Madam Secretary - You Say You Want a Revolution - Review: "The Cuban crisis"

Madam Secretary was close to making history on last night's episode when she had the opportunity to lift the Cuban trade embargo. However, getting the Senate's support was no easy job.

After a flashback sequence to 1977 Chicago where a police officer shoots two African-American people before being shot himself, we begin in the present day with the re-opening of the Cuban Embassy in DC after 54 years. It's a historic moment and in a few days Elizabeth will travel to Cuba herself to open the American Embassy in Havana. Before that, however, a Senator named Markes is resigning after being pulled over for a couple of things. Bess runs to the office, because as it turns out Markes is the head of the Foreign Relations Committee and he stopped a bill lifting the Cuban trade embargo from passing. Bess quickly heads to President Dalton and despite the usual opposition from Craig Sterling, Russell supports her and they convince the President to give it a shot. They must get 60 votes in the Senate to get the bill to pass, so Russell and Bess work hard to get it done before Bess heads to Cuba. After some promises to Minnesota and Wyoming and a threat to the Idaho Senator, there is a majority in favor of the bill. That is, until Senator Parisi holds a press conference and says that he won't vote yes unless Afeni Rahim is brought to the US. Afeni Rahim is the woman who was present in the car in the flashback to 1977. Senator Parisi wants her to serve her sentence for the shooting of police officer Burke and uses Burke's wife to hold a press conference.

The vote is put on hold and Bess travels to Cuba. She tries to convince the First Vice President to hand Rahim over to the US, but he does not want to hand over a hero. Of course, if Rahim agrees to come to the US herself, it wouldn't be a problem. Elizabeth meets Rahim and tells her that she can change Cuba. However, Rahim says she didn't shoot that cop back then and that it wouldn't be any different from Trayvon Martin and Eric Garner. Bess orders Nadine to get the FBI files from the 1977 investigation, which Nadine gets by doing some fake crying. It turns out there indeed was some tampering with evidence, so Rahim is offered a new trial and Bess promises that the evidence will become public. She agrees and goes back to the US. The bill passes and the Cuban trade embargo is officially lifted. Bess gives a speech written by herself, since Matt was against the Cuban matter. However, he shows up at the re-opening of the American Embassy with two veterans who lowered the flag when the Embassy was closed. Now they get to see the flag raise again.

Meanwhile, Henry and Allison join Bess on her trip to Cuba. Allison had earlier confessed that she was in a minor car accident and that she herself had the damage repaired. Henry doesn't like that, but Bess thinks she at least showed responsibility. Allison thinks her father is being unfair, but Elizabeth tells her about one of his students committing suicide. Henry is apparently having a rough time with Ivan's death, such as losing sleep. Henry and Allison later bond in Havana where, after a fight about Allison taking a picture in church, the two go for a ride together and Henry opens up a bit about Ivan's death.

Also, when Russell jumps in the car with Elizabeth, Henry and Allison, he discusses the situation with Senator Parisi. Henry offers a wild theory that Craig Sterling might have worked with Parisi to prevent the Cuban trade embargo from being lifted. Russell thinks that is a bit paranoid, but at a press conferences later sees Sterling and Parisi talking. After a quick check, it turns out that Sterling offered Parisi a cabinet post in Dalton's second term. Russell tells Elizabeth and says that Sterling wants the President to only listen to him. Bess asks Russell what they should do now, to which Russell replies: "We burry him".

This was a great episode! The Cuban situation was interesting to see and once again reflects real-life events. It was fun seeing Elizabeth working to get votes from all the Senators. That's an aspect of her job we haven't really seen up till now. And it's always great seeing Bess and Russell working together. I loved seeing L. Scott Caldwell in the guest starring role as Afeni Rahim. Caldwell is best probably best known for her role in Lost, a show that I loved, so I never regret seeing her on my screen. One moment that is also of note was Nadine's fake crying. I mean, that was so funny to see. Besides the Cuban crisis, I am glad Russell finally realized that Sterling is up to no good. Bess already knew and now Russell knows, so the next step is to let the President know. I am really looking forward to seeing the two work together to box Sterling out of the game in the next episode. Russell and Elizabeth have such a great dynamic. I remember from last week's episode that Henry called Russell Elizabeth's boyfriend. Also, I like that Ivan's death weighs heavily on Henry. I am glad to see Henry deal with the consequences of his actions even though he was not directly responsible for Ivan's suicide. At least the show does not forget about his death. Lastly, Allison is quickly turning into my favourite McCord child. It's good to see her taking responsibility for that car accident, but also to see her confront her father about his feelings for Ivan's death.

What did you think of "You Say You Want a Revolution"? Did you enjoy seeing the Cuban trade embargo lifted after all the work everyone had done? How do you feel about Afeni Rahim turning herself in? Are you glad Russell finally knows that Sterling is up to no good? What will he and Bess do to get him out? And lastly, what did you think of Henry's feelings about Ivan's death and him bonding with Allison? I would love to hear your thoughts on the episode in the comments below.

The next episode airs Sunday at 8/7c on CBS. Watch a promo for the episode below.

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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