Madam Secretary Review: So It Goes

The show opens with the team discussing the possibility of negotiations with the Iranians with the former Secretary of State. The former secretary of state seemed to be having a relationship with Nadine Tolliver (Bebe Neuwirth). Meanwhile, the former Secretary of State embarks. The plane, which is headed to Colorado, carrying Vincent Marsh (Brian Stokes Mitchell) begins to hit turbulence. Vincent, says “And so it goes”, which reflects the episode’s title.

Elizabeth, Isabelle and Henry begin discussing the situation. They also listen to a recording, which is a recording of the crash. Vincent seems calm, despite his plane going down. The team begin questioning whether or not the crash is linked to a previous crash. Henry is familiar with a similar plane model and believe a jack screw could have potentially brought down the plane. It is suggested that one of the five maintenance men could have potentially sabotaged the aircraft.

Elizabeth and Henry begin contemplating their own safety, if someone did have Vincent killed. Meanwhile the kids, Jason, Alison and Stevie continue on with their daily lives. Stevie chats on the phone about asking out a boy. Alison and Jason argue, as Alison attempts to break in her new cleats.

Russell Jackson (Zeljko Ivanek) pays Elizabeth a visit. He is upset that Elizabeth has been sneaking around and looking at the reports regarding the plane crash. The two argue, before Liz throws Jackson out of her room. Meanwhile, Fred suggests Liz cannot go to her daughter’s soccer game, due to safety concerns. She suggests he take whatever safety precautions necessary, since she is going and nobody is going to stop her.

Nadine questions Liz’s next move. Instead of sitting down with the Naroons, Liz is prepared to sit down with the Israelis. Matt Mahoney (Geoffrey Arend) receives a phone call and runs out of the meeting. It seems Russell is interested in getting private information regarding Liz from Matt. While Matt continues rejecting Russell’s offers, the incentives continue growing better.

Later that night, Isabelle (Marin Hinkle) returns to the McCord house to continue their investigation into the plane crash. Henry believes it could be someone or something besides one of the maintenance men. Henry suggests the tail of the plane could have possibly broke apart, which put pressure on the screw. Now, the team is placing blame on the pilot.

Stevie (Wallis Currie-Wood) gets a date and Liz finds out all of her shoes are out of fashion. Daisy Grant (Patina Miller) questions Matt about his absence. Did his pipes really burst? She definitely doesn’t seem to believe him. Blake Moran (Eric Bergen) sets up a meeting between Liz and a NASA administrator.

The NASA man, Glenn (John Pankow), believes they’re on the verge of pulling off time travel. Glenn suggests the team make things right, so NASA can continue their research. Meanwhile, Glenn seems smitten with Nadine. Next, Elizabeth is preparing for her meeting with the Israeli Ambassador, Lior Dori (David Wohl).

Meanwhile, in another flashback, Matt and Daisy argue over their responsibilities. A scream is heard in the meeting hall and everyone learns about Vincent’s plane going down.

Liz and Lior Dori share a conversation. She questions Lior about the plane crash in Dubai in 2003. Lior provides her with information regarding a potential sabotage. He will not say, whether or not the CIA was involved. That night, Liz and Isabelle get a lead on the plane’s fueling technician, John Castalano, who has a large bank account in the Cayman Islands.

When the show returns, Matt seems interested in discovering information from Blake. He gets nowhere. Nadine and Glenn share a conversation. Glenn suggests the pair go to lunch. Of course, Nadine shuts him down. Next, Elizabeth is seen at her daughter’s soccer game. Her daughter plays the goalie. Meanwhile, Isabelle attempts to lure John Castellano (Peter Cambor) to a secure location, by pretending to offer him a job.

Isabelle and John enter the motel room and await for Elizabeth. When John begins having second thoughts, he gets up to leave, but Liz enters an stop hims. Liz questions John about whether or not he killed Vincent. Liz and Isabelle continue interrogating John. John begins to admit to tampering with the plane. He says he only talked to the individuals over the phone and email, before a video chat showed the men targeting his 4 year old daughter with a laser sighted gun. The instructions for sabotaging the plane came through email. John suggests he messed with the plane to protect his family.

Liz suggests she can protect John, if he keeps quiet about the situation. Meanwhile, Blake delivers a set of roses to Nadine. Glenn sent the roses. Matt confronts Liz. He admits to spying on Vincent for Russell, because the president was afraid Vincent was going to run against him.

Russell questions Vincent about running against President Conrad Dalton (Keith Carradine). Russell suggests you don’t backstab someone of your own party, without facing consequences. Matt overheard the conversation, which ended with, “and so it goes”. Matt tells Liz he questioned their involvement, when Marsh’s plane went down. He also admits that Jackson wants him to spy on Liz for a job at the White House.

Liz suggests Matt go through with the task, so she can use him as a double agent. Back at their house, Liz and Henry listen to the recording again. They’re beginning to wonder, whether or not the President was behind the plane crash.

Review


Aside from the conversation with the Israeli Ambassador, all aspects of this episode revolved around the investigation into the death of Vincent Marsh. While everything fell together easily enough, it was still fun to watch the team work together to put the puzzle together. Of course, it is likely Zeljko Ivanek, who is beginning to steal the show. He is becoming a very strong villain. Is he the mastermind, behind the plane crash that killed Vincent?

Overall, the episode setup some future plot lines including Matt pretending to spy on Liz. The episode was at least an 8.5 out of 10.

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