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The Best Episodes of The West Wing Season 3

Every episode of The West Wing Season 3 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of The West Wing Season 3!

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The West Wing provides a glimpse into presidential politics in the nation's capital as it tells the stories of the members of a fictional presidential administration. These interesting characters have humor and dedication that touches

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
    The West Wing Season 3 Episode 1 - Manchester (1)
    8.2/10(1524 votes)

    #1 - Manchester (1)

    S3:E1

    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.

    Director:Thomas Schlamme
    Writer:Aaron Sorkin

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  2. The West Wing Season 3 Episode 2 - Manchester (2)
    8.1/10(1084 votes)

    #2 - Manchester (2)

    S3:E2

    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.

    Director:Thomas Schlamme
    Writer:Aaron Sorkin

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  3. The West Wing Season 3 Episode 3 - Ways and Means
    8.1/10(1039 votes)

    #3 - Ways and Means

    S3:E3

    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.

    Director:Alex Graves
    Writers:Eli Attie, Aaron Sorkin, Gene Sperling

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  4. The West Wing Season 3 Episode 4 - On the Day Before
    7.7/10(981 votes)

    #4 - On the Day Before

    S3:E4

    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.

    Director:Christopher Misiano
    Writers:Paul Redford, Nanda Chitre, Aaron Sorkin

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  5. The West Wing Season 3 Episode 5 - War Crimes
    7.9/10(961 votes)

    #5 - War Crimes

    S3:E5

    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.

    Director:Alex Graves
    Writers:Allison Abner, Aaron Sorkin

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  6. The West Wing Season 3 Episode 6 - Gone Quiet
    8.0/10(971 votes)

    #6 - Gone Quiet

    S3:E6

    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.

    Director:Jon Hutman
    Writers:Aaron Sorkin, Julia Dahl, Laura Glasser

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  7. The West Wing Season 3 Episode 7 - The Indians in the Lobby
    7.9/10(971 votes)

    #7 - The Indians in the Lobby

    S3:E7

    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.

    Director:Paris Barclay
    Writers:Allison Abner, Aaron Sorkin, Kevin Falls

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  8. The West Wing Season 3 Episode 8 - The Women of Qumar
    8.1/10(1032 votes)

    #8 - The Women of Qumar

    S3:E8

    At Abbey's urging, Josh meets with a powerful women's caucus over the proposed language of a United Nations treaty banning prostitution.

    Director:Alex Graves
    Writers:Felicia Wilson, Aaron Sorkin, Julia Dahl, Laura Glasser

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  9. The West Wing Season 3 Episode 9 - Bartlet for America
    8.0/10(1016 votes)

    #9 - Bartlet for America

    S3:E9

    Leo fears the worst when he testifies in the congressional investigation into Bartlet's lack of public disclosure about his illness.

    Director:Thomas Schlamme
    Writer:Aaron Sorkin

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  10. The West Wing Season 3 Episode 10 - H. Con-172
    9.1/10(1335 votes)

    #10 - H. Con-172

    S3:E10

    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.

    Director:Vincent Misiano
    Writers:Eli Attie, Aaron Sorkin

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  11. The West Wing Season 3 Episode 11 - 100,000 Airplanes
    8.1/10(956 votes)

    #11 - 100,000 Airplanes

    S3:E11

    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.

    Director:David Nutter
    Writer:Aaron Sorkin

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  12. The West Wing Season 3 Episode 12 - The Two Bartlets
    8.0/10(1303 votes)

    #12 - The Two Bartlets

    S3:E12

    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.

    Director:Alex Graves
    Writers:Aaron Sorkin, Kevin Falls

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  13. The West Wing Season 3 Episode 13 - Night Five
    7.8/10(962 votes)

    #13 - Night Five

    S3:E13

    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.

    Director:Christopher Misiano
    Writer:Aaron Sorkin

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  14. The West Wing Season 3 Episode 14 - Hartsfield's Landing
    8.2/10(1048 votes)

    #14 - Hartsfield's Landing

    S3:E14

    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.

    Director:Vincent Misiano
    Writer:Aaron Sorkin

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  15. The West Wing Season 3 Episode 15 - Dead Irish Writers
    8.5/10(1071 votes)

    #15 - Dead Irish Writers

    S3:E15

    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.

    Director:Alex Graves
    Writers:Paul Redford, Aaron Sorkin

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  16. The West Wing Season 3 Episode 16 - The U.S. Poet Laureate
    8.2/10(1010 votes)

    #16 - The U.S. Poet Laureate

    S3:E16

    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".

    Director:Christopher Misiano
    Writers:Aaron Sorkin, Laura Glasser

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  17. The West Wing Season 3 Episode 17 - Stirred
    8.0/10(986 votes)

    #17 - Stirred

    S3:E17

    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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  18. The West Wing Season 3 Episode 18 - Enemies Foreign and Domestic
    8.3/10(946 votes)

    #18 - Enemies Foreign and Domestic

    S3:E18

    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.

    Director:Alex Graves
    Writers:Paul Redford, Aaron Sorkin

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  19. The West Wing Season 3 Episode 19 - The Black Vera Wang
    8.4/10(988 votes)

    #19 - The Black Vera Wang

    S3:E19

    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.

    Director:Christopher Misiano
    Writer:Aaron Sorkin

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  20. The West Wing Season 3 Episode 20 - We Killed Yamamoto
    8.2/10(985 votes)

    #20 - We Killed Yamamoto

    S3:E20

    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

    Director:Thomas Schlamme
    Writer:Aaron Sorkin

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  21. The West Wing Season 3 Episode 21 - Posse Comitatus
    8.3/10(975 votes)

    #21 - Posse Comitatus

    S3:E21

    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.

    Director:Alex Graves
    Writer:Aaron Sorkin

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Season 3 Ratings Summary

"Manchester (1)" is the best rated episode of "The West Wing" season 3. It scored 8.2/10 based on 1524 votes. Directed by Thomas Schlamme and written by Aaron Sorkin, it aired on 10/10/2001. This episode is rated 0.1 points higher than the second-best, "Manchester (2)".