Madam Secretary – Gift Horse

By starrymag | January 13, 2017

By: Taylor Gates

 

 

A news anchor reports that a court has agreed to hear Evans’ (J.C. MacKenzie) case questioning the legitimacy of Dalton’s (Keith Carradine) win. If it sides with Evans, it would revoke Dalton’s presidency and shake the nation’s foundation. Elizabeth (Tea Leoni) and Henry (Tim Daly) are both irritated, as they can’t imagine why the sixth circuit court would ever uphold an ancient, obscure law. Elizabeth admits she’s nervous—Evans is specifically naming her in his case, saying she tried to bribe senators by taking them out to dinner during the time of her NFL interview. Henry tells her not to worry, as he thinks the court is just doing it so Evans can’t cry foul. Henry also has his own concerns because the CIA wants to debrief him again about Black Dog Station.

 

Alison (Kathrine Herzer) barges in, wanting to talk about Elizabeth’s dress plans for the inauguration. Elizabeth tells her she can choose from the selections the stylist brings to the office and blog about the process. Stevie (Wallis Currie-Wood) is excited and terrified for her first day interning for Russell (Zeljko Ivanek), but Elizabeth promises he has more bark than bite.

 

Blake (Erich Bergen) is panicking, as Elizabeth’s office is filled to the brim with gifts that still have to be processed. Elizabeth forces Matt (Geoffrey Arend) to help her sort them while Blake goes and signs for yet another present.

 

Russell summons Elizabeth into the Oval Office and they strategize about how they’re going to handle the court debacle. They throw out ideas such as reminding the court of its responsibility to maintain the stability of the country and trying to appeal to Evans’ reason, but Russell brings up Evans’ genetic testing results as a checkmate. Dalton refuses and Elizabeth suggests they offer Evans a cabinet position.

 

The CIA interviews Henry about terrorist groups and leaders he encountered during his mission. Henry is frustrated they won’t fill him in on why they need this information, as he’s one of the ones who dismantled HS.

 

Blake calls Elizabeth from the Port of Baltimore, saying he can’t bring the Mongolian gift home yet. The present is a horse and it must undergo a three-day quarantine first. Elizabeth tells him to send it back—they have nowhere to put in the state department and if they accept it then it will look like they are tacitly siding with Mongolia against China and other Asian nations in the upcoming referendum vote.

 

Russell tells Stevie he doesn’t like interns, as he doesn’t trust them to do anything. He tells her they’re even now since he gave her a job in return for saving his life. He orders her to pick up Poet Laureate Roland Hobbs (Reed Birney) from the airport because he’s reading a poem at the inauguration. Being a huge fan of his work, Stevie is thrilled at the task.

 

Elizabeth video chats with Mongolian minister Sendoo (Keone Young), regrettably saying she can’t accept the horse. Sendoo tells her that if the horse is sent back she will have to be euthanized, as there is a change she will have been exposed to foreign diseases. Elizabeth informs Russell of this, who is convinced Mongolia is bluffing. Nadine (Bebe Neuwirth) promises she’s working diligently to find it a safe haven; the last thing they need is a video of a dying horse floating around during the first month of Dalton’s next term. Meanwhile, as Blake is leaving the port, he gets horse manure thrown at him and his car has been vandalized with the words “horse killer” with more feces stacked on the hood.

 

Stevie picks Roland up from the airport, and he lets her in on some dirt. He’s not going to be reading the approved poem at the inauguration and he doesn’t want to work in the nice hotel they are putting him up in. He requests going for a nice drive around the city instead.

 

Henry visits Russell, demanding to know if HS has connected with ISIS. Russell finally admits that the CIA is questioning him to try and figure out more about the Illinois bomber. They’re trying to gather information from sources instead of having to hack the bomber’s technology—the CEO of his phone company is a big donor to their campaign but also a privacy advocate.

 

Nadine tells Elizabeth that she took the liberty of scheduling a civics call with Chinese Minister Chen (Francis Jue) and Daisy (Patina Miller) fills her in on Blake’s drama. The activists are planning on protesting until the government finds the horse a new home; they claim she’s being put to death over a diplomatic dispute. Alison tells Elizabeth she doesn’t like any of the dresses the stylists brought in and Elizabeth gives her free reign to track something else down instead.

 

Elizabeth tells Chen the horse was a gift of congratulations, not a bribe, and she already declined it. However, Chen is worried even the perception of US support could sway the vote for Mongolian independence.

 

Roland’s plan is failing miserably. Instead of being inspired by the DC landscape, the monuments just remind him of war and the nastiness of politics. Roland demands that Stevie stop the car and runs into a bar. Stevie frantically calls Jareth (Christopher O’Shea) to help get him out, but when he arrives he immediately starts debating Roland about poetry and physics.

 

Russell and Dalton invite Evans into the Oval Office offering him Secretary of Commerce, as his services and perspective would be useful and valuable. Evans says there’s only one position he’ll consider—Secretary of State—but Dalton immediately refuses to entertain the thought.

 

Daisy and Blake interrogate the animal rights leader, demanding to know how and where they got the information about the Mongolian horse so quickly. The activist has little understanding of what the two are talking about and they quickly realize the group’s website was hacked.

 

Henry goes to a Taoist temple to visit Warren Lee (Sean Meehan), the phone CEO who is also a religious scholar. Henry tells him he’s there on behalf of the NSA, but Lee refuses to even consider unlocking the bomber’s technology so they can investigate. Henry reminds him he’s in a unique position—the government is groveling at his feet for a small piece of information and he has the power to help the country.

 

Elizabeth’s staff struggles to find a safe haven for the horse—the place that accepts it would have to be willing to harbor an animal exposed to diseases in two different countries and their climate has to be compatible with the creature. Daisy tells Elizabeth it’s likely Russia hacked the activism website since they’re not too happy about China wanting to expand their borders. This way, Russia would keep its hands clean while still influencing the referendum.

 

An expert tells Russell that there are few options for fighting Evans and the chances of them winning are only 60/40. Russell tells his assistant to get his file on Evans and meets him for dinner. He tells Evans he knows how he withheld information about his health from the public.

 

Henry suggests that the government just buy the horse, but Elizabeth informs him it costs $2 million dollars and could still be perceived as taking sides. Alison brings in the dress she picked for Elizabeth—a crazy flowery number she saw in French Vogue. She can’t possibly wear it, but she also doesn’t want to disappoint Alison. Stevie and Jareth carry a severely inebriated Roland to his hotel room and sleep on the couch to keep an eye on him.

 

The next morning, Elizabeth sees on the news that Evans officially dropped his case. Elizabeth apologizes to Alison, saying she has to wear a different dress that’s more her style. Alison is relieved, as she woke up in the middle of the night panicking that Elizabeth would end up on a worst-dressed list because of her. Together they decide on a demurer blue one instead.

 

Stevie freaks out when she wakes up since Roland is nowhere in sight. Luckily, he comes back a moment later carrying coffee and donuts. He finished the poem at the coffee shop, as it seems he works better under pressure.

 

At the inauguration, Russell tells Henry that Warren Lee has agreed to help them break into the hacker’s phone. A relieved Nadine tells Elizabeth and Dalton that Mongolia has voted to remain independent. They have also found the horse a home in Cuba. Roland’s poem is beautiful and obviously influenced by his discussion with Jareth the previous day.