Privateers (The West Wing)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| “Privateers” | |
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| The West Wing episode | |
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| Episode no. | Season 4 Episode 83 |
| Written by | Paul Redford & Debora Cahn and Aaron Sorkin (teleplay) Paul Redford & Debora Cahn (story) |
| Directed by | Alex Graves |
| Guest stars | Mary-Louise Parker Jeff Perry Elisabeth Moss Trent Ford Amanda Carlin Benjamin Brown Nathan Anderson Andrea Savage Helen Slayton-Hughes |
| Production no. | 175318 |
| Original airdate | March 26, 2003 |
| Season 4 episodes | |
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| List of The West Wing episodes | |
"Privateers" is episode 83 of The West Wing.
Amy Gardner begins her first day as Chief of Staff to First Lady Abigail Bartlet. Her day is crazy enough, with Josh playing pranks on her, but she is also forced to help the First Lady stop a controversial bill that will include a "Gag rule", meaning funding can only be given to hospitals that will not speak about their abortion practices. Amy gets dragged into a mild fight between the President and the First Lady because the Gag rule is noxious to Dr. Bartlet but the President needs to resolve the budget issue and get funding to Foreign Operations.
Toby Ziegler and Josh must get involved with a man who is involved in high-profile Senate hearings, and wants to turn into an informant on the environmentally-damanging and illegal practices of his employer. Toby and Josh are surprised and angry to find out that the man isn't just a whistle-blower, but someone who is angling for immunity because he helped in these practices and their cover-up before deciding to do the right thing. Toby sarcastically tells the information he'll get his immunity and makes it clear the guy's not a hero to anyone.
Leo McGarry and President Bartlet deal with a situation involving a glacier that melted in Alaska and caused a sudden flood that killed over a dozen people. It's clear that global warming played a part, but how to state this? Will Bailey volunteers to make a political issue of the tragedy and call for a large reduction in greenhouse-gas emissions while accepting censure for doing so, and the President is pleased Will took the hit on the important issue.
Zoey Bartlet is being initiated into the DAR and Charlie Young attempts to flirt with her, while also dealing with her drug-taking boyfriend. Zoey is more civil to Charlie that she has been of late and Charlie doesn't emphasize how little he likes her boyfriend, while Zoey slyly lets Charlie know she's aware that he's doing his own dating these days.
Will Bailey, CJ Cregg and Amy, meanwhile, must deal with a woman who wants to boycott the DAR reception, because Mrs. Bartlet's relative - who qualifies her for entry into the DAR - was a privateer, or a hired pirate. CJ is finding it difficult to keep a straight face, but Amy and Will come up with a solution.
