Episode
The West Wing: Life on Mars
Overview
On his first day at work, Joe Quincy pieces together three news leaks and uncovers a scandal which forces Hoynes to resign.
Details
- Series
- The West Wing
- Season
- Season 4
- Episode
- Episode 21
- Air date
- 2003-04-30
- Runtime
- 41 min
Episode context
Life on Mars is Episode 21 in Season 4 of The West Wing. It aired on 2003-04-30. The runtime is 41 min.
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Episode 20: Evidence of Things Not Seen
The White House is locked down after a gunman on the street fires shots into the West Wing; Josh interviews a candidate to replace Ainsley Hayes; Bartlet negotiates for the return of a spy plane is forced down over Russia; the staff plays poker.
Episode 22: Commencement
Bartlet finally tells the staff the truth about the death of Shareef; Danny agrees to hold off on the story after five alleged terrorists go missing; Andy goes into labor after once again refusing Toby's marriage proposal; Zoey is kidnapped from a nightclub on the night of her college graduation.
More episodes from this season
Episode 19: Angel Maintenance
Air Force One is forced to keep aloft for almost 24 hours when an indicator light leads the flight crew to believe that the landing gear isn't functioning properly; Bartlet and Will have a spirited discussion on Colombian recertification, which is ultimately rendered moot when Air Force One doesn't land on time; the Black Caucus plays hardball with the Oval Office to gain a Congressional debate on the merits of reinstating the draft; legislation to clean up Chesapeake Bay is sacrificed to partisan politics; Will is unsuccessful in hiding his fear of flying from C.J. and Charlie; deaths in Kundu continue to mount.
Episode 23: Twenty Five
When Bartlet learns that Zoey's kidnapping is the work of Qumari terrorists, he invokes the 25th amendment to diminish their leverage and eliminate any conflict of interest; since there's no Vice President, the power of the Presidency passes to Bartlet's chief political rival and the most powerful Republican in the country, the Speaker of the House, who immediately takes a very hard line; now that twins Huck and Molly have arrived, Toby wonders if he's capable of loving them enough.
Episode 18: Privateers
Toby's old friend approaches him ready to blow the whistle on his employer's violations of environmental laws; staff pranks abound on Amy's first day at the office; Abbey charges Amy with the task of convincing the President to threaten a veto on a foreign aid bill containing an abortion gag rule provision; claiming that Abbey's ancestor was a pirate rather than a privateer, a prominent member threatens to mount a boycott of the D.A.R. dinner at which Zoey will be inducted until Will, C.J. and Amy devise a plan to defuse the situation; at the behest of Jean Paul, Zoey sends Charlie a "Dear John" email, but Charlie refuses to accept the brushoff and declares his love for Zoey; Donna is less than thrilled when Josh assigns her the job of shadowing a possible security risk at Zoey's D.A.R. induction; Will takes one for the team in putting an environmental and political face on the destruction and deaths which resulted from the melting of an Alaskan glacier.
Episode 17: Red Haven's on Fire
While Toby and C.J. are in California working on Sam's campaign, Josh drops Abbey's agenda in favor of his own, Jed deals with a military hostage situation, and Will runs his intern writing staff ragged.
Episode 16: The California 47th
Bartlet plays hardball to end the genocide in Kundu; after the entire speechwriting staff quits, Will is forced to rely on Elsie and some inexperienced interns to write tax policy remarks; the trip to California to help Sam's campaign gets off to a rocky start; Sam refuses to let Bartlet hold off the Democratic response to the Republican tax plan because it might hurt the campaign; Toby and Charlie get arrested coming to Andy's defense after a drunk accosts her; Bartlet fires Sam's campaign manager and replaces him with Toby.
Episode 15: Inauguration: Over There (2)
Toby discovers that Will's frankness, stubbornness, and commitment to ideals is much like his own; Charlie remains on the hunt for an inaugural Bible; Bartlet and the staff continue to debate over sending American troops into Kundu to stop a genocidal war until Laurel and Hardy provide some needed inspiration; Bartlet appoints Will Deputy Communications Director; Donna takes one for Jack when a comment he thinks he is making off the record is included in a "Post" article by Danny's editor.
Episode 14: Inauguration (1)
The staff wrangles with the State Department over language in the inaugural address; a genocidal war breaks out in Kundu, and Bartlet weighs his options as Will pushes for American military involvement based on Bartlet's statements in the past; the Chief Justice's increased propensity for writing opinions in verse causes concern about his competence; Bartlet keeps Charlie busy on the hunt for the perfect Bible for the inauguration; Donna becomes upset when Jack is transferred out of the White House and reassigned to Italy after getting caught in a squeeze play between the Oval Office and the Pentagon.
Episode 13: The Long Goodbye
While Toby unsuccessfully attempts to fill her shoes in the briefing room, C.J. returns to Dayton, where she gives a speech at her high school reunion, reconnects with an old friend, and struggles with her father's worsening Alzheimer's.
Episode 12: Guns Not Butter
Josh, determined to make sure a foreign aid bill passes even though it's a hopeless cause, sends Donna out to track down a reluctant senator; in an attempt to impress Zoey's new boyfriend, Charlie unwittingly gets over his head with the Department of Defense; Danny continues to pursue the Shareef matter; a Bartlet photo op with Heifer International creates unexpected opportunities -- for C.J. to perfect her spin-doctoring techniques, and for the staff once again to test Will's mettle and sense of humor.
Episode 11: Holy Night
It's December 23, and the holiday brings several visitors to the White House: Zoey comes home with her new French boyfriend in tow; aided by Josh, Toby's father seeks a reconciliation; and Danny arrives bearing gifts of gold and a heads-up for C.J. about Shareef's death. Will moves into Sam's office at Toby's insistence, and is treated to some good-natured ribbing by the rest of the staff. Bartlet and Leo try to exorcise their guilt about Shareef by adding eleventh hour funding to combat infant mortality in the federal budget, and promoting peace in the Mideast, respectively.