Madam Secretary – Mitya

By starrymag | January 14, 2018

By: Taylor Gates

 

 

The beginning of the episode starts out ominously with two Russian men—equipped with guns, large amounts of cash, and Dmitri’s (Chris Petrovski) file—talking about spotting Dmitri with Stevie (Wallis Currie-Wood).

 

At the Statehouse, Blake (Erich Bergen) informs Elizabeth (Téa Leoni) she has a full day of meetings about the deal they brokered in Afghanistan. Elizabeth, however, gets distracted by Russian President Salnikov’s (Nicholas Guest) annual TV show where he answers canned questions from “ordinary Russians.” In one, he speaks about how the Americans have reached a new level of treachery under Dalton (Keith Carradine) and Elizabeth with the Afghanistan deal. Because of this, he is calling for a stop to all Russian adoptions by American parents.

 

Elizabeth is disgusted, as this will immediately affect at least 300 children. Russian orphanages haven’t evolved for decades and their treatment of kids with disabilities borders on criminal. Vice President Hurst (Jayne Atkinson) crashes Elizabeth’s meeting with Russell (Zeljko Ivanek) and Dalton. Elizabeth wants to retaliate, saying her team is already writing a list of sanctions, and Hurst promises the Senate will back them.

 

Stevie sneaks off to have sex with Dmitri at a motel during her lunch break. Dmitri proposes that they go to the mountains for a weekend, but they don’t make any definitive plans before Stevie has to get back to work. A man with binoculars spies on them leaving.

 

Elizabeth is talking about sanctions with Jay (Sebastian Arcelus) and Matt (Geoffrey Arend) when their phones start ringing off the hook. Daisy (Patina Miller) rushes in, showing them an interview Hurst just gave implying they’re going to make major concessions in order to stop the Russian adoption ban. This is bad news, especially since they can’t denounce Hurst’s words and make it look like she and Dalton are on different pages. Elizabeth orders her to staff to halt sanction talks and start working on inducements instead. Daisy suggests that Jay ask Sofia Martinez (Flor De Liz Perez), the reporter who asked Hurst the question and one of Jay’s old flings, about Hurst’s answer.

 

Henry (Tim Daly), Stevie and Jason (Evan Roe) watch a news story about a couple directly affected by the adoption ban. After dinner with Sofia, Jay shows up the McCord house with new information. Apparently the whole thing was staged. Hurst is going rogue on foreign policy in order to take Elizabeth out—she sees Elizabeth as a rival in her presidential campaign.

 

Elizabeth pays Hurst’s office a visit, confronting her about subverting policy to satisfy a personal agenda. Instead of going behind the president’s back, she needs to debate them if she disagrees. Hurst tells Elizabeth she can’t talk about loyalty after throwing the holiday party. Although Elizabeth tries to assure her she has zero interest in running for president, Hurst doesn’t believe her. Russell promised Hurst Dalton’s support if she ever ran for the office in exchange for abandoning her party to run as an independent on his ticket. Elizabeth assures she had nothing to do with that, warning Hurst to stay in her land and let her do her job. Hurst threatens Elizabeth right back, telling her to stop playing games.

 

Elizabeth approves a clean needle exchange program in Russia to help with their HIV outbreak in exchange for the adoption ban to be lifted. However, seconds later Daisy shows her a video of Salnikov formally inviting Hurst to Moscow to resolve the issue herself. They’re both ganging up on Elizabeth. Russell is furious, but Elizabeth thinks this might be an opportunity to reunite families. Russell tells her to babysit Hurst the whole trip, and Elizabeth asks him about his promise to support her in her presidential campaign. Russell cops to it, explaining she was the only one who could win them Pennsylvania. Dalton, however, doesn’t know this little detail.

 

Ephraim Ware (Clifton Davis) calls both Henry and Elizabeth to Liberty Crossing, showing them their findings about Dmitri being stalked by a GRU agent and noted assassin. Ware has already had the CIA place both Dmitri and his sister in protective custody. He also breaks the news that Dmitri and Stevie are engaged in a romantic relationship. The secret service is currently with her and, until the situation gets ironed out, she will need to be in complete lockdown at the McCord home or the White House. Henry and Elizabeth and terrified and furious at the news.

 

Henry visits Dmitri, chastising him for being careless enough to repeatedly go back to the same hotel with Stevie. Dmitri insists he didn’t give her any information that could put her in danger, but that does little to assuage Henry’s fears. Dmitri explains that there was so much he wasn’t allowed to feel growing up in Russia. Just once, he wanted to follow his passions and be happy. Henry is empathetic but firm, telling him he’s suspended from the Special Activities division.

 

Stevie is shocked when Elizabeth and Henry tell her that Alexander isn’t even Dmitri’s real name. She’s frustrated when they won’t tell her what he’s involved with and scared he’s not going to be okay. When her parents blame Dmitri for lying and roping her into things, Stevie jumps to his defense, saying it was she who pressured him into a relationship.

 

On their way to Moscow, Hurst tells Elizabeth she almost adopted once and has always regretted backing out. Elizabeth agrees that they’re both working towards the same goal but has still not forgiven Hurst for trying to run a campaign ad while doing so. Elizabeth reminds Hurst not to indulge Salnikov—instead, they need to maintain firm pressure. Hurst, of course, does the complete opposite, asking him about his antique weapons and going on a tour of his collection. Elizabeth finally steers the two back on track, telling Salnikov about their willingness to help them combat HIV and let the Russian government take all the credit for it.

 

Molly (Christine Garver) and Dylan (Sam Breslin Wright) discuss how to catch the man who was spying on Dmitri. They disagree about getting local PD involved, and Henry pitches the idea to use Dmitri as bait, as he has flown under the radar despite his pattern at the hotel. It’s risky, but it might be the only way. Dmitri drives to the hotel while Henry watches from security cameras. At the last minute, Henry gets a bad feeling and tells Dmitri to exit the vehicle immediately. Moments later, the car explodes, but luckily Dmitri escapes with just some cuts and bruises.

 

That night, Stevie apologizes to Henry for scaring him, frustrated that she picked yet another damaged, emotionally unavailable guy. Henry says that it’s normal to question yourself—he does it all the time—but Dmitri is a truly courageous young man who did many heroic things for the country.

 

Salnikov agrees to Elizabeth’s deal so long as they pledge US troops in Bulgaria: the country Russia invaded. Hurst is all for it, but Elizabeth pulls her aside and harshly tells her that if they even talk about negotiating pulling out in Europe, their allies will panic. Elizabeth tells Hurst that her promises aren’t her problems. National security is what she’s concerned about, which is why they’re both going to leave Moscow without a deal.

 

Henry gets a call from the FBI saying they caught the GRU assassin. Though they’re going to keep the detail on Stevie for a few more days to be safe, the immediate threat is over. Elizabeth gets the idea to use him as a bargaining chip. She and Hurst video chat Salnikov, promising not to execute the lynchpin of their spy network if he agrees to the original terms of their deal in Moscow, and Salnikov agrees. Hurst apologizes to Elizabeth for doubting her, and they agree to bury the hatchet. However, some tension still remains when Elizabeth refuses to publicly rule herself out of the presidency.

 

Dmitri is approved for a transfer to the Alaskan department while his sister stays in DC to finish school. Henry accompanies Dmitri to the airport, promising to check in with Talia from time-to-time and thanking him for his service. Dmitri apologizes for all the trouble he’s caused, thanking Henry for all he’s done. Stevie shows up to say goodbye with Henry’s blessing. She asks him what his real name is, and Dmitri answers “Mitya.” They exchange one last tearful kiss.