A man loads a gun in his car, while listening to a radio news report covering ISIS. Meanwhile, Elizabeth (Tea Leoni) talks with her daughter Stevie (Wallis Currie-Wood) about the dangerous of ISIS. Of course, Liz considers her daughter’s dress to be slightly more unsettling.

Next, Liz prepares for her meeting with the Iraqis, when is confronted by Nadine Tolliver (Bebe Neuwirth), who questions Liz about her investigation into Vincent Marsh’s death. Nadine is surprised to discover that Marsh was going to run for office. Meanwhile, Matt Mahoney (Geoffrey Arend), Blake (Erich Bergen) and Daisy (Patina Miller) chat and share some Chinese dumplings. Matt meets Daisy’s fiancee.

Liz questions the Iraqis’ ability to defend themselves and fight back against ISIS. Meanwhile, Stevie shows up and bums fifty dollars from her mother. Liz discovers that Stevie has maxed out her credit card. The arrival of the Iraqi delegation puts an end to their financial argument. Before she leaves, Stevie questions Blake, where she can find a blouse for fifty bucks. Blake provides her with one of her mother’s blouses.

Meanwhile, Matt chats with Daisy’s fiancee, Win Barrington (Sam Daly) and Stevie finds a suitable blouse. Liz meets with the Iraqi delegation. The Iraqi translator questions Liz, when she tells him she has never been to Iraq. We see a flashback to a time, when Liz is in Iraq. Rut Roh! The building is placed in a lockdown, as a gunman is on the loose outside.

Since the lockdown is in place, Nadine cannot reach Liz and must shelter in place, with the worker she relocated to Angola. Meanwhile, the  Iraqi delegates begin to argue amongst themselves. Stevie and Blake are locked down together. They discuss Liz and the gunman, before Liz enters and tells Stevie her blouse looks good. Meanwhile, Win is making a video for Daisy. He asks all of her colleagues to tell the camera how much they love her, which makes Matt very awkward.

The translator confronts Liz and tells her that she has been to Iraq. The translator tells Liz that she was there, when collation forces took his cousin, Safeer Al Jamil (Zarif Kabier). Liz was responsible for interrogating Safeer, in order to prevent truck bombs from killing muslims. Afterwards, Nadine is confronted by the woman she transferred, who happens to be Rectify’s J. Smith-Cameron. She insists that she deserves to be transferred to Portugal and complains about being transferred to Angola, which she blames on being a single woman.

Meanwhile, the new Prime Minister charges the previous P.M. with corruption, which causes an outburst within the State Department. Matt begins making his speech to the camera, only to discover that Win has given him pot bubblegum. Meanwhile, Liz tells the new Prime Minister that he is making a mistake and his country will be slaughtered by ISIS, if he continues. The translator threatens to reveal Liz’s CIA past to everyone.

Liz is informed about the shooter, who had a war hero brother die in Iraq. After going off of his meds, the man fell into deep depression and eventually became homeless. Meanwhile, Matt tells Win that Daisy cheated on him. After a brief argument, Matt slaps Win in the ear. He says he would kill someone, if Daisy was his girl and she cheated on him. At the same time, Nadine continues getting grilled about the transfer. J. Smith Cameron reluctantly agrees to go to Angola.

In a flashback, Liz continues interrogating the terrorist, but failed. Instead, the marine takes over and begins more harmful interrogations. Liz reveals all of this to Stevie. With the revelation, Stevie questions whether she can fully trust her mother and storms out.

Meanwhile, Liz tells tells the translator that her cousin was a mass murdered and that he should mourn his grandfather, who was killed by Sadam. She suggests the US will back the Kurds, if the Prime Minister doesn’t follow her commands. The gunman is captured without incident, which stops the lockdown.

Meanwhile, Blake compliments Stevie. She suggests they might be better than Liz. Finally, Jay informs Liz that the Prime Minister has reversed his decision. Meanwhile, Daisy confronts Matt and Win. Matt tells Daisy she deserves someone, who will fight for her and it cannot be Win.

Nadine tells Liz about her day, with Alice and that Vincent was going to leave the State Department at the end of the year. She gives Liz a bank letter from Vincent. She also gets Liz to sign a form, which allows Alice to be transferred to Portugal.

Matt confronts Daisy, who tells him that she has broken it off with Win. She is obviously guilty about her affair with Matt. Daisy and Matt share a kiss. Afterwards, Liz pays a visit to the gunman in the hospital. When Liz gets home, she discovers Stevie is going to spend the night, with some friends. Stevie confirms she will not tell anyone Liz’s secret. Liz provides detail about the horrific bombing, which killed many young children. Liz explains she left the CIA, because of the torture. Liz tells Stevie that everything is more complicated that she understands and that she’ll understand it, as she begins to grow up.

Review


This was a much different episode of Madam Secretary, which saw all cast members stuck in the State Department building. Of course, we didn’t get to Henry, but he really wasn’t missed. Instead, we got a crazed gunman, who we never saw until the very end of the episode and an Iraqi translator, who was hellbent on exposing Elizabeth McCord’s CIA past.

Of course, we also got a visit from the talented J. Smith-Cameron (Rectify, True Blood). Her character showed us a different side of the State Department, which was similar to the careers of everyday Americans, in the fact that they’re usually unappreciated and shoved from place to place, without regard. While the showdown between Liz and the translator was somewhat anti-climatic, her interaction with Stevie made up for it.

Of course, the departure of Win has perhaps opened the door for Matt to sweep Daisy off of her feet. Will he make his move? On the other hand, Nadine provided Liz with a potentially valuable piece of information, a bank letter from Marsh. What does it all mean? Only time will tell. The episode was good and deserves an 8 out of 10.