The penultimate episode of Madam Secretary's second season basically brought together all the main storylines of the season. From tensions with Russia to the hunt for Jibral Disah and from stolen uranium to Pakistan's nuclear arsenal, the episode had it all. The episode also ended with a huge question that completely stunned Bess.
Following the death of Pakistani Prime Minister Khoosat, the US must quickly act to secure the country's nuclear weapons before they fall into the hands of Hizb-al Shahid. Foreign Minister Abedi stands up as the new leader of Pakistan, but that means the mission to secure these nukes takes priority over finding Murphy station. Bess herself sees the importance of that, even if that means Henry and his team are stuck in Pakistan a bit longer. Anyway, Russia pulls out of the render safe mission and endorses Abedi as the new Pakistani leader. They will only help if the US releases a Russian spy named Peter Buckley, but Bess refuses. Fortunately, the Chinese suddenly offer to help secure the nukes. The US manages to find nearly all nukes except for six of them who have been taken by Hizb-al Shahid. Since they need a nuclear scientist to use the bomb, Jay determines the Maldovan scientist must still be working for the terrorists. With the help of Russia's information, the US find and secure the nukes.
Meanwhile, Murphy Station has a location on Disah and goes out to find him. They track down his location, but when Disah leaves in a car, the team goes after him. However, they are ambushed by a second vehicle. A call for drone strikes from the US destroys both cars, including the one carrying Disah. Sadly, Jose has been shot and the team has to wait for the troops to come. They hide in a store, but Jose needs medical attention. The store owner agrees to help them and returns just in time before Jose gets worse. Henry, Jane and Jose make it to the location just in time to be met by US troops and return home.
Afterwards, Bess has a drink with Russian Foreign Minister Avdonin to thank him for his information on the Maldovan nuclear scientist and to ask him a favor: to release Talia Petrov, Dmitri's sister, from Russian prison. Avdonin says he wants the spy Peter Buckley in return, but that would not be a fair deal. Unless Dmitri himself is also returned to the US, Avdonin offers. Bess says Dmitri is dead, to which Avdonin replies: "What if he isn't?"
Wow, I loved how this episode brought together all these storylines from throughout the season. Jibral Disah is dead. I do feel kind of underwhelmed by his death, since we hardly saw his face and it happened so quickly. But what matter is that he is dead, the most wanted terrorist in the world is dead. The hunt for the missing nukes upped the stakes quite a lot, even though I had no doubt the nukes would be retrieved by the US. I was surprised at China's unexpected help, but I liked it and thought the US needed it. Russia not helping is totally not a surprise, but the ending shocked me and made my jaw drop. Is Advonin telling the truth or is Russia playing another game here? Next week's finale (which I've already seen) will be all about the question: is Dmitri dead or alive? Whatever the answer is, Bess will no doubt have her hands full on answering that question.
What did you think of "Render Safe"? Are you glad Jibral Disah has been taken out? Do you think Hizb-al Shahid is completely done? Were you surprised that Russia backed out of the render safe mission? And lastly, do you believe Dmitri is still alive? I'd love to hear your thoughts and theories in the comments 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.
