This review contains spoilers!
“Madam Secretary” is on its third season now, but it seems that the episodes are only getting better and better each Sunday. And, in my opinion, the latest episode was one of the best the show has had so far, because there was something for every type of TV viewer in it. There were the political relations with China for those who love political dramas, family stuff for those who love family-geared shows, the stalking plot for those who love crime shows and suspense and of course humor for those who are more into comedies.
In this episode the so called case of the week was Elizabeth trying to get China to release American activist group, who were filming a video on one of the atolls in the South China Sea, which was annexed by China. And it was great struggle for our Madam Secretary and her team, because it wasn’t easy to get China to understand that US is not tolerating China’s lawless territory expansion and unsanctioned ballistic missile set-ups among other things. It the end, of course, US and China managed to come to an agreement and the American activists where released, too, but there was one more important issue that was resolved with this agreement; China agreed not to take back the pandas that they loaned to the U.S. and that lives in the National Zoo.
Why do I say that, because surely preventing possible war should be more important, right? I say that, because the pandas were a huge topic this episode and provided most of the humorous moments in it, too. We saw Russell yelling at Elizabeth and her team about the pandas and afterwards admitting, that he, too, often watches the pandas on the Panda-cam, then there was the Daisy and Blake conversation during which Blake couldn’t take his eyes off of the panda live stream and was literally cooing at the animals, and of course also the scene in which Elizabeth told China’s Foreign minister that they are not giving the pandas back at the end of their very serious conversation on how they could deescalate their tense situation. Every one of these scenes were just so entertaining and just what I needed to get a good laugh from this episode.
But now on a bit more serious matter. In this episode, the “someone is stalking the McCord family” story line continued, and it seemed like that whole situation was only escalating, since the hacker hacked the McCord house and turned on all their lights and electronics. It really looks like the hacker (or hackers) who is doing this, is only getting braver, which in return means that the story line will get even more intense and scarier on the coming episodes. I really hope that we find out who is doing this, and soon, because that would let us, the viewers, to finally understand what is going on, and it would also let the show’s writers to really get into the topic of stalking and security.
As long as we are on the starker plot line, I also loved how concerned Henry was in this episode. I didn’t quite like how he was about to go knock on the door of a possible suspect in the stalking case, who just happens to be one of Elizabeth’s old students, but it just showed how invested Henry is in this and how truly scared he is for his family’s safety. And the conversation between Elizabeth and Henry at the very end of the episode was the cherry on top, because it finally settled their arguments over this situation and showed that they both are extremely worried, yet still a united team, that will do anything they can to get to the bottom of this.
And lastly I also need to mention the little Vietnam story line tidbit that was throw in this episode. To show China that US is standing up to them, Elizabeth suggested President Dalton to come with her to Vietnam, where she was scheduled a visit. And what a visit it was, since the last time Conrad was in Vietnam was during the Vietnam war. It was sweet, humble moment and really gave his character new layers and helped us, the viewers, once again not only relate to his character more, but also helped us continue to root for him as POTUS, so the story line of him going for his second term in the White House as an independent would make more sense.
Highlights of the episode:
• Russell’s outburst about the pandas
• Daisy and Blake’s panda conversation
• Elizabeth standing up to China
• President Dalton’s Vietnam story line
• How the hacker attack was done visually and played by the actors
• Henry and Jose’s budding friendship
• Captain Ronnie Baker being introduced as a new character
Let-downs of the episode:
• Henry taking matters in his own hands
• Russell always thinking more about the election then the actual foreign crisis that Elizabeth is dealing with
• Us not getting any closer to finding out who is stalking the McCord family
Quote of the episode:
Daisy: So, I am hearing things.
Elizabeth: Inside or outside your head?