The Madam Secretary winter finale was all about trying to bring peace between Russia and the US. The episode ended in a big cliffhanger that not only left the deal up in the air, but also left the fate of several characters hanging in the balance.
The episode opens with a flashback to two months ago, where the late President Pavel Ostrov is murdered by his wife Maria. In the present time, we pick up with the President ordering to take down Russian planes flying over Ukraine. At least four planes are taken down, so Bess says it's safe to assume that they are now in a shooting war with Russia. Maria Ostrov now wants to crush the Americans on the land by sending ground troops to Mariupol. However, the US has the Russian battle plans so they had already sent forces to the three big cities Russia plans to attack. With Dmitri back in Maria's inner circle (it is not explained what happened to him after the blackout, but he is back at her table), he calls Henry to tell them the Russians are going to attack Mariupol. Dmitri also pleads with Henry to get him out of Russia. Henry immediately heads to Jane Fellows, who has already made a plan for exfiltration. With Dmitri's intelligence, President Dalton tells Director Ware to send all unnecessary forces to Mariupol. He also briefs Bess that her husband is Dmitri's handler. Bess tries to convince Dalton to propose a ceasefire with Russia, but Dalton is determined to stand up to Russian aggression. Also, Bess asks Director Ware for the profile on Maria Ostrov. It turns out she is a former beauty queen who doesn't have a political or military background. Bess tasks Jay with looking into her financial accounts in Switzerland.
The next day, it turns out the Russians have lost the battle at Mariupol. With 300+ soldiers dead, Maria asks how this could happen and deduces there is a spy in her inner circle. She immediately points to Yuri Dyachenko, who sits next to Dmitri at the table. Yuri is dragged away, and Henry goes to Jane to pressure her to get Dmitri out, but she orders him to stand down. Meanwhile, Daisy shows Bess a news report in which Russia claims that Ukraine hacked Air Force One. Dalton is furious and wants to know how this could have happened. Bess tries again to get him to organize a peace summit in Geneva, to which Dalton agrees. Russell also introduces Bess to Jane Fellows, who tells her that Dmitri will also come to Geneva. Bess is asked to take Henry along with her so he can be there to pick up Dmitri. As Bess and Henry leave, Bess gets a text from Jay that he found something interesting in Maria's financial records. In fact, it turns out that Maria paid her husband's surgeon, who was her plastic surgeon when she was a beauty queen, and then gave him an injection that would cause an embolism in people who recently had abdominoplasty. The evidence is circumstantial since the doctor is dead, but it could give the US an advantage over Maria Ostrov.
President Dalton, Elizabeth, Henry, Jane and Jay all head to Switzerland. At the peace talks, the US presents its terms in which each side has made painful concessions. The US and Ukraine are willing to sign the deal, and so is Russia. Maria just has one more request: Dalton needs to admit to attacking Moscow's power grid without provocation and apologize to the world. Dalton asks for the room with Ostrov, with Bess also staying behind. Dalton pressures Maria to take the deal and says they have proof she killed her husband. Maria says that even if they are right, she can't go back to the generals with empty hands. She knows the US have a spy in Russia so she asks that the US give him up. She will stay quiet that the US admitted to having a spy and the US will withhold Maria's involvement in Pavel's death. Bess tells Dalton they can't do this, but Dalton has to think of the greater good. The exfiltration for Dmitri is already in play, with Henry and Jane on their way to pick him up. However, the mission is aborted at the last minute and Dmitri is instead taken by the Russians. Henry tells Bess they need to find Dmitri, but Bess reveals Dmitri was part of the negotiations. Henry storms off and has an off-screen conversation with Dalton. He subsequently takes a commercial flight home.
The next day, Bess and Dalton are ready to go home when they run into Ukrainian Foreign Minister Melnik, who says they will regret this deal. Maria also passes by and gives the US the silent treatment. As Elizabeth calls Henry and leaves him a voicemail, a man climbs up on the roof nearby. Dalton gets in the car and seconds later so does Elizabeth. The episode ends in a cliffhanger when the man on the roof fires a missile aimed for the President's car, with the sound of an explosion being heard as the screen goes to black.
Wow, what a big cliffhanger! I mean, the show has done cliffhangers before, but never this huge. The thing is, not only are the fates of some major players left unknown, the explosion could possibly blow up the deal as well. The way I see it, that missile could have hit any of the three cars: Dalton and Elizabeth's car, Maria Ostrov's car or Foreign Minister Melnik's car. I don't believe we know who the shooter is, unless it is Yuri Dyachenko. We don't get a clear picture of the shooter's face so I can't make it out if it's Yuri or not. Anyway, whichever car was hit, it will certainly complicate things and maybe the deal will be off the table. Honestly, it does really look a lot like it was the Dalton's vehicle that was hit. The shooter aimed at that car, did not move the gun and the cars had not started driving yet. Also, one of the cars definitely exploded, I think we clearly heard the explosion so there is no way around that. Elizabeth did get in the car, but there is of course no way the show would kill off its titular character. It's possible Bess got out of the car at the very last second, which would make her at lest badly injured but she could survive that. I do find it unlikely that the show would kill of President Dalton. Keith Carradine has only been promoted to regular at the beginning of this season so it would seem weird if they would kill him off already. Or it's entirely possible that it was one of the other cars that was hit.
Anyway, this episode was more than just the cliffhanger. I feel so bad for Dmitri. After everything he has done for the US, they just give him up to the Russians to do with him whatever they want to. He never wanted to be a spy and now he is just abandoned. That poor kid! I feel bad for Henry too. He has bend the lines a little when he recruited Dmitri, but he has a pure heart. I liked his conversation with Jane that he was a better person because of his conscience. Also, the scene where Henry confronted Elizabeth was so sad. The acting from Téa Leoni and Tim Daly was amazing in that scene. Leoni only spoke a few words, but she showed how conflicted Elizabeth was and how sorry she felt for her husband, while Daly showed Henry's intense anger at learning that his wife agreed to give up Dmitri. Personally, I would have loved to see Henry's confrontation
with President Dalton, but I guess the episode was too full already. It's weird to think that we saw an off-screen war in which 300+ Russians died, but I suppose there was no point in showing all of it. I also want to comment on Angela Gots, who is just awesome as Maria Ostrov. She might come off as a bit of a one-note villain, but Gots' portrayal of Maria is great.
What did you think of "The Greater Good"? Do you think President Dalton made the right call to give up Dmitri? What will happen to him now? How will Henry deal with Dmitri being abandoned? Will the deal with Russia hold, especially after that ending? And lastly, who do you think survived the explosive cliffhanger? I would love to hear your thoughts and theories in the comments below.
The next episode airs January 10 at 8/7c on CBS.
About the Author - Daniel van der Veer
Daniel van der Veer is a Dutch university student studying Psychology. On SpoilerTV he is a reviewer of NCIS, The 100, Madam Secretary and Quantico. He also enjoys LOST, Arrow, NCIS: Los Angeles, NCIS: New Orleans, Nikita, The Blacklist, Scorpion and How To Get Away With Murder.
