When the episode opens, President Constance Payton (Alfre Woodard) faces threats of impeachment, while she writes a speech, which declares the United States at war with Ar Rissalah. She outlines her plan to bring anyone, who is working with the terrorist group, to justice, before the audience erupts and begin hurling bottles at the president, who is rushed off stage. David Patrick (David Harbour) tells Constance the citizens are mad, because she is using CIA to perform dirty deeds. He suggests hiring an independent investigator.

Charleston Tucker (Katherine Heigl) and FBI Agent Mike Hernandez (Alex Fernandez) meet with Kenneth Travers (Aaron Christian Howles) and questions him about the terror group. The pair threaten Kenneth with life in prison or the death penalty, but he doesn’t budget. Next, Tucker meets with the President to discuss a status update. The President informs Nick Vera (Chris McKenna) that Omar Fatah (Farshad Farahat) isn’t going to make it out of the situation unscathed. Meanwhile, the pair continue searching for the bombs. They discuss a possible missing link, which connects the seven American terrorists.

Next, Omar and Vera travel through the Philippines, where they’re ambushed by some militants. Gunshots ring out, as the pair run and seek cover. The group is surrounded by the soldiers, who are picked off by an unknown sniper. Next, the President meets with Senator Burke (Rex Linn), who requests to be put in charge of the investigation of the CIA. Burke insists they work together to end the terrorist threat. Next, the group finds a website, which all of the terrorist members visited. Since they cannot find information on the network, they need to speak to the server’s admin, who turns out to be the Professor. Of course, they were unable to connect him to Ar Rissalah.

Next, Omar finds out the CIA is following them. It is suggested Vera kill their followers. Tucker meets with the Professor. She tells him the Ar Rissalah recruiter likely worked through his website. Eventually, she gets his permission to go through the servers. Next, Tucker meets with Burke, who informs her about the investigation and his desire to avoid a witch hunt. Acting Director Banks (Matthew Lillard) enters and puts a stop to Burke’s questions. Nick calls Vera and questions her about their followers. He suggests she shouldn’t know about his future actions.

Next, we see Kurt Tannen (Cliff Chamberlain) at his new job. He looks at a news story about the suicide bombing, before contemplating a call to Maureen James (Sheila Vand). Victor Gantry (Adam Arkin) enters and talks about his history with the company. Victor criticizes Kurt’s truck and gives him a credit card, before leaving. Next, Banks meets with the president and questions her about Burke. He suggests Burke is trying to get rid of Raymond Navarro. Tucker tells everyone about the investigation into the CIA. They suggest they’re going to go hard on Kurt. Next, Kurt purchases a new vehicle.

The President attends a memorial for Senator Green, where she meets with her kids. The Senator’s husband harasses the President, before the daughter steps in and suggests she stay. Next, Vera begins to track their followers. He ends up knocking one out, before he is attacked by the other, who tells him he was told to stay away. He discovers they are Americans. Afterwards, the President speaks with her husband, Marshall (Courtney B. Vance). Payton suggests they’re close to finding the bomb factory. Payton brings up Marshall’s affair with Green, before they argue.

Vera returns to Omar, who suggests it is time to go to the camp. Kurt flies down the road in his new car. He pulls to the side of the road and finds a tracking device on the car. Next, the Bomb Squad begins using a robot to check out the possible site of the explosive. They discover seven backpacks. The robot fails, which forces the bomb squad to send in Riggs (Tony Nevada). Riggs opens one of the backpacks and finds a bomb inside. He slowly begins to diffuse the bombs, but the second one explodes on him.

Charlie meets with the President and informs her about the situation. The pair speak about the professor, who is a true patriot, according to the President. The President requests the 7 Americans to be moved to a federal prison and be given access to lawyers and medical care. They discuss Burke’s intentions. Payton insists they’ll take out Omar and Hakam, while Burke digs away.

Next, a bunch of CIA documents are hauled into Burke’s office. When he opens one of them up, everything has been redacted. Kurt heads back to work, where Victor is seen abusing pills. Kurt returns the tracking device and questions why Victor is trying to recruit him. Victor requests to know everything about Omar Fatah and Bellerophon. Meanwhile, Maureen speaks with Charlie, as they watch the explosion on the news. Maureen informs her about the death of the American in the Philippines. The pair discuss Nick’s involvement in the murder and Charlie suggest he would never be able to come back from such an act.

Afterwards, the Professor reads a thank you letter from the president, before he enters a hidden room, which contains tons of explosives.

Review


The first season of State of Affairs is coming to a close and it is highly likely we’ll be reading news stories about the show’s cancellation before too long. Although the show has improved slightly, it hasn’t been enough to bring in enough viewers to support a second season. This episode exemplifies the show’s many flaws. It would take an escape from reality to find believability in Katherine Heigl’s Charleston Tucker. The few scenes that aren’t overacted fall comedically flat.

Of course, the shows biggest flaw is the elementary writing. This episode was filled with cheesy clichés from the Professor’s hidden agenda to Kurt’s tracking device to Vera killing an American. There is really nothing we haven’t seen before and sadly other shows managed it with finesse. This episode deserves a 6 out of 10.