Madam Secretary - The Rusalka - Review: "Russia's new dictator"

We saw a major power change in Russia after the death of President Ostrov on last Sunday's Madam Secretary. Also, Henry had problems with his recruit Dmitri.

Following President's Ostrov death, President Dalton calls his widow Maria Ostrov to offer his condolences and to tell her that Elizabeth is coming to the funeral. The main concern for the US is who will take charge now that Ostrov is gone. Craig Sterling suggests to take action by sending military troops to the Ukraine, but Elizabeth comes up with a plan. She thinks she can convince the Ukranian President to sign a deal that will give greater autonomy in Eastern Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Gorev should help broker the deal with the Russian generals, which would make him look good as a potential successor to Ostrov. Gorev agrees to talk to the generals and Bess stops on her way to Moscow in Kiev. President Bozek is resistant but eventually agrees to the deal. Also, Gorev sets up a meeting with the generals. However, things go sideways when Blake is tricked into posing with a Russian operative, which is meant to make the US look bad. The deal is nearly blown, but Bess convinces Gorev to put together the generals another time.

Since the Russian government controls the media, it is obvious that someone wanted that picture to come out. Oliver Shaw, the President's cyber expert, traces the photo back to Maria Ostrov. At President's Ostrov funeral, Maria publicly calls out on Elizabeth's staff openly consorting with anti-Russian protestor. She also accuses Gorev of conspiring with Elizabeth to make a plot against Russia. Maria calls Elizabeth not a friend to Russia, but a dark figure from the Russian folk tales, a Rusalka. She declares that Russia is not afraid of the US. What a way to use your husband's funeral. Elizabeth quickly leaves the messy situation. Back in the US, Sterling again pushes to arm the Ukranians, to which Dalton agrees. This might lead straight to a shooting war with Russia. In Russia, Gorev takes off while Maria, Russia's new dictator, goes to see her people.

Meanwhile, Henry is concerned about Dmitri's state of mind when the latter stands up in class to defend the late President Ostrov. Henry uses Dmitri's sister as leverage and give him orders to get to the memorial for Ostrov at the Russian embassy. There, he needs to talk to the Russian Ambassador Zinchenko and find out if he knows who will take charge in Russia. However, besides drinking with him, Dmitri finds out nothing useful from Zinchenko. On his way back from the embassy, he is kidnapped and interrogated about being a spy for the US. Dmitri, however, doesn't give in and denies everything. The kidnapping turns out to be a test orchestrated by the DIA on Henry's behalf, and Dmitri has successfully passed the test. Dmitri subsequently asks Henry how he sleeps at night and while the professor answers he's sleeping just fine, he later goes to confess his sins for the first time in 11 years. Also, Dmitri tears his room apart, because he's afraid for bugs and all that. Poor kid.

Also, the malware on Air Force One is still being investigated, but Oliver Shaw does reveal that it was quite sophisticated. It later turns out that the malware had control over the entire plan, meaning that whoever hacked it could have flown the plane straight into the ocean. It seemed to be a warning to the President that they could do it again whenever they want, whoever 'they' are.

Wow, what an episode! I personally think this is the best episode of the season so far. It had various twists that took me by surprise even though the episode delivered bad news for basically everyone. For once, I didn't see it coming that Maria would use her husband's funeral to make a case for herself as Russia's new leader. Maria's power grab is obviously going to have serious consequences for the US and Elizabeth. Angela Gots, who portrayed Maria, did an excellent job. Things went very bad for Elizabeth in this episode and she has to play even harder to get back at the President's good side. I feel bad for her since she didn't do anything wrong. Her being boxed out of the President's inner circle is weird, but Craig Sterling seems insistent on making her lose. What is really his endgame here? If he's working with Dalton and Russell, why are they doing this? Do they want Bess to resign? I need more info on this conflict. Elsewhere, Henry continued to go beyond his moral standards. He seemed to do just fine letting Dmitri get interrogated, but I'm glad they're showing his layers and that he seems sorry for what he did. I feel sorry for Dmitri, it seems he might be going a bit crazy.

Family fun and other stuff:
-Jason wants to join the football team, which has his parents wondering why he would suddenly want that. He later tells his father that he wants to make friends, so Henry and Bess give permission to join the team. Jason ends up as a linebacker.
-Nothing was said about the cause of Ostrov's death, even though last week's ending hinted at an unnatural death. It makes me wonder how Ostrov died. His head looked quite intact, but that doesn't mean anything.
-Mike B returns to discus the Sterling problem with Elizabeth. He suggest coming up with a binder on Sterling, but Elizabeth is against it. However, when Sterling threatens to go to war with Russia, Elizabeth asks for the binder anyway.
-Also, Blake finally grew a pair and stood up against Mike B. Way to go Blake!
-In case you're wondering what the meaning of a Rusalka is, according to Wikipedia "a rusalka is an unquiet, dangerous being who is no longer alive, associated with the unclean spirit".

What did you think of "The Rusalka"? Were you surprised that Maria Ostrov made a play for power? Do you think the US will really go to war with Russia? How will Elizabeth deal with the Craig Sterling problem? And what do you think about Henry's moral standards being changed? Sound off with your thoughts and theories in the comments below.

Below is a promo for the next episode, airing Sunday at 8/7c (bearing pre-emptions).

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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