The West Wing: Season 5

2003
Poster for The West Wing: Season 5

The Golden Globe-winning series from heralded screenwriter Aaron Sorkin follows the lives of admin staffers in the West Wing of... More

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    The West Wing: Season 5 episodes

    Episode 5.1

    7A WF 83429

    As the search for Zoey continues, Walken takes a hard... More line against the kidnappers that could contribute to her death; Danny releases the Shareef story, and the revelation creates a rift that separates Jed from Abbey and Liz; tensions arise between Walken's staff and Bartlet's staff; the Democratic leadership in Congress assails Leo for allowing Jed to step aside; in retaliation for Shareef's death, a movie theater in Turkey is bombed, and eighty people, including American soldiers, are killed.

    Episode 5.2

    The Dogs of War

    Bombs drop on Qumar upon Walken's orders; as the hours... More pass without any word on Zoey's whereabouts, tensions increase within the Bartlet family; Walken and Leo clash after Josh's suspicion that the opposition is using Walken's tenure in the Oval Office to advance their agenda is confirmed; Andy takes the twins home; Leo inflicts a new intern from a prominent political family on an unwilling Josh; Jed's staff is less than thrilled when they learn who will succeed Walken as Speaker of the House; the search for a new Vice President is accelerated; Zoey is rescued.

    Episode 5.3

    Jefferson Lives

    When he realizes that his first choice for Vice President... More faces an uphill fight for nomination, Jed nominates a congressman that none of the staff can get excited about; Josh is less than thrilled with his new intern.

    Episode 5.4

    Han

    Josh fails to sway an unruly congressman who insists on... More voting against the administration on the vice presidential confirmation, but Ryan reaches out to get him to change his mind; Leo fears that the potential defection of a prominent North Korean pianist will jeopardize secret nuclear disarmament talks; Will and Toby are humiliated when an early draft of a speech outlining their struggle to laud Bob Russell's confirmation is erroneously substituted for the final version; Donna's aunt and uncle from Wisconsin pay a visit, testing Josh's ability to refrain from bad cheesehead jokes during their tour of the White House; the staff struggles over how to language the state of the economy; fearing that the administration is drifting off-course, Toby wants to hand over more responsibilities to Will in order to focus on getting back to their core message.

    EPISODE 5.5

    Constituency of One

    Will Bailey receives an offer to become Vice President Russell's... More top aide. Amy Parker does some skillful lobbying for domestic violence prevention which gets the wrath of Bartlett. A conservative democratic senator switches parties.

    EPISODE 5.6

    Disaster Relief

    The fallout on the Hill from Carrick's switch to the... More Republican party exiles Josh deep into a White House doghouse, so C.J. gives Donna some tips on how she can support him; Jed gets a harsh reality check from C.J. when he lingers too long in a small Oklahoma town devastated by a deadly tornado; in Jed's absence, Leo juggles an impending war between Albania and Greece, a visit from the German chancellor, a tussle over tax cuts, and an over-reaching Secretary of Defense; Josh and Toby are less than thrilled when Leo brings Angela on board to assume some of Josh's responsibilities.

    EPISODE 5.7

    Separation of Powers

    As Chief Justice Ashland's health problems continue to mount, Joe... More Quincy, Ashland's former clerk, is pressed into service to persuade him to retire; as C.J. prepares Zoey for a sit-down interview about her kidnapping, Abbey reveals that her relationship with her husband is still strained; Jed refuses to be held hostage by the Republican in the budget negotiations.

    EPISODE 5.8

    Shutdown

    Jed's decision not to be held hostage by Haffley shuts... More down the federal government; unable to get through to Jed and fearing the worst, Leo calls in the reinforcements, and Abbey returns to Washington to deliver a message and provide her husband with a little perspective; after being benched from the staff meetings, Josh gets put back in the game by Jed and sets the stage for victory; disregarding the advice of more seasoned colleagues, Haffley makes a major misstep and loses his advantage over the White House; Jed and Haffley meet and reach an accord on the budget.

    EPISODE 5.9

    Abu el Banat

    The Bartet clan attempts to gather for a holiday dinner.... More Jed must deal with a hostage situation in Sudan, an assisted suicide in Oregon, his son-in-law's yearn to run for the House of Representatives, and his grandson's want to spend time with his grandpa. C.J. takes a stand on the assisted suicide because of her father's worsening condition.

    EPISODE 5.10

    The Stormy Present

    President Bartlet attends the funeral of a former president with... More other former presidents Glenallen Walken and D. Wire Newman, while monitoring a possible situation in Saudi Arabia. Josh Lyman mediates an argument between a representative from Connecticut and one from North Carolina who wants her state's copy of the Bill of Rights returned. CJ is concerned about a scientist's invention which could interfere with privacy.

    EPISODE 5.11

    The Benign Prerogative

    In the days leading up to the State of the... More Union address, Toby gets crucial voter feedback when he accompanies Joey as she mall-tests the speech around the nation; Jed and the staff wrestle with the issues of presidential pardons and mandatory minimums; Charlie dates an attractive woman who's not what she seems; Joey Lucas derails Josh's plans when she arrives at the White House carrying a surprise; Jed and Abbey reach out to an old friend on the eve of his ex-wife's remarriage.

    EPISODE 5.12

    Slow News Day

    Toby gets Jed's support to seize a controversial window of... More opportunity to save Social Security, but is hampered by Jed's mandate to keep the operation under wraps; desperate to feed the press corps beast on a glacially slow news day, C.J. meets with an attache to discuss cabbage imports, and has a little fun with a particularly dense reporter; Josh's brainstorm to help Will burnish Bob Russell's presentation problems and a persistent reporter endanger Toby's attempts to broker a deal on the Hill; Rina finds a friend in Donna, and Josh isn't too happy about it; Toby is saved from having to fall on his sword when Josh and Jed devise a plan to rescue his deal from certain disaster.

    EPISODE 5.13

    The Warfare of Genghis Khan

    An unlikely party comes to the aid of the administration... More as it seeks to discover the party responsible for nuclear testing in the Indian Ocean; Will is unhappy, but his boss doesn't seem to mind, when a request to beef up the Vice President's issue profile results in Toby's handing him boring, low-level minutae; Josh dismisses a NASA proposal for a manned Mars mission until an agency staffer shows him the error of his ways; a conservative talk show host makes a pathetic attempt to bait C.J. into appearing on his show.

    EPISODE 5.14

    An Khe

    When five navy E-2C Hawkeye crew members are stranded in... More North Korea, Bartlet orders a risky Navy Seal rescue attempt. C.J. agrees to one on one with a motormouth conservative talk show host

    EPISODE 5.15

    Full Disclosure

    He's back, Former VP John Hoynes, who resigned in sex... More scandal, makes a bid for political resurrection by trashing Barlet and Leo in a tell-all book. But it's C.J. who's taking the news the hardest,

    EPISODE 5.16

    Eppur Si Muove

    When a conservative Republican Congresswoman targets Ellie's research project in... More an effort to discredit Jed, Toby discovers that the source of the leak is uncomfortably close to home, and Will realizes that they've all greatly underestimated his boss; Josh investigates the wisdom of a recess appointment as he tries to convince an old friend to be patient with the Sixth Circuit judicial nomination process and keep his hat in the ring; C.J. completely misreads Ben's intentions; Donna tracks down an AWOL Ryan; an opening is created on the Supreme Court; in an effort to redefine Abbey's image with the press, C.J. sets her up to do a public service announcement with the Muppets, which inspires Ellie to stand up before the press in defense of scientific research unhampered by politics.

    EPISODE 5.17

    The Supremes

    Jed and the staff vet potential Supreme Court appointees; Toby... More and Andy don't see eye-to-eye on her fact-finding trip to the Middle East; Donna's parents are the unlikely inspiration for the resolution to the problems arising from the judicial confirmation process.

    EPISODE 5.18

    Access

    A documentary camera crew follows C.J. around for a not-so-typical... More day in the White House.

    EPISODE 5.19

    Talking Points

    Hail the conquering hero. Josh returns after nailing down details... More for a trade agreement. But the devil in the detail, including information kept from Josh. C.J. fights megamedia ownership of local TV.

    EPISODE 5.20

    No Exit

    An airborne contamination alert locks down the West Wing, forcing... More staffers to stay put until the all-clear is sounded; Toby and Will face off over Will's working for the vice president; C.J. tells Donna some things she's rather not hear about Josh and her career prospects; Leo confronts Abbey about the dangers of her recent coping mechanisms; Jed, Debbie, and Charlie are poked, prodded, and sent to the decontamination showers; Kate is initially reluctant to give Josh any information on a personal or professional level as they sit out the alert together.

    EPISODE 5.21

    Gaza

    Donna Moss, Percy Fitzwallace, Andrea Wyatt and a couple of... More congressmen are in the Middle East on a fact finding mission when their cars are blown up. President Bartlet considers possible military targets to bomb in retaliation. In flashbacks, we see Donna becoming attracted to British photojournalist Colin Ayres.

    EPISODE 5.22

    Memorial Day

    Jed weighs his options for responding to the bombing as... More Israeli and Palestinian forces face off against each other; Josh has an interesting reaction when Colin arrives at the hospital to visit Donna; Kate and Leo clash over the advice she's giving Jed; Josh assumes a diplomatic role when the Palestinians approach him to initiate settlement discussions; Toby and Charlie prepare a reluctant Jed for throwing out the first ball at Camden Yards; Donna's life is threatened when she develops a pulmonary embolism; Jed reflects on the days prior to his first inauguration.

    The West Wing: Season 5 | Details

    Genre
    Drama
    Country of origin
    USA