Travis tasks Beth with unleashing Wormwood poison gas in the Miami Metro squad room, but she's stopped by Dexter, saving everyone's life. Debra has dinner with Chief Matthews where she confronts him about being implicated in the dead call girl case. When Matthews is forced to retire, she realizes that LaGuerta has been manipulating her throughout the case. Dexter stages a fake Doomsday Killer tableau in order to draw out Travis, but is captured himself and becomes a part in the final tableau, the "Lake of Fire". Debra's therapist prompts her to consider whether she may actually be in love with her adopted brother.

Following a harrowing chapter in the nation's history, the White House celebrates the Fourth of July, but most of the staff is not in a cheerful mood. C.J. is moved by the resignation letter of a senior State Department diplomat who could not stomach the Shareef assassination. Bartlet endures the painful process of nominating a candidate for Vice President. His first choice, Secretary of State Lewis Berryhill, can't be approved and he and his staff are unimpressed with the "compromise candidate" they end up with, reflecting on how recent events have emboldened the Republicans. Meanwhile, while the reclusive First Lady tends to personal matters and expresses anger towards her husband and Leo, Amy champions Abbey's violence prevention provisions for an upcoming bill, the President drops in on a citizenship swearing-in ceremony, and Donna is appalled by a cocky new intern, Ryan (Jesse Bradford).