Madam Secretary – The Unnamed

By starrymag | March 31, 2018

By: Taylor Gates

 

 

Ten years in the past, Dalton (Keith Carradine) gives a consolation speech after losing the California governor election. He talks about how his days playing basketball taught him that the team he surrounds himself with is more important than victory or defeat.

 

In the present day, Dalton’s doctor invites Russell (Zeljko Ivanek) to watch him perform his final memory exams. Russell informs him that his first order of business as reinstalled president will be to award the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Myanmar’s first democratically elected president U Khaing (Bhavesh Patel). Dalton is nervous he won’t be well enough to pass the health tests.

 

Elizabeth’s (Téa Leoni) staff is swooning over Khaing, even more so when they found out he made the choice to stay imprisoned with his people during a corrupt dictatorship though he was technically free to leave at any time. His speech is moving, and he graciously thanks the United States for being a beacon of hope and light for their small country.

 

Russell pushes Dalton to return to office as soon as possible, but Dalton wants to make absolutely sure he’s going to be okay first. Though all of his neurologists have cleared him, he knows effects of the blood clot could be ongoing. Daisy (Patina Miller) panics, not knowing what to tell the public, but Elizabeth tells everyone to calm down—he just needs some time.

 

Kat (Sara Ramirez) informs Elizabeth that massive amounts of Rohingya refugees are moving from Myanmar to Bangladesh due to violence that started several days ago. Elizabeth tells Blake (Erich Bergen) to set up a meeting, surprised President Khaing hasn’t said anything about it. Kat is afraid that perhaps the military powers are oppressing the people, fearing it could even be ethnic cleansing since muslims have been living in apartheid-like conditions for ages.

 

Elizabeth goes to a Buddhist temple to talk to Khaing, offering any assistance she can to help the Rohingya people. Khaing writes off their exodus as simply an immigration issue, refusing to look deeper into the persecution. They get even more suspicious when Khaing will not call them Rohingya people, referring to them only as muslims of the state.

 

Alison (Kathrine Herzer) and Henry (Tim Daly) welcome Aunt Maureen (Kate Burton), who has come for a visit. Maureen gifts Alison some art supplies and gives Henry their father’s old knife. Elizabeth calls and says she won’t be able to make it for dinner after all, and Maureen suggests they push back the fancy family meal to the next night, surprisingly uncritical and unbothered.

 

Kat talks to Donna Parker (Maddie Corman) a woman who works in the East Asia department. She says that Khaing can’t take sides, as most of the population views Rohingya as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. Kat demands a detailed police report, and Donna replies they don’t have much. Donna asks Kat not to look deeper into the situation for the good of Myanmar’s democracy. This is Khaing’s fight—not theirs.

 

Elizabeth informs Russell and Hurst (Jayne Atkinson) that she’s afraid this could not only blow up into an international story, but that it could turn into another genocide like Rwanda where the entire world just stands by and watches. The UN is trying to figure out whether this violence was perpetrated by the state or vigilante groups so they can know from which angle to intervene. Elizabeth suggests using drone surveillance, which would violate Myanmar’s airspace. Hurst wants Dalton to make the military call since the situation is escalating so quickly, but Russell ominously tells them not to hold their breath. Hurst orders the surveillance.

 

At Camp David, Dalton confides in his wife (Christine Ebersole) that’s he’s nervous about returning to office, scared that his problems will come back. His wife isn’t worried, saying he’ll do what he always does—use his logic and then trust his gut. He’ll know when it’s time to go back.

 

In another flashback, Dalton gets a call two hours before a huge debate. He tells his campaign manager (Andrew Rothenberg) that there’s an emergency and he has to leave. His campaign manager is furious, but Dalton doesn’t care. He goes to the hospital where he sees his brother John (Fredric Lehne) suffering from fractures and alcohol withdrawal. Dalton tells one of the doctors he’s schizo-sensitive and disappeared from a psychiatric hospital three years ago.

 

Henry, Alison, and Maureen go to an art exhibit Maureen was looking forward to seeing. Alison thinks the art is tacky and unbearable, which hurts Maureen’s feelings. Henry tells Alison that cutting everything down isn’t cool and Maureen doesn’t get a lot of fun in her life. Henry tells Alison that Maureen is a sharp lady, encouraging her to get to know her better. Alison reluctantly agrees to try and bond.

 

Kat shares some bad news with Elizabeth: the satellites over Myanmar show the military carpet bombing the Rohingya population. Either the men waited until Kahing was out of the country to perform the terrible acts because they didn’t want him to know or they were providing a cover for him. One way he’s powerless, one way he’s complicit, and neither option is good.

 

Elizabeth questions Kahing about the conflict, showing him the photos of the damage. Kahing says it wasn’t ethnic cleansing, but rather the military targeting Rohingya terrorists. Elizabeth says there are other ways to hold people accountable that don’t include killing innocent civilians, but Kahing says he can’t reunite his country with the threat of extremists still looming. Elizabeth shows Kahing drawings a Rohingya child made at a refugee camp depicting soldiers killing his family. Elizabeth says this is proof this violence is marring an entire generation.

 

At lunch, Alison inquires about Maureen’s passion for art history. Although Maureen loved it, she never felt like she could do anything with it. Henry blames part of it on their father for not supporting her dreams, but Maureen defends him, saying not everyone was as lucky as Henry. Maureen says that Henry got to go to college which meant she couldn’t. Henry tells her the truth—their father never paid a dime for his school. Maureen argues that’s not what she was told, but Henry said their father only lied so that Maureen would stay home with him since she was the favorite. Henry knows Maureen wants him to think highly of their dad, but he can’t.

 

Elizabeth, Hurst, and Russell discuss options to protect the Rohingya. Though they could wait for UN ground troops, it might be too late by the time they take a vote. If they send in their own troops, there would definitely be political conflict. Hurst doesn’t particularly want to intervene but is persuaded into flying planes over the country as a show of action, hoping it will open things up diplomatically.

 

Elizabeth is frustrated at Hurst’s reluctance to act, and Russell breaks the news that he doesn’t think Dalton wants the presidency anymore. Elizabeth goes to talk to Dalton directly, begging him to come back. Dalton says that his brother started hearing voices when he was a senior in high school but didn’t tell anybody. Later he told Dalton he knew it was the voice of God and then Satan, It wasn’t until many breakdowns later that he finally accepted his reality wasn’t the same as everyone else’s. Dalton is terrified something similar will happen to him since he was absolutely sure about calling the strike on Russia.

 

Elizabeth argues that the fact Dalton is being so careful proves he’s back to being the man the country trusted to be their leader. Dalton responds that if he can’t trust himself, he can’t lead. Elizabeth tells him to take some more time but requests that first he talk to Kahing.

 

In another flashback, Dalton meets Russell for the first time after his failed governor campaign. Russell says Dalton shouldn’t be the one packing up his office. His biggest mistake, Russell notes, wasn’t missing the debate but rather hiding the reason why. He compliments Dalton on being real, protecting his team, and speaking the truth, telling him that if he continues being honest and staying true to himself, he’ll have a bright future in politics.

 

Dalton visits Kahing, telling him this isn’t the best timing for him to receive the award. He gives him some advice considering he’s a new leader—he needs to bring the Rohingya people home. He promised to protect and lead all of his people, including them. Kahing says that by doing that, he would be putting 97% of the country at risk in order to protect a mere 3%. Dalton tells him no country that uses fear and is willing to massacre one million people can ever call themselves a democracy.

 

Dalton tells Kahing he needs to call the Rohingya people by their name and then give them a seat at the table so they can have a voice, too. Dalton hopes that he can give Kahing the medal the next time they see each other. Kahing takes Dalton’s advice, making a speech about how everyone in the country needs to come together and live in freedom and peace as one nation.

 

Alison gives Maureen some art-themed playing cards she bought at the gift shop. Henry told Alison that Maureen is a shark at cards, and Maureen teases that Henry is easy money. The three of them play together and gamble away freshly baked cookies. Dalton invites his brother John to watch him be reinstated as president.