Madam Secretary Season 2 Episode 15 Review: The McCords Deal With the Aftermath of the Conference Bombing

Alright, it’s the moment we’ve all been waiting with bated breath for in this week’s episode of Madam Secretary: is Henry alive? The answer, of course, is yes as we see him being transported to the hospital. Henry wanted to call Elizabeth to let her know that he’s alright, but due to the fact that he has been contaminated with radiation from the bomb, the paramedics wearing hazmat suits won’t let Henry touch his phone.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth is in a car zooming down the streets of Washington, D.C., on the way to the White House to be secured. She frantically calls the numbers of her children’s cell phones, but couldn’t get through to them as she kept getting voicemail. She finally got in touch with her son Jason, who informed his worry-stricken mother that he, along with his sisters, are alright. When Elizabeth told Jason to put his father on the phone, the young man answered that Henry had rushed back inside the building to help someone.

Worried even more, Elizabeth sends Blake to find out what’s going on while she deals with the aftermath of the bombing. It was revealed that the bomb was built with C-4 and the fuel-grade uranium that was stolen from the power plant in Moldova. CIA Director Dennis Ellerman said that his men took care of the heist issue which means that the uranium used in the bombing is not the same uranium that was snuck out of the power plant. The Director’s words came back to haunt him because as it turns out, the bombing uranium is the same as the power plant uranium. The inspector who helped sneak the chemical out of the power plant had botched the manifest.

Later in the episode, it was determined, through security footage from a coffee shop that an employee of the Saudi Arabian government was responsible for smuggling the uranium into the United States and left it for the American girl to pick up and use in the making of the bomb. The FBI immediately headed over to the Saudi Arabian embassy to arrest the employee when they found him standing on the roof of the building and jumped to his death as everyone below stood idly by, unable to do anything. Talk about taking one’s secrets to the grave in the literal sense.

It was also determined that the leader of the terrorist group Hizb al-Shahid, Jibral Disah, must be found and terminated. Elizabeth asked that all NATO allies should give any and all information that they may have on the terrorist group and learned that Italy was holding back information. The Secretary of State then used her persuasion skills and convinced Italy to give up Disah’s location, a compound in Libya. President Dalton then gives the order to blow up the compound, but Disah wasn’t inside. Elizabeth then suggests that a special team to track Disah be put together and take charge of everything there is to do with Hizb al-Shahid to which President Dalton said that he’ll think about it as he has the bombing victims to see.

I loved the scene where the Elizabeth sees Henry at the hospital. The relief she felt as she watched her husband sleep just warms the heart. It may be the hopeless romantic in me acting up again, but watching that scene almost had me in tears. Almost being the keyword. I also liked the part where the entire McCord family is reunited in Henry’s hospital room. That too was very heartwarming to watch. I facepalmed when Matt thought Nadine was a cat lady and I was as surprised as he was when he learned that Nadine had an interest in theater, speaks French and knows how to play the Balalaika, a Russian guitar.

After being released from the hospital to recover at home, Henry calls up Jane Fellows, telling her that he has decided to re-join the DIA, much to Elizabeth’s dismay. Husband and wife argue on the subject for a bit before Henry ends the fight stating that he needs to close his eyes. Elizabeth follows suit, lying on the other side of the bed close to her husband.

When Henry’s request was denied, his first thought was that Elizabeth had something to do with it since she was the one who didn’t approve of his decision. Elizabeth defended herself saying that she supports his decision and that she’s on his side. Henry then hands his wife the phone, telling her to call President Dalton to reinstate him at the DIA when Elizabeth’s cell phone rang. President Dalton is on his way to the house. Guess Henry can ask the President himself instead of his wife calling him.

President Dalton presented Henry with the offer to be a part of the special team that will track down the terrorist group and Disah because of Henry’s experience, impartial point of view on things and that he trusts him. The most greatest piece of news on top of that was that State will be included in the group’s goings-on which means that Elizabeth and Henry can talk to each other about their jobs and be working side by side. Yay! The episode ends with Henry accepting the offer.

Madam Secretary will return on March 6 with new episodes due to the Oscars ceremony on February 28. Are you counting down the days till that happens? I know I am!

Photo via CBS