Madam Secretary - Pilot - Review: "A good start"

This past Sunday, CBS premiered its new The Good Wife companion Madam Secretary. The show is about Elizabeth McCord, a college professor who is appointed Secretary of State after her predecessor died under mysterious circumstances.

The show starts off in Syria, where it appears two American teenagers have been kidnapped by the Syrian government. Throughout the hour, we see Elizabeth make various attempts to get the boys back home safely. To do this, she has to work with the White House Chief of Staff Russell Jackson, something she is not too happy with. The two clash on various occasions, because, as the President described earlier, Elizabeth doesn't just think outside of the box, she doesn't even know there is one. Eventually, Elizabeth goes both behind the President and Jackson's back to negotiate a deal with the Syrian government. However, it's not like she is funding terrorism or war, she actually offers a few million dollars of development aid. She succeeds in making a deal, and the kids arrive safely in the United States. Jackson does give her a creepy warning not to work around him again the next time, because he makes a better ally than an opponent. Elizabeth feels the same way.

In the pilot, we also see Elizabeth's own kids and her husband Henry. Her husband is also a college professor, and her kids had some trouble when they had to move house. There's not much more to say because they didn't have a lot of screen time. At the end of the episode, Henry tells Elizabeth that one of her old CIA friends, George, died in a car accident. George was seen earlier in the episode at the McCord mansion, telling Elizabeth that her predecessor's death was not an accident. Now George has died himself, and Elizabeth doesn't believe his death was accidental either. It seems there might be a conspiracy in the White House.

I rather enjoyed Madam Secretary's pilot. The cast works well together, not just Téa Leoni, but also the supporting characters. I found the pilot a good start for what is hopefully gonna be a good seaosn. The twist at the end felt really intriguing, and I'm curious to see where this big conspiracy is going. Jackson certainly seems to be somewhat of an antagonist, but him being behind all it would be a bit too obvious. I do hope they don't jump the shark with the conspiracy and keep it as realistic as they possibly can.

One thing I didn't like about the pilot was the moment when the boys returned home. They suddenly kissed the ground for no apparent reason. It felt a bit unnecessary and cheesy. I also hope that we get to see more of the background characters like Elizabeth's staff, most notably Bebe Neuwirth's character. It will be interesting to see how the show will balance Elizabeth's professional life with her personal life. As long as they can keep both storylines interesting, the show will be fine.

The case of the week was good and felt like it could be a real situation. However, I wouldn't have any problem if they would stretch the cases over a few weeks. After all, in the real world, this political crisis wouldn't be solved within two days. As far as I know, The Good Wife also has a more serialized approach, something I hope the show will eventually do too.

What did you think of the pilot? Do you think Téa Leoni is believable as the Secretary of State? What did you think of the case of the week? And are you, like me, intrigued by the supposed White House conspiracy? Tell us what you thought in the comments below.

Here's the promo for episode 2, airing this Sunday at 8 pm (if not pre-empted by football):

About the Author - Daniel

Daniel is a Dutch university student studying Psychology. On SpoilerTV he is a reviewer of NCIS, The 100 and the upcoming shows Madam Secretary, Battle Creek and Odyssey. He also enjoys Arrow, NCIS: LA, Nikita and The Blacklist. Recently gotten into LOST which he really loves. He is excited for the new shows Stalker, Scorpion, NCIS: New Orleans and a bunch of others.

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