Madam Secretary – Refuge

By starrymag | March 24, 2018

By: Taylor Gates

 

 

Kat (Sara Ramirez) informs Elizabeth (Téa Leoni) that another night club in Abkhazia has been raided. There have been reports of beatings, torture, and sometimes even death while in police custody after these raids. Since homosexuality was just legalized last year, they think the government may be targeting the LGBTQ community.

 

Elizabeth speaks to President Lakoba (Misha Kuznetsov), who angrily denies that gay people even exist in Abkhazia. That night, Elizabeth complains to Henry (Tim Daly) about Lakoba’s hate. Henry sympathizes before revealing that the CIA called him and said they wanted to offer him a commendation of some sort. Henry, however, declined, not wanting a ceremony.

 

Human rights worker Brent Rosen (BD Wong) shows a night club victim’s testimony to Elizabeth, Kat, and Jay (Sebastian Arcelus). Shocked at the horrors he describes, Elizabeth orders her staff to release a statement formally condemning Abkhazia and cutting off all aid to them. Elizabeth tells them to find a country that owes them a favor to take in these refugees until they can speak to homeland security and help get them settled in the US.

 

Kat and Jay talk to the Bulgarian leader (Dee Pelletier), but she does not want the insecurity of having unvetted people crossing their borders. Jay reminds her of the risk the US took during their situation with the Russian troops the previous year, and Kat brings up the fact that they’re a member of NATO now and need to act compassionately. She finally agrees to talk to the prime minister about setting up some refugee camps.

 

Kat and Jay take a break from working to eat Chinese food and talk. Kat reveals that she has a son named Desi who she co-parents with Desi’s father. Jay is surprised, thinking the LGBTQ issues were personal for her. She admits that they were, as she’s bisexual. Jay inquires about the fact she used to have longer hair and wear dresses, and Kat tells him that sometimes her old look felt like her, but a lot of times it felt like a costume. They talk about how parenthood made it even more important for them to live their truths and set a good example for their kids.

 

Jay tells Kat about the man who was stoned in Iran for being his authentic self and how his execution still haunts Jay to this day. Daisy (Patina Miller) interrupts them, saying that Lakboa responded to their statement by closing the borders—the refugees are now trapped in Abkhazia.

 

Brent tells Kat and Jay that the refugees are being forced into terrible conditions and that Abkhazia is threatening to export all US NGOs. The LGBTQ coalition is afraid the government is going to find out about their underground operations and website and so they’re shutting it all down. This is bad news, as it would make it impossible to communicate with the refugees.

 

Jay and Kat pitch a crazy idea to Brent: convince an NGO working in Eastern Europe to accept a grant to pay Kurds to transport LGBTQ people to Turkey—another country that hates gays. It’s risky, but they think it could work. Jay admits Elizabeth doesn’t know about the plan but tells Brent that right now this is their only option. Brent hesitantly says his team will start making calls. Jay and Kat plan to tell Elizabeth everything right after she gets out of her conference.

 

When Elizabeth gets back, she angrily informs Jay and Kat that a Turkish army unit raided a Kurdish vehicle near the Bulgarian border. They’re being detained and deported back to Abkhazia within the hour. Turkey is furious they worked with the Kurds, and one of the members of the NGO gave up the US purely because the two countries are enemies. In order for the refugees not to return to Abkhazia, Elizabeth is going to have to make a sacrifice that hurts—softening the language in the next Human Rights Report. They’ll have to give Turkey the credit they deserve if the refugees make it to Bulgaria, not allowing for much condemnation for their own despicable human rights track record.

 

Elizabeth shares good news with Kat and Jay – Sixty-three Abkhazians have arrived at the UN camp in Bulgaria. They’ll be safe while their applications for resettlement are reviewed. The bad news: Lakoba thinks the US violated their sovereignty, and he’s threatening to end the military cooperation they negotiated when Abkhazian gained independence. Now, instead of finding ways to help the thousands of LGBTQ people in Abkhazia, Elizabeth has to figure out how to save their strategic position in the caucuses. Elizabeth chastises Kat and Jay for losing sight of the big picture, saying they don’t get to make a mistake like this twice.

 

Matt (Geoffrey Arend) persuades Blake (Erich Bergen) to join his and Captain Ronnie Baker’s (Justine Lupe) pub trivia group with the promise that the winning team gets to eat at a crazy expensive and luxurious restaurant. Blake only agrees to help them with the pop culture questions as long as they loosen up and have some drinks with him. They do, and the three of them end up bonding and having a great time.

 

Their team ends up winning, and they plan on having their winner dinner that Monday. Matt wants Blake to join them for trivia again, but Blake declines, telling Matt that Ronnie is clearly into him. Matt is shocked and would feel too awkward to ask her out, so Blake selflessly offers to pretend to be sick Monday so they can have alone time.

 

Jason (Evan Roe) meets with his Uncle Will (Eric Stoltz), telling him he got a perfect score on the PSATs. He doesn’t want to tell Elizabeth and Henry because he’ll know they’ll start having crazy high expectations for him. After high school, Jason just wants to move to wherever Piper goes to college and get a job there. He says he doesn’t want the pressure of ivy leagues. Will takes him to the rehab floor of the hospital with all the heroic veterans to give him perspective.

 

Henry and Elizabeth get a congratulatory email from Jason’s school about his PSATs, and Jason finally admits to Henry he’s just scared because he doesn’t know what he wants to do yet. Henry says he understands how he feels, but Jason doesn’t believe that—he and Elizabeth are two of the most confident, smart, and amazing people in the world. Henry admits that he joined the Marines on a whim to make his dad angry; he just got lucky it worked out. Henry says everyone has their own journey, and you have to go out and live life in order to figure things out.

 

Henry finally caves and agrees to receive the commendation the CIA wants to bestow upon him. He doesn’t feel right receiving the award alone, so they present his entire team with the achievement. In his speech, he says they are constantly presented with difficult grey areas that make it hard to sleep at night. However, they continue trying to make the hard decisions every day in hopes that they’re making the world a better place.