Season 2
🎬 22 Episodes 📅 2000 ⏱ 40 min
Behind the mahogany doors of power, a seasoned team in The West Wing races against time to prevent an international conflict from spiraling into war. As negotiations crumble and allies falter, the weight of responsibility crashes down on those who must decide the fates of nations. What emerges isn't just a political thriller, but a touching portrait of ordinary people carrying extraordinary burdens with unwavering dedication to something larger than themselves.
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📊 Season Stats
22
Episodes
2000
Year
40
min / ep
14.7
Watch Hours
2/7
Season No.
⭐ 9.3
Best Episode
Ep. 22 · Two Cathedrals
🎬 Season Trailer
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🎬 Episodes 22 episodes
1
⭐ 8.7
In the Shadow of Two Gunmen (1)
"In the Shadow of Two Gunmen" is the two-part second season premiere of the American political drama television series The West Wing. Both parts were written by Aaron Sorkin and directed by Thomas Schlamme.
🎬 Thomas Schlamme ✍️ Aaron Sorkin
2
⭐ 8.5
In the Shadow of Two Gunmen (2)
With the accomplice in custody, it's revealed that the intended target was Charlie, not Bartlet. The staff still awaits news about Josh, and recalls how C.J. and Donna came to join the Bartlet campaign.
🎬 Thomas Schlamme ✍️ Aaron Sorkin
3
⭐ 7.8
The Midterms
While Josh recovers from bullet wounds there's a noticeable tension among some of the White House Staff. Toby is gung-ho to go after extremist groups in light of the attack. Charlie withdraws from the first family after learning more about the shooting. Bartlet's mind is preoccupied with a small tim…
🎬 Alex Graves ✍️ Aaron Sorkin
4
⭐ 8.3
In this White House
To investigate the cost and availability of AIDS medication needed in Africa, the White House plays host to representatives of American pharmaceutical companies and the president of an African nation; C.J. accidentally leaks information to a freshman reporter; after Sam is shown up by an amateur Rep…
🎬 Ken Olin ✍️ Allison Abner
5
⭐ 7.6
And It's Surely to Their Credit
Leo tries to make Ainsley's arrival as painless as possible, despite resistance from her new boss and several other White House staffers; Donna helps with the President's weekly radio address; C.J. tries to derail a retiring General's attempt to speak out against Bartlet; Sam gives Josh ideas on how…
🎬 Christopher Misiano ✍️ Kevin Falls
6
⭐ 7.5
The Lame Duck Congress
The president considers recalling the Senate to push ratification of a nuclear-test-ban treaty. Meanwhile, Donna lobbies new legislation introducing ergonomic standards in the White House; A Ukrainian politician shows up at the White House drunk demanding to see the president.
🎬 Jeremy Kagan ✍️ Lawrence O'Donnell
7
⭐ 7.3
The Portland Trip
After ridiculing Notre Dame, C.J. is forced to accompany the President on a trip to Oregon; Toby and Sam struggle to write Jed's education speech for the following day; back at the White House, Josh tries to dissuade a gay Congressman who supports legislation banning same-sex marriages and Leo gets …
🎬 Paris Barclay ✍️ Paul Redford
8
⭐ 7.5
Shibboleth
Toby encourages the President to appoint Leo's controversial sister to a national education post, against Leo's objections; Bartlet must decide what the do with 83 Chinese citizens who stowed away on a freighter ship and seek asylum on the grounds of religious persecution; CJ has to decide which one…
🎬 Laura Innes ✍️ Patrick Caddell
9
⭐ 7.7
Galileo
On the eve of Jed's participation in a national television conference with thousands of school children as the Galileo probe arrives at Mars, NASA loses the communication link; Leo contends with a Russian ambassador who denies that a fire has broken out in a nuclear missile silo; C.J. and Sam accomp…
🎬 Alex Graves ✍️ Aaron Sorkin
10
⭐ 8.3
Noël
Josh investigates the suicide of a pilot with whom he has things in common; Donna tries to get an invitation to the Congressional Christmas party to hear Yo-Yo Ma perform; Jed insists on signing a mountain of Christmas cards himself; after a White House visitor has a strange reaction to a painting, …
🎬 Thomas Schlamme ✍️ Peter Parnell
11
⭐ 7.8
The Leadership Breakfast
To get real issues to be discussed at a bi-partisan breakfast, Toby makes a deal with a former acquaintance who is the majority leader's new Chief of Staff to strike a bargain and put an issue on the agenda, thereby undermining CJ and setting up the administration to ridicule; The possibility of mov…
🎬 Scott Winant ✍️ Paul Redford
12
⭐ 7.8
The Drop-In
The test of a missile defense program meets 9 of 10 essential criteria. But the 10th is the sticking point: hitting the target. Sam is livid when a speech he wrote is changed without consulting him.
🎬 Lou Antonio ✍️ Lawrence O'Donnell
13
⭐ 7.5
Bartlet's Third State of the Union
The President delivers his 3rd State of the Union address, what critics call "the speech of his political career" and ends up angering Abbey by what he does and doesn't say; Josh must work the polling center with Joey Lucas, but a power outage delays the results; Sam attempts to introduce Ainsley to…
🎬 Christopher Misiano ✍️ Allison Abner
14
⭐ 7.8
The War at Home
Bartlet authorizes a special ops team to rescue the five DEA agents only to have them caught in an ambush; CJ arranges for the host of "Capitol Beat" to have an exclusive interview with the wronged police officer; Toby must deal with Senator Gilette who threatens to make a third party run for presid…
🎬 Christopher Misiano ✍️ Aaron Sorkin
15
⭐ 7.7
Ellie
During an online chat, the Surgeon General comments favorably on the legalization of marijuana. The controversy heightens when Ellie Bartlet tells a reporter that her father would never fire the Surgeon General. Toby asks his ex-wife, a Congresswoman, for her help in strongly persuading Seth Gillett…
🎬 Michael Engler ✍️ Kevin Falls
16
⭐ 8.3
Somebody's Going to Emergency, Somebody's Going to Jail
It's Big Block of Cheese Day again. Toby meets with World Trade Organization protesters, and CJ meets with a group of cartographers who want the standards for maps changed to be a more accurate reflection of geographical and political reality. Donna asks Sam to look into granting a pardon for a frie…
🎬 Jessica Yu ✍️ Aaron Sorkin
17
⭐ 8.0
The Stackhouse Filibuster
The staff is blindsided when an elderly senator stages a Friday night filibuster to block their Family Wellness bill; Toby is confused when VP Hoynes, a strong supporter of the oil industry, volunteers to give a speech attacking the energy sector; CJ tries to locate a valuable Egyptian cat goddess s…
🎬 Bryan Gordon ✍️ Pete McCabe
18
⭐ 8.4
17 People
Toby, suspicious that there's something going on with the President, finds out about Bartlet's MS and informs Leo of the legal ramifications; Josh and Donna disagree about the date of their "anniversary"; Sam and Ainsley argue about the necessity of the ERA; staffers struggle to punch-up the speech …
🎬 Alex Graves ✍️ Aaron Sorkin
19
⭐ 8.4
Bad Moon Rising
Bartlet confers with Babish on the legal ramifications of his MS cover-up; Sam has a personal interest in an oil spill off the coast of Delaware; Josh and Donna argue about a loan to Mexico; Toby orders C.J. to flush out a leak in the White House staff, which is far from easy.
🎬 Bill Johnson ✍️ Felicia Wilson
20
⭐ 8.0
The Fall's Gonna Kill You
Babish menacingly questions CJ and Abbey about their involvement in the MS cover-up while Josh asks Joey Lucas to create a hypothetical poll the gauge the public's reaction; Sam is happy with a projected smaller-than-expected budget surplus; Donna is the only one worried about a Chinese satellite hu…
🎬 Christopher Misiano ✍️ Patrick Caddell
21
⭐ 8.3
18th and Potomac
The staff prepares for the worst as they make arrangements for the public announcement of the President's condition; Sam and Babish grill Abbey about her medical treatment of the President's MS; a crisis erupts in Haiti; Josh deals with two Democratic senators who won't support the administration's …
🎬 Robert Berlinger ✍️ Lawrence O'Donnell
22
⭐ 9.3
Two Cathedrals
On the day of Mrs. Landingham's funeral, the staff deals with a Haitian presidential crisis and the law suit against the big tobacco companies, and Bartlet must decide about running for reelection.
🎬 Thomas Schlamme ✍️ Aaron Sorkin