Madam Secretary Season 3 Episode 1 Review

This review contains spoilers!

We are in full swing into fall TV season with all of our favorite shows coming back and new TV gracing our screens. There have been a couple of new stand out shows this fall season, however despite the excitement I still couldn’t wait for “Madam Secretary” to be back on air.

There are three things that come in mind when I think about this show: the great balance between family and work drama on this show, Elizabeth and Henry McCord a.k.a. the greatest TV parents and parental unit ever and of course the cliffhangers that this show do so well. And I have to say, the season 3 premiere episode didn’t disappoint on any of these fronts and gave us the “Madam Secretary” we all know and love.

First let’s touch on the work drama part. Although at first it seemed like maybe we will see a different Elizabeth this season, what with all the VP talk and promotional events she was attending at the begging of the episode, it became clear quite early on that luckily that is not the case. In true “Madam Secretary”fashion we saw her do what she does best, fight for causes that are truly important and not pay attention to the media circus that sometimes is also called politics. I feel like it was a smart play from the show’s writers to not only reassure fans that our Elizabeth isn’t going anywhere, but to also show new viewers what this show and its main character is all about.

Speaking of viewers, many were concerned that the show will be re-titled or re-imagined in some way, when we saw that at the end of last season President Dalton asked Elizabeth to be his Vice President during his next term, and I was wondering, too, how they will deal with this issue. However, they didn’t leave us hanging for long on this front as at the end of this episode we saw Elizabeth and Russell Jackson putting a plan in motion that would allow President Dalton to continue to fight for his second term as POTUS, even if he lost the Primary election, and that will let us see Elizabeth McCord continue her role as Secretary of State.

I have to admit, I am not well-versed in the American Presidential election system, because, well, I am not an American and I don’t live in the United States either, however, I still am aware of the process and know the highlights of the Clinton vs Trump fight going on right now. And I like how this show is continuing to mirror what is happening in real life. In previous two seasons this TV show have addressed many current hot topics such as terrorism and tense foreign relations, and now they are also delving into the U.S. Presidential elections, as well as accenting the climate change topic that is and will continue to be in the headlines, as it should. As long as we are on subject of the election, I have to say, I loved how Elizabeth called out Conrad about him making the wrong decision only to get his second term. I almost started to see a villain character in him, a fierce opponent to our Madam Secretary, but of course, he turned it around and showed us that he is a good guy and will do what’s right for his country and the world, even if it meant that he lost his second term in the White House. I don’t know about you, but I see this as the ultimate sacrifice and as a smart way for the writers to legitimize Dalton as a great and worthy president in the viewers’ eyes.

Now let touch a bit to the other half of the show, that makes it a real standout TV drama, in my opinion at least, the McCord family. I love how they always intertwine the family drama with the political drama, making it that much more real, believable and relatable. The mix of family drama with Elizabeth and Henry’s work life drama only shows us that, as we all know, parenting and carrier isn’t as easy to juggle as sometimes it is portrayed on TV. However, this episode was especially family drama heavy, as we found out during it that Jason’s computer was hacked and then it was stolen by attacking Henry, while he is on the phone with his wife no less. It leads me to think that this topic will be heavily featured in the 3rd season of the show, and I cannot wait to see how it plays out.

Lastly, I wanted to touch on the humor in this episode. It seemed like the writers had worked extra hard to put in some humor in this first episode and for good reason, because it was heavy on drama on all fronts. And luckily this time they really nailed it and gave me some great laughs, especially from Elizabeth, whose spunky renegade personality really shone in this season’s premiere. Big props to Téa Leoni, too, because her joke delivery was on point. Bring it on, season 3, cannot wait you have in store for us.

Highlights of the episode:

The humor in this episode
McCords as strong family unit
The faces of all the characters after Dalton spoke about climate change in the debate
Morgan Freeman’s cameo
The last scene that just makes you want to know how that story-line plays out

Let-downs of the episode:

The speech Elizabeth gave to Dalton when she interrupted his debate prep felt a little forced
Too little time spent with Elizabeth’s Fantastic Five or Daisy, Nadine, Matt, Blake and Jay