Madam Secretary – The Friendship Game

By starrymag | April 28, 2018

By: Taylor Gates

 

 

Elizabeth (Téa Leoni) and Henry (Tim Daly) get home from a gala. Henry had a great time, but Elizabeth was miserable. She laments that she’s not fun anymore, complaining that they never see their friends anymore. Henry admits he and Elizabeth cancelled on the Rasmussens nine times, which is probably why they’re no longer invited places with them. Henry promises to write them an email to set something up, and they vow not to cancel no matter what.

 

Daisy (Patina Miller) tells Jay (Sebastian Arcelus) about the polls coming out of Honduras that show illiterate, America-hating ex-soccer player Fonseca catching up to President Tejeda (Elpidia Carrillo). They need Tejeda to win so they can keep their agreement—an agreement that’s holding together their deal in Central America. Daisy is afraid how Elizabeth will react and  tells Jay to pitch her a fix to soften the blow.

 

In the conference room, Matt (Geoffrey Arend) gives a preview the speech he’s written about how solving the gang problem in Central America will be good for the US as well before Elizabeth inquires about the Honduras problem. She’s worried Tejeda will pull out of the agreement in order to refute Fonseca’s claims that she’s a US puppet. Jay suggests they pull her aside at the conference and assure her the US is backing her.

 

Matt’s mother calls him yet again, and he tells Daisy and Blake (Erich Bergen) that she’s worried he’s 35 and still single. He admits he and Ronnie Baker (Justine Lupe) broke up since she’s going to South Korea for a year and then could potentially be assigned to someplace like Qatar. They decided to rip the band-aid off instead of getting attached. Blake and Daisy are bummed but tell him to give the person his mom has fixed him up with a shot.

 

Tejeda tells Elizabeth that she believes in the security agreement but wants the allocated money for it fast-tracked so they can receive it the moment the agreement is signed. Elizabeth tells her that certain benchmarks have to be met before the money is released and that giving it to them early would be meddling in their election. Tejeda implies she’s a hypocrite, saying they’ve tipped many Latin American elections and always meddle when it’s within the US’s best interest.

 

Right after Tejeda signs the agreement, she gets word that FT-88, one of their country’s worst gangs, has taken a group of NGO workers hostage. All the hostages are Honduran except one, who’s an American citizen. The gang is demanding $30 million in exchange for their safety.

 

Dalton (Keith Carradine) offers the FBI’s help to free the hostages, but Tejeda says that will only give Fonseca more ammunition against her. Russell (Zeljko Ivanek) thinks that leaving things entirely up to Honduras is a bad idea, knowing it’s almost certain the American aid worker Olivia (Ana Roshelle Diaz) will die. Elizabeth suggests a small, secret FBI team as a backup plan.

 

Henry picks up the book Jason (Evan Roe) left at Piper’s house and meets her father Frank (Firdous Bamji). Her dad asks if he and Elizabeth will have dinner with himself and his wife Regina (Orlagh Cassidy), and Henry happily agrees.

 

Olivia’s parents tell Jay how grateful they are that he’s going to help them get their daughter home. Jay breaks the news that the US doesn’t pay money for hostages no matter who the kidnapper is but promises they’re exploring every option to get Olivia home. Jay tells them that he’s been in a similar hostage situation and understands how they feel, but they’re cold towards Jay since the government can’t offer any money.

 

Jay tells Elizabeth what happened, feeling like he failed at delivering the bad news. Elizabeth tells Jay that sometimes there is no good way to say things and you just have to sit back and take it. Jay reassures her he can, and she tells him to clear his head but not give up.

 

Henry tells Elizabeth the Rasmussens replied to his email curtly, saying they were booked solid. Elizabeth is upset that they’ve seemingly moved on, but Henry attempts to cheer her up with the promise of hanging out with Piper’s parents. Elizabeth is excited at that prospect, especially since they have so much in common. Jason; however, is less than thrilled, begging them not to talk about him during their dinner.

 

Elizabeth sees on the news that Tejeda is starting a crackdown on all local gangs, vowing that the harshness won’t stop until all the captors have been caught and executed. Elizabeth is disturbed that she’s not advocating for a fair trial.

 

Jay tells Elizabeth that Olivia’s parents are billionaires and have agreed to pay the ransom themselves. Elizabeth is notably less excited that Jay, telling him to manage expectations. After all, gangs don’t always hold up their end of the deal.

 

Elizabeth stops by FBI headquarters, who acquired video surveillance of a Honduran van going the opposite direction of FT-88. Elizabeth points out that FT-88 swore they played no part in the kidnapping, but Marguerite (Roslyn Ruff) thinks they’re just saying that in case one of the victims dies. Marguerite tells Elizabeth that Olivia’s parents are allowed to pay the ransom on their own, but before delivering that news, Elizabeth wants to check out the suspicious van situation.

 

Elizabeth is frazzled, as she’s late for dinner with Frank and Regina. They make somewhat awkward small talk about their kids and Elizabeth’s work before Frank launches into a story about a funny, embarrassing dinner experience they had with a foreign minister.

 

After, they all go back to the McCord house where Elizabeth serves them macaroons directly from a high-ranking French official. Blake calls Olivia and warns her that Olivia’s dad is outside her house and demanding to speak with her. Henry ushers Piper’s parents into the other room while Elizabeth takes the meeting. Olivia’s dad is furious that the gang has no way to accept his money, demanding that Elizabeth get to the bottom of things. Elizabeth goes into the kitchen to tell everyone she has to go into the office, but they have already left. She’s worried this is a bad sign, but Henry reassures her it was just getting late and they want to get together again soon.

 

At the office, Marguerite tells Jay and Elizabeth the hostages are being held on government land—an abandoned military base, to be more precise. There’s no sign of FT-88, and Elizabeth realizes this whole thing is a setup by Tejeda so she can look like a hero rescuing them.

 

Tejeda denies all of Elizabeth’s accusations but says that if they interfere with the hostages, they will basically be handing the victory to Fonseca and meddling in the election. Elizabeth is shocked, as she doesn’t seem like the same person she met four years ago. Dalton warns Tejeda that if Olivia isn’t at the US embassy in six hours, the consequences will be dire.

 

Elizabeth, Dalton, and Russell watch the news. Olivia has been released and reunites with her parents while Tejeda makes a speech lying about how she cracked down on FT-88 directly. Elizabeth questions if she can even work with Tejeda after this, wondering if she’s actually any better than Fonseca. She’s tempted to expose her antics, knowing it will get out eventually. However, Russell and Dalton seem to think she is a much better option for Central America and the US alike and don’t want Elizabeth to go public. Elizabeth does it anyway, giving a press conference the next day.

 

Matt meets his blind date Afia (Nikki Massoud), who was also set up by her mother. The two take a selfie and text it to their parents so they won’t try and call them all night. Afia admits that she chose a three-hour baseball documentary as their movie to try to impress Matt, and Matt suggests they go watch Iron Man instead. They both enjoy the movie and are flirting at dessert.

 

However, a visit from Afia’s ex-boyfriend Ryan makes things weird. He gets mad at Afia for never telling her mother that the two were in a relationship and not choosing him over her family because he wasn’t Pakistani. Afia tells Ryan that every song and landmark reminds her of him, making Matt realize she’s still in love with him.

 

Matt tells Jay and Blake that he sat Afia and Ryan down and told them that love is all about risk. They tell Matt that’s exactly he advice he needs to follow, too, and go fight for Ronnie. He meets her on her way to the airport, telling her that caring enough about someone to risk getting hurt for the chance to be with them is the best thing in the world. He says he wants the chance to get his heart broken by her, and she agrees. The two kiss before she leaves to catch her flight.

 

Henry and Elizabeth drive to the Rasmussens house to give them a gift basket and apologize for being so MIA. Elizabeth says their lives are always going to be hectic because of their jobs and Henry replies that they’ll just have to make a little extra effort from now on. The Rasmussens invite them inside to hang out.