Take This Sabbath Day

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“Take This Sabbath Day”
The West Wing episode
Marlee Matlin as Joey Lucas (foreground) and Martin Sheen as Bartlet (background)
Episode no.	Season 1 Episode 14
Guest stars	Marlee Matlin Noah Emmerich Janel Moloney Bill O'Brien David Proval Felton Perry Herb Mitchell Renee Estevez Karl Malden
Written by	Aaron Sorkin (teleplay) Lawrence O'Donnell Jr. & Paul Redford and Aaron Sorkin (story)
Directed by	Thomas Schlamme
Production no.	225913
Original airdate
Season 1 episodes
Pilot Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc A Proportional Response Five Votes Down The Crackpots and These Women Mr. Willis of Ohio The State Dinner Enemies The Short List In Excelsis Deo Lord John Marbury He Shall, From Time To Time... Take Out The Trash Day Take This Sabbath Day Celestial Navigation 20 Hours In L.A. The White House Pro-Am Six Meetings Before Lunch Let Bartlet Be Bartlet Mandatory Minimums Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics What Kind of Day Has It Been
List of The West Wing episodes

"Take This Sabbath Day" is the 14th episode of The West Wing.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Title 3 Trivia 4 Quotes 5 Goofs 6 Emmy Awards 7 External links

[edit] Plot

Bartlet spends the weekend deciding on whether or not to commute the death sentence of a man convicted of drug-related murders. Josh is introduced to Joey (short for Josephine) Lucas (Marlee Matlin), who is deaf and trying to manage the campaign of Bill O'Dwyer in California. Toby's Rabbi deliberately gives a sermon that is meant to sway him into persuading the President into commuting the death sentence, and Jed Bartlet's priest comes to help.

[edit] Title

The title of the episode is a reference to the bible, in which God instructs, "Observe/Safeguard the Sabbath day," in the Ten Commandments, Deuteronomy 5:1-22.

[edit] Trivia

• President Lincoln was the last President to commute a death sentence.
• In this episode, the US is referenced as one of only five countries that execute people under the age of 18. Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Iran are the other four. However, following the Supreme Court decision in Roper v. Simmons in 2005, a person who was under 18 at the time they committed their crime cannot be executed.
• The bible that Karl Malden carries is the actor's own. He used the same bible when filming On the Waterfront.
• David Proval, Toby's rather fierce Rabbi, went on to play the terrifying Ritchie Aprille in The Sopranos.

[edit] Quotes

Sam: We don't execute people between sundown Friday and sundown Sunday.
Leo: Why? -- Don't tell me we don't execute people on the Sabbath!

Jed Bartlet: "Charlie, what happened to the guy who killed your mother?

Charlie: "They haven't found him yet, sir."

Jed Bartlet: "Well, when they do find him, would you want to see him executed?"

Charlie:"No sir... I'd want to do it myself"

Jed Bartlet: "Thank you, Charlie"

[edit] Goofs

• Even though CJ is joking, wouldn't her threat, like Josh's before her, of physical violence against the President be considered as serious?

[edit] Emmy Awards

Nominated:

• Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series (nominee: Martin Sheen)

[edit] External links

• The West Wing Episode Guide