Tonight on CBS Madam Secretary airs with an all new Sunday November 23, season 1 episode 10 called, “Collateral Damage” and we have your weekly recap below! On tonight’s episode, the State Department goes on lockdown due to a deranged gunman outside of the building; and Elizabeth [Téa Leoni] ends up confined with a delegation from Iraq, including a translator who threatens to reveal damaging information about her actions while in the CIA. Meanwhile, Matt [Geoffrey Arend] finds himself stuck in an office, and in an awkward situation, with Daisy’s [Patina Miller] fiancé, Win.
On the last episode, Elizabeth, Henry and Isabelle launched their own investigation into the plane crash that killed former Secretary of State Vincent Marsh. Also, Nadine took a step back into the dating pool when she agreed to go on a date with a NASA scientist. Did you watch the last episode? If you missed it, we have a full and detailed recap right here for you.
On tonight’s episode as per the CBS synopsis, “when the State Department goes on lockdown due to a deranged gunman outside the building, Elizabeth is confined with a delegation from Iraq whose translator threatens to reveal damaging information about her actions while in the CIA. Meanwhile, when Matt is stuck in an office with Daisy’s fiancé, Win, he spills information that he shouldn’t have.”
This is definitely one series that you don’t want to miss. Don’t forget to stay tuned to Celeb Dirty Laundry where we will be live blogging every episode of Madam Secretary’s first season.
Tonight’s episode begins now – Refresh Page for Updates
On #MadamSecretary, a news report talks about fighting in Iraq and Isis and how a delegation from Iraq is headed to the US to meet with Bess. A man listens and loads a gun as he sits in his car. He has tears in his eyes. The news says the President is considering sending troops there. Bess talks to Stevie who asks how worried she should be about Isis. Bess says to let her worry about Isis and Stevie worry about making sure her dad doesn’t miss his morning flight.
Stevie asks Bess to be less passive aggressive when dealing with the delegation, they quibble about Stevie’s clothes and her daughter leaves. Nadine is surprised to see how early Bess is at work and she says she’s working on her remarks for the Iraqis and Nadine says she knows Bess is investigating Marsh. She offers to help since she knew him well. Bess asks why he changed his itinerary and Nadine says he told her it was family business.
Bess asks if it could have had something to do with his intentions to run for President. Nadine is shocked – she had no idea he was planning a run. Nadine says what he told her was a lie and she must be a fool and therefore has nothing to offer Bess on this matter. Matt tells Blake they have a protocol class about uncommon foods you might encounter and how to react properly. They head in to sample pork dumplings. Daisy says Win is getting them and wants to meet Matt.
Blake walks away and Matt says he doesn’t want to meet him but then Win is there and is being very nice. He says Daisy has talked about him a lot and he jokes about being a marijuana lobbyist with the munchies and offers Matt a dumpling.
Jay walks Bess through the Iraqi delegates. PM Arif will be to her right but the other ministers are also prickly about where they sit and their religious differences. Jay says the Kurds are their best shot at fighting Isis and Barakat is who they should focus on. Bess wonders how cranky they will all be after 15 hours on a plane together.
Stevie shows up and tells her mom she was right about her shirt and says her manager told her she needed to change. Stevie asks for $50 to go buy a shirt and Bess asks about her credit card but Stevie says it’s maxed out. They fuss but then Blake tells her the Iraqis are there and they have to postpone the fight. She gives her the cash and says she doesn’t want to fight.
Bess is introduced to the Iraqis. Stevie asks Blake where she can get a blouse near there for $50 and he laughs and says she can’t. She says she’s going to get fired and he offers to pull a spare he keeps for Bess and she says she groveled for nothing but he says it’s good career preparation. Win comes to Matt’s office and he tells houseshe’s in the press room. Win says he’s there to talk to Matt who asks why. He says it’s about Daisy and him.
Matt smiles nervously and Win comes in and closes the door. Blake offers Stevie a blouse that she doesn’t like then finds a white one she can live with. She says she wishes Blake was her assistant and he says he doesn’t. Nadine asks Blake if there were any calls about the meet market. Nadine says HR lets these people think they can get a different posting and he says maybe they’re still all eating emur. Nadine says she’ll deal with any calls herself.
Bess greets the PM and two accompanying ministers. She thanks them for traveling together and welcomes them to the US. The PM says he’s hoping for a peaceful Iraq soon. One minister asks if she’s been in Iraq before. She lies and says no. She thinks back to when she was in Iraq for the CIA. She’s chasing an insurgent named Safeer. The marine complains and she says it’s her intel.
Bess is told there is a security alert. The guy with the gun from earlier is outside the State Department making trouble. They tell her Stevie is safe and they move her to safety as well. Nadine talks to Alice and tells her she’s been reassigned to Angola instead of Portugal. She tells her there is no room for appeal but she’s sure she can handle Angola. Alice tries to argue but Nadine dismisses her. The guard tells Nadine she’s on lock down and she says she has to get to Bess. Instead, she’s stuck in a room with angry Alice.
Bess apologizes to the Iraqis and says the building is very secure. She says they are asking them to stay until the threat has been lifted and she says they can get to know each other better. The ministers begin arguing and Bess offers them drinks – water, tea, fruit juice. One asks for something stronger and Bess speaks Arabic to them and cracks a joke. One apologizes for the PM’s translator not knowing she spoke Arabic. He says his translator better but was left downstairs.
Stevie calls into work and tries to explains she came to her mom’s office to change her blouse and then a gunman showed up. Her boss isn’t buying it. Stevie says she would have been at work already if she hadn’t argued with her mom. He says or she could have been taken by the deranged gunman. Blake defends Bess and says her mom just wants her to find her thing, not come down on her. Bess comes in and hugs her and says she’s glad.
She asks Stevie to call the rest of the family, but Blake already did. She tells Stevie she looks nice in her blouse and goes back to the Iraqis. Matt is in lockdown with Win and he’s not happy about it. Win asks Matt how much he loves Daisy on a scale of 1 to 10. Matt says that’s complicated. Win starts to record him and he says he’s making a birthday video for her. Matt misunderstood and then is trying to cover it by saying the gunman thing has him jumpy.
Matt tells Win he needs to smoke a cigarette and says he knows it’s a gross bad habit. Win offers him some gun and he takes a piece. Wonder if it’s pot gum??? Bess tells Jay to hang tight when he tells her the Iraqis aren’t happy. One of the delegation corners Bess and says he knows she’s been to Iraq. We see a flashback to her there and them busting into a house to take a man. Bess wears a face scarf.
The translator says his cousin Safeer was dragged away by coalition forces and he remembers seeing this happen and seeing her there. He says this was the last time he saw Safeer alive. She pulls him into her office and says if he wants to save his career, he needs to understand, she was never in Iraq. She thinks back to interrogating Safeer and telling him he should have stayed in Europe with his GF and not come back to set off bombs.
Bess tells the guy she doesn’t know what happened to Safeer and that’s the end of it. Stevie pokes her head in and Bess says she’ll talk to her later. She tells the translator to tell anyone who asks she pulled him into her office for a translation on an Arabic poem she was having trouble with and then dismisses her. Stevie looks at her strangely because she was alone with the guy but leaves without commenting.
Nadine watches news coverage about the gunman who still hasn’t been taken. Alice complains to her and says her reassignment is unfair. Alice says she was held up in Afghanistan in 2003 and barely made it out alive. She asks if Nadine read about them medi-vacing her out of Sierra Leone. She says she has done her time in hardship posts but Nadine says she’s the only one that could handle it. Alice says she was reassigned because she was a woman or single.
Jay breaks news to Bess that one of the new ministers has arrested a Shiite and there’s going to be a huge trial. She asks how long until the next call to prayer but Jay says too long. Stevie quizzes Blake on conversations he has with Bess about her. He says Bess defends her and he’s the one that says she can do better. She says she even tried to sell her eggs but the clinic wouldn’t take them because she doesn’t have a degree. She asks him not to tell Bess and he agrees readily.
Matt makes a really awkward video about how nice Daisy is to the cafeteria workers. He says she’s really tough on the outside but is so tender on the inside. He’s babbling and Win starts laughing and tells him their was pot in the gum. Win tells him it’s great for anxiety. Matt giggles and says he didn’t know that was a thing – he tells Win he’s totally screwed. Win laughs at him and says Matt was acting really weird before.
Win asks if Matt hooked up with Daisy or something and then they both start laughing. Win says she would never and Matt says she would. Bess asks the one minister about the arrest warrants. He says the Sunni have been out of power too long. Bess tells him they will be slaughtered by Isis for weakening the new government. The translator says if she tries to interfere with the arrests, he’ll tell everyone about her past in Iraq starting with her daughter. Bess asks if he thinks anyone will believe him and he asks if she wants to take that chance.
Bess gets an update with the gunman’s info – his name is Mark and his brother died in combat in Iraq. He’s been off his meds for depression and has grenades and is armed. Bess tells Jay that Arif, the minister, is taking advantage of his new power to get revenge for a lifetime of grief. Jay says they should side with the Kurds but she says she needs to get them to take some responsibility. She says she has to talk to Stevie.
Win is shocked and asks how long ago they ended things. Matt tells him a couple of months ago. Win says that was right before he proposed. Matt takes off his glasses and says he can hit him but Win says that won’t do any good. Matt says Daisy is the greatest woman he’ll ever meet and she cheated on him with Matt. Win says he’s going to move on. Matt asks if he’s ever had to fight for anything in his life and says everything comes to him easily.
Matt punches him in the ear and hurts his hand. Matt says if Daisy was his, he would kill the guy. Win says he’ll probably get that chance. He tries to leave but he’s still locked in. Alice tells Nadine that she’s tired of this and rattles off a list of people that could handle Angola but they aren’t being sent there since they have families. Alice says State sees her as expendable but Nadine says she’s dependable. Alice says State is her life and of course she’ll go but she’s not happy.
Back in Iraq, Bess tells Safeer another truck explosion killed not Americans but his own people. She demands that he tell her about the next attack and tells him to tell her. He says death to infidels and screams out Islam rantings. The Marine tells Bess it’s time to step it up and she tells him to do it. She walks away but hears Safeer screaming in pain. She tells Stevie all this and Bess explains it meant physical abuse, water boarding, stress positions.
Bess says she wasn’t there when they did it, but knew what was happening obviously. Stevie asks why she’s telling her and Bess says she has to. Stevie says she wishes she didn’t tell her. Bess says they were at war and that changes the landscape and makes you face things you didn’t want to know. Stevie says Bess is not who she thought she was and calls her a torturer. She gets a call from work and walks out angrily to take it.
Bess tells the translator Zaid she wants to talk to him. She says Safeer was a mass murderer and she’s glad she took care of it. She says he can tell anyone he wants and says it won’t change policy in Iraq and she won’t be held hostage by him. She says if he wants to grieve for someone worthy, grieve for his grandfather the scientist that was killed by Saddam. He asks how she knows about that and she says she knows everything about his family. She says his family has a great legacy except for Safeer.
She says to tell the PM to drop the arrest or they’re going to pull their support and back the Kurds instead. The security guy tells her the gunman was shot but has been taken. He says the FBI thinks he wasn’t really going to shoot anyone. He lifts the lock down order and Stevie walks out but Blake tries to get her to talk to him. He stops her and says FWIW, if he wanted a surrogacy, he would want eggs just like hers. She hugs him and says they wonder if they’re good enough to be around Bess but maybe they should wonder if she’s good enough. She leaves.
Jay tells Bess that Arif reversed it and is dropping the charges. Bess addresses the men and thanks them for being her guests. She says before they got to the White House, she wants them to know it was arrogant for her to say they should let go of the past. She says all their people still have open wounds and blood on their hands. She says the indecency of terrorism makes it hard. She speaks in Arabic and says she hopes they will all be great men and achieve peace for their country.
Daisy finds Win and says she got trapped in the press room. She asks if he’s okay. She asks Matt what he’s done. He tells Daisy she deserves someone that will fight for her and says it may not be him, but it sure shouldn’t be Win. He walks off then Win does too. Blake tells Bess that Nadine is waiting for her. She asks about Stevie and he says she’s gone and asks if they’re okay. She asks if he let his family know he’s okay. She says she wants to make sure he’s taking as good care of his loved ones as he does of hers.
She asks which hospital Mark the gunman is at. Nadine tells her about Alice and her accusation that the reassignments weren’t fair and bad locations shouldn’t be given to single people instead of family people. Bess empowers her to do what she thinks needs to be done. Nadine tells her Marsh said he was leaving State at the end of his current term and hands over a letter he gave her that had a bank account number. She also asks Bess to sign a letter reassigning Alice to Portugal. She does.
Matt comes back to the office because he forgot his keys and she says that blew his dramatic exit. She says it was a hell of a show he put on today and he says it’s not the grand gesture he would have chosen. He asks about Win and she says they broke up. She says he was nice, handsome, easy-going and deeply hurt.
She says what she did to him was terrible and asks if she’s a terrible person. He says he has seen her at her most terrible and is still crazy about her. He says he didn’t want to hurt her and he’s sorry. She kisses him and then walks away.
Bess goes to see the gunman at the hospital. The Iraqi delegation poses for photos at the White House. Bess comes home and finds Stevie on the phone making plans. Her bags are packed and waiting. She tells Bess she’s moving out to clear her head. She tells her not to worry and says she won’t tell anyone what Bess told her. Bess tells her about some young kids that were at the market where Safeer’s bomb went off and how many kids he maimed or killed.
Bess says it’s hard to have the person responsible in front of you and you feeling a rage for justice. Stevie says what Bess did was against the law but Bess says technically it wasn’t but ultimately that’s why she left. Stevie says she came home and told them she’d been in Jordan the whole time. She says Bess acted normal and coached her soccer team. Bess agrees and says she knows it’s a lot to take in. Stevie gets snippy with her.
Bess says if she doesn’t listen to anything else, know that everything in life is more complicated than you think it is and the only way to know that is through experience and that’s what growing up is about. Stevie says she knows, takes her bags and goes.
THE END!
