'Madam Secretary' Season 4, Episode 10 'Women Transform the World' Fall Finale Recap: Giving Terrorists Power [SPOILERS]

Secretary Elizabeth McCord (Téa Leoni) wants to fix the world’s problems and make it look easy. But in hindsight, the CBS political drama does make a few valid points. The fall finale, titled “Women Transform the World,” focuses on Afghanistan’s stance on women being part of the government table. The show continues to tackle both the Taliban issue with a “progressive” outlook. This problem leads Elizabeth to advise the Afghan government to a compromise involving the Taliban. But after watching the fall finale and having the show lay down fictional facts, one must also consider fact-checking their script.

‘Madam Secretary’ and the Taliban

Elizabeth is called into the Situation Room to discuss their latest mission to take down Taliban leaders. Henry (Tim Daly) and his team feed the President intel the CIA has on the Taliban. He also tells him about a potential Russian spy they are trying to get on their side. Dimitri (Chris Petrovski) volunteers to talk to this man because it’s less intimidating rather than an American recruiting a Russian. It will look a little suspicious. So Henry and his team will be sent off to Afghanistan 72 hours before the military operation.

Henry then reports that the Taliban remains with the Afghan troop members. President Dalton (Keith Carradine) talked to the Afghan President and realized he isn’t confident about the mission. Dalton informs Elizabeth and Russel about the situation. Worried, Elizabeth talks to Henry about the Taliban situation and what he tells her is shocking.
This predicament shows us how “Madam Secretary” is purely fictional because the Taliban in the show is not as bad as the real-life Taliban. This Taliban will allow women to be educated and hold down jobs. Elizabeth is impressed and surprised by this fact as the viewers are.  She starts drafting a new agreement with the president, allowing the United States to back a deal of negotiation for the Taliban in the Afghan government. But there’s just one problem—the agreement prevents women from assuming government positions.

Henry and his Russian Spies

While the Administration is dead set on the Afghan government’s negotiation with the Taliban, the CIA tries to find the latter’s Russian connection. Henry arrives in Kabul with Dimitri. They meet with Matvey, who is thrilled to see Dimitri. They chat before Henry tells them they don’t have a lot of time. Dimitri tells Matvey he should share what he knows and they can offer him cash and asylum in the US. After making friends with the Russian spy, Henry meets with an Afghan general who joined the Taliban. The General tells Henry about how the Taliban promised that his daughters could go to school and work.
Back in American soil, Dimitri has a nice dinner with Stevie (Wallis Currie-Wood). But after the date, Dimitri notices that someone is following him. He brushes it off thinking his work is making him paranoid. The next day Henry informs his team Matvey never met with his handler. They go to his apartment to confront Matvey only to find him and his girlfriend tortured to death. Dimitri opens up about being followed the night before. But Henry soon learns that Dimitri wasn’t spied on by Russin spies or terrorists but by the CIA. Apparently, it is protocol to check on agents who went to rehab. Henry assures them Dimitri is clean, with his work an essential factor in the Taliban mission.

The Truth about the Taliban and Women’s Rights

Elizabeth meets with the Afghan Minister of Education at a Women’s Conference to tell her the US has decided to cancel their strike mission now that the Afghan government made a deal with the Taliban. She then informs her about the Taliban’s stance on women in the state. The Afghan Minister gives Elizabeth a different angle about the lack of agency of women in her country, even as the Afghan government refuses to let women have a seat on their table. Elizabeth only hopes that Afghanistan would eventually correct their views.

Despite what the show wants us to believe, the Taliban has a different view of women. The Taliban are notorious for their human rights abuses, including their strict policies about how women should act. The Taliban and other highly conservative insurgent groups still control some parts of Afghanistan. Violence and discrimination against women and girls continue. Perhaps the Afghan General was only trying to fool Henry into getting the Afghan government to negotiate with the Taliban, and that the show doesn’t want to portray an extremist group—known for violating human rights—as progressive.
“Madam Secretary” returns Sunday, January 7, 2018, with “Mitya,” 10/9c on CBS.