Madam Secretary (2014) s05e04 Episode Script
Requiem
1 MAN: Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Back up! Back up! Go! Go! I.
A.
S.
holding steady at 190 knots.
Altitude 8,000 feet.
We're taking heavy artillery fire.
MAN (OVER RADIO): Ground support's targeting enemy batteries.
Maintain compass heading, Captain.
Roger that.
Paley out.
WOMAN: All right.
Pull them up closer to the carrots, Gloria.
Oops.
Yeah.
Like that.
Oh, I can't get them full Yes, Mommy.
(VEHICLES APPROACHING) Got it.
(DOG BARKING IN DISTANCE) Found a worm.
Susan Paley? - Yes? - Good morning.
Hello.
I'm Major Garrett.
This is Chaplain Licitra.
Yes? We have a letter from the Secretary of War.
(CRYING) (PHONE RINGING) I'm coming.
Hold your horses.
Hello.
Yes? This is Gloria Paley.
MAN: Ma'am? Ma'am? RUSSELL: Five days until midterms.
That's 120 hours, 7,200 minutes, and counting.
Look at you, with the math.
I'm saying we're up against it.
If the president's bloc doesn't take the House, you know what happens to our legislative agenda? So how do I figure into this doomsday scenario? Ever heard of the David Paley Foundation? Yeah.
Big advocates for P.
O.
W.
's, right? Yeah.
And M.
I.
A.
's.
The foundation head, Gloria Paley, held a presser in front of the Capitol yesterday afternoon.
- All cued up.
- Thanks, Adele.
- You bet.
Madam Secretary.
- Good morning.
73 years ago, a plane my father, Captain David Paley, was piloting went down in the Philippines.
31 service members were presumed dead.
Three weeks ago, I received word that the remains of those brave Americans have finally been discovered.
(APPLAUSE) Since that hopeful day, the families of these patriots have waited anxiously for their return.
But our entreaties have met with silence - from the Dalton administration.
- (CROWD BOOING) These men sacrificed everything for their country.
The government must bring them home (CHEERING, APPLAUSE) right now! (CROWD CHEERING, WHOOPING) CROWD (CHANTING): Right now! Right now! Right now! Right now.
Three million hits on YouTube in one day.
Footage is already being cut into attack ads against Dalton's allies in swing districts.
Getting those remains here should be an administration priority regardless of optics.
Which is where you come in.
Except repatriation falls squarely in DoD's bailiwick.
Fell.
Gordon stalled out.
POTUS has asked for your intervention.
He feels your diplomatic savoir faire might resolve this.
My relationship with Andrada is a little fraught.
Courtesy of your pugilistic skill.
Punching him for grabbing you.
That's a muscular foreign policy.
That's your wallpaper? Yeah.
I tried to have it rendered - in 3-D.
- I'm not amused.
Well, neither was Andrada.
But fisticuffs notwithstanding, the president believes you're the one (PHONE BUZZING) to get these soldiers home, and I agree.
Especially since I assured him you're not gonna go full Ronda Rousey this time.
Which means you will handle this at arm's length.
But you will handle it.
How did Gordon take it when he learned that you were - turning the matter over to State? - You'll have to tell me.
Sure, Elizabeth, you go get our war dead back.
And then I'll go to Oslo and negotiate that treaty on global warming.
Gordon, this isn't a referendum on your effectiveness.
No.
It's a referendum on my ineffectiveness.
The president simply believes State taking the lead on this might expedite things.
I haven't been sitting on my hands.
Those remains would not even have been found were it not for new infrared technology that we used to scan the jungle canopy, technology I lobbied for.
My dad died at Khe Sanh.
This issue means a lot to me.
So I can tell the president that I have the full cooperation of DoD? (SCOFFS) Postmaster general can run point on this.
Long as it gets our people home.
MAN: I share Secretary Becker's frustration.
I've done everything but storm Malacañang Palace.
I'm gonna need you to take me through it, Martin.
Andrada's staff won't engage me on this issue.
They claim it's beyond the purview of an acting ambassador.
That doesn't make sense.
They know you have plenary authority to speak on behalf of the administration.
A fact I've repeatedly reminded them of.
But they insist that our failure to appoint a full-time ambassador is a slap in the face.
But his office did send me this.
A sampaguita.
The Philippine national flower.
ELIZABETH: Thanks, Martin.
We'll take it from here.
MARTIN: Thank you, Madam Secretary.
- (COMPUTER BEEPS) I'm smelling pretext.
Andrada's flexing.
Using the remains to remind us that the Philippines is our partner, not our subordinate.
And the absence of a full-time ambassador has given him an excuse to squawk about respect.
His administration wants respect? Let's see how they feel about dealing with me.
I'll get Ambassador Carpio in here.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER) Yes, Mrs.
Lee.
Candidate Pavano feels that elder abuse is an overlooked issue.
He will make it a part of the national conversation.
WOMAN: All right, everybody, look alive.
- Thank you for your vote.
- Eyes up.
Let's focus.
- Hello, hello.
Can I have everyone's attention just for a second, please? I just want to thank you all for your hard work.
There is no campaign without you, because change is a collective endeavor.
- Every single person matters.
- Yeah? All right.
Now, the next few days will be decisive.
Okay, we'll need a social media onslaught.
Door-to-door for every undecided.
And keep working those call lists till the polls close.
All right, let's make a better world together.
(ALL CHEER) All right.
ELIZABETH: Respectfully, Ambassador Carpio, 15,000 Americans died defending the Philippines against the Imperial Army.
So expediting those remains doesn't begin to cover the debt your country owes.
Madam Secretary The only thing that President Andrada has done since those bodies were found is send flowers.
JAY: Sampaguita, which, as you know, means, "I promise you.
" So, what what promise have we broken that makes you think you can hold our war dead for ransom? $300 million in advanced weaponry, which we need to fight the Mindanao Freedom Brigade insurgency.
Islamic Fundamentalists.
We share your interest in containing them.
JAY: Which is why we've been pushing H.
R.
8365.
Hard.
But appropriations are the exclusive purview of Congress.
I understand, Madam Secretary.
JAY: Then instead of using our dead patriots to shake down the president, why aren't you mobilizing your army of lobbyists? Because President Andrada doesn't want to make a public stink about needing U.
S.
aid.
Makes him look weak.
You want those bodies, get us that aid.
Well, unfortunately, it's not my purview to tell Congress what to do or when to do it.
Your midterms are coming, right? What's that Yankee expression? "Where there's a will, there's a way.
" (TAPS DESK) (GASPS) Holy hell.
Stuffed French toast is back on the menu.
I don't know what you see in that.
It's Peanut butter.
Nutella.
Cream cheese.
- I see God.
- I see an amateur.
Oh, I'm getting the Pynchon burger.
Triple cheese, bacon, avocado.
Juice it with some onion rings and jalapeños.
Hey, Mitzi, think we're ready to order.
I'm afraid I can't serve you guys today.
Yeah, my wife hates this tie, too.
Dad.
Oh, my God.
I'm not kidding.
Uh, what Mitzi's trying to say is, uh, your family's not welcome here anymore.
(CHUCKLES) Trevor, what's going on? As a veteran, I'd expect the Dalton administration to give a damn about their war dead.
But it doesn't.
And your wife is complicit in that.
My wife? TREVOR: Yeah, that's right.
Trevor, we've been coming here for years.
I'm aware of that.
You can't be serious.
- Dead serious.
- STEVIE: My dad, - he's a veteran, too.
- He's He's willing to take our business elsewhere.
- Come on, let's go.
- What? - Let's go, Stevie.
Come on.
- Dad ELIZABETH: Ms.
Paley.
Thank you for coming.
I'm here out of respect for you, Madam Secretary.
Well, that respect is shared.
Please.
What you and your organization do to keep a spotlight on those who sacrificed so much for our country well, it's critically important.
It is.
I want you to know that my team is working tirelessly to bring those missing soldiers home.
I'm glad to hear it.
I fear that our efforts aren't being helped by your public statements.
These are delicate negotiations with an overreaching ally.
I appreciate that, but more than 72,000 Americans who died in World War II still remain unaccounted for.
72,000 families have never healed, and mine was one of them.
The last time I saw my dad, he took me by the hand, he looked me in the eye and promised he was coming home.
I'm going to do everything it takes to help him keep that promise.
DALTON: So, how long do we have before Gloria Paley takes to the airwaves again? She agreed to stand down until the morning of the midterms.
If the remains haven't left Manila by then, she is going to hold another press conference.
Which will sink our allies running for office.
I don't blame the woman at all.
Where are we on those remains, Bess? Andrada's playing hardball until we deliver his military aid.
So who's holding up the bill? The new senator from Kentucky, Owen Callister.
He's the swing vote on foreign relations who won't let the bill get to the Senate floor.
Elizabeth, see if you can bring Callister to heel.
If you can't, then tell Andrada we're slapping him with sanctions.
Oh, sir, I would advise against that.
He's gonna take it as an affront.
Says the woman who shattered his nose.
ELIZABETH: Which is how I know that he is particularly sensitive to an American display of power.
Carrot or stick, whatever it takes, because "no man left behind" is not just a credo.
It's a pledge we make to the enlisted, and every second those soldiers aren't back is a breach of faith to those who serve.
I'll lean on Senator Callister.
Lean hard, Bess.
- (CHEERING, CLAPPING) - Where are you? No, get off the Beltway and take the local streets.
Just get here as quickly as you can, okay? Bye.
Thank you so much.
Yeah, for sure.
Nice turnout, Ali.
Thanks for helping organize it.
You're welcome.
Um, I'm afraid I messed up.
I gave the sign language interpreter the wrong address Boulevard instead of Avenue.
He's still 20 minutes out.
I'm supposed to speak on federal initiatives to increase educational access.
It would be ironic if some of the audience couldn't hear.
I know.
I'm so sorry.
(SIGHS) It's not a problem, Ali.
WOMAN: Okay, everyone, please welcome Craig Pavano, our candidate for Congress.
(APPLAUSE AND CHEERING) Good morning.
Good morning, everyone.
Good morning.
Thank you for coming out.
(PEOPLE GASPING, MURMURING) I'm Craig Pavano, - and I'm running for Congress.
- WOMAN: Yes! (APPLAUSE AND CHEERING) I'm here to speak about our children.
(ELEVATOR BELL DINGS) BLAKE: Good morning, Madam Secretary.
You know, I have this fantasy that one morning I'm going to step off of that elevator and be greeted by a genie.
Or a masseuse, or maybe a wayward puppy.
Well, would you settle for a stray Kat? (LAUGHING): I would.
- I had to go there.
- Hi.
- Welcome back.
- Thank you.
- How was the U.
N.
? - It was good.
It was good.
We made progress on the refugee protocol.
However, they do not care about coffee over there.
- Philistines.
- Oh, it's so good to be home.
(BOTH LAUGH) Uh, Senator Callister is prepped and waiting for us.
Uh, and I I did some digging.
It turns out his state houses Paraverse Industries.
They manufacture much of the weaponry that we'd send Andrada's way if H.
R.
8365 passes.
- Ah.
- Yeah, Paraverse has over 800 employees in Lexington alone, meaning opposition to this bill takes food out of his constituents' mouths.
Nice work, everyone.
- Still holding out for a puppy.
- Yes, ma'am.
Senator.
So nice to meet you.
Likewise, Madam Secretary.
- Kat.
- Come on in.
ELIZABETH: This administration likes to work very closely with Congress, which is why we called you in to talk about H.
R.
8365, which I understand you oppose? Yes, ma'am.
KAT: Okay, well, that bill provides military aid to an important ally in a region of the world we don't want to see fall under China's sphere of influence.
I understand that.
H.
R.
8365 is also tied to the release of the bodies of missing American soldiers.
An important priority.
Yes.
And given the fact that this legislation would support Paraverse, a major defense contractor in your own state, we're hoping that you'll reconsider your position.
I will not.
(CHUCKLES) Would you please explain why? Andrada is a ruthless dictator whose government is a notorious violator of human rights.
Funneling money to his regime is inconsistent with American values.
But not as inconsistent as letting that country fall into the hands of fundamentalist extremists.
The intelligence I've seen suggests that is an unlikely scenario.
Only if Andrada remains in power.
We are very aware of Andrada's obvious shortcomings, but this Mindanao Freedom Brigade makes him look like Churchill.
And sometimes you do have to choose the lesser of two evils.
No.
The Dalton administration does.
I have to look my constituents in the eye.
(LAUGHS) Please, um, tell the president I'm sorry.
You bet.
Okay.
Thanks.
Golly.
Wow.
(LAUGHS) Did we just meet one of the few elected officials who puts principles first? That, or someone dropped him on his head.
(SIGHS) I'm not buying either scenario.
(SCOFFS, SIGHS) Who is Paraverse's chief lobbyist? Hmm.
Kah Kah Mickey Kensington.
You know what? I'll tell Jay.
- He's worked with him.
- Great.
Hold on, Mickey.
You're saying that Callister doesn't care about donors? Well, he's made a fortune in high-tech.
He doesn't need Paraverse's money.
But he damn sure needs their votes in the next election.
And Paraverse is one of the state's largest employers.
He won't support foreign companies.
What could be more apple pie than an American munitions manufacturer headquartered in Kentucky? One that's not founded by an immigrant from New Delhi named Arjun Bhatt.
Wait.
What are you telling me? Once you get past the glossy facade, Callister gets dark in a hurry.
He's got deep ties to nativist organizations, but since he's not taking PAC money, the connections are well concealed.
So he won't help Filipinos or naturalized Americans.
Or anyone who doesn't come from Anglo-Saxon stock.
If you want to get those bodies back, Callister's not your solution.
- He's our problem.
- Mm.
Thanks, Mickey.
It's on me.
Thank you.
Ma'am, I think calling President Andrada directly is not a good idea.
By "not good," he means apocalyptically bad.
Well, I appreciate the sage counsel, but you two just told me that Senator Racist Obstruction isn't going to help us, so we need a new strategy.
Ma'am, if I could put a finer point on it: Andrada is a chauvinist who is unlikely to meet with a woman whose last interaction with him left him with a deviated septum.
ANDRADA: I wish I could help you, Madam Secretary, but the bodies are in a remote jungle location.
It's the rainy season.
They will take time to safely excavate.
And we don't want to endanger your men, so we have a detachment of Marines at the ready who will conduct the recovery mission.
It's not just the weather.
The jungle where the bodies are located is a stronghold for the Mindanao Freedom Brigade.
I know how concerned you are about the insurgency.
President Dalton has authorized a detachment of U.
S.
military advisers I don't need advisers.
I need assault rifles, armored personnel carriers, drones.
All of which will be forthcoming when Congress passes the aid bill, which we expect will be before the end of the current term.
(ELIZABETH SIGHS) President Andrada, my my advisers were concerned that after our last encounter, you wouldn't be receptive to me, but but I disagreed, because I know that you're a leader who wants what's best for your country Mm.
meaning you won't let our unfortunate personal history be an impediment.
You are correct.
Our history is irrelevant.
What is relevant is that aid package.
And when it arrives, you can reclaim your dead.
Good luck with the midterms.
(BEEP) I have no update yet, and I have to cancel lunch.
Well, I'm not here to pressure you, but the polls open in a few days.
I'm flying to Manila to meet with President Andrada, and I need to prepare, okay? Mm not okay.
Diplomacy at a distance is one thing, but the last time The next person who brings up Andrada's nose I'm gonna - punch him in the face.
- I'm saying, you're not exactly the poster child for détente here.
We are out of options and time.
President Dalton asked me to get involved for a reason.
Just the most modest vote of confidence in my ability to do my job would be great.
- (UNZIPPING) - Aah! Sorry.
My confidence in your ability is anything but modest.
Believe it or not, my anxiety isn't just about the midterms.
- It's-it's - Also about the midterms.
Yes, about the midterms.
But I care about this issue.
Same reason everybody else does.
Andrada has been harping on about disrespect.
It's a pretext to shake us down.
The Secretary of State shows up in Manila, the pretext is gone.
We now have leverage to call him out.
Well, can't argue with that.
I'm gonna bring 'em home, Russell.
I promise.
Godspeed, Madam Secretary.
Russell.
(CLEARS THROAT) Whatever it is, I got to pack.
- So if it can wait - JAY: It can't.
- This is an intervention.
- The important thing to do is to keep centered and calm.
About what? Ma'am.
(CHUCKLES) "A forcible and noisy expulsion of the Secretary of State's family.
" We know your first instinct is to publicly respond.
And we are all here to urge you not to.
I'm not going to respond publicly.
It would be beneath the administration to attack a private business.
Well put, ma'am.
Well put.
I'm going to ignore it.
MATT: That's good.
- That's good.
Good.
KAT: Okay.
Well done.
Just ignore.
- Hear, hear.
Just ignore.
(SIGHS) (CLEARS THROAT) - Did that work? - MATT: I don't know.
- I can't read that lady.
- Yeah, me neither.
- She's either chill - Or she's gonna kill someone.
ELIZABETH: Coming after my family? - I - HENRY: Babe, this is just a taste of the kind of stuff we're gonna have to get used to if you're - throwing your hat in the ring.
- I know.
But I just feel like every day that I do this job undermines my chances to do that one.
Our restaurant eviction is hardly a scarlet letter.
No, it's not just that.
A Secretary of State's mandate is to compromise.
Lose the battle to win the war.
Nowadays it seems like a successful candidate has to appear resolute, unyielding.
You know the last Secretary of State to become president? James Buchanan.
150 years ago.
Well, even the Cubbies eventually won - the World Series.
- (CHUCKLES) Streaks are made to be broken.
By the way, I need to thank you.
Don't get used to it.
You're on dishes next week.
(CHUCKLES) No.
- Thanks, Frank.
- You got it.
I got to thank you for bringing home those dead soldiers.
I mean, you know that I lost some friends from basic.
The thought of leaving those guys where they fell is It's an important mission.
And I'm the one entrusted with it.
That should be a declaration, babe.
That sounds like a question.
You don't have misgivings about me going - face-to-face with - Yeah, I have misgivings.
I hate that you're gonna be in the same room as the guy.
You're gonna be okay.
Yeah, I got this.
Good.
Bring our heroes home.
I will.
Be safe.
Mm.
(DOOR CLOSES) MARJORIE: I need you to copy talking points for Craig's next round of interviews.
Wait, there's a mistake here.
Candidate approved it.
There's no mistake.
(SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY) Craig, can I have a second? Sure.
What's up, Ali? One of the cornerstones of your campaign - is student loan forgiveness.
- Right, right.
But someone forgot to include it in the talking points - for your upcoming appearances.
- (CHUCKLES) Well, that someone was me.
But I promise you I didn't forget.
Uh, latest tracking polls show that this issue is a a third rail for the voters.
You know, unfortunately, the many funding the few.
But-but, in time, the few become the many.
Right.
And, in time, I hope to revisit the issue.
But job one is to get a seat at the table.
Then we can talk about how to divvy up the food.
Yeah? Hey, keep up the good work, okay? Sure.
Thanks.
(GRUNTING) President Andrada, we had a meeting calendared this morning at your office.
Yes.
But I needed some exercise.
(EXHALES) (SHOUTING, GRUNTING) (CAMERAS CLICKING) (EXHALES) Mr.
President, I traveled 8,000 miles to make an appeal on behalf of President Dalton for the return of our war dead.
Well, I hope you did not come empty-handed.
I come with a promise.
We will eventually push that aid package through.
But you need to give us those bodies back right now.
(CHUCKLES) You do not show up in my country and step into my gym and tell me what to do.
No.
But you're on record saying that the U.
S.
was disrespecting you.
But I'm here now, showing you more respect than you deserve.
(CAMERAS CLICKING) Talking to me this way, that is respect? Surrender those bodies, Mr.
President, or your people find out that you begged for U.
S.
aid, which will make you look as weak as you really are.
You are the weak one, standing there, begging.
If you prefer to fight, we can settle this in the ring! (GRUNTS) (SIGHS) I hung up my gloves.
You will release a statement that those bodies are being extracted.
Or I'm going to release one about how you really broke your nose.
Meaning how I broke it.
Understood? Great.
(CAMERAS CLICKING) Bye, Mr.
President.
How's the jetlag? I'm too tired to talk about it.
There's a C-17 transport over the Philippine Sea right now carrying the remains of 31 American soldiers.
You brought our people home.
And without precipitating an international incident.
- Oh, please.
- (CHUCKLES) The summit was handled with (INHALES, EXHALES) (CHUCKLES): restraint and decorum.
(CHUCKLES) Good work, Elizabeth.
- Thank you.
- Now the bad news.
(SIGHS) Come on.
David Paley isn't getting a military funeral? I'm afraid not.
We dug up personnel files on all the dead.
Came across something troubling.
He went AWOL? Right before his last mission.
18 hours unaccounted for.
Suspected desertion.
Came back to his post in time to be deployed.
So then why'd they let him fly? Didn't realize his transgression until after - his plane went missing.
- With Paley declared a combat death, there was no reason - to throw dirt on his memory.
- No.
But now everything's come to light.
Department of Veterans Affairs does not want to afford him a burial with honors.
Well, who can overrule that? This is Gloria Paley's father.
He's a war hero, Mr.
President, who gave his life for his country.
And he also went AWOL, an act which would have resulted in his court-martial had he not died in combat.
But he did die.
And instead of paying tribute to his sacrifice, we're disgracing his memory.
No.
We're just not honoring it.
Henry, you are conspicuous by your silence.
I'd like your input, as a Marine and an ethicist.
Well, Mr.
President, I think a life has to be looked at in toto.
Paley flew 142 missions with distinction.
After three years in combat, he reached his breaking point.
But he didn't break.
He bent.
Which would urge commendation, not censure.
What kind of message would it send if his daughter's tireless efforts were rewarded with this kind of rebuke? So (GRUNTS) compassion over process.
In this instance, that would be my recommendation, yes.
This is not an academic matter.
It has consequences.
If you don't follow orders, people die.
If you don't punish deserters, they desert.
And if you don't recognize heroism, you discourage heroics.
DALTON: Maybe.
But as commander in chief, it falls to me to enforce military protocol.
That takes precedence.
I'm sorry, Bess.
Gordon, you'll have to inform Ms.
Paley.
Yes, sir.
If it's all right with you Of course.
It's fine.
ELIZABETH: Mr.
President.
(FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING) - STEVIE: Hey.
- Hey.
What you watching? My Uncle William.
It's the only footage we have of him.
Right before he shipped out.
Can I? Yeah.
Did you know that Uncle William was scouted by the Washington Senators his senior year of high school? - Was he really? - Yep.
- Wow.
- They offered him a minor league contract for the day he got home from the war.
So much to live for.
Doughnuts.
They're still hot.
- Hi, Dad.
- Bye.
Bye.
- Where you going? - Out.
I'll be back.
Okay, sweetheart.
No.
We haven't had dinner yet.
You don't want a doughnut? What's wrong? (DOOR CLOSES IN DISTANCE) David Paley.
The truth is going to break his daughter's heart.
Yes, it will.
So give me the case for keeping her in the dark.
Well (CLEARS THROAT) (SIGHS) Aquinas suggested that - Oh, that guy again.
- honesty wasn't an absolute virtue.
Uh, what he was getting at was that the damage that truth can inflict should be factored into the ethical calculus.
Well, I'm not Aquinas; I'm the Secretary of State.
And my remit is not to shine that woman on after 73 years of waiting.
Fair enough.
But there might be a way to soften the blow.
It has to do with Captain Paley's file.
Why don't you have a doughnut, and I'll tell you about it.
Come on.
Who are we kidding? I'm gonna have six.
Well, have six.
Oh, God.
It makes me want to cry.
RUSSELL: Great job, Bess.
You brought honor to our dead.
So why the "we've got trouble" face? (SIGHS HEAVILY) Not "we" this time.
Just you.
L'affaire Pynchon.
I've been doing this long enough to know the public doesn't usually take cabinet secretaries' families to task for administration policies.
Well, it's a brave new world.
Yeah, and a treacherous one.
So I played a cynical hunch.
Had one of my people dig into the guy who gave Henry and Stevie the boot.
Pynchon owner Trevor Bentley was college roommates with Senator Owen Callister.
Yep.
Well, that doesn't necessarily Keep reading.
They share season tickets to the Caps.
And vacation together every summer in Rehoboth.
Well, it looks like I need to have a little talk - with the senator.
- Yeah.
I'm gonna urge against that.
He took a cheap shot at my family, Russell.
Because he wants to draw you out.
You know why? Because he suspects I'm running.
And he probably is, too.
(CLICKS TONGUE) Which is why he's taking shots, hoping you'll defend yourself, which you can't do until you've declared.
Because there's a difference between being a Secretary of State and a candidate.
You're debating him on the campaign trail, you can call him out on anything, but a cabinet secretary getting personal, well, that smacks of bad judgment and plays into his hands.
- I can't let this go unanswered.
- No.
But you don't have to be the one who answers.
OWEN: Hey, Kat.
Come on in.
To what do I owe the honor? Oh, just the Secretary of State's sense of restraint.
I'm sorry? (CHUCKLES) Senator, you've been a vocal critic of the Dalton administration.
And, uh, I will continue to be so.
I'm assuming you're familiar with the concept of loyal opposition? Oh, I'm very familiar with it, sir.
Except the only thing you've opposed is our foreign policy.
Yeah, trade deals, peace treaties, immigration initiatives.
I'm a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Oh, you're also on agriculture.
And one of Kentucky's biggest industries is farming, and yet, not a word about subsidies or price controls or anything that would play to your base.
Just foreign policy.
For the senator of a landlocked state.
- Mm-hmm.
- Mm-hmm.
You didn't block that aid package out of principle; you did it because you knew the mess you were making would land on Secretary McCord, and she'd be stained by it.
What's your point? You're running for president.
(CHUCKLES) And you're trying to eliminate someone you're afraid could be your competition.
Whoa.
What Whatever I may or may not be doing, I certainly don't have to explain myself to a cabinet secretary's policy advisor.
And a queer Latinx woman at that.
Wow.
Everything you hate.
(CHUCKLES): It must be really hard for you.
Squeezing you in today, Kat, was a courtesy.
- Oh.
- A concept you seem relatively unfamiliar with.
If you have a message for me, I suggest you send it.
Well, then here it is.
You've made this personal.
And if you ever use my boss's family again, the next visit you will get will not be from me.
It'll be from her, and she won't be here as Secretary of State or as a candidate; she will be here as a mother protecting her own.
And believe me, that is the one way you do not want to meet Madam Secretary.
Is that a threat? Oh, no, Senator.
That was a gift.
(CHUCKLES SOFTLY) My father died for this country, Madam Secretary, and this is the way his nation repays him? I'm so sorry.
But the all-powerful bureaucracy has spoken, right? And they've branded my father a coward.
He wasn't a coward.
He was a hero! The only thing that I have control of is what I tell you.
I chose to tell you the truth, because I think it is the least you are owed.
But it doesn't take away the pain.
No.
I don't imagine that it does.
But I think that we may have found a way to cushion the blow just a little bit.
Your father's file will remain classified.
But when people ask why he's not in Arlington, like everyone else, what do I say? You tell them that you opted for a private family funeral in your hometown.
And because his record is sealed, the David Paley Foundation's work, the work that you have devoted your life to, will continue in his name.
So his legacy is secure.
Forever.
And he's coming home, Gloria.
Preliminary results from congressional races have started to roll in.
- Oh, hey.
- I thought you were headed to Dover.
Yeah, I am.
I've got about three minutes to get dressed and grab a bar and get out the door.
Don't you have an election party to get to? No, I quit.
Why? You know that student loan forgiveness thing? Yeah.
Pavano bailed on it.
Oh.
(SNIFFS) Your guy had clay feet, huh? Not my guy.
Not anymore.
I didn't even vote for him.
You voted for Winter? No.
I didn't vote for anyone.
What? All of these guys are exactly the same, Mom.
How much of what Pavano stood for did you believe in? It doesn't matter.
That jerk bailed on his loan forgiveness initiative.
And my generation isn't putting up with hypocrites anymore.
It's a new day.
So, say, 95%? You're not even listening to me.
Oh, I got the gist.
Y-You're guy compromised, and now you're checking out of the process completely? - Look, there will be other elections.
- No.
Uh-uh.
Nope.
I am sorry that you were disillusioned.
Get used to it, Alison, because democracy is flawed.
And the next candidate who doesn't let you down will be the first.
I just flew halfway around the world to recover the bodies of patriots who gave their lives to protect this country.
They died along with hundreds of thousands of Americans in too many wars so Alison McCord could have the right to vote.
And you won't honor that because your guy caved on a single issue? My polling place is in Silver Spring.
- I won't even make it in time.
- That's what a motorcade is for.
I'll drop you off on my way to Dover.
- Get dressed.
- Oh.
SOLDIER: Present arms! SOLDIER: Ready.
Down.
Ready.
Cover.
Order arms!
A.
S.
holding steady at 190 knots.
Altitude 8,000 feet.
We're taking heavy artillery fire.
MAN (OVER RADIO): Ground support's targeting enemy batteries.
Maintain compass heading, Captain.
Roger that.
Paley out.
WOMAN: All right.
Pull them up closer to the carrots, Gloria.
Oops.
Yeah.
Like that.
Oh, I can't get them full Yes, Mommy.
(VEHICLES APPROACHING) Got it.
(DOG BARKING IN DISTANCE) Found a worm.
Susan Paley? - Yes? - Good morning.
Hello.
I'm Major Garrett.
This is Chaplain Licitra.
Yes? We have a letter from the Secretary of War.
(CRYING) (PHONE RINGING) I'm coming.
Hold your horses.
Hello.
Yes? This is Gloria Paley.
MAN: Ma'am? Ma'am? RUSSELL: Five days until midterms.
That's 120 hours, 7,200 minutes, and counting.
Look at you, with the math.
I'm saying we're up against it.
If the president's bloc doesn't take the House, you know what happens to our legislative agenda? So how do I figure into this doomsday scenario? Ever heard of the David Paley Foundation? Yeah.
Big advocates for P.
O.
W.
's, right? Yeah.
And M.
I.
A.
's.
The foundation head, Gloria Paley, held a presser in front of the Capitol yesterday afternoon.
- All cued up.
- Thanks, Adele.
- You bet.
Madam Secretary.
- Good morning.
73 years ago, a plane my father, Captain David Paley, was piloting went down in the Philippines.
31 service members were presumed dead.
Three weeks ago, I received word that the remains of those brave Americans have finally been discovered.
(APPLAUSE) Since that hopeful day, the families of these patriots have waited anxiously for their return.
But our entreaties have met with silence - from the Dalton administration.
- (CROWD BOOING) These men sacrificed everything for their country.
The government must bring them home (CHEERING, APPLAUSE) right now! (CROWD CHEERING, WHOOPING) CROWD (CHANTING): Right now! Right now! Right now! Right now.
Three million hits on YouTube in one day.
Footage is already being cut into attack ads against Dalton's allies in swing districts.
Getting those remains here should be an administration priority regardless of optics.
Which is where you come in.
Except repatriation falls squarely in DoD's bailiwick.
Fell.
Gordon stalled out.
POTUS has asked for your intervention.
He feels your diplomatic savoir faire might resolve this.
My relationship with Andrada is a little fraught.
Courtesy of your pugilistic skill.
Punching him for grabbing you.
That's a muscular foreign policy.
That's your wallpaper? Yeah.
I tried to have it rendered - in 3-D.
- I'm not amused.
Well, neither was Andrada.
But fisticuffs notwithstanding, the president believes you're the one (PHONE BUZZING) to get these soldiers home, and I agree.
Especially since I assured him you're not gonna go full Ronda Rousey this time.
Which means you will handle this at arm's length.
But you will handle it.
How did Gordon take it when he learned that you were - turning the matter over to State? - You'll have to tell me.
Sure, Elizabeth, you go get our war dead back.
And then I'll go to Oslo and negotiate that treaty on global warming.
Gordon, this isn't a referendum on your effectiveness.
No.
It's a referendum on my ineffectiveness.
The president simply believes State taking the lead on this might expedite things.
I haven't been sitting on my hands.
Those remains would not even have been found were it not for new infrared technology that we used to scan the jungle canopy, technology I lobbied for.
My dad died at Khe Sanh.
This issue means a lot to me.
So I can tell the president that I have the full cooperation of DoD? (SCOFFS) Postmaster general can run point on this.
Long as it gets our people home.
MAN: I share Secretary Becker's frustration.
I've done everything but storm Malacañang Palace.
I'm gonna need you to take me through it, Martin.
Andrada's staff won't engage me on this issue.
They claim it's beyond the purview of an acting ambassador.
That doesn't make sense.
They know you have plenary authority to speak on behalf of the administration.
A fact I've repeatedly reminded them of.
But they insist that our failure to appoint a full-time ambassador is a slap in the face.
But his office did send me this.
A sampaguita.
The Philippine national flower.
ELIZABETH: Thanks, Martin.
We'll take it from here.
MARTIN: Thank you, Madam Secretary.
- (COMPUTER BEEPS) I'm smelling pretext.
Andrada's flexing.
Using the remains to remind us that the Philippines is our partner, not our subordinate.
And the absence of a full-time ambassador has given him an excuse to squawk about respect.
His administration wants respect? Let's see how they feel about dealing with me.
I'll get Ambassador Carpio in here.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER) Yes, Mrs.
Lee.
Candidate Pavano feels that elder abuse is an overlooked issue.
He will make it a part of the national conversation.
WOMAN: All right, everybody, look alive.
- Thank you for your vote.
- Eyes up.
Let's focus.
- Hello, hello.
Can I have everyone's attention just for a second, please? I just want to thank you all for your hard work.
There is no campaign without you, because change is a collective endeavor.
- Every single person matters.
- Yeah? All right.
Now, the next few days will be decisive.
Okay, we'll need a social media onslaught.
Door-to-door for every undecided.
And keep working those call lists till the polls close.
All right, let's make a better world together.
(ALL CHEER) All right.
ELIZABETH: Respectfully, Ambassador Carpio, 15,000 Americans died defending the Philippines against the Imperial Army.
So expediting those remains doesn't begin to cover the debt your country owes.
Madam Secretary The only thing that President Andrada has done since those bodies were found is send flowers.
JAY: Sampaguita, which, as you know, means, "I promise you.
" So, what what promise have we broken that makes you think you can hold our war dead for ransom? $300 million in advanced weaponry, which we need to fight the Mindanao Freedom Brigade insurgency.
Islamic Fundamentalists.
We share your interest in containing them.
JAY: Which is why we've been pushing H.
R.
8365.
Hard.
But appropriations are the exclusive purview of Congress.
I understand, Madam Secretary.
JAY: Then instead of using our dead patriots to shake down the president, why aren't you mobilizing your army of lobbyists? Because President Andrada doesn't want to make a public stink about needing U.
S.
aid.
Makes him look weak.
You want those bodies, get us that aid.
Well, unfortunately, it's not my purview to tell Congress what to do or when to do it.
Your midterms are coming, right? What's that Yankee expression? "Where there's a will, there's a way.
" (TAPS DESK) (GASPS) Holy hell.
Stuffed French toast is back on the menu.
I don't know what you see in that.
It's Peanut butter.
Nutella.
Cream cheese.
- I see God.
- I see an amateur.
Oh, I'm getting the Pynchon burger.
Triple cheese, bacon, avocado.
Juice it with some onion rings and jalapeños.
Hey, Mitzi, think we're ready to order.
I'm afraid I can't serve you guys today.
Yeah, my wife hates this tie, too.
Dad.
Oh, my God.
I'm not kidding.
Uh, what Mitzi's trying to say is, uh, your family's not welcome here anymore.
(CHUCKLES) Trevor, what's going on? As a veteran, I'd expect the Dalton administration to give a damn about their war dead.
But it doesn't.
And your wife is complicit in that.
My wife? TREVOR: Yeah, that's right.
Trevor, we've been coming here for years.
I'm aware of that.
You can't be serious.
- Dead serious.
- STEVIE: My dad, - he's a veteran, too.
- He's He's willing to take our business elsewhere.
- Come on, let's go.
- What? - Let's go, Stevie.
Come on.
- Dad ELIZABETH: Ms.
Paley.
Thank you for coming.
I'm here out of respect for you, Madam Secretary.
Well, that respect is shared.
Please.
What you and your organization do to keep a spotlight on those who sacrificed so much for our country well, it's critically important.
It is.
I want you to know that my team is working tirelessly to bring those missing soldiers home.
I'm glad to hear it.
I fear that our efforts aren't being helped by your public statements.
These are delicate negotiations with an overreaching ally.
I appreciate that, but more than 72,000 Americans who died in World War II still remain unaccounted for.
72,000 families have never healed, and mine was one of them.
The last time I saw my dad, he took me by the hand, he looked me in the eye and promised he was coming home.
I'm going to do everything it takes to help him keep that promise.
DALTON: So, how long do we have before Gloria Paley takes to the airwaves again? She agreed to stand down until the morning of the midterms.
If the remains haven't left Manila by then, she is going to hold another press conference.
Which will sink our allies running for office.
I don't blame the woman at all.
Where are we on those remains, Bess? Andrada's playing hardball until we deliver his military aid.
So who's holding up the bill? The new senator from Kentucky, Owen Callister.
He's the swing vote on foreign relations who won't let the bill get to the Senate floor.
Elizabeth, see if you can bring Callister to heel.
If you can't, then tell Andrada we're slapping him with sanctions.
Oh, sir, I would advise against that.
He's gonna take it as an affront.
Says the woman who shattered his nose.
ELIZABETH: Which is how I know that he is particularly sensitive to an American display of power.
Carrot or stick, whatever it takes, because "no man left behind" is not just a credo.
It's a pledge we make to the enlisted, and every second those soldiers aren't back is a breach of faith to those who serve.
I'll lean on Senator Callister.
Lean hard, Bess.
- (CHEERING, CLAPPING) - Where are you? No, get off the Beltway and take the local streets.
Just get here as quickly as you can, okay? Bye.
Thank you so much.
Yeah, for sure.
Nice turnout, Ali.
Thanks for helping organize it.
You're welcome.
Um, I'm afraid I messed up.
I gave the sign language interpreter the wrong address Boulevard instead of Avenue.
He's still 20 minutes out.
I'm supposed to speak on federal initiatives to increase educational access.
It would be ironic if some of the audience couldn't hear.
I know.
I'm so sorry.
(SIGHS) It's not a problem, Ali.
WOMAN: Okay, everyone, please welcome Craig Pavano, our candidate for Congress.
(APPLAUSE AND CHEERING) Good morning.
Good morning, everyone.
Good morning.
Thank you for coming out.
(PEOPLE GASPING, MURMURING) I'm Craig Pavano, - and I'm running for Congress.
- WOMAN: Yes! (APPLAUSE AND CHEERING) I'm here to speak about our children.
(ELEVATOR BELL DINGS) BLAKE: Good morning, Madam Secretary.
You know, I have this fantasy that one morning I'm going to step off of that elevator and be greeted by a genie.
Or a masseuse, or maybe a wayward puppy.
Well, would you settle for a stray Kat? (LAUGHING): I would.
- I had to go there.
- Hi.
- Welcome back.
- Thank you.
- How was the U.
N.
? - It was good.
It was good.
We made progress on the refugee protocol.
However, they do not care about coffee over there.
- Philistines.
- Oh, it's so good to be home.
(BOTH LAUGH) Uh, Senator Callister is prepped and waiting for us.
Uh, and I I did some digging.
It turns out his state houses Paraverse Industries.
They manufacture much of the weaponry that we'd send Andrada's way if H.
R.
8365 passes.
- Ah.
- Yeah, Paraverse has over 800 employees in Lexington alone, meaning opposition to this bill takes food out of his constituents' mouths.
Nice work, everyone.
- Still holding out for a puppy.
- Yes, ma'am.
Senator.
So nice to meet you.
Likewise, Madam Secretary.
- Kat.
- Come on in.
ELIZABETH: This administration likes to work very closely with Congress, which is why we called you in to talk about H.
R.
8365, which I understand you oppose? Yes, ma'am.
KAT: Okay, well, that bill provides military aid to an important ally in a region of the world we don't want to see fall under China's sphere of influence.
I understand that.
H.
R.
8365 is also tied to the release of the bodies of missing American soldiers.
An important priority.
Yes.
And given the fact that this legislation would support Paraverse, a major defense contractor in your own state, we're hoping that you'll reconsider your position.
I will not.
(CHUCKLES) Would you please explain why? Andrada is a ruthless dictator whose government is a notorious violator of human rights.
Funneling money to his regime is inconsistent with American values.
But not as inconsistent as letting that country fall into the hands of fundamentalist extremists.
The intelligence I've seen suggests that is an unlikely scenario.
Only if Andrada remains in power.
We are very aware of Andrada's obvious shortcomings, but this Mindanao Freedom Brigade makes him look like Churchill.
And sometimes you do have to choose the lesser of two evils.
No.
The Dalton administration does.
I have to look my constituents in the eye.
(LAUGHS) Please, um, tell the president I'm sorry.
You bet.
Okay.
Thanks.
Golly.
Wow.
(LAUGHS) Did we just meet one of the few elected officials who puts principles first? That, or someone dropped him on his head.
(SIGHS) I'm not buying either scenario.
(SCOFFS, SIGHS) Who is Paraverse's chief lobbyist? Hmm.
Kah Kah Mickey Kensington.
You know what? I'll tell Jay.
- He's worked with him.
- Great.
Hold on, Mickey.
You're saying that Callister doesn't care about donors? Well, he's made a fortune in high-tech.
He doesn't need Paraverse's money.
But he damn sure needs their votes in the next election.
And Paraverse is one of the state's largest employers.
He won't support foreign companies.
What could be more apple pie than an American munitions manufacturer headquartered in Kentucky? One that's not founded by an immigrant from New Delhi named Arjun Bhatt.
Wait.
What are you telling me? Once you get past the glossy facade, Callister gets dark in a hurry.
He's got deep ties to nativist organizations, but since he's not taking PAC money, the connections are well concealed.
So he won't help Filipinos or naturalized Americans.
Or anyone who doesn't come from Anglo-Saxon stock.
If you want to get those bodies back, Callister's not your solution.
- He's our problem.
- Mm.
Thanks, Mickey.
It's on me.
Thank you.
Ma'am, I think calling President Andrada directly is not a good idea.
By "not good," he means apocalyptically bad.
Well, I appreciate the sage counsel, but you two just told me that Senator Racist Obstruction isn't going to help us, so we need a new strategy.
Ma'am, if I could put a finer point on it: Andrada is a chauvinist who is unlikely to meet with a woman whose last interaction with him left him with a deviated septum.
ANDRADA: I wish I could help you, Madam Secretary, but the bodies are in a remote jungle location.
It's the rainy season.
They will take time to safely excavate.
And we don't want to endanger your men, so we have a detachment of Marines at the ready who will conduct the recovery mission.
It's not just the weather.
The jungle where the bodies are located is a stronghold for the Mindanao Freedom Brigade.
I know how concerned you are about the insurgency.
President Dalton has authorized a detachment of U.
S.
military advisers I don't need advisers.
I need assault rifles, armored personnel carriers, drones.
All of which will be forthcoming when Congress passes the aid bill, which we expect will be before the end of the current term.
(ELIZABETH SIGHS) President Andrada, my my advisers were concerned that after our last encounter, you wouldn't be receptive to me, but but I disagreed, because I know that you're a leader who wants what's best for your country Mm.
meaning you won't let our unfortunate personal history be an impediment.
You are correct.
Our history is irrelevant.
What is relevant is that aid package.
And when it arrives, you can reclaim your dead.
Good luck with the midterms.
(BEEP) I have no update yet, and I have to cancel lunch.
Well, I'm not here to pressure you, but the polls open in a few days.
I'm flying to Manila to meet with President Andrada, and I need to prepare, okay? Mm not okay.
Diplomacy at a distance is one thing, but the last time The next person who brings up Andrada's nose I'm gonna - punch him in the face.
- I'm saying, you're not exactly the poster child for détente here.
We are out of options and time.
President Dalton asked me to get involved for a reason.
Just the most modest vote of confidence in my ability to do my job would be great.
- (UNZIPPING) - Aah! Sorry.
My confidence in your ability is anything but modest.
Believe it or not, my anxiety isn't just about the midterms.
- It's-it's - Also about the midterms.
Yes, about the midterms.
But I care about this issue.
Same reason everybody else does.
Andrada has been harping on about disrespect.
It's a pretext to shake us down.
The Secretary of State shows up in Manila, the pretext is gone.
We now have leverage to call him out.
Well, can't argue with that.
I'm gonna bring 'em home, Russell.
I promise.
Godspeed, Madam Secretary.
Russell.
(CLEARS THROAT) Whatever it is, I got to pack.
- So if it can wait - JAY: It can't.
- This is an intervention.
- The important thing to do is to keep centered and calm.
About what? Ma'am.
(CHUCKLES) "A forcible and noisy expulsion of the Secretary of State's family.
" We know your first instinct is to publicly respond.
And we are all here to urge you not to.
I'm not going to respond publicly.
It would be beneath the administration to attack a private business.
Well put, ma'am.
Well put.
I'm going to ignore it.
MATT: That's good.
- That's good.
Good.
KAT: Okay.
Well done.
Just ignore.
- Hear, hear.
Just ignore.
(SIGHS) (CLEARS THROAT) - Did that work? - MATT: I don't know.
- I can't read that lady.
- Yeah, me neither.
- She's either chill - Or she's gonna kill someone.
ELIZABETH: Coming after my family? - I - HENRY: Babe, this is just a taste of the kind of stuff we're gonna have to get used to if you're - throwing your hat in the ring.
- I know.
But I just feel like every day that I do this job undermines my chances to do that one.
Our restaurant eviction is hardly a scarlet letter.
No, it's not just that.
A Secretary of State's mandate is to compromise.
Lose the battle to win the war.
Nowadays it seems like a successful candidate has to appear resolute, unyielding.
You know the last Secretary of State to become president? James Buchanan.
150 years ago.
Well, even the Cubbies eventually won - the World Series.
- (CHUCKLES) Streaks are made to be broken.
By the way, I need to thank you.
Don't get used to it.
You're on dishes next week.
(CHUCKLES) No.
- Thanks, Frank.
- You got it.
I got to thank you for bringing home those dead soldiers.
I mean, you know that I lost some friends from basic.
The thought of leaving those guys where they fell is It's an important mission.
And I'm the one entrusted with it.
That should be a declaration, babe.
That sounds like a question.
You don't have misgivings about me going - face-to-face with - Yeah, I have misgivings.
I hate that you're gonna be in the same room as the guy.
You're gonna be okay.
Yeah, I got this.
Good.
Bring our heroes home.
I will.
Be safe.
Mm.
(DOOR CLOSES) MARJORIE: I need you to copy talking points for Craig's next round of interviews.
Wait, there's a mistake here.
Candidate approved it.
There's no mistake.
(SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY) Craig, can I have a second? Sure.
What's up, Ali? One of the cornerstones of your campaign - is student loan forgiveness.
- Right, right.
But someone forgot to include it in the talking points - for your upcoming appearances.
- (CHUCKLES) Well, that someone was me.
But I promise you I didn't forget.
Uh, latest tracking polls show that this issue is a a third rail for the voters.
You know, unfortunately, the many funding the few.
But-but, in time, the few become the many.
Right.
And, in time, I hope to revisit the issue.
But job one is to get a seat at the table.
Then we can talk about how to divvy up the food.
Yeah? Hey, keep up the good work, okay? Sure.
Thanks.
(GRUNTING) President Andrada, we had a meeting calendared this morning at your office.
Yes.
But I needed some exercise.
(EXHALES) (SHOUTING, GRUNTING) (CAMERAS CLICKING) (EXHALES) Mr.
President, I traveled 8,000 miles to make an appeal on behalf of President Dalton for the return of our war dead.
Well, I hope you did not come empty-handed.
I come with a promise.
We will eventually push that aid package through.
But you need to give us those bodies back right now.
(CHUCKLES) You do not show up in my country and step into my gym and tell me what to do.
No.
But you're on record saying that the U.
S.
was disrespecting you.
But I'm here now, showing you more respect than you deserve.
(CAMERAS CLICKING) Talking to me this way, that is respect? Surrender those bodies, Mr.
President, or your people find out that you begged for U.
S.
aid, which will make you look as weak as you really are.
You are the weak one, standing there, begging.
If you prefer to fight, we can settle this in the ring! (GRUNTS) (SIGHS) I hung up my gloves.
You will release a statement that those bodies are being extracted.
Or I'm going to release one about how you really broke your nose.
Meaning how I broke it.
Understood? Great.
(CAMERAS CLICKING) Bye, Mr.
President.
How's the jetlag? I'm too tired to talk about it.
There's a C-17 transport over the Philippine Sea right now carrying the remains of 31 American soldiers.
You brought our people home.
And without precipitating an international incident.
- Oh, please.
- (CHUCKLES) The summit was handled with (INHALES, EXHALES) (CHUCKLES): restraint and decorum.
(CHUCKLES) Good work, Elizabeth.
- Thank you.
- Now the bad news.
(SIGHS) Come on.
David Paley isn't getting a military funeral? I'm afraid not.
We dug up personnel files on all the dead.
Came across something troubling.
He went AWOL? Right before his last mission.
18 hours unaccounted for.
Suspected desertion.
Came back to his post in time to be deployed.
So then why'd they let him fly? Didn't realize his transgression until after - his plane went missing.
- With Paley declared a combat death, there was no reason - to throw dirt on his memory.
- No.
But now everything's come to light.
Department of Veterans Affairs does not want to afford him a burial with honors.
Well, who can overrule that? This is Gloria Paley's father.
He's a war hero, Mr.
President, who gave his life for his country.
And he also went AWOL, an act which would have resulted in his court-martial had he not died in combat.
But he did die.
And instead of paying tribute to his sacrifice, we're disgracing his memory.
No.
We're just not honoring it.
Henry, you are conspicuous by your silence.
I'd like your input, as a Marine and an ethicist.
Well, Mr.
President, I think a life has to be looked at in toto.
Paley flew 142 missions with distinction.
After three years in combat, he reached his breaking point.
But he didn't break.
He bent.
Which would urge commendation, not censure.
What kind of message would it send if his daughter's tireless efforts were rewarded with this kind of rebuke? So (GRUNTS) compassion over process.
In this instance, that would be my recommendation, yes.
This is not an academic matter.
It has consequences.
If you don't follow orders, people die.
If you don't punish deserters, they desert.
And if you don't recognize heroism, you discourage heroics.
DALTON: Maybe.
But as commander in chief, it falls to me to enforce military protocol.
That takes precedence.
I'm sorry, Bess.
Gordon, you'll have to inform Ms.
Paley.
Yes, sir.
If it's all right with you Of course.
It's fine.
ELIZABETH: Mr.
President.
(FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING) - STEVIE: Hey.
- Hey.
What you watching? My Uncle William.
It's the only footage we have of him.
Right before he shipped out.
Can I? Yeah.
Did you know that Uncle William was scouted by the Washington Senators his senior year of high school? - Was he really? - Yep.
- Wow.
- They offered him a minor league contract for the day he got home from the war.
So much to live for.
Doughnuts.
They're still hot.
- Hi, Dad.
- Bye.
Bye.
- Where you going? - Out.
I'll be back.
Okay, sweetheart.
No.
We haven't had dinner yet.
You don't want a doughnut? What's wrong? (DOOR CLOSES IN DISTANCE) David Paley.
The truth is going to break his daughter's heart.
Yes, it will.
So give me the case for keeping her in the dark.
Well (CLEARS THROAT) (SIGHS) Aquinas suggested that - Oh, that guy again.
- honesty wasn't an absolute virtue.
Uh, what he was getting at was that the damage that truth can inflict should be factored into the ethical calculus.
Well, I'm not Aquinas; I'm the Secretary of State.
And my remit is not to shine that woman on after 73 years of waiting.
Fair enough.
But there might be a way to soften the blow.
It has to do with Captain Paley's file.
Why don't you have a doughnut, and I'll tell you about it.
Come on.
Who are we kidding? I'm gonna have six.
Well, have six.
Oh, God.
It makes me want to cry.
RUSSELL: Great job, Bess.
You brought honor to our dead.
So why the "we've got trouble" face? (SIGHS HEAVILY) Not "we" this time.
Just you.
L'affaire Pynchon.
I've been doing this long enough to know the public doesn't usually take cabinet secretaries' families to task for administration policies.
Well, it's a brave new world.
Yeah, and a treacherous one.
So I played a cynical hunch.
Had one of my people dig into the guy who gave Henry and Stevie the boot.
Pynchon owner Trevor Bentley was college roommates with Senator Owen Callister.
Yep.
Well, that doesn't necessarily Keep reading.
They share season tickets to the Caps.
And vacation together every summer in Rehoboth.
Well, it looks like I need to have a little talk - with the senator.
- Yeah.
I'm gonna urge against that.
He took a cheap shot at my family, Russell.
Because he wants to draw you out.
You know why? Because he suspects I'm running.
And he probably is, too.
(CLICKS TONGUE) Which is why he's taking shots, hoping you'll defend yourself, which you can't do until you've declared.
Because there's a difference between being a Secretary of State and a candidate.
You're debating him on the campaign trail, you can call him out on anything, but a cabinet secretary getting personal, well, that smacks of bad judgment and plays into his hands.
- I can't let this go unanswered.
- No.
But you don't have to be the one who answers.
OWEN: Hey, Kat.
Come on in.
To what do I owe the honor? Oh, just the Secretary of State's sense of restraint.
I'm sorry? (CHUCKLES) Senator, you've been a vocal critic of the Dalton administration.
And, uh, I will continue to be so.
I'm assuming you're familiar with the concept of loyal opposition? Oh, I'm very familiar with it, sir.
Except the only thing you've opposed is our foreign policy.
Yeah, trade deals, peace treaties, immigration initiatives.
I'm a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Oh, you're also on agriculture.
And one of Kentucky's biggest industries is farming, and yet, not a word about subsidies or price controls or anything that would play to your base.
Just foreign policy.
For the senator of a landlocked state.
- Mm-hmm.
- Mm-hmm.
You didn't block that aid package out of principle; you did it because you knew the mess you were making would land on Secretary McCord, and she'd be stained by it.
What's your point? You're running for president.
(CHUCKLES) And you're trying to eliminate someone you're afraid could be your competition.
Whoa.
What Whatever I may or may not be doing, I certainly don't have to explain myself to a cabinet secretary's policy advisor.
And a queer Latinx woman at that.
Wow.
Everything you hate.
(CHUCKLES): It must be really hard for you.
Squeezing you in today, Kat, was a courtesy.
- Oh.
- A concept you seem relatively unfamiliar with.
If you have a message for me, I suggest you send it.
Well, then here it is.
You've made this personal.
And if you ever use my boss's family again, the next visit you will get will not be from me.
It'll be from her, and she won't be here as Secretary of State or as a candidate; she will be here as a mother protecting her own.
And believe me, that is the one way you do not want to meet Madam Secretary.
Is that a threat? Oh, no, Senator.
That was a gift.
(CHUCKLES SOFTLY) My father died for this country, Madam Secretary, and this is the way his nation repays him? I'm so sorry.
But the all-powerful bureaucracy has spoken, right? And they've branded my father a coward.
He wasn't a coward.
He was a hero! The only thing that I have control of is what I tell you.
I chose to tell you the truth, because I think it is the least you are owed.
But it doesn't take away the pain.
No.
I don't imagine that it does.
But I think that we may have found a way to cushion the blow just a little bit.
Your father's file will remain classified.
But when people ask why he's not in Arlington, like everyone else, what do I say? You tell them that you opted for a private family funeral in your hometown.
And because his record is sealed, the David Paley Foundation's work, the work that you have devoted your life to, will continue in his name.
So his legacy is secure.
Forever.
And he's coming home, Gloria.
Preliminary results from congressional races have started to roll in.
- Oh, hey.
- I thought you were headed to Dover.
Yeah, I am.
I've got about three minutes to get dressed and grab a bar and get out the door.
Don't you have an election party to get to? No, I quit.
Why? You know that student loan forgiveness thing? Yeah.
Pavano bailed on it.
Oh.
(SNIFFS) Your guy had clay feet, huh? Not my guy.
Not anymore.
I didn't even vote for him.
You voted for Winter? No.
I didn't vote for anyone.
What? All of these guys are exactly the same, Mom.
How much of what Pavano stood for did you believe in? It doesn't matter.
That jerk bailed on his loan forgiveness initiative.
And my generation isn't putting up with hypocrites anymore.
It's a new day.
So, say, 95%? You're not even listening to me.
Oh, I got the gist.
Y-You're guy compromised, and now you're checking out of the process completely? - Look, there will be other elections.
- No.
Uh-uh.
Nope.
I am sorry that you were disillusioned.
Get used to it, Alison, because democracy is flawed.
And the next candidate who doesn't let you down will be the first.
I just flew halfway around the world to recover the bodies of patriots who gave their lives to protect this country.
They died along with hundreds of thousands of Americans in too many wars so Alison McCord could have the right to vote.
And you won't honor that because your guy caved on a single issue? My polling place is in Silver Spring.
- I won't even make it in time.
- That's what a motorcade is for.
I'll drop you off on my way to Dover.
- Get dressed.
- Oh.
SOLDIER: Present arms! SOLDIER: Ready.
Down.
Ready.
Cover.
Order arms!