The McCords are back! Yes, the exclamation mark was needed. It’s been a long hiatus, as the fandom wondered and speculated: did Elizabeth accept President Dalton’s invitation to become his Vice President? In true Madam Secretary fashion, after months of waiting, we’d have to wait a little longer to find out.
We start in a hotel room, Election Night results coming in. Elizabeth is with Conrad watching the returns, but is she there as a VP candidate, his Secretary of State or his friend? That remains to be seen. What we do know is that Conrad lost the election and Russell blames Elizabeth, growling, “This is all your fault.” Shocking. Russell’s soft spot for Elizabeth didn’t grow over hiatus.
As Elizabeth meets her public, Mother Nature is raging in Bahrain. A massive tropical cyclone has struck the area, leaving the U.S. Naval base with billions of dollars worth of damage and 37 Americans injured, one critically. The obvious choice is to repair the base, but this brings about a moral question with political undertones. Elizabeth wonders why the U.S. should spend billions of dollars in Bahrain instead of in a country that better aligns itself with U.S. values. As if that situation isn’t tricky enough, the man behind the company with a no-bid contract for military base repairs is Julius Burton. Yes, THAT Julius Burton. Conrad’s largest campaign donor. Repairing the base means Burton will make fistfuls of cash and, in turn, continue to fund Conrad’s campaign. It’s a precarious tightrope Elizabeth is now walking on.
Conrad pulls Henry aside at one point to talk about Dr. McCord’s life as Second Man of the United States. (SMOTUS? Is that a thing?) It’s a laid back conversation, the two discussing things like the old friends they are, rather than a POTUS advising his VP’s spouse. As expected, Mr. Arm Candy tests well and he’s again finding himself in a familiar position: the man beside the woman. Conrad foreshadows a bit saying, “I hope you don’t have any plans for a life of your own.”
Henry is back teaching at the National War College, talking about Augustine. How appropriate. It’s nice to see him in the classroom again. Don’t get me wrong, he was good as his job in the DIA, but he’s much more carefree when he’s in his element and in front of students. As if on cue, in walks José. The two shake hands and hug like old friends. How far we’ve come. I guess facing impending death and giving the last rites to someone will do that to people. “We’re getting the band back together,” José says, as if the Beatles are reuniting. He wants Henry to return to the DIA with him. “Black Dog Station” will pick up where “Murphy Station” left off, ridding the world of Hizb al-Shahid. Henry declines, but José won’t take no for an answer. Part of Henry wants to. Another part remembers the personal stress he went through and how it affected his marriage. He’s also starting a long campaign as SMOTUS. (Yes, I’m sticking with this acronym.)
While tasked with starting the process to repair the military base in Bahrain, Jay’s eyes are opened to the real problem: climate change. Restoring the base will only be a temporary fix because storms will continue coming. It’s something Congress keeps doing, however, instead of renegotiating the contract with Burton Standard Enterprises. Yes, THAT Burton. Relaying this information to his boss, Jay laments, “There’s nothing we can do.” “That’s what they always say until somebody does,” Elizabeth responds. Miss You-Don’t-Even-Know-There’s-a-Box is back at it, looking at politics from a Washington outsider’s perspective.
When Elizabeth brings her concerns about Bahrain and climate change to Conrad, the President is not hearing it. He shoots her down, irate that she suggests he overhaul his foreign policy stance and alienate his biggest donor during an election year. He yells that he’s already under scrutiny for last season’s dirty bomb attack and the Peter Buckley trade for what he calls “reasons that I can’t disclose.” I knew Dmitri would make his way into Season 3 somehow. Elizabeth is more concerned about doing what’s right, while Conrad is more concerned about winning. I can actually see both sides.
When Russell gets wind of the interview, it goes as well as you’d expect. “You’re completely insane,” he roars. “Well, the test results aren’t back yet,” Elizabeth jokes. I love that she’s not intimidated by him the way everyone else appears to be. Elizabeth explains that she was making a personal comment and nothing representative of the Dalton Administration, but the White House doesn’t see it that way.
It’s only episode one and we already have a scene in their bedroom. Elizabeth and Henry getting ready for bed, brushing their teeth and going through their nightly routines are some of my favorite moments. It’s the time where they truly communicate and touch base with each other, letting out the stress of the day and confiding their concerns about their family, jobs and marriage. I’m hoping we’re not as deprived of these scenes this season as we were last year. When Henry tells Elizabeth that José asked him to rejoin the DIA, you can see her mind racing. She almost lost him last season due to his job with the Department. Those thoughts are quickly replaced with indignation that he may not accept the position even if he wants to due to her being the VP candidate, and she spirals into why she’s even on the ticket. Always her touchstone, Henry reels her back in, reminding her why she took the job of Secretary of State to begin with. “To affect real change in the world,” she flatly recalls. The Season 3 premiere is tying back in with the show’s pilot. I’m just waiting for the phrase “the greater good” to pop up. Too soon?
President Dalton and Governor Sam Evans, his opponent in the primary, face off in a debate. Given the current state of the U.S. elections, this feels very ripped from the headlines. Governor Evans brings up everything from Season 2: the dirty bomb, the peace deal with Iran and the Peter Buckley trade with Russia. In response, Conrad steals some of Elizabeth’s tenacity and throws down his cue cards. He says climate change is real and that the U.S. should shift its global allegiances, admitting that he’s breaking with his party’s beliefs. It’s a speech that was almost word-for-word what Elizabeth said to him, proving, once again, that she’s his moral compass. I’m pretty sure Russell’s head almost exploded. “What the hell has she done,” he seethes. Russell and Elizabeth have always had a testy relationship, like they’re vying for their father’s attention. Safe to say this isn’t helping.
That brings us to where the episode started, with Conrad losing to Evans in the primary and Russell blaming Elizabeth for it. Dalton doesn’t see it that way, saying everyone made his or her own choices. “I really wanted a shot at that Vice Presidency,” Elizabeth later admits to Henry. Despite the grief the campaign was giving her, she’s truly disappointed they didn’t go farther.
Spurred by the belief that their work is far from finished, Elizabeth convinces Conrad to run as an Independent. “Wouldn’t you rather go out fighting? If we’re gonna make history, let’s make the good kind,” she says convincingly as the music swells. His chances of winning outright as an Independent are slim, and that’s being generous, but that’s not necessarily the goal. The objective is to prevent any candidate from reaching 270 electoral votes, pushing the decision to the House of Representatives, where Conrad has a shot of winning. Because Governor Evans is from Pennsylvania, a major swing state, Conrad needs an advantage there. Putting one of the Pennsylvania senators on the ticket gives him a fighting chance, something Elizabeth suggests. Conrad immediately refuses, saying he wants Elizabeth as his Vice President, but she convinces him otherwise, admitting that if they’re changing the world, she needs to be his Secretary of State, not his VP. As much as she truly wants the job, she’s putting her friend and her country first.
Back at home, Henry makes a disturbing discovery. Someone has been taking pictures of the McCord kids and printed the photos out, leaving them in Henry’s bag. Both parents panic when they realize someone is stalking their children. Between this mystery and Conrad’s re-election, the season premiere set up what should be an eventful, and probably bumpy, ride through Season 3.
Along the way, Morgan Freeman continued his season premiere guest appearances as Chief Justice Wilbourne, Conrad threw out the word “nascent,” harkening back to Alison in Cuba and Elizabeth got a new hairstyle.
Are you surprised Elizabeth agreed to be Vice President in the first place? Who do you think is behind Jason’s laptop and the pictures? What are you hoping to see in Season 3?
