Season 3 was the third season of The West Wing. It consisted of twenty-one regular episodes and two special episodes. The first of these, Isaac and Ishmael, was created in the wake of the tragedy of 9/11 and served as the series opener after being written and filmed in two weeks.
Summary[]
Despite his concealing a serious illness from the American people, President Bartlet will run again, and he intends to win.
It may not be that simple. First, his decision causes serious friction with his wife, Abbey, who had made the President promise to only serve one term. Next, a team of election consultants led by Bruno Gianelli clashes with the idealistic and resentful staffers. Meanwhile, the House of Representatives begin their probe into the cover-up of Bartlet's illness, with both Donna and Leo finding themselves in sticky situations. To end it all, Bartlet is forced to make a difficult decision.
The staffers' personal lives are not any less complicated, either. Josh finds himself drawn to women's activist Amy Gardner while Toby confronts the President about his sacrificing of political ideals in order to be liked, which causes a rift between them. Sam is confronted by several challenges, including having to deal with his ex-fiancée and a betrayal by a friend that hurts him deeply and embarrasses him publicly.
Finally, C.J. receives a death threat after making pointed comments about Saudi Arabia, threats so serious that they require the protection of the Secret Service.
The President is forced to make a deadly decision when it is uncovered that a foreign diplomat is also a terrorist that has plans to attack the U.S.
Cast[]
- Rob Lowe as Sam Seaborn
- Stockard Channing as Abigail Bartlet (10 episodes)
- Dulé Hill as Charlie Young
- Allison Janney as C.J. Cregg
- Janel Moloney as Donna Moss
- Richard Schiff as Toby Ziegler
- John Spencer as Leo McGarry
- Bradley Whitford as Josh Lyman
- and Martin Sheen as President Bartlet
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Recurring cast
- NiCole Robinson as Margaret Hooper (15 episodes)
- Anna Deavere Smith as Nancy McNally (7 episodes)
- Renée Estevez as Nancy (7 episodes)
- Thomas Kopache as Bob Slattery (5 episodes)
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Trivia[]
- During the season a Documentary Special about the series aired.
Episodes[]
# | EPISODE | AIRDATE | WRITTEN BY |
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0 | Isaac and Ishmael | 3 OCTOBER 2001 | Aaron Sorkin |
A special episode dealing with some of the questions and issues currently facing the world in the wake of the recent terrorist attacks on the United States. "The West Wing" creator and executive producer Aaron Sorkin wrote the script. | |||
1 | Manchester (Part I) | 10 OCTOBER 2001 | Aaron Sorkin |
In the season premiere, flashbacks reveal how the President will officially announce his plans to run for re-election, which sends his staff into disarray as they work on the speech. But two problems dog them when Sam realizes that Bartlet never apologized for not disclosing his multiple sclerosis while C.J. makes a crucial gaffe during a press conference. | |||
2 | Manchester (Part II) | 17 OCTOBER 2001 | Aaron Sorkin |
Flashbacks reveal the President as he refines his speech for a major re-election announcement while his staff works uneasily with a heavyweight political strategist (guest star Ron Silver) over whether Bartlet should include a public apology in his remarks. | |||
3 | Ways and Means | 24 OCTOBER 2001 | Aaron Sorkin S | E. Attie & G. Sperling |
When a fearless special prosecutor (guest star Nicholas Pryor) begins investigating the President's (Martin Sheen) non-disclosure of his illness and issues subpoenas to the White House staff, C.J. (Allison Janney) cannily tries to light a backfire by dropping clues to the press that might ultimately force the replacement of the prosecutor with someone more favorable to the Administration. | |||
4 | On the Day Before | 31 OCTOBER 2001 | Aaron Sorkin S | P. Redford & N. Chitre |
As a State Department dinner nears, President Bartlet boldly vetoes the "death tax" bill but his staff must hustle when they are surprised to learn that the House of Representatives have enough votes to immediately override the veto. Charlie is strongly urged by his fellow White House teammates to ask for immunity in his upcoming testimony into the President's non-disclosure of his illness. | |||
5 | War Crimes | 7 NOVEMBER 2001 | Aaron Sorkin S | A. Abner |
The President asks the reluctant Vice President (guest star Tim Matheson) to speak at an anti-gun rally in Texas after a church shooting but the uneasy allies have a starkly candid showdown. Leo debates an old friend and Air Force officer (guest star Gerald McRaney, "Major Dad") about the United States' future stance regarding the War Crimes Tribunal | |||
6 | Gone Quiet | 14 NOVEMBER 2001 | Aaron Sorkin S | J. Dahl & L. Glasser |
When an American spy submarine suddenly goes silent in hostile North Korean waters, an angry President receives advice from the Assistant Secretary of State (Emmy Award-winning guest star Hal Holbrook, "The Bold Ones") and must decide whether he should notify the enemy or attempt a risky, secret rescue. | |||
7 | The Indians in the Lobby | 21 NOVEMBER 2001 | A. Abner • K. Falls • Sorkin |
While President Bartlet frets about where to spend Thanksgiving -- and how to best cook a gourmet turkey -- C.J. powwows with two Native Americans (guest stars Gary Farmer, "The Score," and Georgina Lightning) who are camped in the lobby and promise to cause a media dustup if they can't meet with a bigwig about receiving better public health projects on their reservation. | |||
8 | The Women of Qumar | 28 NOVEMBER 2001 | Aaron Sorkin S | Willson • Glasser • Dahl |
At the First Lady's urging, Josh meets with a powerful women's caucus over the proposed language of a U.N. treaty banning prostitution while the President grapples with the possibility of a Mad Cow epidemic and ponders how much the public should know. | |||
9 | Bartlet for America | 12 DECEMBER 2001 | Aaron Sorkin |
While the White House is festooned with Christmas finery, Leo fears the worst when he testifies in the Congressional investigation into the President's possible lack of public disclosure about his illness while flashbacks reveal the background leading to Bartlet's decision as governor to not come forward with the damaging information. | |||
10 | H.Con - 172 | 9 JANUARY 2002 | Aaron Sorkin S | Eli Attie |
A defiant Leo rejects the Congressional Oversight Committee's offer of a presidential public censure that would finally end its investigation of Bartlet's concealment of his illness -- and spare Leo of any possible personal repercussions -- while the staff reacts to an insider's tell-all book published by a fired White House photographer. | |||
11 | 100,000 Airplanes | 16 JANUARY 2002 | Aaron Sorkin |
While the staff furiously labors over the President's crucial State of the Union speech, Bartlet suddenly demands to include a passage that ambitiously promises a crusade to cure cancer within 10 years while Sam is interviewed for a Vanity Fair profile by a woman (as Lisa, guest star Traylor Howard) whom once was his fiancée. | |||
12 | The Two Bartlets | 30 JANUARY 2002 | Falls & Sorkin S | Sperling |
While the President and his staff ponder whether to counter a verbal assault on affirmative action by a fast-rising Republican presidential candidate, Josh must postpone his tropical vacation with a women's rights advocate (guest star Mary Louise Parker) to defuse a risky powderkeg on an island that serves as the Navy's firing range. | |||
13 | Night Five | 6 FEBRUARY 2002 | Aaron Sorkin |
President Bartlet consults a a psychiatrist (guest star Adam Arkin, "Chicago Hope") for a troubling sleep disorder -- and gets a sobering personal assessment -- while C.J. lobbies hard to help secure the release of a White House reporter who's been taken hostage on assignment in the Congo. | |||
14 | Hartsfield's Landing | 27 FEBRUARY 2002 | Aaron Sorkin |
The President engages both Sam and Toby in intricate chess matches that underscore the wily game of brinkmanship Bartlet is playing with the Chinese, who threaten to turn their war games in the Taiwan Strait into the real thing if Taiwan begins test-firing their new U.S. Patriot defense missiles. | |||
15 | Dead Irish Writers | 6 MARCH 2002 | Aaron Sorkin S | Paul Redford |
Many issues are in play during a White House party to celebrate the argumentative First Lady's (Stockard Channing) birthday as she contemplates the likely loss of her medical license the next day while the President (Martin Sheen) is visited by proper British Ambassador Marbury (guest star Roger Rees) who argues against Bartlet's meeting with a murderous Irish terrorist. | |||
16 | The U.S. Poet Laureate | 27 MARCH 2002 | Aaron Sorkin |
When the President is overheard making a disparaging comment on an open-mike about the potential Republican nominee, C.J. does damage control for days after while Toby tries to finesse the newly named poet laureate (guest star Laura Dern, "Jurassic Park") from spealing out against the United States' lack of support for a land-mines treaty. | |||
17 | Stirred | 3 APRIL 2002 | Aaron Sorkin & Eli Attie S | Dee Dee Myers |
The President's staff reacts to the crash of a heavy rig bearing uranium fuel rods in a remote Idaho tunnel that could pose an environmental -- or terrorist -- crisis, while in another room, electoral strategy is stealthily mapped out that could include jettisoning Vice President Hoynes (guest star Tim Matheson) from the next ticket. | |||
18 | Enemies Foreign and Domestic | 1 MAY 2002 | Paul Redford & Sorkin |
As Sam works out the President's final maddening details of an important upcoming summit with the Russian president, satellite photos reveal an Iranian nuclear bomb facility built with Russian technology -- a revelation that could torpedo the leaders' meeting. | |||
19 | The Black Vera Wang | 8 MAY 2002 | Aaron Sorkin |
The President and his staff scramble to head off a predicted terrorist attack over a broad area while C.J. chafes under the protective collar provided by a handsome but capable Secret Service agent (guest star Mark Harmon, "St. Elsewhere"). Also, Toby plays hardball with network executives over future political convention TV coverage. | |||
20 | We Killed Yamamoto | 15 MAY 2002 | Aaron Sorkin |
The President is torn over forfeiting the principle of diplomatic immunity for an important Middle Eastern official known to be plotting terrorism while Josh duels with his feminist activist/lover (guest star Mary Louise Parker) over a key welfare reform bill. | |||
21 | Posse Comitatus | 22 MAY 2002 | Aaron Sorkin |
In the season finale, President Bartlet encounters Ritchie (guest star James Brolin, "Pensacola: Wings of Gold") -- his Republican presidential rival -- when they attend a Broadway play while the President faces a terrorist threat after he discovers that a high-ranking Middle Eastern official has been supporting terrorism. |