This review contains spoilers!
So this week we again got a “Madam Secretary” episode, only this time with a little less drama and more politics. But despite that this was still a solid episode with great dialog, new plot lines being introduced and some old ones moving forward.
The main thing that Elizabeth and her Team were dealing with in this episode was an attack in Rome and Angola, and Angolan presidential elections that were stalled by the current Angolan president, because he didn’t want his opponent being elected. I liked how these elections were almost like a predecessor or a parallel to the actual U.S. elections that we see happening on the show. Although the regimes in the both countries couldn’t be more different, the fact that there is a Law that prevents President Dalton from running in the general election as an independent, because he lost the primary election, which Russell is working to overturn, is kind of a milder version of the current Angolan president keeping his opponent on house arrest, so she can’t run in the election. And to see these parallels playing out also kind of gives us an indication, that Dalton’s road to his second term won’t be all rainbows and unicorns, if he will even end up with second term.
Besides the Angola plotline, there was also one on how the State Department’s African affairs bureau issued a Dissent Memo, about how they are not satisfied with Madam Secretary’s policies regarding Angola. And that of course led to Elizabeth being in Russell’s crosshairs once again, because the Dissent Memo, which was later leaked to the press, literally criticizes the Dalton Administration’s policy, since Elizabeth works under Dalton, which is not good for Dalton’s image. Lately, everything seems to be about the election on this show, and I am kind of over it at this point, so I hope the general election and the intrigue around it won’t quite drag on until the end of the season.
Then we should touch on Henry and his work, too, because in this episode we saw him back working with Jose and Black Dog station (which evolved from season two’s Murphy Station) trying to dismantle the rest of HS and recover the artifacts that they stole. It was great seeing them in action again, and this story line also provided the great “Madam Secretary” cliffhanger of this episode, since the agent that Henry and Jose sent to meet with HS was kidnapped at the end of this fourth episode.
And finally, I also have to talk about my favorite part of every “Madam Secretary” episode, the McCord family time. Even though in this episode we didn’t see any new developments in the stalker case, and it was only briefly mentioned in a conversation between Elizabeth and Henry, what we did see is a new or rather older last season’s story line related to the McCord eldest daughter Stevie continuing. In this episode Stevie’s fiancé Jareth came for a visit and we saw Stevie admit, that she had awful time in England during the summer. And although the whole Stevie, Elizabeth and Henry bonding was great to see, especially, since previously we have seen Stevie be at odds with her parents for quite some time, I really loved all the marriage advice both Elizabeth and Henry were giving her. It is no secret that I think that Elizabeth and Henry are the best TV couple and parents ever, and my OPT for sure, but seeing them admit that it is not always easy to be married, but it is worth it because you get to go through life with your best friend, was amazing and only solidified my love towards the McCord parents.
From the looks of next episode’s promo, we will be seeing the stalker story line play out and the episode being very intense, so it was great that they kept this one more mellow while still giving us great moments, great relationships and just a little bit of intense politics.
Highlights of the episode:
• Elizabeth and Henry’s interactions
• Stevie and Jareth figuring it out
• Elizabeth on the sports show trying to campaign for Dalton while not actually doing it
• Elizabeth and her Team resolving the Angola issues and new president being elected in Angola
• Henry working with Jose
• Our Team and Jackson celebrating the new Angolan president
• Cliffhanger at the end of the episode
Let-downs of the episode:
• The U.S. presidential election plot line starting to drag a bit
• The Bureau of African Affairs forcing Elizabeth’s hand by releasing the Memo
Quote of the episode:
Russell: Here’s a novel idea: stick to the Prime Directive. Let democracy take its course, without U.S. interference.
Elizabeth: Really? A Star Trek reference?