Madam Secretary - Whisper of the Ax - Review: "The Marsh investigation continues"

Madam Secretary returned after a long hiatus with an episode in which we saw Elizabeth at odds with her staff. Also, the investigation into Marsh continues and reached a shocking conclusion.

While preparing for a Congressional Hearing, Elizabeth and her staff discuss whether or not to cut a microloan program. This program is meant for people who start their own business and need help with some money. Elizabeth has to justify the division of the State Department budget, so therefore the program is the subject of discussion. Jay argues to cut it, while Matt and Daisy disagree and point to the program's strengths. They later fly in a woman from Vietnam who can testify that the program helped her saved her entire village. However, at the hearing, investigator Edward Burke, who is trying to take down Elizabeth, reveals that the director of the microloan program uses the money to pay for his personal lifestyle. Elizabeth is furious at her staff for not doing their job and hires consultant Michael "Mike B" Barnow to advise her on what to do next. He pushes her to fire some or all of her staff, especially when he learns she's inherited them from her predecessor. Bess listens to Mike B, calls in her staff and fires Jay. At a second hearing, Bess manages to convince Burke of the program's advantages. Jay is also re-hired, and it turned out it was all a plan to get the hearing over with and to send a message to Burke that Elizabeth won't be taken down so easily.

Meanwhile, the investigation into Marsh's death continues. With Russell in the know, Elizabeth works with him and CIA Director Munsey to make some progress in the investigation. They learn that Samila Mahdavi, the Iranian woman who withdrew money from Marsh's Venezuelan bank account the day after he died, is in Istanbul so they arrange an operation to grab her from the street. However, it turns out to be an ambush and Mahdavi is killed. This leads Munsey and Russell to suspect that they have a mole, and Elizabeth is forced to confront her friend Isabelle. Her house is searched and she is polygraphed, and it turns out she had a bug on her. Later, the investigating trio decides to inform the President of the situation. He tells them he had his suspicions about the Dubai crash at that time and assigned a pair of CIA agents to investigate, who reported to him that it was an accident. One of them was George Peters, Elizabeth's CIA friend who died in the pilot. The other agent was Juliet, whom we saw earlier in the episode asking how the Marsh investigation was going. However, she left her house and wiped her computer clean. All that she left, is a note to Bess. The episode ends with Elizabeth opening that note and reading it.

Elsewhere, Henry and Bess push Stevie to go back to colleges, but she doesn't want to hear it. She later volunteers at the microloan program and is immediately accepted when her French turns out excellent. However, her boss later tells her that she needs to go to college because this is a paid internship. She does so, and tells her parents that she applied to Georgetown.

As the first of a three-part episode, this episode really gets us back in the game. It was a great way to come back from a long hiatus and I'm very excited to learn more about the Vincent Marsh investigation. I didn't think Juliet was involved, but this brings up an interesting conflict for Bess. The cliffhanger at the end implies that Juliet knows Elizabeth is onto her. How exactly was she involved, and why? Let's hope we will get some answers soon. The Congressional Hearing was a nice touch to acknowledge that Elizabeth inherited her staff from Marsh. However, the final conclusion was a bit complicated. I don't exactly understand how Bess' plan worked and why Jay's firing helped in that. One of Burke's staff members was also seen throughout the episode and Elizabeth even offered him Jay's job. Mike B was an intriguing character and according to recent interviews, he will be around.

What did you think of this episode? Were you shocked that Juliet is involved in Marsh's death? What do you think her role was? Any thoughts as to what she wrote in that note? Please feel free to tell your opinions and theories in the comments below.

The three-part story continues next Sunday at 8/7c. Here's the promo for the episode:

About the Author - Daniel van der Veer

Daniel van der Veer is a Dutch university student studying Psychology. On SpoilerTV he is a reviewer of NCIS, The 100, Stalker, Madam Secretary and the upcoming shows Battle Creek and Odyssey. He also enjoys LOST, Arrow, NCIS: Los Angeles, NCIS: New Orleans, Nikita, The Blacklist, Scorpion and How To Get Away With Murder.

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