Character

Barmak Essa

high-value incarcerated militant-linked

Barmak Essa languishes in Islamabad's maximum-security prison. Kidnappers demand his release alongside Uzma Kalil and Ahmed Mansour in exchange for Zoey Bartlet, coupling the demand with U.S. withdrawal from Qumar. President Bartlet reads the fax in the Oval Office amid clashing advice from Admiral Fitzwallace, Nancy McNally, and Leo McGarry. Essa embodies the hostage crisis's geopolitical stakes, linking Zoey's abduction to Bahji militants and forcing Bartlet to deploy the 5th Fleet as calculated force.

2 appearances

Barmak Essa's Journey

A timeline through the narrative

2 moments

S4E23 · Twenty-Five

Ransom Fax — Zoey Held; Bartlet Orders the 5th Fleet

Unknown; invoked as negotiating currency rather than an actor.

Also listed in the ransom demand; functions as part of the trio whose release is tied to the kidnappers' political objectives.

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S4E23 · Twenty-Five

Bartlet Sends the 5th Fleet — A Calibrated Escalation

N/A

Also listed in the ransom demand; his name heightens the diplomatic stakes by tying the kidnapping to Islamabad-held detainees.

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