you up to now?

I'm a horologist.

You fix watches?

You were in trouble.

Yeah. Yeah, I, uh, I spent a lot of time in detention.

No, no, after. You were in prison.

No, Dad, no. He gets confused.

( kissing ) Marco... wasn't Dad, no, win prison.

Yes, I was.

I did a year.

It wasn't hard; I was younger.

Stock tips.

Anyway...

I-I lost most of what I had and moved on.

C'est la guerre, eh, son?

C'est la guerre.

So, what's the skinny?

You good with the watches?

Uh... yes, sir.

Wow!

1931 Hamilton.

One of the few thoroughly American watches.

Each piece, each part, handmade in the US of A.

Not many American watchmakers.

My dad's.

You're losing time, Mr. Cregg.

That, son, I am.

Lets have a look inside.

Really?

Uh, yeah.

Huh.

MARCO: Yeah, isochronism is out of beat.

Is it?

Yeah.

This is your balance cock and your hairspring.

( soft rattling )

The fourth wheel and the third wheel here.

That's me.

Oh, what am I thinking?Hmm?

You kids should get going.

Maybe we should.

I've always cherished this thing.

My father kept perfect time--

marked it, measured it with this--

the hellos and good-byes.

It keeps faltering; nobody can do anything.

Well, I could retool it.

It wants a timing machine.

Send it to you in a few weeks from Paris.

France? You're a convicted felon.

How do I know you won't steal it?

I'm not a recidivist.

It would be a pleasure, Mr. Cregg.

how to calculate the number of stones in the great pyramid.

I did? Mm-hmm.

How do you do that?

I can't remember anything.

For days sometimes.

I...

I can't remember who this is.

We should be going, Mr. Cregg.

Oh... forgive me.

C.J.: Are we that old?

MARCO: Do you recognize anyone?

Oh... Bill Morton from debate.

Julia Keller from cheerleading.

Liz Varney from tennis.

MARCO: Ben Ehrenreich... he was sweet.

( cell phone rings )

Tried to kiss me once.

( ringing continues )

( ringing )

( ringing )

I don't think I can... face it right now.

When do you give your speech?

After dinner, before the scary dancing.

After dinner?

( engine starting )

( playing aria from Bach's Goldberg Variations )

( aria from Bach's Goldberg Variations continues playing )

(Goldberg Variations continues)

*

Mm!

I'm, like, I'm, like, on in a few minutes.

No, that, no, that... that clock's 20 minutes fast.

Oh.

( chuckling )

Anyway, you're about to find out.

What am I about to find out?

The bittersweet thrill of high school popularity.

*

There were days, some days, when...

we'd played at a party, The Mollusks

or we'd won a baseball game and...

there was just that... thing, that...

Hmm.

...everybody loving you in that moment.

Are you saying... you're one of those people

who think like, in F. Scott Fitzgerald,

their best years were 20 years prior?

No, I think the best day's got to be the next day.

Life is... all "what's next?"

It's like those billboards where

before the actual ad goes up

they put in, in big block letters... "Watch this space."

( typing )

(Goldberg Variations playing in background )

My name is C.J. Cregg.

( applause )

As you know, I work for the President of the United States.

This is why I was asked to make a short speech for our reunion.

It's a terrible subject, a terrible idea

"The Promise of a Generation."

So bad, I was gonna start out with a joke

and fill the whole thing in with more jokes.

But I find the topic has gotten under my skin

while I wasn't paying attention

because every generation has promise

and every generation fails that promise in some respects.

How can we not? What is promise

if not something that's impossible to live up to?

My boss had to recently make his case to the American people

that he was worth reelecting

and it was... not an easy process,

nor should it be.

And in its wake, I've been thinking a lot

about civility, civic duty and kindness,

and how pervasive and powerful they are,

how enduringly persuasive those qualities are in American life,

and how I see them all around me day after day.

America's a terribly difficult idea

filled with promise and impossible to live up to.

Promise is inchoate and promise is what binds us.

Some of us died, some got sick,

some got rich, some... had bad luck,

some of us were fortunate, more than others.

But failed promise only truly fails

when it leads to lowered expectations.

( cell phone rings )

Um...

( ringing )

Sorry.

( ringing )

Excuse me one sec.

( ringing stops )

Toby, not now, not now, not in the--

Something's happened. Turn on CNN.

not some joke timed Ifor the exact momentl

I'm giving my speech, Toby.

It is. Two car bombs outside our embassies in Asia.

One went off, one didn't.

A message to expect more of the same

within the next 24 hours: Four.

Oh, geez. How many...?

No casualties, thank God.

If you can try and-and get back, uh...

There are no direct flights

but if you connect out of Chicago

you can be in, we think, at 6:30 in the morning.

Um... let me get moving.

I'll call you in a few minutes on my way to the airport.

Okay.

I'm sorry. I have to go.

There's been.... We have...

I'm sorry. I...

What happened?

Some bombing threats to embassies.

I'm sorry, I have to go,

I have to get to the airport and get back to D.C.

I'll get the car.

Are you all right?

I have to go.

Tal, I-I don't know what to do about this situation.

Well, nobody does; we'll just try and figure it out.

there's surely one superior mind still working; of

I don't know whose. Right.

We'll drive with you to the airport if you like.

TALMIDGE: C.J.

Before I forget.

Tell Marco, send it back to me soon.

Please.

And working.

Time matters.

I'll see you next week.

You can't keep flying back and forth.

(Goldberg Variations playing)