Madam Secretary - The French Revolution - Review

“We busted a stalker, we rescued some priceless artifacts, took the fight to HS and saved Algeria, and we held together our most vital military alliance.” As Daisy herself said, a lot happened in “The French Revolution.”

Watching Elizabeth (try to) cook will never get old for me. She’s one of the most powerful women in the world, but at home, she’s just mom… and cooking is what moms do. She can’t cook. Everyone knows this. Even she knows this. However, she still tries because she wants to provide for her family and give everyone, including herself, a sense of normalcy. I like the fact that her inadequacies in the kitchen are often revisited. The woman jumps through unimaginable hoops to maintain world peace at work and is the best mom to her kids in every other way, but she can’t make a proper meal. I appreciate seeing she has a “flaw.” The rest of us mere mortal females are thankful for these moments of humanity. Elizabeth is also taking the reigns at home because Henry is spending so much time at work. It’s a nice role reversal for the Secretary of State and her Man Beside the Woman. His career is taking a bit of a front seat, at least for the morning, so Elizabeth is more hands on than usual with the morning routine. A rarity. I’m sure she’d like it to happen more, but, you know, world peace.

When it comes to their work, Elizabeth’s and Henry’s jobs are again enmeshed. Elizabeth is trying to woo the French and talk them off the Ledge of Unreasonableness while Henry’s asset, Cecile, is holed up drinking coffee, being held by the French. Elizabeth recognizes this, quipping, “Your counterterrorism thing conflicting with my foreign policy thing. What couple doesn’t have to deal with that?” At least this season they’re able to joke about their work conflicts and keep it light, not letting it affect their marriage. Granted, this situation is much different than the emotional toll Dmitri and Henry’s DIA job took on them, and they can discuss their work this time around, but it’s still reassuring to see that their careers can conflict and they’re able to leave it at the townhouse door. I’m going to have to amend my McCord Bedroom scene love to McCord Master Suite love because this week’s bathroom scene was perfect. It was so normal and sweet. Nothing (too) sexy about it. Just a married couple relaxing at the end of their day, getting ready for bed, light-heartedly discussing work. They just happen to be half clothed. (No complaints here.) These two know how to kick me in the feels.

The stalker storyline came to a head this week. Captain Ronnie Baker gets a lead and is eager to immediately share it with the McCords. Standing in the McCord kitchen, Ronnie is in full military uniform, while Elizabeth is in a robe. That’s not awkward. Baker reveals the lead centers on a website called BuckSend. Elizabeth is less than excited about the so-called revelation and goes off, as much as Elizabeth ever goes off on anyone. She then apologizes to Ronnie, admitting, “It’s getting to us.” My heart hurt for her in this scene. The typically larger-than-life Elizabeth seemed so small, so hopeless and so exhausted.

Things don’t get better when she goes to her office and sees it was ransacked, the word “quit” spray-painted on the wall. The terror she feels is immediate. This means whoever is stalking her can get into one of the most secure places in Washington, DC. It’s not quite like when their house became possessed out of a scene of Poltergeist, but it’s a close second. Nothing will ever be that traumatic.

Long story longer, the FBI discovers State Department janitor Diego Molina is the one who vandalized Elizabeth’s office. The FBI wants to take him into custody, but Elizabeth and Henry have another idea and propose a plan. I found it both odd and hilarious that the McCords were leading the FBI on how to best handle Molina. On one hand, it’s clever that Elizabeth and Henry are deciding the fate of their stalker. On the other, it kind of makes the FBI look inept because the victims themselves are the ones coming up with the better plan. I guess that’s what happens when the targets are former CIA and DIA agents. They’ve run so many ops themselves, they know the best moves to make. This wouldn’t happen if the FBI was dealing with Bob and Jane Smith.

Following the trail, Molina leads authorities to Ron Janeway, who leads authorities to Julius Burton. Yes, THAT Julius Burton. Dun, dun, dun. Wearing their fancy finest, Elizabeth and Henry confront Burton before the State Dinner. They hold hands, presenting a united front, as they calmly and rationally lay out their case against him. The Merry McCords are the ultimate team, finally standing up to the man who caused so much trauma to their family. They even take a step closer to Burton, feeling emboldened that their stalker has been caught and their nightmare is about to be over. I give them both 100 life points for not slugging him right there… but I’m happy their pretty clothes weren’t messed up. Of course Burton denies the accusations.

When confronted by Conrad, he even calls Elizabeth “Mrs. McCord,” with an emphasis on “MISSES.” Not “Secretary.” “Misses.” That’s a purposeful move, meant to belittle her and strip her of her title and power. I wanted to slug him myself for that. Ultimately, Burton meets the Attorney General and we’re lead to believe he’ll eventually be living it up in some federal camp. Personally, I’d love it if Burton was just one part of the stalker puzzle. I can picture the McCords enjoying their newly freed lives when the lights suddenly flicker or another picture of their kids pops up. Ultimately, I think the stalker storyline is over, but there’s a part of me that hopes I’m wrong. I love angst. Actually, I love all of the fan guesses about who the stalker could be better than the actual reveal.

While Elizabeth is living her own personal hell, she’s also feeling the wrath of Russell’s hell. Russell is pissed (everybody drink!) at how Elizabeth is choosing to rectify the situation with the French and is laying into her (everybody drink again!) about it. Elizabeth is the one whose family is at risk by an (at the time) unknown stalker and is trying to put the pieces of international diplomacy back together, yet it’s Russell who’s losing it. “Russell, pull yourself together,” Elizabeth demands. Even she realizes he’s seemingly gone off the deep end. What then follows is an important, deeply personal and almost sad look into Russell’s life. Russell’s entire purpose for being is politics. His life is Washington. When he stayed on with Conrad the Independent, he eviscerated any potential way forward in politics outside of the Dalton Administration. That’s why he’s so desperate to keep Conrad in power.

Rocking the boat with the French could spell disaster for Conrad’s re-election, which would leave Russell with just a pink slip and memories. Elizabeth has her teaching career to fall back on or a new career path to walk down should Conrad not be re-elected. She even questioned if she should quit earlier in the episode as a means to end the stalking, proof that to her, it’s a job, not a lifestyle. Elizabeth is serving as Secretary of State as a favor to her friend, who just happens to be POTUS. While Elizabeth’s future path is full of forks and options, Russell’s isn’t. There’s only one road ahead and all he sees are landmines, mines he thinks Elizabeth is inadvertently planting. In an attempt to cling to sanity, he loudly tries to explain how Elizabeth’s decisions affect the future of not only Conrad, but everyone who’s sticking by Conrad. It’s a funny spot these two have found themselves in. The two children often vie for Daddy Dalton’s appreciation, but this desperate plea from Russell gets to Elizabeth. She sees him as a person with a heart, not Robot Russell. I just wish it didn’t take some rare drastically dramatic incident for Russell to show that he’s human, although that’s also what makes these moments so enjoyable. Along the way, he compliments Elizabeth, calling her brilliant and devoted and a “damn good Secretary of State.” Yeah, I didn’t miss that. In the end, Elizabeth promises to do whatever she can to fix the situation with France, and Russell touches her arm in thanks. I assume that .03 seconds of micro-contact was Russell speak for a hug.

Speaking of Russell desperately pulling out all the stops, he meets with three of Conrad’s biggest donors and promises them tickets to the State Dinner. It’s a move that’s bordering on mildly unethical, as Nadine and others point out. Between this move and Elizabeth’s don’t-call-it-campaigning in Ohio last week, we seem to be circling the Drain of Questionable Ethics. Will this come back to bite them? It seems not, based on all of these behind-the-scenes pictures we’re seeing that appear to show an inauguration. Time will tell.

There’s a large part of me that enjoys Madam Secretary paralleling the U.S. election, but there’s also a part of me that doesn’t. There are so many similarities between real life and reel life, that it’s almost uncomfortable. Emails being illegally hacked, questions about NATO, Katy Perry. Yeah, perhaps I’m reaching with that last one.. but she IS all over Hillary Clinton’s campaign. It’s fun to watch the election process with some of my favorite TV characters, but I also need a 42-minute break from everyday political reality. I realize this is my American Election Anxiety coming through. I just need Xanax.

For all the drama leading up to the State Dinner, we didn’t see much of the actual event. I’m fine with that. I saw all I needed: Elizabeth and Henry happily dancing. Unlike last year when Henry blew Elizabeth off while she was wearing THE DRESS, these two wowed the crowd with their black tie best. They were carefree and relieved, just reveling in each other, at least for a moment. If Conrad is being re-elected, I’m putting in a request to see the McCords dressed in their finest, dancing at one of the 75394875 Inauguration Balls that take place in DC.

Other Things:

--Henry sitting next to Elizabeth in the Oval Office still throws me off. I’m not saying I don’t like it, though. I also appreciate their sweet little meet-ups in the White House hallways.

--Nadine is the ultimate wing woman. Just when Elizabeth needed her, she swooped in and grabbed Foreign Minister Dubois. Elizabeth learned her negotiation tactics from Madeleine Albright, Nadine from Wendy Rogers. These little bonding moments are so rare, but so enjoyable.

--We all know I’m not one to appreciate how Elizabeth always comes out on top in every international situation, but I did get great satisfaction seeing her own Foreign Minister Dubois. He put his foot in the ground, thinking he had the upper hand in the situation. That’s when she pulled her rabbit out of a hat, calmly threatening him and his country with the intelligence they have. While Dubois is still processing what she said, she moves in, tilts her head and says, “Smile,” as their picture is snapped. It was a bit of “all in a day’s work” gloat because she knows she has him by the…..

--When Elizabeth finally rectifies the situation with the Foreign Minister, she whips out the bottle of cognac that he gave her in Season 1. “First time I’ve ever partaken of a Diplomatic gift,” she says. What you see are Elizabeth’s pants on fire because she and her staff opened that bottle in celebration at the end of “The Operative” after she decreed an exception to the gift rule. I love that the writers refer back to even the most minor of scenes from previous seasons.

--“The French are picky and easily insulted” felt a lot like Season 1’s “Europe. They’re judgy.”

--Elizabeth doing yoga. I see her as someone who is in a pose with her head between her legs… while holding her phone and checking email. Or talking to Blake on speaker phone while she’s doing Sun Salutation. There’s something about Elizabeth being a meditative yogi that I can’t picture.

--Elizabeth blowing the bubbles in the bathtub proves no one, no matter how old they are, can resist bubbles.

--The “Harvard Law: Just kidding” sweatshirt made a triumphant return. It’s perfection on cotton/poly blend.

What did you think about the stalker reveal?