‘Madam Secretary’ Season 5, Episode 6 ‘Eyjafjallajökull’ Recap: Airport Problems & Chess Pieces

CBS’ Madam Secretary continues to impress us every week. Tonight’s episode, titled “Eyjafjallajökull,” doesn’t blow into pieces like the volcano but does give us a bit to unpack with regards to Henry (Tim Daly) and Alison’s (Kathrine Herzer) philosophical differences and Elizabeth’s (Téa Leoni) ability to make things work for the good of countries at war and in those in need of refuge.

After being stranded in an airport with the Turkish Prime Minister Baran Tarhan (George Georgiou), Elizabeth tries to broker a deal with him to protect the Syrian refugees who want to cross their border. War is breaking out in Syria. But Prime Minister Tarhan, as much as he’d like to offer protection, cannot do so without an aid budget approved by the United Nations. Meanwhile, Henry tries to understand Alison’s way of thinking. She seems to be having extreme relationship ideals that are far more complicated than the average far-left millennial’s reason.

Catch-22

During a UN summit in Doha, Prime Minister Tarhan tries to ask for aid in order to provide food, shelter, and protection for the Syrian refugees. They’re $5 billion short, and that in itself is a cause for alarm for Elizabeth and her staff. She has Jay (Jay Whitman) tries to ask for a little bit more from French President Lenoir (Matthew D. Matteo) but gets the cold shoulder. Kat (Sara Ramirez), Elizabeth’s policy advisor, asks for Germany’s and the UAE’s help but also fails. None of the other countries wanted to help unless the United States chips in more than what they already gave. As the situation in Syria gets worse, Elizabeth struggles to find a way to help the refugees.

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Luckily, Kat found out that Chinese Foreign Minister Chen (Francis Jue) is also in Doha for a tech conference. Perhaps the Chinese could chip in? Elizabeth finds Minister Chen immersing himself in a VR game. Despite Elizabeth’s plea for help, China wouldn’t budge. They’re more into asserting their greatness over the United States and other countries than offering help for the refugees.

Then the bad news comes. Due to the lack of funding, Minister Farhan decided to close his borders. Farhan asks for the US to hand over a Turkish political prisoner, but Elizabeth couldn’t cave. Instead, she tries to appeal to his kindness but is met with hostility from his security detail.

Stuck

On their way back to the US, Elizabeth’s plane lands in Ireland for refueling. But they couldn’t leave just yet. The eyjafjallajökull—an island mountain glacier/volcano—is erupting, causing all flights to be grounded. As complicated as the word is pronounced, so does the situation go for Elizabeth as the Turkish Prime Minister is also stuck in the airport with her.

With options running out by the minute, Elizabeth tries to ask for Russia’s help. However, Russian Foreign Minister Konstantin Avdonin (Yasen Peyankov) sees refugees differently—terrorists (now does that sound familiar?). Minister Avdonin will agree to help but only if the US would recognize Russia’s occupation of Crimea. Of course, that’s something that the US would never do, so they’re back at square one.

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Later, Elizabeth’s Secretary, Blake (Erich Bergen) and Press Secretary (Patina Miller), Daisy, tries to get some food at the airport pantry but are surprised to see Minister Farhan’s staff hounding all of it. Elizabeth asks for food from Farhan nicely but is met with the “first come, first served” excuse. As payback, Elizabeth instructs her staff and security detail to hound all the electrical outlets in the airport. The mini-war over sovereignty of airport food and electrical outlets prove to be a good move for Elizabeth as she was able to get meals for her staff in exchange for Farhan’s charging port.

As Jay eats his meal, Annelies De Runnow (Marissa Neitling), the Captain of the Dutch Chess Team who also happens to be stuck in the airport with them, introduces herself to him. Earlier, Jay caught her eye when they arrived, and a subtle connection was established. Now that they’re formally introduced, Annelies tries to ask for Jay’s food. But since Elizabeth had to exactly an airport war with Farhan over the food, he refuses and instead proposes a game of chess. Whoever wins gets the sandwich. After a near-win for Jay, Annelies annihilates him and wins the lunch. This, however, impresses Jay.

Farhan’s staff appear to be softening up to Elizabeth’s. That’s why Elizabeth tells Kat that they should take advantage of it by putting incentives for Turkey on the table. They’re going to have to pull in some favors, but it could work.

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Jay has another round of chess with Annelies, which he also loses. The tow share some kind of intimate connection over the game, though. “You’re one of the best players in the world,” Jay says. “It’s ridiculous for you to mess around with someone like me.” Annelies has none of it, though, and says, “I like messing around with you.” She then tells Jay about how she was cheated on by a Russian chess player during a tournament, causing her team to be eliminated. “But if he hadn’t, I wouldn’t be here with you,” Annelies says.

Later, Elizabeth and Farhan’s staff bond over the karaoke machine. That’s when Farhan reveals that he does want to help the refugees, but he wants a seat at the security council. And without the $5 billion, Turkey could not afford to keep the refugees safe and well-taken care of.

Finally, the sky clears of the eyjafjallajökull’s smoke, and flights are now restored. As Elizabeth and her staff leaves, they chance upon Jay sharing a tender kiss with Annelies. As they board the plane, Jay tells them about how he wants to beat up the Russian chess player who cheated on Annelies. Because of that, the Russians (which was supposed to be the Dutch team) are now playing against China in the finals. It’s obvious that the Russian player is cheating because his points rose up exponentially over six months.

Henry Clashes With Alison’s Ideals

Meanwhile, Henry has a hard time trying to understand the way Alison thinks. After getting off the phone with Elizabeth, he sees Alison tiptoeing her way to her room in a rush. Being the protective father that he is, Henry wanted to nose in on what’s going on with Alison—much to Elizabeth’s prohibition. It’s not something that Henry should casually ask about.

Henry then prepares a speech with Elizabeth’s speechwriter, Matt (Geoffrey Arend). When Matt asks Henry to tell a story about the beginning of his relationship with Elizabeth and the distance that they had to endure when he was serving in the air force, Alison comes in to join the conversation. That’s when she reveals that she does not believe in the concept of monogamy, calling it stressful and inconvenient. For Alison, and an open-ended relationship is a way to go.

That night, Henry asks Alison about her non-monogamous perspective and wanted to make sure that she’s on the same page with her boyfriend. Alison then says that they’re not labeling their relationship as such because “labels are a symbol of patriarchy.” Henry grows concerned over this thinking and tries to emphasize the importance of proper communication in a relationship. The conversation heightens and ends up with Alison countering her father’s “archaic” philosophy with her modern ideas. It’s a typical show of how millennials are more concerned about dismantling social norms and constructs in place of something that’s more inclusive and equal for all genders.

The next day, Henry delivers his speech in behalf of Elizabeth. He then tells the audience about what he and Elizabeth had to go through in his days in the military and Elizabeth’s run at the CIA. It’s a heartfelt speech about family and challenging relationships, and frankly, I think it’s one of Henry’s best lines in the show.

Chess-Based Resolutions

The episode ends in an atypical way of solving foreign problems. It turns out that the Russian chess player who cheated on Annelies was the key for Elizabeth to have China pledge more funds to help hit the $ 5 billion mark that Turkey needs. Since Russia was playing against China, Elizabeth appealed to Minister Chen’s pride and told him about Russia’s deceptive chess game. Before this revelation, though, Elizabeth and Henry pore through the video that Jay sent during the game between the Russian player and Annelies. It was obvious that he was cheating, and so Henry went on a tirade about how Russia has a history of undermining countries and trying to dabble in dirty political gains. This led to President Dalton signing off on the NSA analyzing the video and confirming Russia’s shady chess tactics.

Things work out for the good of all countries. Although they didn’t hit the $5 billion mark, it was enough to convince Minister Farhan to re-open his borders and take care of the refugees, but not with a promise from Elizabeth that he’s going to be on the security council.

‘Madam Secretary: Eyjafjallajökull’ Overall Verdict

“Eyjafjallajökull” is a unique episode that screams out how politics doesn’t always have to be about power plays and intensity. America’s current political climate is on the brink of chaos, and it’s deeply dividing us into various sub-beliefs and driving a wedge between political correctness and practicality. The way the episode is written gives us a choice to either decide for ourselves and not believe based on what the writers want us to believe. This, I think, is a good way to help us understand the value of choosing our own ideas that are not dictated by anyone else.

And who would’ve thought that a simple airport chess game would lead to a remedy of worldwide proportions? It’s a brilliant way to wrap the episode around. Partner that with Geoffrey Arend’s directing chops (which he did excellently), Madam Secretary just proves to be a relevant show that doesn’t give us an escape but teaches us something new every week.

Madam Secretary continues next Sunday, November 18th, with “Baby Steps” at 10/9c on CBS.