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6Season 5
Season 5, Episode 1: 7A WF 83429
Original Air Date: September 24, 2003
As the White House reels from the kidnapping of Zoey (recurring guest star ELISABETH MOSS), the youngest daughter of Democratic U.S. President Josiah Edward Bartlet (series star MARTIN SHEEN), the government is temporarily passed from the distraught Bartlet to the Republican party--specifically Speaker of the House Glenallen Walken (recurring guest star JOHN GOODMAN - "Roseanne," "Barton Fink")--due to the prior resignation of Bartlet's Vice President. First lady Dr. Abigail "Abbey" Bartlet (series star STOCKARD CHANNING) staunchly supports her husband, but the trauma of potentially losing their child forces her to confront Bartlet with the harrowing notion that the crisis was the direct result of the assassination of a dangerous foreign official he ordered months ago.
As always, professorial Chief of Staff Leo McGarry (series star JOHN SPENCER) serves as Bartlet's political and emotional buttress. Ever present is highly regarded Deputy Chief of Staff Josh Lyman (series star BRADLEY WHITFORD), whose capable assistant, Donna Moss (series star JANEL MOLONEY), keeps him grounded. Press Secretary C.J. Cregg (series star ALLISON JANNEY) remains cool and competent in the media briefing room, and rumpled Communications Director Toby Ziegler (series star RICHARD SCHIFF), focuses on the emergency, even as he quietly celebrates the birth of his twins. Deputy Communications Director Will Bailey (series star JOSH MALINA) rises to the occasion, and the President's brilliant young personal assistant, Charlie Young (series star DULÉ HILL), keeps a constant vigil over Bartlet instead of serving acting President Walken.
Knowing Walken's warlike tendencies, Bartlet's staff worries that Walken will order military action against Qumar, the country that seems to have harbored the terrorists who kidnapped Zoey, despite the fact that it is an ally of the U.S. A ransom note demands the release of three convicted terrorists in Pakistan and the removal of American military personnel in the region.
Meanwhile, reporter Danny Concanon (recurring guest star TIMOTHY BUSFIELD) threatens to print a story linking Bartlet to the assassination of an official from Qumar before the White House can admit the truth publicly. Josh and the others search for potential vice presidents for when Bartlet returns to office. Walken proves quite presidential in his first major press conference, although his political views diverge dramatically from Bartlet's. And, painfully, Toby and Will prepare two speeches--one if Zoey is found alive and one if she isn't.
Season 5, Episode 2: The Dogs of War
Original Air Date: October 1, 2003
The international crisis concerning the terrorist abduction of Bartlet's daughter Zoey (recurring guest star ELISABETH MOSS) reaches a critical point as Speaker of the House Glenallen Walken (recurring guest star JOHN GOODMAN), the acting President, orders the bombardment of Qumari terrorist camps. The kidnappers issue a 24-hour deadline for the removal of American troops from Qumar. Meanwhile, Josh fumes over his perceived notion that the Republicans will exploit and push forward their own legislative agenda. And Toby visits his newborn twins--even as he oversees the drafting of two presidential speeches that hinge on Zoey's fate.
Season 5, Episode 3: Jefferson Lives
Original Air Date: October 8, 2003
Following a harrowing chapter in the nation's history, the White House celebrates the Fourth of July. Bartlet endures the painful process of nominating a candidate for Vice President. But his first choice, Secretary of State Lewis Berryhill (recurring guest star WILLIAM DEVANE - "Knots Landing"), will have a difficult time getting approved. Meanwhile, while the reclusive first lady tends to personal matters, Amy (recurring guest star MARY-LOUISE PARKER - "Fried Green Tomatoes") champions Abbey's violence prevention provisions for an upcoming bill. Josh and Amy share a romantic moment. And Donna is appalled by a new intern, Ryan (recurring guest star JESSE BRADFORD).
Season 5, Episode 4: Han
Original Air Date: October 22, 2003
A renowned North Korean pianist is greeted at the White House for a solo performance, but the formalities change when the musician slips a message to the President stating that he wants to defect. Despite C.J.'s passionate argument, others counsel Bartlet that granting the defection would endanger crucial ongoing negotiations with the nation. Also, members of the staff work hard to get the President's new choice for Vice President, Colorado Congressman Robert Russell (recurring guest star GARY COLE - "The Brady Bunch" movies, "Family Affair"), unanimously approved by both houses of Congress--but there's one holdout whose "nay" vote could embarrass everyone.
Season 5, Episode 5: A Constituency of One
Original Air Date: October 29, 2003
After Josh is hailed as the "101st Senator" in a newspaper profile, he clashes with conservative Senator Carrick (TOM SKERRITT - "Picket Fences"), a Democrat from Idaho. Carrick withholds his approval of a backlog of military promotions so he can secure an expensive but faulty missile launcher to be built in his home state. Will gets a flattering offer from the newly approved Vice President, Robert Russell (recurring guest star GARY COLE), while C.J. runs afoul of Leo's temper when she deviates from the administration's scripted line regarding an Environmental Protection Agency report on coal-based energy. Likewise, Amy (recurring guest star MARY-LOUISE PARKER) earns the President's wrath when she aggressively pushes for funding of the first lady's agenda on violence prevention. Meanwhile, Toby creates a message calendar to maintain focus during Bartlet's second term. LAURA INNES ("ER") directed the episode.
Season 5, Episode 6: Disaster Relief
Original Air Date: November 5, 2003
Bartlet is preoccupied with a killer tornado in Oklahoma and flies there to lend his support. But his compassion overrules good judgment, and Bartlet stays longer than planned. Meanwhile, Leo worries about several crises in the capital that need the president's immediate attention. Josh fears the worst after a political miscalculation costs the Democrats dearly. And Donna becomes concerned about Josh's welfare after he becomes Washington's latest target of scorn.
Season 5, Episode 7: Separation of Powers
Original Air Date: November 12, 2003
The President's staff wrangles with new Speaker of the House Jeff Haffley (STEVEN CULP) over the pending federal budget. Meanwhile, Toby dispatches former Supreme Court clerk and personal friend Joe Quincy (recurring guest star MATTHEW PERRY - "Friends") to check on the condition of stricken Chief Justice Roy Ashland (MILO O'SHEA), an elderly Supreme Court icon who has Washington wondering if he will finally resign. With the budget deadline quickly approaching, aggressive advisor Angela Blake (recurring guest star MICHAEL HYATT) faces a mighty challenge as she tries to work out an agreement that could compromise Bartlet's campaign promises. But the President is also focused on a crucial national television interview that Zoey (recurring guest star ELISABETH MOSS) has agreed to tape with a well-known newswoman, Diane Mathers (KATHRIN LAUTNER), who has a knack for exposing raw emotions.
Season 5, Episode 8: Shutdown
Original Air Date: November 19, 2003
A disastrous fiscal crisis looms when the federal government is shut down after the President and the powerful Republican Speaker of the House disagree over an extra two percent in budget reductions that would trim many of Bartlet's key social programs. Opinion polls reveal that the public blames the Democrats for the impasse. As Leo, Josh and Toby send the staff home, the trio remains uneasy as the President refuses to compromise--until he hatches a bold plan to personally and publicly challenge the Republicans in the halls of the Capitol. Meanwhile, Abbey suddenly reappears from her self-imposed exile for a State dinner that she might have to cook herself.
Season 5, Episode 9: Abu El Banat
Original Air Date: December 3, 2003
The festive Christmas spirit at the annual White House tree-lighting celebration is dimmed when the President learns that Christian relief workers have been jailed in Islamic Northern Sudan. Bartlet welcomes his three independent daughters, Zoey (recurring guest star ELISABETH MOSS), Liz (recurring guest star ANNABETH GISH) and Ellie (recurring guest star NINA SIEMASZKO), and is surprised to learn that Liz's husband, Doug Westin (recurring guest star STEVEN ECKHOLDT), wants to vie for Congress in New Hampshire. Meanwhile, when the licenses of some doctors in Oregon are suspended after they administer drugs in an assisted suicide, Toby tries to keep the President from being bogged down in a debate--and clashes with Will, whom he sends to convince the Vice President to address the political juggernaut instead.
Season 5, Episode 10: The Stormy Present
Original Air Date: January 7, 2004
When a former President of the United States dies, the two remaining ex-Presidents fly on Air Force One with Bartlet to attend the funeral. Onboard, Bartlet's two historic guests partake in a lively debate about their administrations. Their past mistakes haunt the current administration including a recent event--protestors have surrounded a Saudi Oil headquarters, taking 200 hostages, including 50 Americans. Meanwhile, C.J. investigates government experiments on mind control. Leo discovers his ex-wife is engaged to be married. And Josh referees a debate concerning an original copy of the Bill of Rights. Acclaimed novelist JOHN SACRET YOUNG wrote the teleplay.
Season 5, Episode 11: The Benign Prerogative
Original Air Date: January 14, 2004
Toby finishes the State of the Union Address a few weeks early, and a pregnant Joey Lucas (recurring guest star MARLEE MATLIN - "Children of a Lesser God") polls responses to the speech from everyday people. Charlie is intrigued by Meeshell Anders (GABRIELLE UNION - "Friends"), an aspiring female journalist with a secret. Abbey pressures her husband to pardon a Native American tribal leader convicted of killing two FBI agents in North Dakota. Bartlet opposes minimums and guidelines for prison sentences and pardons over 30 inmates. And Toby hires a new assistant, Rena (recurring guest star MELISSA MARSALA).
Season 5, Episode 12: Slow News Day
Original Air Date: February 4, 2004
Toby convinces Bartlet to secretly sanction his solo attempt to make history by reforming Social Security, but Toby's efforts to recruit a Republican senator and a Democratic cohort are publicly divulged--forcing the administration to back down while Josh and Leo are left clueless and furious. Meanwhile, an equally unaware C.J. parries with a reporter who is ready to print all the backstage details. Also, the female staffers complain to Josh about a new employee--a mysterious, seductively dressed woman assigned to Toby.
Season 5, Episode 13: The Warfare of Genghis Khan
Original Air Date: February 11, 2004
When the flash of a secret nuclear detonation is detected over the Indian Ocean, Bartlet calls upon his people to investigate which nation now has the atomic bomb--and since conventional thinking favors Iran, Bartlet orders bombers into the air to destroy that nation's most likely uranium-enriched targets. Meanwhile, Josh chides NASA personnel on the future of space exploration--until he is introduced to an attractive female administrator. C.J. fumes when a combative television talk-show host, Taylor Reid (recurring guest star JAY MOHR - "The Last Comic Standing"), denigrates her on the air, and Will discloses to Vice President Russell (recurring guest star GARY COLE - "Midnight Caller") that Russell is considered a buffoon by the White House staff.
Season 5, Episode 14: An Khe
Original Air Date: February 18, 2004
When five crew members of an airborne Thunderchief are shot down by North Korean jets near the hostile country, President Bartlet dispatches a Navy SEAL team to retrieve them--prompting Leo to recall his own harrowing experience when he was downed as a pilot over North Vietnam. Leo's good friend and fellow flyer saved Leo's life and now is in trouble for allegedly paying bribes to defense contractors to obtain military contracts. Meanwhile, C.J. accepts the challenge of dueling on live television with an opinionated, conservative talk show host, Taylor Reid (recurring guest star JAY MOHR). Josh fumes when he briefs the President about a contested tax cut for stay-at-home mothers and is undercut by brash, young intern Ryan (recurring guest star JESSE BRADFORD). And the commander in chief balks at posing for his official portrait.
Season 5, Episode 15: Full Disclosure
Original Air Date: February 25, 2004
The Bartlet administration reels from press leaks that former Vice President Hoynes (recurring guest star TIM MATHESON) is preparing a tell-all book that will embarrass the President and Leo as Hoynes plans to become a candidate for President of the United States. The newsflash first stuns C.J. live on the air as she jousts with acerbic pundit Taylor Reid (recurring guest star JAY MOHR). Josh welcomes the mayor of Washington, D.C., to the White House to discuss school vouchers and also encounters a political firestorm when intern Ryan (recurring guest star JESSE BRADFORD) proposes closing a military base in a district belonging to a powerful congressman. Toby parleys with trade union bosses who reach an impasse over import safeguards for brassieres.
Season 5, Episode 16: Eppur Si Muove
Original Air Date: March 3, 2004
Bartlet becomes furious when a rival conservative congresswoman tries to end funding for a controversial National Institute of Health medical study by exposing the fact that Bartlet's daughter Ellie (recurring guest star NINA SIEMASZKO) is working at the institute as a scientist. As Toby searches for the internal White House leak that led to Ellie's press scrutiny, Josh tries to convince an old college friend to remain in contention as a judge on the 6th Circuit Federal Court--even though his confirmation has been blocked for the past 12 months. Meanwhile, C.J. urges Abbey to increase her public profile as the First Lady and a working doctor. Part of C.J.'s plan includes educating children about medicine via a public service announcement with Abbey and characters from the children's show "Sesame Street," Big Bird, Elmo, Rosita and Zoe.
Season 5, Episode 17: The Supremes
Original Air Date: March 24, 2004
When a Republican Supreme Court justice suddenly dies, the Bartlet administration scrambles to find a worthy replacement, and the halls are filled with candidates. But the President senses that the process is a political minefield until Josh devises a wild plan that could also create an opening for Evelyn Baker Lang (Emmy and Tony Award winner GLENN CLOSE - "Fatal Attraction," "Air Force One"), a liberal who would be an unthinkable choice. Potential judicial nominees visit the West Wing offices and are interviewed--some serving only as decoys to confuse the press. But everyone gets curious when the President meets with Christopher Mulready (WILLIAM FITCHNER - "The Perfect Storm"), a bright but conservative judge.
Season 5, Episode 18: Access
Original Air Date: March 31, 2004
Producing a program on past and present White House press secretaries, a television documentary crew follows C.J. around to film a "typical" day. But the presence of outsiders adds stress when a crisis involving a terrorist shootout with the FBI has a smiling C.J. trying to keep the story a secret. Meanwhile, C.J. supervises her team in preparation for a formal papal visit with Bartlet and dodges difficult questions about the imminent future of the current FBI director.
Season 5, Episode 19: Talking Points
Original Air Date: April 21, 2004
On the eve of the President's (Martin Sheen) visit to a controversial trade summit in Brussels, Josh (Bradley Whitford) feels torn when he learns that free-trader Bartlet will reverse his position about sacrificing American jobs to foreign lands -- while C.J. (Allison Janney) takes out her frustrations with a new FCC ruling allowing multimedia companies increased ownership of TV stations. As the administration fights to spin the job-loss fallout, Donna (Janel Moloney) tells Josh about her dissatisfaction with her limited role on his staff. In the midst of it all, Kate Harper (guest star, Mary McCormack "K Street," "Private Parts") steps in as the brash new Deputy National Security Advisor.
Season 5, Episode 20: No Exit
Original Air Date: April 28, 2004
After a black-tie dinner, the President (Martin Sheen) and his staff are locked down inside the White House when a foreign substance is detected inside, forcing an odd coupling of people who are forced to occupy small rooms where they share personal reflections -- and some turn confrontational when Toby (Richard Schiff) accuses Will (Joshua Malina) of backstabbing Bartlet. As the inspection continues, the President, Fiderer (Lily Tomlin) and Charlie (Dule Hill) submit to intense inspection while in other corners, C.J. (Allison Janney) has strong career advice for Donna (Janel Moloney) and Josh (Bradley Whitford) queries security adviser Kate (guest star Mary McCormack, "K Street") on why his joke was deleted from the Chief's speech.
Season 5, Episode 21: Gaza
Original Air Date: May 12, 2004
A fact-finding tour to the hotly disputed Gaza Strip includes Donna (Janel Moloney), Admiral Fitzwallace (guest star John Amos, "Good Times") and a few congressmen as they sort through the thicket of rival issues between the Palestinians and Israelis -- but the killing fields soon claim some of the delegation when a deadly bomb shatters their vehicle and has the President (Martin Sheen) considering targets for military action. In flashbacks, Donna is atttracted to a dashing British photojournalist (guest star Jason Isaacs) who opens her eyes to his graphic world of recording mankind's most heinous acts of violence.
Season 5, Episode 22: Memorial Day
Original Air Date: May 19, 2004
In the season finale, events in the tinderbox Gaza Strip spin out of control after the murders of high-ranking U.S. officials and back home the angry President (Martin Sheen) weighs appropriate military action. A strange undertow of intrigue finds a wary Josh (Bradley Whitford) meeting with a mysterious foreign operative while tending to Donna who is fighting for her life.
