When he realizes that his first choice for Vice President faces an uphill fight for nomination, Jed nominates a congressman that none of the staff can get excited about; Josh is less than thrilled with his new intern.

In the days leading up to the State of the Union address, Toby gets crucial voter feedback when he accompanies Joey as she mall-tests the speech around the nation; Jed and the staff wrestle with the issues of presidential pardons and mandatory minimums; Charlie dates an attractive woman who's not what she seems; Joey Lucas derails Josh's plans when she arrives at the White House carrying a surprise; Jed and Abbey reach out to an old friend on the eve of his ex-wife's remarriage.

An airborne contamination alert locks down the West Wing, forcing staffers to stay put until the all-clear is sounded; Toby and Will face off over Will's working for the vice president; C.J. tells Donna some things she's rather not hear about Josh and her career prospects; Leo confronts Abbey about the dangers of her recent coping mechanisms; Jed, Debbie, and Charlie are poked, prodded, and sent to the decontamination showers; Kate is initially reluctant to give Josh any information on a personal or professional level as they sit out the alert together.

The peace mission suffers its first American casualty, whose father is sharply critical of the administration; Santos breaks ranks with the party by signing onto Republican legislation for a patient bill of rights when his own bill dies in committee; Margaret searches for a new office for Charlie; Leo struggles to recover his health, his strength, and his appetite with the help of his nurse, who looks after both his body and his soul with wisdom and determination; Donna, out of her wheelchair and onto crutches, is besieged by the media for interviews; C.J. has harsh words for Toby when he lets his personal feelings take him off-message in the briefing room; Leo contemplates a post-recovery job offer in the private sector before his nurse reminds him why he left there in the first place; Will calls Josh out about the staff's disrespect for Russell's candidacy; as Annabeth finds a way to turn around a bad news cycle, Toby admonishes C.J. about micro-managing the press office.

Santos engineers a plot to get a stalled stem-cell bill scheduled for a vote in the House. President Bartlet has an uncomfortable reunion with a rival economist with whom he split the Nobel Prize. A group of underage kids tries to convince Toby they deserve the right to vote. Kate tries to resolve a silly border dispute with Canada before there is bloodshed.