: Deputy Communications Director Sam Seaborn accidentally spends the night with a woman who turns out to be a high-priced call girl, a situation he later compounds by inadvertently revealing the secret to Leo McGarry's daughter. The Arrival of Jed Bartlet The West Wing season 1 episode 1 review | Den of Geek

The episode introduces the high-stakes world of the White House senior staff through a propulsive morning montage, as each character learns via pager or phone that the President has been in a bicycle accident—later nicknamed his "arboreal stop". The staff navigates three major crises simultaneously:

: Deputy Chief of Staff Josh Lyman faces potential termination after an on-air argument with Christian commentator Mary Marsh, where he made a glib remark about "the God [she] prays to".