King Corn (Episode 613)
First Aired: Wednesday, 26th January, 2005
Writer: John Wells
Director: Alex Graves














So Much For The Bermuda Trip
Hotel elevator / corridor, Iowa. Donna enters the elevator, presses the button for the fourth floor and just as the doors close ...

JOSH: Uh, can you hold the elevator?
DONNA: (from inside the elevator) Sorry, I didn't--
(The door reopens and Josh enters, mid-conversation on his mobile. He doesn't see Donna at first, but she sees him immediately and looks away, biting her lip.)
JOSH: (into the phone) Yeah, if we can't afford another 200 points out of Boston, we've got to find another way--(he freezes as he glimpses his elevator-mate for the first time)--Stewart, will you, uh, call me back in five?
DONNA: I'm sorry, I couldn't find the button.
JOSH: Right, no, uh, would you hit four? (She smiles awkwardly and points at the panel, where the button has already been pressed. They both stare straight ahead, clearly uncomfortable.) Just get back?
DONNA: (quickly) Yeah. South Carolina.
JOSH: How's it going for you guys down there?
DONNA: We're closing in on Hoynes. (a long, awkward beat) You?
JOSH: We're focusing on New Hampshire right now.
(After an eternity, the elevator dings and the door finally opens. Josh and Donna exit and walk across the lobby to the corridor, where they pause, discomfited, as they realise their rooms are in the same vicinity. They start to walk down the corridor silently, side by side.)
JOSH: So, where did you stay in South Carolina?
DONNA: Marriott. Charleston.
JOSH: They've got that nice-looking pool.
(They reach their rooms, which are just across the hall from each other, and proceed to pick up envelopes and packages outside their respective doors. Josh takes out a credit-card style key and attempts (and fails) to open his door.)
DONNA: So ... goodnight.
JOSH: Yeah. See you.
(Donna opens her door on the first try, but typically, Josh cannot seem to get the hang of his key)
DONNA: You're doing it too fast.
JOSH: I get--I get frequent flyer miles every time I swipe it.
(She opens the door for him)
JOSH: Thank you. (she hands the key back to him) So much for the Bermuda trip.
(Donna wears an indescribable look as she enters her room and closes the door behind her. Meanwhile, Josh enters his own room and sits down on the bed, his head in his hands, thinking. After a few moments, he gets up and goes out into the hall, where he stands in front of Donna' s door, hand raised, debating whether or not to knock. He decides against it, however, and turns back to his room (where he wrestles with the key a couple more times before it lets him in). A moment later, a Do Not Disturb sign appears on his door.)












While this wasn't exactly a Josh and Donna scene, as they weren't together and neither had any dialogue, it's probably just as important as the other scene. During the closing montage ("Desire", by Ryan Adams), Donna opens her hotel door to pick up an envelope left outside for her. Josh approaches his room just as she closes her door. As she glances at the envelope, Donna looks up and sees, through the door's peephole, Josh pause for a long moment outside his door. She turns away, and at that same moment Josh enters his room, as the camera pans back and down the empty corridor.




Many thanks to The West Wing Collection for the wonderful screencaps!