Madam Secretary: Spartan Figures Review

When the episode opens, Elizabeth (Tea Leoni) and Henry McCord (Tim Daly) enjoy a snowy getaway. They contemplate keeping their second home, instead of selling. Stevie and the other kids show up riding horses, before Jason (Evan Roe) and Alison (Katherine Herzer) argue over Alison’s Taylor Swift like Instagram account. Of course, Nadine (Bebe Neuwirth) and Blake Moran (Erich Bergen) arrive in the nick of time and destroy the soothing vacation. Liz is informed that the President wishes to speak to her.

Madam Secretary Review

Before, you know it, Liz is back in Washington and meeting with Russell, President Dalton and Max Quinn. The group discuss the Greek debt crisis. Max threatens Dalton’s next election, before storming off angrily. Next, Stevie (Wallis Currie-Wood) hangs out with her boyfriend, Arthur Gilroy (Josh Hamilton), at work. Apparently, Stevie suggests throwing away food isn’t bad, as long it is prepared by Arthur’s mother. Stevie gets a text message from a stalker, or an old friend, who she hasn’t talked to in ages and decides to meet with him.

She meets with her friend, Harrison Dalton (Jason Ralph), or the President’s son. The pair bowl, before Harrison confirms he dropped out of school and recently got out of rehab. Harrison insists the pair should do this more, before we’re shown the Smithsonian Institution, where Max attempts to repo some expensive statutes to cover the debt of the Greek government. Back in the office, Matt Mahoney (Geoffrey Arend) tells us that the statutes were Spartan Figures, hence the episode title. Nadine reveals that the Greeks owed him over 1 billion dollars.

Harrison Dalton Madam Secretary

The kids are scolded by Nadine, who demands they behave and confirms that another humiliation would be devastating. Meanwhile, Elizabeth spars with Max over the phone. Before the pair hang up, Max says he is counting on harming the president, with his actions. Russell Jackson (Zeljko Ivanek) enters and rubs salt into Liz’s wounds, before announcing he won’t be attending the trip to Greece. Next, we finally get to see Henry ply his trade at the University. He seems to be a poor teacher, since his students appear to ignore his lessons.

After the lesson, Henry receives a visit from General Mitch Sarno (Chuck Cooper). The General offers Henry a job at the War College in DC. Next, it is Stevie, who become the stalker, as she repeatedly calls Harrison. Arthur attempts to talk some sense into her, before he reveals that everyone knows about the President’s troubled son. Liz and Henry cooperate to get Liz’s suitcase closed. When Liz brings up Henry’s job offer, he insists he isn’t going to accept it. The pair watch Prime Minister Spiros Georgiou (Sherman Howard) speak on the news and refuse to accept the debt deal. Get your gold ready! Liz suggests economic collapse, if they cannot put together a new deal that satisfies Greece quickly.

Elizabeth and President Dalton arrive in Brussels, Belgium, where they meet with Chancellor Frieda Schulz (Becky Ann Baker), who ejects them from the party. Liz meets up with her team and tasks them with saving the world. Liz gives Blake some secretive orders, before she meets up with the Prime Minister and President Dalton. The PM insults the President and his party, which has turned against him. He suggests the president should resign. Meanwhile Stevie and Arthur share their first TV dinner. Stevie watches a report on the television about an ambulance being sent to the White House, which gives her concern for Harrison.

Elizabeth speaks to President Dalton, who reveals his funders are pulling out. Despite her urges, the President insists he doesn’t believe Liz. Meanwhile, Blake hangs out with the French. Since he can’t get the toilets to open, he goes in the bushes and gets caught by the cops. Meanwhile, the group comes to the conclusion that Quinn must return the statutes. They discuss the popularity of the statutes, before Liz gets a call from Stevie, who questions about the President. Stevie asks about Harrison, but Liz has no answers. Blake is finally released from the slammer and gets ridiculed by Nadine.

Finally, Liz speaks to the President about Harrison, who was four days out of rehab. He reveals Harrison overdosed on heroine again, as the show turns into Intervention. Elizabeth gives him a pep talk and attempts to boost his confidence. Russell visits Henry and asks him about the job offer. Russell suggests the job may be a cover for secretive work. Henry says he’ll think about it. Meanwhile, Liz tells Quinn that his statutes will go on a world tour and he’ll receive the profits. Max eventually agrees to the deal. Blake enters and reveals that everyone is meeting without the Americans and the public urination was a scheme to get intel.

Elizabeth McCord

Liz informs the President of the German’s secret meeting, before they storm the building. The Chancellor suggests kicking the Greeks out of the European. The President speaks about all of the misfortunes of the other attending nations and insists the group stand together. He ends up winning everyone over. Stevie pays a visit to Harrison at the rehab center in Maryland. She tells Harrison about all of her mistakes and suggests they can find common ground. The President enters, as Stevie makes her exit. Meanwhile, Liz and Henry continue their snowy vacation. Henry reveals it is time to get rid of the farm, so he can join the War College. Liz agrees, as the house goes up on the market.

Review


The episode was really strange considering Harrison Dalton and a mysterious farm appeared out of the void. I don’t recall hearing about either of these, until this episode. Surely, this can be forgiven, but it was still somewhat odd. The magical farm is likely going to disappear, but Harrison will probably receive more screen time and perhaps become a fixture for Stevie. The episode was alright, but the Blake spy angle was certainly lame. It felt rushed much like the previous episode, which attempted the same thing. Still the episode deserves a 6.5 out of 10.

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