The West Wing: Season 3

2001 · 21 episodes · ★ 8.0

What Season 3 of The West Wing

Season three covers the end of Josiah Bartlet's third year as president and the start of his fourth. The president announces he is seeking reelection and, at the same time, grows distant from his wife, Abbey. While his team prepares the campaign, the White House keeps handling daily crises, from rescue missions overseas to tensions with Congress. An investigation into an alleged cover-up of the president's illness threatens his credibility. C.J., Josh, Sam, Toby or Donna must defend Bartlet without losing the public's trust, in a season defined by domestic politics and foreign threats.

21episodes

Oct 10, 2001aired

May 22, 2002latest episode

14.1 hrtotal runtime

Season 3 Episodes

3x01 Manchester (1)
Oct 10, 2001 · 38 min · ★ 8.0
Bartlet's decision about Haiti falls under scrutiny; C.J. makes a horrible blunder in a press conference and is hounded about the president's health by reporters; the staff disagrees about whether Bartlet should apologize for not revealing his medical condition; Abbey is angry that Jed has decided to run for reelection.
Directed by Thomas Schlamme · Written by Aaron Sorkin · Starring Stockard Channing, Timothy Davis-Reed, Connie Britton, NiCole Robinson
3x02 Manchester (2)
Oct 17, 2001 · 41 min · ★ 8.3
The senior staff clash with the consultants who are to work on Bartlet's reelection campaign; C.J. is concerned that the press senses the Bartlets' marriage could be in trouble; Josh asks Leo to let him use his connection to postpone the FDA's drug announcement; the situation on Haiti comes to a head.
Directed by: Thomas Schlamme · Written by: Aaron Sorkin · Starring: Stockard Channing, Connie Britton, NiCole Robinson, Marlee Matlin
3x03 Ways and Means
Oct 24, 2001 · 40 min · ★ 7.6
The Special Prosecutor sets his probe in motion; Sam and Bruno are concerned about the loyalty of a powerful labor leader; Toby and Josh are preoccupied with a congressional battle over the estate tax; Ainsley fixes up Donna with a Republican.
Directed by: Alex Graves · Written by: Aaron Sorkin · Starring: Timothy Davis-Reed, Connie Britton, NiCole Robinson, Emily Procter
3x04 On the Day Before
Oct 31, 2001 · 41 min · ★ 7.8
When Bartlet vetoes the "death tax", the staff must scramble to keep the veto from being overridden; Josh tries to smooth talk a promising governor who is considering running against the President; Charlie is urged to ask for immunity in his upcoming testimony.
Directed by: Christopher Misiano · Written by: Aaron Sorkin · Starring: Stockard Channing, Timothy Davis-Reed, NiCole Robinson, Anna Deavere Smith
3x05 War Crimes
Nov 7, 2001 · 41 min · ★ 7.9
The President has a showdown; Donna lies when she appears before the Congressional committee investigating the President; Leo debates with an old friend about the US future stance regarding the war crimes tribunal; Sam tries to find the logic in a Congressman's proposed legislation to eliminate the penny.
Directed by: Alex Graves · Written by: Aaron Sorkin · Starring: Stockard Channing, Renée Estevez, Michael O'Keefe, Tim Matheson
3x06 Gone Quiet
Nov 14, 2001 · 38 min · ★ 7.8
When an American spy submarine suddenly goes silent in hostile North Korea, Bartlet must decide whether to inform the enemy or attempt a secret rescue operation; Abbey learns her past malpractice suits might compromise Bartlet's criminal investigation; Toby meets with a representative from an appropriations committee who wants to funnel money away from Congress's funding of avant-garde artists.
Directed by Jon Hutman · Written by Aaron Sorkin · Starring Stockard Channing, Connie Britton, Hal Holbrook, Anna Deavere Smith
3x07 The Indians in the Lobby
Nov 21, 2001 · 40 min · ★ 8.2
While Bartlet worries about where he will be on Thanksgiving--and how to best cook a gourmet turkey -- C.J. meets with two Native Americans, Maggie and Jack, who are camped in the White House lobby.
Directed by Paris Barclay · Written by Aaron Sorkin, Allison Abner, Kevin Falls · Starring Stockard Channing, Timothy Davis-Reed, NiCole Robinson, Gary Farmer
3x08 The Women of Qumar
Nov 28, 2001 · 41 min · ★ 8.0
At Abbey's urging, Josh meets with a powerful women's caucus over the proposed language of a United Nations treaty banning prostitution.
Directed by Alex Graves · Written by Aaron Sorkin · Starring Stockard Channing, Timothy Davis-Reed, Mary-Louise Parker, Anna Deavere Smith
3x09 Bartlet for America
Dec 12, 2001 · 42 min · ★ 8.0
Leo fears the worst when he testifies in the congressional investigation into Bartlet's lack of public disclosure about his illness.
Directed by Thomas Schlamme · Written by Aaron Sorkin · Starring Stockard Channing, Joanna Gleason, NiCole Robinson, Clark Gregg
3x10 H. Con-172
Jan 9, 2002 · 41 min · ★ 7.6
Leo defiantly rejects the Congressional Oversight Committee's offer of a public censure of Bartlet that would finally bring an end to the investigation and spare Leo of any possible personal repercussions.
Directed by: Vincent Misiano · Written by: Aaron Sorkin · Starring: Joanna Gleason, Mary-Louise Parker, NiCole Robinson, Mark Feuerstein
3x11 100,000 Airplanes
Jan 16, 2002 · 40 min · ★ 8.0
On State of the Union night, Sam is being trailed by a magazine reporter to whom he was once engaged; the President' Congressional censure weighs heavily on staffers' minds as they debate whether to include an anti-cancer initiative in the President's address; Josh can't get Amy Gardner to talk to him.
Directed by: David Nutter · Written by: Aaron Sorkin · Starring: Mary-Louise Parker, Marlee Matlin, Bill O'Brien, Traylor Howard
3x12 The Two Bartlets
Jan 30, 2002 · 40 min · ★ 7.8
On the day of the Democratic Caucus, Bartlet, Toby and C.J. go to Iowa to kick off the presidential race, and disagree over Bartlet's making a statement about affirmative action. Back in Washington, Leo forces Josh to intercede with an old friend leading a protest against Navy arms testing at Vieques, Puerto Rico. Sam meets with Bob Engler again, who is now acting on behalf of two congressmen who want an inventory of Fort Knox because they believe that most of the gold bullion has been replaced with alien bodies recovered from Area 51 in Roswell, New Mexico. After Josh rebuffs her request, Donna seeks Sam's help in getting out of jury duty. Josh brings a little bit of Tahiti to his relationship with Amy Gardner.
Directed by Alex Graves · Written by Aaron Sorkin, Kevin Falls · Starring Mary-Louise Parker, NiCole Robinson, Renée Estevez, Kim Webster
3x13 Night Five
Feb 6, 2002 · 41 min · ★ 8.0
Stanley Keyworth revisits the White House to uncover the reason Bartlet hasn't been able to sleep since the night of the Iowa caucus; C.J. enlists Leo's help in freeing a White House reporter kidnapped while on assignment in the Congo; Toby and Andy joust over an upcoming presidential speech condemning Islamic fanaticism by name; Donna is offered a lucrative dot.com job by an old friend; Sam sparks an exchange on radical versus lipstick feminism when he comments on Ainsley's evening attire immediately after asking her to review language in Bartlet's U.N. address.
Directed by Christopher Misiano · Written by Aaron Sorkin · Starring Timothy Davis-Reed, Kathleen York, NiCole Robinson, Emily Procter
3x14 Hartsfield's Landing
Feb 27, 2002 · 41 min
On the day before the New Hampshire primary, Josh drafts Donna as his frontwoman to ensure that Bartlet wins the nation's first primary in the small town of Hartsfield's Landing; C.J. and Charlie play an ever-escalating game of practical jokes; Jed plays simultaneous chess games with Sam and Toby while he plays delicate diplomatic and military games with the Chinese government over Taiwan.
Directed by: Vincent Misiano · Written by: Aaron Sorkin · Starring: Timothy Davis-Reed, James Hong, NiCole Robinson, Anna Deavere Smith
3x15 Dead Irish Writers
Mar 6, 2002 · 39 min
Concern arises over the medical board's decision on Abbey's actions in treating Jed's M.S.; Sam tries to get a Senator he doesn't like to pass a bill for a super-conducter that he doesn't even understand; Amy tries to influence Josh; Lord Marbury explains to Toby why a member of the IRA cannot be invited to the White House; Donna receives shocking news when the Secret Service won't give her clearance to attend Abbey's birthday party.
Directed by: Alex Graves · Written by: Aaron Sorkin · Starring: Stockard Channing, Roger Rees, Mary-Louise Parker, NiCole Robinson
3x16 The U.S. Poet Laureate
Mar 27, 2002 · 41 min
Toby looks forward to meeting the new U.S. Poet Laureate; Jed fires the first salvo of his reelection campaign when he calls his likely opponent less than brilliant, and the national press just can't get enough of it; Ainsley gets promoted; Josh overreacts to posts on the message board of a website devoted to "all things Josh".
Directed by Christopher Misiano · Written by Aaron Sorkin · Starring Timothy Davis-Reed, NiCole Robinson, Emily Procter, Renée Estevez
3x17 Stirred
Apr 3, 2002 · 39 min · ★ 8.0
Hoynes and Bartlet each make an unexpected announcement about Hoynes' place on the ticket; fears of a terrorist attack arise when a truck carrying depleted uranium-fuel rods is involved in a head-on collision in an Idaho tunnel; Donna seeks a Presidential Proclamation to honor her high-school teacher/mentor who's retiring; and Bartlet's insistence on helping Charlie with his tax return sparks a discussion on the true nature of a tax rebate.
Directed by: Jeremy Kagan · Written by: Aaron Sorkin, Eli Attie · Starring: NiCole Robinson, Tim Matheson, Peter James Smith, Kim Webster
3x18 Enemies Foreign and Domestic
May 1, 2002 · 41 min
The revelation that a Russian company may be building a heavy water reactor in Iran puts Jed in a difficult position as he prepares to meet with the new Russian president; Jed orders the Secret Service to protect C.J. when she receives death threats after making a comment at a press conference about the deaths of Saudi girls; Leo wants to find a way to help a major campaign contributor whose company is faced with a massive product recall; Charlie ponders the mystery of a strangely out of context letter written to the President.
Directed by: Alex Graves · Written by: Aaron Sorkin, Paul Redford · Starring: Timothy Davis-Reed, Michael O'Neill, Renée Estevez, Kris Murphy
3x19 The Black Vera Wang
May 8, 2002 · 40 min · ★ 8.0
Bartlet and the staff are on high alert when they receive reports of an impending attack on a military installation; Josh is furious when he discovers that a gift he passed on to Donna, who in turn passed in on to an unpaid intern, ends up for sale on eBay; C.J. takes her niece shopping for a prom dress while the threats on her life continue, and her stalker manages to get close to her despite the protection of the Secret Service.
Directed by Christopher Misiano · Written by Aaron Sorkin · Starring NiCole Robinson, Ron Silver, Thomas Kopache, Mark Harmon
3x20 We Killed Yamamoto
May 15, 2002 · 41 min
While Jed, Leo and Fitzwallace grapple with terrorism and moral absolutes, Josh and Amy grapple with each other over a welfare-reform bill; Donna represents the White House at a North Dakota state-party caucus whose goal is to remove the word "North" from the state's name; Toby doesn't want Jed to attend a New York fund-raiser because Ritchie will be there; Charlie is assigned the responsibility of finding Jed a new secretary; C.J. discovers that Simon Donovan is a very straight shooter
Directed by: Thomas Schlamme · Written by: Aaron Sorkin · Starring: Mary-Louise Parker, Thomas Kopache, William Thomas, Jr., Mark Harmon
3x21 Posse Comitatus Season Finale
May 22, 2002 · 41 min · ★ 8.8
Bartlet continues to struggle over the wisdom of assassinating the terrorist Qumari defense minister; after Ritchie declines to meet Bartlet, Sam and Toby play a dirty trick; as the search for Mrs. Landingham's replacement continues, Charlie finds the perfect candidate, who makes less than a stellar first impression on Bartlet; Josh's determination to pass a welfare bill costs Amy; as C.J.'s stalker is finally captured, the night ends in tragedy.
Directed by: Alex Graves · Written by: Aaron Sorkin · Starring: Timothy Davis-Reed, Mary-Louise Parker, NiCole Robinson, James Brolin