When Elizabeth confronts her former friend Juliet, she flashes back to when then-CIA Director Dalton offered a job that would have changed the course of her life. Also, Stevie and Harrison Dalton begin a relationship that will have consequences.
Madam Secretary has gotten better over the course of its first season. It hasn't become a great drama yet. It falls comfortably in the B-range of television where watching each episode doesn't require a whole lot of thinking while still providing some enjoyment. There's still a lot of room for Madam Secretary to grow and get better. The show has done right by Téa Leoni and Tim Daly. Elizabeth, Henry and their marriage are the most important characters and relationship on the show. Sure, the season had to create various plot contrivances in order to shoehorn Henry into the main plot. Remember that time he traveled to Russia to talk with the President? Or that time he was recruited as spy? Or the time he traveled to South America to discuss the apocalypse with a religious extremist? All of those were contrivances, but worked because material was still being given to that character and were in direct correlation with what was happening with Elizabeth.The show has failed - across the board really - in giving its supporting cast anything to do though. The majority of the time Russell Jackson was just a figure head who would stand in opposition to whatever viewpoint Elizabeth had on how to handle the episode's case-of-the-week. Nadine was important when it came to the revelation that she had a years long affair with former Secretary Marsh. But that was it. Daisy, Matt and Blake are one-note characters that never escaped their broad characterizations all season long. Blake is the put together assistant. Daisy constantly brings up how Elizabeth's actions inform her mission and appearance to the public. Matt is the comic relief speech writer. Daisy and Matt were positioned as the co-workers in the middle of an office fling. That went no where important. All of these characters are played by incredibly talented actors. So it's just so strange that Madam Secretary doesn't quite know what to do with them. That's a problem that's been apparent all season long. Once the show figures out its supporting cast and makes them relevant, it can reach the next stage of critical admiration. Until then, it's a mess.
However, the overall story arc of the season was nicely plotted. Sure, it became apparent early on that each episode would feature a different crisis of the week. An issue that Elizabeth would be able to handle wonderfully and unlike any other character on the show. It made it so she was more important than anyone else. It gave her a sense of power while simultaneously making it appear as if she is right all the time. But the serial arc of the season did actually become something that was more than your typical conspiracy thriller show.
It was deliberate that the big action set piece of the season occurred during a three episode arc in March. The remainder of the season then dealt with the emotional and moral fallout of those events after everyone knew they had occurred. Sure, the show really dropped the ball when it came to Elizabeth's PTSD following the failed coup in Iran. That was important in one episode and that was it - only to be referenced occasionally but never a chief focus for the character again. And yet, the actions of both Elizabeth and the fellow people caught up in this conspiracy were intriguing. It allowed several characters to actual work as spies. It gave the season a sense of urgency. Sure, the feeling that everything would work out in Elizabeth's favor was still present. The case-of-the-week stories still worked that way. And yet, the overall plotting worked because all of Elizabeth's recent actions were making her question just how effective she has actually been in this post.
President Dalton asked Elizabeth to step in as Secretary of State in the first episode in order to bring about real change in both the country and abroad. They had one massive victory in signing a nuclear peace treaty with Iran a week ago. That was a huge success that was undercut by the ever-present worry about Juliet and possibly more conspirators still out there. With Juliet's capture, that feeling of the unknown is taken out of the equation during the season finale. It is replaced with a Senator heading up a committee to look into possible illegal actions by Elizabeth and President Dalton regarding the coup. It has just been a small sliver of a plot that the public doesn't entirely believe that those two had no knowledge of what was going on within their government. If the President didn't know that the CIA director and his close friend was working against him, how can the American public trust him to carry out this job effectively?
And yet, Elizabeth - like always - was able to work herself out of this situation by telling the truth. She shared classified information with Henry in order to uncover the conspiracy to stage a coup in Iran. This Senator wants to punish her for an act that the audience is suppose to see as valiant and the right thing that needed to be done. There's no moral ground for the Senator to stand on which makes this debate and the threat of resignation and arrest have less meaning. It all hinges on the audience believing that Elizabeth was incompetent enough not to realize that the plane crash in Dubai years ago was classified information. This whole season has showed just how well articulated and calculating a character Elizabeth is. The crux of the finale's plot hinges on her making a mistake - even though the rest of the season never showed her making one or at least one that the audience was suppose to disagree with. The audience understands where Elizabeth is coming from which would make it very hard to say that she would face prosecution for the actions. "She did something illegal but for the right reason" is the arguing point that she sells to the senate committee. Not enough is said about that being the same rationale Juliet and Andrew had for their actions. In fact, Juliet is such a small part of the overall story of the finale. She refuses to talk until she accepts a deal. And then, she only shares information that the audience already knew.
So the specifics of "There But For the Grace of God" didn't really work all that well. Russell Jackson coming to Elizabeth to say that neither he nor the President would help her if things went badly would have played more effectively if there was actually a sense of friendship between the two of them. But again, all of that is meaningless because Elizabeth did the right thing and is able to keep her job. But this finale isn't entirely pointless because of the final scene which is a flashback featuring Elizabeth, Dalton, Juliet, Andrew and George having a good time around the dinner table. That energy and tone is so drastically different from the norm that it stands out. It shows just how far things have changed in the years since. That comparison is worth it because it shows value to the whole narrative arc of the season. That scene proves that the show had a strong sense of itself the entire season. Now it just needs to work on making the smaller details work in Season 2.
Some more thoughts:
- "There But For the Grace of God" was written by Barbara Hall and directed by Eric Stoltz.
- Stevie has been a frustrating character all season long because the show has tried doing a story with her. It was simply too focused on her either not being in school or her romantic life. The finale ends with her and the President's son hooking up in he back of his car. That was just weird and didn't feel earned despite all the time the season spent with her.
- And yet, Stevie is still the most interesting McCord child. The other two are just horrible and never make any sense except to show their immaturity and Elizabeth and Henry's parenting style.
- A big deal is made about finding a new home for the portrait of former Secretary Marsh. It didn't feel like an appropriate finale story - except to say that his death was important at both the start and end of the season.
- That's all for Madam Secretary until the fall. Again, this season wasn't all that great but there's still enough interesting pieces to make it something worth viewing.
