BWW Recap: Henry's NSA Work is 'Need To Know' on MADAM SECRETARY

MADAM SECRETARY had a little something for everyone this week as our Secretary enters into a Moldavian conflict, Henry enters back into the spy game with his NSA work, and son Jason, enters into the dating pool with a new girl at school. Also back, is our conspiracy theory about the death of former Secretary of State Marsh, and I am almost embarrassed to admit how I am slowly coming around on that topic.

As serious as it is for Henry to start working for the NSA again, I do find it kind of fun and a throwback to the old school of spying, with unmarked vans, secret meeting locations, and the old, "hidden microphone in the old Jerusalem chess set," trick. I do think it's a good thing they have done such a great job of making Henry and Elizabeth's home life so believable, loving, and fun, because with his NSA secrets he can't tell her about and all of the State Department things she can't tell Henry about, it could have been a pretty quiet bedroom. Henry's character is growing week by week, and I am becoming a bigger fan of Tim Daly each episode.

Henry's cloak and dagger this week concerns an old friend, who may be bringing deadly Sarin Gas into the country, and has been meeting secretly with a known enemy of the United States. His NSA handlers are telling him that after he plants a bug on his old friend, his work will be done, but I am not sure Henry really wants that. The door has definitely been left open for more of Henry's involvement. It will be interesting to see where they go with this, as the Secretary is really not happy about him getting back into bed with the NSA.

The Moldovan government is having trouble with its old Soviet ties, and our Secretary has enlisted the help of a past colleague from the CIA which she brought over to State, and happens to be an ethnic Moldovan. She sends him back with the Prime Minister to help him shore up his country's problems, but their plane goes missing on the flight back to Moldova. When it turns out the plane may have been taken by opposition forces inside the Prime Minister's regime, the Secretary has to figure out how to see if her friend and the Minister are still alive, and if so, how to get them back. Once again, the Secretary saves the day with her own plan on how to free the captives and take down one of her big detractors at the same time, with style and humor.

One of MADAM SECRETARY's strengths, is how it incorporates the McCord family life into the show so seamlessly. Creator, Barbara Hall, promised as much before the show launched, and I feel she has kept her word, and it is one of the reason's the series was picked up for a full season. With light moments, such as middle daughter Allison cooking "Meatless Monday," (with a back-up sausage pizza waiting in the wings an hour out), and this week's lesson of the week for son Jason, and how he should not be objectifying women with his friend's scale of hotness, the scenes come with a sense of a strong family bond, and of course, more humor. (What pre-teen boy has not had that "moment of stank," when we may have put on just a little too much of dad's cologne?)

CIA buddy Georges death and the conspiracy theory about what really happened to the last Secretary of State's plane crash and death, reared its head again this week as the Secretary decides to let her old CIA friends into her thoughts and feelings about what happened, and ask them to be a part of the investigation. Realizing that if someone already has died with this information if it is true, they can be in danger themselves, the Secretary asks them to decide if they want to be involved and would understand if the conversation, "never took place." For good measure, she also asks her head of the National Transportation Safety Board, about the crash report and whether any ground crews were interviewed about the crash. He lets her know that it was not part of protocol, so they were never talked to. We end the week with one of her CIA friends showing up at the Secretary's residence and showing her a bill that George had given her a few weeks back with the word, "TAMERLANE," written across the back. She now thinks that George gave her the bill to help Elizabeth. The friend is in!

******* Okay, if you have been reading my weekly recaps and reviews, (and if you haven't been, shame on you, you can get started HERE), you know that I was very worried when the series started it, that they would become more a soap opera political drama like SCANDAL, instead of a smart, well written, thinking man's drama, like THE WEST WING. The entire conspiracy in the first week, didn't fill me with hope, but to their credit, the writers have skipped the storyline up to one or two weeks at a time and let it grow more organically, instead of shoving it down our throats. Because the rest of the show has been so well written, and have gotten me to invest so much in these characters, I am coming on board with the conspiracy theory, and am now ready to see what happens with an open mind..........

---

Things I Liked:

The show used another long introductory scene to draw the viewers in again this week. Coming in at about 13 minutes, I think this is an excellent story telling technique that gets us involved in the story.

Adding the other old CIA friend really can make it interesting. I have wanted to see some flashback stories of the Secretary's time in the CIA, maybe this can help with that.

Questions:

Is Henry's spying going to put the family in danger? Who's spying on the spies?

If one of the Secretary's friends was good, what if one was bad? Is the friend that is now going to help her actually one of the conspirators?

Photo Credit: CBS Television

To post a comment, you must register and login.