The West Wing
Presidential advisers get their personal lives hopelessly tangled up with professional duties as they try to conduct the business of running a country. Fictional Democratic President Josiah "Jed" Bartlet suffers no fools, and that policy alienates many. He and his dedicated staffers struggle to balance the needs of the country with the political realities of Washington, D.C., working through two presidential terms that include countless scandals, threats and political scuffles, as well as the race to succeed Bartlet as the leader of the free world.
- Metascore78
- 1999-2006
- 7 seasons
- NBC
- Drama
- TV-14
Presidential advisers get their personal lives hopelessly tangled up with professional duties as they try to conduct the business of running a country. Fictional Democratic President Josiah "Jed" Bartlet suffers no fools, and that policy alienates many. He and his dedicated staffers struggle to balance the needs of the country with the political realities of Washington, D.C., working through two presidential terms that include countless scandals, threats and political scuffles, as well as the race to succeed Bartlet as the leader of the free world.
Season 4 Episode Guide
23 Episodes 2002 - 2003
Episode 1
20 Hours in America: Part I
Wed, Sep 25, 2002 43 mins
After Bartlet gives a campaign speech at an Indiana farm, Josh, Toby and Donna are left behind by the presidential motorcade and must work their way across the state with the help of the farmer's daughter and, later, a teenage campaign volunteer, enduring many setbacks along the way. Josh and Toby obsess and bicker over how best to play the president's intellectualism, viewed by many as snobbery, against Republican opponent Robert Ritchie's "regular guy" persona, while Donna must keep them on track and communicate with the real Americans they encounter along the way. Back at the W.H., the president deals with a terrorist attack at an Iowa college swim meet, meets with Leo, Nancy and Fitzwallace to discuss how to handle the prospect of the U.S. and/or Israel being accused of a conspiracy in the assassination of Qumari defense minister Abdul Shareef, and interviews secretarial candidates, including a second round with Debbie Fiderer; the wandering party finally arrive at a city with an airport (presumably South Bend) and stop briefly at a nearby hotel, where they learn about the Iowa attack and Donna chastises the two men for caring only about the campaign and not the people it affects; later in the hotel bar, Josh and Toby meet a man trying to figure out how to pay his daughter's tuition to Notre Dame, and he inspires them to initiate new tax policy.
Episode 2
20 Hours in America: Part II
Wed, Sep 25, 2002 41 mins
Donna teaches Toby and Josh an important lesson as their trek homeward continues; Sam staffs the President in Josh's absence and welcomes an old friend home; Bartlet hires a secretary and C.J. finds a Big Brother for Anthony; the situation in Qumar continues to escalate; Bartlet gets spooked by a photo op as the Dow continues its dive; and a pipe bomb kills 44 students at a Midwest university swim meet.
Episode 3
College Kids
Wed, Oct 2, 2002 43 mins
Josh and Toby have a plan to make college cheaper. Leo starts talking to a lawyer about the Shareef assassination. A judicial ruling on third-party candidates has troubling implications for the campaign.
Episode 4
The Red Mass
Wed, Oct 9, 2002 43 mins
A possible third-party candidate threatens to upset the President's lead in the polls. As Qumar threatens to blame Israel for Shareef's death, Leo must convince the Israeli ambassador not to respond. Charlie teaches his new ward a lesson in basic government. When the committee in charge of presidential debates rules that there will only be two, Sam and CJ propose a risky strategy.
Episode 5
Debate Camp
Wed, Oct 16, 2002 42 mins
Sequestered in North Carolina to prepare for the one and only debate between Bartlet and opponent Robert Richie, the staff and several consultants (incl. Andrea Wyatt and Joey Lucas) flash back to the days just before and after the president's first inauguration, which were marked by an ill-advised choice for attorney general and ongoing concerns about fertility for then-married Toby and Andrea. In the present, Sam plays Richie in mock debates and raises Bartlet's ire, while Leo and the joint chiefs try to convince the president not to treat increasingly aggressive Qu'mar, whose defense minister Bartlet ordered assassinated (late last season), with kid gloves, and the staff keeps pestering Toby about his on-again, off-again relationship with Andrea, until he makes a startling revelation.
Episode 6
Game On
Wed, Oct 30, 2002 60 mins
Toby falls prey to a practical joke by the rest of the staff, after which everyone but Leo takes off for the debate in San Diego. Sam makes a side trip to Newport Beach to explain to the congressional campaign manager of the late Horton Wilde why the campaign has to fold even though Wilde is still on the ballot; what Sam doesn't expect is a stalwart named Will Bailey who, determined to keep the ideas of the campaign alive, continues to hold campaign events and do door-to-door canvassing. In San Diego, a nervous w.w. staff readies itself to spin for the president, but when Bartlet and Richie go head to head in a unique debate format, Bartlet tears Richie apart on states' rights, education, taxes, etc., by being precisely the intellectual snob everyone had accused him of being and using it to his own advantage. Back in DC, Leo and Jordon Kendall meet with the Qu'mari ambassador to the U.N., and Leo warns Qu'mar to back off its campaign to charge Israel with the assassination of Defense Minister Abdul Shareef. After the debate, Sam returns to Newport to meet once more with Will at a bar, during which Sam makes a surprising offer.
Episode 7
Election Night
Wed, Nov 6, 2002 42 mins
As results come in across the country, Sam is focused on a single congressional election that will determine his own future. After realizing she accidentally voted for the Republican nominee, Donna tries to find a Ritchie supporter who will "swap votes" with her. The President tries to hide a recurrence of his M.S.
Episode 8
Process Stories
Wed, Nov 13, 2002 42 mins
Sam finds himself in a tricky position after the election in Orange County takes an unexpected turn. Toby and his ex-wife also find themselves in a delicate position, but decidedly one of their own making. And CJ tracks down the self aggrandizing source of some Process Stories.
Episode 9
Swiss Diplomacy
Wed, Nov 20, 2002 40 mins
In the days after the election the White House is faced with a tricky diplomatic situation when the Swiss ambassador meets Leo with a message from the leader of Iran (a country with no diplomatic ties to the US), requesting that his gravely ill son receive a heart and lung transplant, an operation which can only be performed in America. Meanwhile, Toby tries to get a job for a congresswoman who has lost her seat, and finds that her alliance with the White House may have permanently burned her credentials, and Josh must meet with the Vice President, who appears to be already kick starting the next presidential election, upsetting other democrats who want a fair fight.
Episode 10
Arctic Radar
Wed, Nov 27, 2002 42 mins
Women's groups, by default including the majority of the First Family, react passionately as a renowned female fighter pilot is sanctioned for an affair with a junior officer. Meanwhile Sam prepares for his campaign.
Episode 11
Holy Night
Wed, Dec 11, 2002 45 mins
Toby's estranged father appears in his office a couple of nights before Christmas. Leo and Jed find themselves trying to fix problems as well as their consciences.
Episode 12
Guns Not Butter
Wed, Jan 8, 2003 60 mins
A fight for Foreign Aid brings the staff together. Meanwhile Danny is uncovering evidence that is making certain members of the administration increasingly uncomfortable.
Episode 13
The Long Goodbye
Wed, Jan 15, 2003 41 mins
C.J. takes a short trip to her home in Dayton to check on her father, who is suffering from Alzheimer's Disease, and to give a speech at her high school reunion; at the Dayton airport, she meets an old high school acquaintance and they have a quick fling.
Episode 14
Inauguration: Part 1
Wed, Feb 5, 2003 42 mins
The staff wrangles with the State Department over language in the inaugural address; a genocidal war breaks out in Kuhndu, and Bartlet weighs his options as Will pushes for American military involvement based on Bartlet's statements in the past; the Chief Justice's increased propensity for writing opinions in verse causes concern about his competence; Bartlet keeps Charlie busy on the hunt for the perfect Bible for the inauguration; Donna becomes upset when Jack is transferred out of the White House and reassigned to Italy after getting caught in a squeeze play between the Oval Office and the Pentagon.
Episode 15
Inauguration: Part 2 - Over There
Wed, Feb 12, 2003 43 mins
Will struggles to find the words when the Inauguration speech seems to avoid current heart breaking issues.
Episode 16
The California 47th
Wed, Feb 19, 2003 42 mins
The president, first lady and w.w. staff travel to Orange County, Calif., to campaign for Sam's bid to win the 47th District congressional seat -- the Nov. winner in the heavily Republican district was, amazingly, a liberal Democrat who, more amazingly, had died a few weeks prior. The president orders Toby to fire Sam's campaign manager, a staunch realist, and take over the campaign with a more idealistic approach. Some conservative voters approach Andrea Wyatt in a bar and give her grief about her out-of-wedlock pregnancy, and Toby and Charlie step in forcefully, landing them in jail. Donna talks, on behalf of Sam's campaign, with a state labor leader who turns out to be a Communist.
Episode 17
Red Haven's on Fire
Wed, Feb 26, 2003 41 mins
Military action in Africa has unforeseen repercussions. Sam and Toby work together on the Orange County Campaign. Will has to find his leadership skills quickly as he is left with no one but interns to prepare remarks on the dry subjects of Taxes.
Episode 18
Privateers
Wed, Mar 26, 2003 41 mins
Amy is challenged and tormented from all sides in her first day as Chief of Staff to the First Lady. Her first task is to prove that Abbey's relative was a privateer and not a pirate. And a glacier melts!
Episode 19
Angel Maintenance
Wed, Apr 2, 2003 41 mins
The President, C.J. Cregg, Will Bailey, and others are returning from a long flight overseas. As Air Force One is about to land, the indicator light for the nose wheel fails to come on, prompting pilot Colonel Jessie Weiskopf to call off the landing, and notify the President of the possibility of terrorism. The White House Press Corps is on board, therefore CJ and Will must keep the story under wraps, due to it being a world market event. This becomes a challenge when a F-15 Eagle jet is sent to inspect the nose wheel on AFO. Meanwhile on the ground, Josh is working with Congressman Tom Landis (R-MD) on legislation to Clean-up Chesapeake Bay, which angers Congressional Democrats. Toby meets with Congressman Mark Richardson (D-NY) who has introduced legislation to reinstate the draft, furthermore Toby notifies the Congressman a soldier from his constituency was killed in action in Equatorial Kundu. Donna works with members of the 1st Airlift Squadron, 89th Airlift Wing to learn about "Angel Maintenance," in order to brief CJ, when she returns. Angel is the code word for the President's plane.
Episode 20
Evidence of Things Not Seen
Wed, Apr 23, 2003 42 mins
Trying to participate in a late-night staff poker game proves difficult as news arrives that an unmanned U.S. spy plane has crashed in a remote part of Russia, and Bartlet and Leo have to deal with an incensed Russian President Chagorin and convince him via phone to let the military go in and recover the plane; C.J. obsesses over the fact that on the exact moment of the spring equinox (today), you can stand an egg on end; Toby and Will have a card-flipping contest in the press room, during which someone from the street fires several bullets into the room; Debbie must "crash" the West Wing for the first time when the bullets fly; at the same time, Josh is interviewing associate counsel applicant Joe Quincy, and there's something about the well-qualified lawyer that bothers Josh, which he deduces during the lock down.
Episode 21
Life on Mars
Wed, Apr 30, 2003 42 mins
On his first day on the job, the new deputy counsel uncovers a trail of clues to a scandal that will end one person's career.
Episode 22
Commencement
Wed, May 7, 2003 43 mins
The assassination of Shareef threatens to become public, the president speaks at Zoe's graduation, and the unthinkable happens.
Episode 23
Twenty Five
Wed, May 14, 2003 43 mins
In the wake of his daughter's kidnapping, Bartlet must make a decision between being a father and being President.
