Madam Secretary - The Doability Doctrine - Review: "The shape of things to come"

The captors of a kidnapped State Department employee demanded to talk to Madam Secretary on last Sunday's episode. Additionally, Henry had some problems recruiting Dmitri while Russia had a few problems of its own.

The case begins when Tom Garrity, a State Department employee working in Afghanistan, is kidnapped at a construction site. The captors later demand to speak to Elizabeth in Kabul and while Bess is willing to go there, Craig Sterling says they don't negotiate with terrorists. He highly discourages the President to let her go and Dalton agrees. However, it turns out the kidnappers are not really terrorists: they are three Afghans who were contracted by the US. Their families were denied visas for the last few years, but the Taliban found out that the trio is working for the US. Therefore, they demand their families to be transferred, after which they will release Garrity and face charges in America. The President goes on board with this. Thanks to Russia the US also find the location of Garrity and his kidnappers, and they send a SEAL team to the location. However, the Taliban has also discovered their location so it becomes a race against time to save them. The SEALs are able to grab Garrity, but await orders on whether to save the three Afghan men. Sterling says they have their man and advises Dalton to leave them behind, which he does. Elizabeth later confronts him and tells him it goes against everything he advocated for the last 15 years.

Meanwhile, Henry has problems recruiting Dmitri for the DIA. Dmitri informs his teacher he is going back to Russia to take care of his ill sister. He tells this to Jane Fellows, who suggests to recruit Ivan instead. However, Henry is still reluctant to use his closeted homosexuality against him and instead thinks he can still get Dmitri in. Henry offers Dmitri a clinical trial for his sister in exchange for him becoming a spy for the US. Dmitri gets mad about this and says he won't betray Russia.

Russia, in the meantime, has problems of its own. President Pavel Ostrov (who we met in episode 20 of last season, when he was hunting with Henry) has not been seen for a week, leading to speculation on his whereabouts. Jay already has to make a contingency plan with DoD in case things go sideways. It becomes even more suspicious when Russian Foreign Minister Anton Gorev will be attending an event honoring Russia's assistance during World War II. Elizabeth also goes to the event, but Gorev denies anything. Speculation is later laid to rest when Ostrov appears at a public event. However, at the end of the episode Gorev comes to Henry and Elizabeth. He asks them to keep an eye out on his daughter Olga if something were to happen to him. After both of them pressure him to tell more, Gorev reveals that the Kremlin will announce in an hour that Ostrov is dead. Gorev heads back to Russia, and Henry and Bess speculate if he could have had something to do with Ostrov's death. As Elizabeth calls Dalton, Henry goes to Dmitri to tell him about the Russian President's death. Dmitri is then convinced to spy on Russia for the US.

This was a good episode. I liked the weekly case, because it was quite intense. It was also great that things didn't completely go Elizabeth's way. Obviously, Garrity was rescued but the three Afghan men were left to die. I enjoy the tension between her and Sterling, though I wonder what happened between them in the past. Hopefully that will be explored down the road. Also, President Dalton wasn't on Elizabeth's side this time. I am not sure if Sterling caused it, but there seems to be tension between Bess and Dalton as well. Elsewhere, the storyline involving Russian President Ostrov is an intriguing set-up for a new storyline. The events in Russia seem to become the focus of at least episodes 3, 4 and 5. Given that last season's trilogy involving the coup in Iran turned out to be some of the best episodes of the season, hopefully this storyline will allow for some strong episodes as well. I am really excited for the fallout of Ostrov's death and how it impacts the relationship between the US and Russia. Also, this storyline now seems intertwined with Henry's mission to recruit Dmitri. All in all, this episode was once again a set-up of things to come that are shaping up to be quite interesting.

Family fun and other notes:
-Allison gets a talking stick for peer mediation, which is also used in the McCord mansion.
-Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright guest starred as herself. She gave Elizabeth advise on how to deal with Dalton and Sterling.
-Henry and Elizabeth had Stevie's hair investigated on drugs. They also believe she should tell Harrison's parents about his drug use. Stevie actually decided to listen to her parents for once, but ignored everyone's phone calls and texts the rest of the days. It turns out she took the LSAT, because she doesn't know what to do with her life.
-The investigation into the malware on Air Force One is still ongoing, but there is nothing conclusive yet.

What did you think of "The Doability Doctrine"? What are your thoughts on the case of the week? Were you surprised that things didn't go Elizabeth's way? How do you feel about the tension between her, Craig Sterling and the President? And how do you think things will change in Russia following President Ostrov's death? I would love to hear your thoughts and theories in the comments below.

The next episode airs this Sunday at 8/7c on CBS. Here is a promo of the episode:

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.

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