Plot

The President

Josiah Bartlet

Josiah Edward "Jed" Bartlet is a fictional character played by Martin Sheen on the television serial drama The West Wing. He is President of the United States for the entire series until the last episode, when his successor is inaugurated...

 addresses the nation for his Third State of the Union

State of the Union Address

The State of the Union is an annual address presented by the President of the United States to the United States Congress. The address not only reports on the condition of the nation but also allows the president to outline his legislative agenda and his national priorities.The practice arises...

, and a group of DEA

Drug Enforcement Administration

The Drug Enforcement Administration is a federal law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Justice, tasked with combating drug smuggling and use within the United States...

 agents are taken hostage in Colombia

Colombia

Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

. An invited guest to the speech has a questionable background, which C.J.

C. J. Cregg

Claudia Jean "C. J." Cregg is a fictional character played by Allison Janney on the television serial drama The West Wing. From the beginning of the series until the sixth season, she is White House Press Secretary in the administration of President Josiah Bartlet...

 tries to deal with. Capital Beat does a live extended show from the West Wing. Josh

Josh Lyman

Joshua "Josh" Lyman is a fictional character played by Bradley Whitford on the television drama The West Wing. For the majority of the series, he was White House Deputy Chief of Staff in the Josiah Bartlet administration...

 is stressed about polling numbers, but a power outage holds those numbers up for longer than expected, causing Josh to take out his stress on Joey

Joey Lucas

Josephine "Joey" Lucas, is a fictional character on the television serial drama The West Wing, a California-based pollster and political operative played by Marlee Matlin...

 and Donna

Donna Moss

Donnatella "Donna" Moss is a fictional character played by Janel Moloney on the television serial drama The West Wing. Donna is a recurring character during the first season, although she appears in every episode, making her a de facto regular...

. Sam

Sam Seaborn

Samuel Norman "Sam" Seaborn is a fictional character portrayed by Rob Lowe on the television serial drama The West Wing. He is best known for being Deputy White House Communications Director in the Josiah Bartlet administration throughout the first four seasons of the series.-Creation and...

 asks The President to introduce himself to Ainsley, which ends in embarrassment. Abbey is livid when she realizes changes made to the State of the Union address were done to appeal to moderate swing voters, a sign that Jed is going to run for re-election; this is in violation of a deal they'd made together in which he agreed to be a one-term president and leads to a heated argument between the two.

The events of the following episode, The War at Home

The War at Home (The West Wing)

-Plot:An attempt to rescue the DEA agents held hostage in Colombia backfires and nine soldiers are killed. The President and his staff weigh more military action and the effects of appeasing terrorists. The hostages are later released after the Colombian President covertly releases a recently...

, occur immediately after the events of this episode.

External links

• The West Wing Episode Guide