Madam Secretary – The Detour

By starrymag | January 23, 2017

By: Taylor Gates

 

 

Elizabeth (Tea Leoni) and her team finalize the details for their West Africa trip. Daisy (Patina Miller); however, doesn’t see the point of going. Although it will plant the seeds for clean energy, higher education and a better quality of life for women and children, Daisy doesn’t think it is the best first trip for Dalton’s (Keith Carradine) new independent administration. Since congress only gave them one-third of the money they asked for, they could come up short and it could be embarrassing. Elizabeth reminds her that diplomacy is all about problem solving face-to-face—sometimes you just have to get on the plane.

 

Henry (Tim Daly) makes dinner for Alison (Kathrine Herzer), Jason (Evan Roe) and himself, but their meal is interrupted by a call from the FBI. Sanchez (Roslyn Ruff) tells Henry that they may have caught the man responsible for the Illinois bombing. She wants to talk to Henry in person, as he might have more information about the suspect Rex Mayfield (James McCaffrey). She has her car pick him up and briefs him in the backseat, saying Mayfield has ties with ISIS and is a survivor of the Covenant of John—a Christian doomsday cult—of which Henry is an expert. While raiding Mayfield’s cabin, they found evidence of him having built an even bigger bomb.

 

In Africa, Elizabeth gives a passionate speech to a girls’ STEM club about how they can change the world through math, science and technology. The fun is cut short when she is informed President Diome (Afemo Omilami) has given their solar farm contract to the Chinese because they offered to fund the project fully. Elizabeth warns that the Chinese will hire their own workers to build and maintain the farm, but Diome tells her that’s beside the point. They need electricity to power new cities now and the Chinese can offer them that. Since the US won’t fully fund their project, the Chinese deal works out better. Elizabeth panics to her team—China is trying to beat them to all of their African stops and prove they’re bigger players in the game. They need to rush to Nigeria and stop it from escalating.

 

Back on the plane, Daisy fields scathing questions from the press who imply that Elizabeth should have anticipated this disaster when Congress underfunded her. The Q&A comes to an end when the plane experiences a mechanical failure and they must make an emergency landing in Togo.

 

Henry watches Mayfield get interrogated about the location of the other bomb. Apparently, he built the weapon to bring about the prophecy—the final battle in Syria that ISIS believes will cause the apocalypse. Special Agent Mo (Arian Moayed) from counterterrorism tells Henry that Mayfield has recently reached out to more Covenant of John survivors, but nobody connected to ISIS. Sanchez argues that the second bomb is still likely for ISIS as well, but Henry disagrees.

 

Blake (Erich Bergen) tells the staff they have all been booked on a commercial flight to Nigeria that leaves the opposite end of the terminal in 20 minutes. They start rushing through the airport, but are stopped by Togo’s president and a huge welcoming party. He offers to show them all the sights of the city and Elizabeth agrees, much to Daisy’s dismay. The good news is, there is another flight leaving for Nigeria in an hour. The bad news is there are only four seats, all in coach. After some debate, it’s decided Elizabeth, Blake and two security agents will go while Daisy and Susan (Tonya Pinkins) spend the night in Togo.

 

Nadine (Bebe Neuwirth) gets on the phone with an Air Force engineer and learns that the earliest they can fix Elizabeth’s plane is next week. She drags Matt (Geoffrey Arend) with her to the Pentagon to see if they can work something out, even using the fact that her position gives her a rank equivalent to a Major General. She threatens to call in the Commander in Chief unless Colonel McKay (James Joseph O’Neil) gets the necessary part from Italy to Togo immediately, and he complies.

 

Ambassador Akimoto (Christine Toy Johnson) greets Elizabeth at the airport, breaking the news that their wind power agreement is no more. Chen (Francis Jue) beat them to it. Back in Togo, a representative regrettably tells Susan, Daisy and the press that they will not have any hotel rooms. Everywhere is booked because of a big soccer tournament. Daisy is irritated—she knew this trip was going to be a disaster.

 

Mo and Henry visit Jenny (Eva Kaminsky), a former member of Covenant of John. She remembers Henry from the time he helped saved the members in Bolivia. Jenny is nervous at their arrival; she got a job and is finally able to sleep again, and she wants no part of the cult anymore. Henry assures her they’re just there to talk, asking what she thinks Mayfair wants. Jenny reveals that Mayfair wanted to follow the plans laid out in Revelation and blow up the world.

 

Elizabeth corners Chen at a dinner, ripping into him for playing dirty. Chen tells her to spare him the speech on US idealism and spare Africa the forcing of their Western culture. They bond over losing their parents young, and Elizabeth tells him to imagine what they could accomplish if they worked together. Chen; however, is skeptical since he believes their stop in Togo was planned since phosphate was just discovered there. Elizabeth calls Daisy and says they’re going to use this information to their advantage to make a positive change.

 

Elizabeth goes back to Togo and finishes talking with the girls about their STEM projects. A group of them presents Elizabeth with an alternate invention to open flame cooking. Elizabeth offers President Fabre (Obba Babatundé) a deal.

 

Henry goes into the interrogation room, asking Mayfair basic questions about Islam. Mayfair’s lack of knowledge reveals that he is not truly a newly converted Muslim. Henry tells the FBI staff that Mayfair is still very much a believer in the Covenant of John cult. He also sees himself as the architect of the apocalypse, and the best way to bring it about would be to set off a major conflict between Islam and the West. Sanchez says they need to track down the rest of the surviving cult members.

 

Susan takes Daisy to an old slave fort. Daisy gets emotional, telling Susan that she can feel the suffering that took place there. Susan reveals that her father was a deacon, and whenever she finds herself near a fort she remembers to thank him and all those that came before her who gave everything so that she could someday thrive. They are the reason she pushes so hard to make a difference. Daisy says that, despite the logistical nightmare the trip has been, she’s glad she came. The two go off and pray together.

 

Elizabeth and her staff get back on their newly repaired plane. Elizabeth clarifies to Blake that they’re not actually interested in investing in Togo’s phosphate industry; they just want China to think they are so they invest along with promises to establish improvement programs for the environment and women. Essentially, they got China to donate the money they don’t have for the things they want to see happen. It’s a big win for everyone, but the press is still going to grill them about it since it will appear that China won. They’re all excited to go home, but then the plane experiences another difficultly that will take a while to fix.

 

The next morning, the McCords use the new oven the STEM girls made to cook their breakfast. Elizabeth and Henry are thrilled the kids are interested in something they’re doing as a family. Elizabeth admits to Henry that she’s not sure they accomplished anything on this trip—like Chen said, idealism kills but mutual interest saves lives. Henry thinks Chen might be right, telling her about Mayfair’s fanaticism and the fact they still can’t find the bomb.

 

Mo goes and talks to a former covenant member, who innocently says he doesn’t keep up with any former cult members. However, once they leave he takes out a hidden cell phone and warns his friend, who then goes into a garage and drives off in a truck containing the bomb.