Seven hours have passed since Zoey's kidnapping and and the Republicans are in charge of the White House. Rifts are appearing in the leadership of both parties further complicated by the arrival of a ransom note demanding the release of terrorists. Written by h_berry

Zoey Barlet has been held for over a day. An international crisis looms that could have serious repercussions for the administration, let alone the hostage.

With Bartlet back in the Oval Office, and back in his wife's bad books, the hunt for a Vice President begins.

A North Korean pianist announces his intention to defect in the Oval Office. While the staff passionately debate his request they also fight to get the President's choice of Vice President nominated by a new and hostile Speaker of the House. Written by h_berry

While Will gets an enticing offer from the new Vice President, Josh finds himself responsible for a crucial mistake that could sorely embarrass the Administration. He isn't the only one on the wrong side of the tracks as Amy finds out first hand why she shouldn't handle the First Family. Written by h_berry

Leo is left manning the fort when the President goes AWOL whilst visiting tornado victims. Josh is not in the position to lend a hand as he deals with the fallout from a gross miscalculation and lack of judgment.

Deputy counsel Joe Quincy is quietly enlisted by Toby to approach the ailing Chief Justice about possible retirement. With Josh still incapable of lobbying effectively, Leo brings in help to hammer out the budget, but success looks a long way off with a hostile Speaker making negotiations tricky. Written by h_berry

President Bartlet refuses to let Speaker of the House Haffley hold him hostage on the budget and allows the government to be shut down.

The entire Bartlet family tries to gather for an early Christmas dinner at the White House, but inevitable delays occur as the president must deal with an overseas crisis. Ellie is held up at her lab, and five-year-old grandson Gus is having tantrums. In addition, Doug Westin (Jed and Abby's son-in-law) approaches Josh about running for an open congressional seat in his home district. Josh, Leo and the New Hampshire Democratic Party have already chosen a viable local candidate, but Doug persists. Jed, who likes and respects Doug, still thinks it's should be Liz who should run for the open seat. Written by meebly

Bartlet travels with former presidents Newman and Walken aboard Air Force One to the funeral of another former president. Meanwhile, Leo sits in the situation room dealing with demonstrations that are wracking Saudi Arabia and threatening to topple the royal family and CJ tries to deal with rumors of military mind control experiments. On board the plane, Toby tries to write Bartlet's eulogy as the crisis in Saudi Arabia grows worse. Written by timdalton007

In inexplicably finishing the speech early Toby is left with nothing to do. However, the State of the Union speech needs testing, so Toby flies out to meet Joey Lucas to perform mall tests.

Toby awakens at 3 a.m. with an idea of how to save the social security program for future generations, leading him to meet in secret with the president and volunteer to touch the third rail of American politics. Toby meets with influential Republican senator Gaines about putting aside partisanship in the interest of preserving the critical safety net, and he gets a favorable response, but someone who saw them together leaks the meeting to the press. Toby also gets Dem. senator Brainerd on board with assurances that both sides need to compromise and that the Republican agreed. Elsewhere, Josh tries to help boost the new v.p.'s profile and bland image by having him comically attack the same senator for his weak fundraising efforts. By day's end, both Gaines and Brainerd have publicly withdrawn from Toby's previously secret plan and publicly refused to consider the compromises they'd initially offered. The president angrily orders Toby to fix what he's broken, in response to which Toby... Written by meebly

A nuclear device is tested in the Indian Ocean, but none of the known nuclear powers will claim responsibility, leading to the possibility of a terrorist group holding missile tests. Vice President Russell, heretofore dismissed by west wing staff as a joke, a four-term congressman alleged to be securely in the pocket of a large Colorado mining company, recalls a junket he'd taken early in his political career in which a drunken Israeli statesman confessed to secret missile tests. Russell visits the sit. room and puts the military and national security leaders at ease, leading the president and Leo to reassess the man's political gravitas. Bartlet then drags the Israeli p.m. to the White House, where they debate the power of the U.S. to dictate which states should have nuclear capabilities. Written by No indication it was a missile, device is more accurate

A Navy Hawkeye AWACS crew is missing in North Korea, a Broadcaster has called CJ a chicken and a proposed tax break for stay at home moms causes Josh stress. Amidst the usual West Wing mêlée, Leo finds himself hearing things about the man who saved his life in Vietnam, that he doesn't believe. Written by h_berry

Press leaks lead to the revelation that former VP John Hoynes is about to release a tell-all book about the administration.

A Republican Congresswoman targets Ellie and her scientific research as an example of government waste and cronyism in an attempt to discredit the President and the Administration. To help rehabilitate her image, C.J. urges Abby to appear on the Muppets as a doctor. Josh pushes the Republicans hard on judicial nominees after learning that a friend of his has grown tired of waiting for confirmation and is going to take a university position. Written by Murray Chapman

Josh's efforts to break the deadlock over judicial nominees is brought to a head by the death of a Supreme Court Justice. With the Republicans controlling Congress, the administration's chances of getting a replacement they want appear to be slim. Despite this, Josh and Toby begin back-channel negotiations over a radical scheme which could be exactly what the overly-moderate judicial system needs. Written by Murray Chapman

White House press secretary C.J. Cregg has granted television news magazine Access permission to film her on a typical day in the office. On this particular day however, news of a standoff involving a terrorist and the FBI breaks, forcing C.J and the White House to operate in full crisis mode. This episode is presented as the end product of the Access documentary, with interviews, stock footage, narration, and unscripted/live events captured on camera as they unfold. Written by Murray Chapman

The president and staff are about to head for Brussels to sign an international free trade deal that Josh has just spent a lot of time and effort negotiating, to nearly everyone's satisfaction; at the 11th hour, the CEO of an IBM-like company tells Josh that the first effect of the new agreement, of which his company is a huge beneficiary, will be the immediate transfer of 17,000 programming jobs to India; the head of the communications workers' union, which is representing the affected programmers, brings one of the programmers to Josh's office, and they refuse to leave, leading Josh to question the underlying adverse effects of the trade deal. Throughout the episode, Ryan tries to make Josh care that he's completing his internship that day, while Donna pesters Josh to bring her on the Brussels trip in an effort to make her a more active player in west wing activities, eventually leading to a trade-off that will mean even bigger things for Donna in the long run. Written by meebly

When a bio-hazard alarm goes off in the White House, the staff are locked down where they are - forcing them to have conversations they would have otherwise avoided.

A fact finding codel to the Middle East is torn apart by an explosion. Key members of the administration and their loved ones are caught in the mess. The President is forced to consider retaliatory military action the unstable area, with possible repercussions that could last decades. Written by h_berry

The President finds himself at odds with Leo, and the entire country, on his position regarding retaliation for the bombing in Gaza.