Patty Lynn and Kathleen are at their house, just as the power shuts off from the storm.
Patty Lynn: I knew this was going to happen! Did I not say it? I knew it!
Kathleen: There’s always a chance in a storm. Particularly a storm of this magnitude and type We don’t face snowstorms like this ever. We were ready for this.
Patty Lynn: But I was just gloating about how fun and nice it was and appreciating continuing to have power.
Kathleen: Well, that’s why you don’t tempt god. Wait until the storm’s over to gloat about continuing to have electricity.
Patty Lynn: How are we going to survive?
Kathleen: What do you mean? We lost power, the house didn’t collapse and strand us in the cold.
Patty Lynn: It’s going to get cold in here so fast. We don’t have a fireplace, we don’t have a way too cook food, we don’t have a way to seek shelter. We’re stuck!
Kathleen: Again, we prepared for this. We have blankets, we have sources for light, we have pre-prepared food. It’s all going to be okay.
Patty Lynn: I’m panicking. I don’t like this.
Kathleen: We’ve been without power before. We endure hurricane season. We thrive through it!
Patty Lynn: It’s not twenty degrees outside then. This is a dangerous situation for women of our age.
Kathleen: Our age?
Patty Lynn: We’re elderly women, Kathleen.
Kathleen: Speak for yourself, grandma!
Patty Lynn: You are less than two years younger than me.
Kathleen: I have a young spirit. It’s why I’m not concerned about losing power. I’m going to wrap myself in a blanket, maybe in bed, and read a book by candlelight.
Patty Lynn: Don’t you dare fall asleep with a candle lit. You’re not burning my house down amidst all this.
Kathleen: I won’t fall asleep! Just to be safe, though, I’ll stay in the living room and read on the couch.
Patty Lynn: Better. I think I’ll call Marietta.
Kathleen: Don’t bother her, she’s surely busy!
Patty Lynn: She has time for her mother.
Kathleen: By the way, do we have snow shovels? I think we’re going to have to shovel ourselves out of this fairly soon. We don’t want it to freeze in place.
Patty Lynn: Thankfully, that little storm we had a few years ago prompted Martin to get a few shovels. So we’ll be able to shovel ourselves out. That can be tomorrow’s problem. I don’t want to have to do it all over again.
Kathleen: Sounds like a plan to me. I think this power-free day could even be fun.
Patty Lynn: You’re a maniac.
Kathleen: From you, I wear it as a badge of honor.
Meanwhile, at city hall…
Marietta: How bad is this looking, girls?
Amy: 185,000 without power and counting.
Marietta: That does seem to be a concern.
Tammy: What is there that we can do?
Marietta: I’m going to make a few calls and see if we can get a storm shelter so people can head there and have a place to keep warm.
Tammy: Will they even be able to get there? The roads have to be a disaster.
Henrietta: Believe me, they are. Every report I’m hearing is that they’re icy, slick, very dangerous.
Marietta: Are the plows we contracted not out?
Henrietta: They’re doing their best, I assume. The snow is falling very fast.
Marietta: Didn’t we have the roads salted?
Henrietta: Salt can only do so much.
Tammy: You’re acting like this is your first snowstorm!
Marietta: It’s my first time managing a snowstorm. Every other one I’ve endured has been in DC! When snow hits here, it’s rarely in any substantive amount. It usually heats up enough to melt soon after it falls. This is unlike anything I’ve seen in my life.
Tammy: I do admit, even being from New York, this is one of the most intense storms I’ve seen in my life. I hope Mitch is doing all right at home.
Henrietta: It just dawned on me that we all left our families at home to camp out here. Is that unusual?
Amy: It’s what must be done. We have to run the city.
Tammy: We’re not exactly running much of anything. We’re sort of just sitting around.
Amy: Maybe I can run a speech for Marietta to deliver on the news about the big storm, instructing people on safety orders.
Henrietta: I’ll let the press know.
Tammy: Most of the city is without power, how will they see it?
Amy: They can listen on radio!
Tammy: Radio? In 2026?
Amy: We have to communicate with people somehow.
Marietta: I will do the speech, but I think we can film it and use the city-wide emergency text system to text it to all residents. If they have a charged phone, they can watch it, regardless of if they have power.
Amy: Good idea!
Marietta: They didn’t elect me mayor for nothing!
Henrietta: Are you still thinking about the storm shelters?
Marietta: Yeah, I’m going to call around and see which owners of large venues are willing to open them up to the public for shelter. I wish I’d done this before the storm, but alas -
Tammy: You were worried that the storm wasn’t coming. And that was a dumb fear, because Al Roker said it was coming, and so did I. But you went with your gut. At least you got plows and salt trucks and everything else you’d need to improve road conditions. We’re not going through this completely hopeless. You didn’t let the city down by any means.
Marietta: I know. I just wish I’d done more. Looking foolish in the past isn’t a reason not to take a major storm seriously. You have to put the city over your own ego.
Amy: The people in the city were the ones who gave you the hardest time after the last storm for doing too much. You dared to care too much and they ridiculed you for it. Your scaled-back response was reasonable. Now, off to write a speech to address the fact that our city looks like that scene in a Year Without a Santa Claus where Heat Miser lets Snow Miser make it snow in the South.
Marietta: God, it really is like that.
Tammy: My daughter said it’s forty and sunny in New York. Zero snow. Maybe Heat Miser and Snow Miser did switch territories.
Marietta: Is forty supposed to be warm?
Tammy: It’s above freezing!
Henrietta: Not to disrupt any fun, but why exactly are we discussing cartoon characters when we’re managing the city government response to a storm that’s left most of the city without power and unable to travel?
Tammy: You really are the fun police.
Amy: You should be at the club!
Henrietta: I believe the clubs are closed today due to perilous conditions, which really says a lot, given that this is New Orleans.
Tammy: Yeah, it’s not looking so easy in the Big Easy today.
Henrietta: I don’t think puns are helping anyone.
Tammy: Jesus!
Henrietta: Sorry, sorry.
Meanwhile, in DC…
Milton: I feel guilty about not lying home. They’re getting absolutely hammered.
Ellie: And that’s their problem! Not yours!
Milton: I represent them in the Senate. It’s sort of my problem.
Ellie: I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: how does it benefit them for you to suffer alongside them? They should just be happy that you at least got to escape it, instead of trying to make an issue out of it.
Milton: What? An issue?
Kate: You weren’t supposed to say anything… now it’s all his mind will be set on! We’re supposed to be working here!
Ellie: Oops.
Milton: What’s being said?
Ellie: Oh, nothing! Just calling you a traitor and a coward and an elitist. Normal things they call all politicians!
Milton: I wasn’t the only one who stayed in DC to avoid snow! Why isn’t Kate being called out?
Kate: I sort of lucked out with this funding bill. I have to be here to work on it, I’m the Senate Majority Leader! You’re just… Milton, Louisiana’s favorite nepo baby.
Milton: I don’t think “nepo baby” is fair.
Ellie: I don’t think “favorite” is fair at this point, either.
Kate: Ellie!
Ellie: I’m a woman of honesty!
Kate: A gentle hand is often needed in such times.
Milton: Did I just lose re-election.
Ellie: Voters are stupid! They’ll forget this in five years. You chose the best possible time for this act of cowardice and abandonment. I commend you on your shrewd political instincts.
Milton: You’re the one who told me to do it!
Ellie: Am I a genius or what?
Milton: Or what…
Ellie: Don’t be mad at me! You’re a grown man, a senator! You have your own brain!
Milton: Some back at home seem to be wondering if I really do have a brain.
Kate: Okay, enough on this. We have real work to do.
Ellie: Which is precisely what Milton’s press team said when they logged onto social media today!
Milton: I’m here negotiating on a funding bill with most of the Senate. I have a damn good reason to not be in New Orleans. I’m not going to be dragged through the mud for this.
Ellie: Tell that to Twitter!
Back at New Orleans City Hall…
Marietta: I got permission to open the convention center, Smoothie King Center, and the Superdome as temporary shelters. We’re going to provide guidance to residents on how to get there and we’re going to utilize city buses to pick up residents who can’t or do not wish to travel to their nearest shelter using their own vehicle. There’s a website that’s being set up to request a pickup, and we’ll send the link to that site in our text messages.
Amy: Wow, you thought of everything!
Marietta: I feel a necessity to go above and beyond at this stage to fix the damage Iv’e caused by ignoring the threat of this storm. I don’t want to be the mayor from Jaws.
Tammy: You didn’t cause damage. Mother Nature did. And you did adequately prepare by ensuring roads would be cleared. You’re very impressive.
Marietta: I want what’s best for my city and it’s people, even when they get mad at me for it. Protecting them and keeping them safe is my most important responsibility.
Tammy: Ah, what could’ve been.
Marietta: Huh?
Tammy: You talk like a president. President Bartlet, to be exact.
Marietta: I’m plenty happy with being mayor. Although, I am a little tired right now. Gayle Benson can talk!
Tammy: Well, we’re all snowed in. We need some way to entertain ourselves.
Marietta: I think I’m going to take a nap. I can’t look exhausted while I’m addressing the city.
Amy: Speaking of the address, I need to rewrite it a bit. Gotta clarify some things and add the transportation plan.
Henrietta: How much is this all going to cost?
Marietta: The city council will be so pleased by my rapid response and my efforts to protect our constituents that they won’t mind the cost.
Henrietta: okay, that’s gonna be a fun meeting.
Marietta: It’ll be fine! I’m going down for my nap now.
Marietta’s phone rings.
Marietta: Dammit!
Tammy: Is the city council already calling to reprimand you?
Marietta: No, worse! It’s my mother!
Tammy: Oh boy.
Marietta answers the phone.
Marietta: Hello, mother! Enjoying the snow?
Patty Lynn: No! We lost power! It’s cold!
Kathleen: It’s fine! Don’t bother her!
Marietta: I am sorry to hear that. You’re not alone. It’s a tough time in the city.
Patty Lynn: I’m scared! I’m not used to this. I don’t want to freeze.
Marietta: We are actually starting a program to get people to a shelter for warmth and food and all that. It’ll be easy in a few hours if you want to apply. It has to be by the book, I can’t give you special treatment, but you can get somewhere warm and with light.
Patty Lynn: I’ll pack my bags. I don’t think Kathleen’s going, but we’ll let her freeze. That’s fine by me. I’m getting out of this!
Marietta: We’re also working with the power companies to get the power back on, so Kathleen should be just fine.
Patty Lynn: Like I said, that’s not my concern.
Two days later…
Marietta: I am so tired.
Amy: Tammy snores so much. I’ve had about six hours of sleep in the last three days.
Tammy: But think of all the good work we’ve done!
Marietta: The city is practically up and running again, power is slowly coming back on, the roads are cleared, the temperature’s rising… and with that, we’re all going home. I’m ordering that. We’ve earned a day off. I’ll see you ladies in two days. Call if there’s an emergency. If not… I’ve seen more than enough of all of you.
Tammy: I appreciate the bluntness.
Marietta: I don’t have the energy anymore to be subtle. I have slept in an office chair for three days. My work here is done.
Amy: Do you think you have power at the mayor’s mansion?
Marietta: Honestly, couldn’t care less. I have a bed there. That’s the most important thing.
Amy: I’m proud of what we did. Great job, ladies.
Tammy: Isn’t that Marietta’s job to say? She’s the boss.
Amy: Look at her. She wasn’t going to say it. I owed out to us to point it out. We crushed this.
Henrietta: Does your arm hurt from extending it so long to pat yourself on the back?
Amy: No, but it does hurt from spending three days sleeping on the floor. Homeward bound!
Tammy: Everyone, make sure not to slip on the ice! I slipped last night when I went out there.
Marietta: I’m not going to slip. I’m not an idiot.
Amy: She’s gonna slip.
What did you think of this episode of Marietta? Let us know in the comments and make sure to read a new episode next week!
