‘Madam Secretary’ Season 6, Episode 5 ‘Daisy’ Review: Taking the Fall

Elizabeth McCord’s (Téa Leoni) Presidency continues to receive hit after hit on the legitimacy of her election. Tonight on Madam Secretary, the unfortunate spotlight shines of Press Secretary Daisy Grant (Patina Miller) following last week’s incriminating reveal.

We’re not sure how the Senate Intelligence Committee is spinning this, but it looks like someone has a personal vendetta against Elizabeth. It could very well be Senator Hanson (Wentworth Miller) or even the Vice President, Carlos Morejon. But speculation aside, anyone can have that grudge against Elizabeth, and I’m pretty sure it’s going to turn out the way we least expect it. This week’s episode, simply titled “Daisy,” puts the Press Secretary right in the middle of a media and Department of Justice shitstorm. The episode’s logline reads, “When evidence implicates Daisy in the leak of hacked information during the presidential campaign and threatens to topple Elizabeth’s presidency, Elizabeth must decide what to believe and how far she’s willing to go to uncover the truth. Also, Henry and Elizabeth host former President Dalton (Keith Carradine) at the White House after his interview with Bob Schieffer.”

It’s a tearful episode tonight on Madam Secretary, so buckle up for all the spoilers ahead.

Did Daisy Leak It Or Not?

“Daisy” opens on a light note where Elizabeth and Henry (Tim Daly) oversee the preparations for President Conrad Dalton’s portrait unveiling at the White House. But the day skids off a bit when Eisenhower’s bust—Dalton’s favorite president—is knocked down and gets a worrisome nose chip thanks to Elizabeth’s dog, Hope. Henry gets on top of it by having a Smithsonian restorer to retouch the statue. With that taken care of, Elizabeth’s day gets worse as she gets word of an important national security issue involving Daisy.

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When Senator Hanson asked Daisy about the bar incident during Elizabeth’s campaign, she left out Claudine Bernard’s name for a reason. It turns out that Claudine works as a spy for the Iranian government and that she handed Daisy the files about Senator Miller’s affair with his intern and fathering a child with her. Daisy took the drive but never brought it up to the authorities, putting her and Elizabeth’s presidency at risk. Despite that, Daisy maintains that she wasn’t the one who leaked it to the press on the days of the campaign.

Chief of Staff Russell Jackson (Zeljko Ivanek), Presidential Adviser on Political Affairs Mike B (Kevin Rahm), and White House Counsel Olivia Mason (Amanda Warren) deliberate on the best action to take, to which Mike suggests letting Daisy go. This doesn’t sit well with Elizabeth, so he has them find where Claudine is so they can save Daisy’s career.  After all, she has been at Elizabeth’s side since her early Secretary of State days.

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Later, Director of National Intelligence Ephraim Ware (Clifton Davis) and FBI Director Amelia Banks (Linda Powell) inform Elizabeth that Claudine somehow made her way to Iran—the first dead-end that leaves Daisy’s fate hanging in the balance. Elizabeth also confronts Daisy about the leak to ask her if she didn’t really put it out during the campaign. Daisy admitted to getting the files from Claudine and not going to the authorities about it. But the only thing that Daisy didn’t regret was how it was instrumental in bringing down Senator Miller, who would have won the Presidency and turned it into a racist, misogynist administration (sound familiar to you?). With that, Daisy hands Elizabeth her resignation, which the President declines.

Mike B is surprised at Elizabeth’s hesitancy, but Russell is with her on this. Their defense? Valerie Guillen (Jenn Colella), the journalist who broke the Senator Miller story, was subpoenaed by the DOJ to have her give up the source of the information. Mike sees this as very unlikely, given how American journalists will go to great lengths to protect their sources. We wouldn’t want this to turn into a government vs. media war, right? But when Valerie meets with Mike, the fierce journalist insisted that she will not be persuaded to give up her source, even if it’s a closed-door hearing and costs her some prison time. This led the DOJ to hold Valerie in custody for contempt of court. The next day, just as Elizabeth was about to address the Press, each journalist walks out while repeatedly asking, “where’s Valerie?” No matter how much Elizabeth tries to explain the situation, the media will not hear her. I mean, even if Valerie is being held in contempt and not for what she published, it still doesn’t look appealing to anyone, let alone the media.

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Henry tries to weigh things and ultimately suggests having Elizabeth grant Valerie a presidential pardon. But Elizabeth thinks that if Valerie walks, Daisy’s career will suffer. That night, Daisy checks the news to see Senator Hanson escalating things and calling the situation the pre-impeachment rites. A furious Russell confronts Hanson the next day to tell him to back off. Russell knows that Hanson has ulterior motives for pushing the impeachment agenda.

Eventually, Elizabeth agrees to Henry’s suggestion—letting Valerie walk and dealing with Daisy head-on. Then, Henry also recommended letting Daisy go because of what she did. It’s not about her refusing to bring it to Elizabeth’s attention, but more of a judgment error. Elizabeth cannot have people who err on the side of ethical and practical judgment, especially in matters pertaining to her presidency.

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Daisy then addresses the press for the last time as Elizabeth’s Press Secretary. She informs them about Valerie being pardoned and to give her last address to the media. She remarked how it was honor to work with the first woman President of the United States and went on to commend the media for keeping the government accountable. With that, she hands over the reins to Angela Lopez (Sabina Zúñiga Varela).

But seeing Daisy leave only added to Elizabeth’s uncomfortable feeling of whether or not Daisy leaked the information. So, in a last-minute effort to find out the truth, she brings Valerie over to ask if Daisy was her source—to which Valerie responds in the negative. At least Daisy’s conscience is clean.

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President Dalton’s New Career

On the lighter side of “Daisy,” Elizabeth’s reunion proved to be a refreshing one for her in the midst of all the problems she’s facing. From a diplomatic and regal President to a music-loving laidback old man, Conrad Dalton seems to be enjoying the high life post-presidency. After all, he did work hard to help Elizabeth get the votes, especially that awkward night in Virginia where most of the voters they spoke to didn’t like Elizabeth. Conrad returned to the White House full of smiles, but no advice to give to Elizabeth. At first, Henry and Elizabeth worried that he might be going through a tough time with his marriage (seeing how his wife Linda wasn’t there), but it turned out to be something more positive.

During dinner, Conrad reveals that he’s going to be a grandfather and that his wife is taking care of their daughter-in-law before the baby arrives. He also proudly shared about his new job as the Executive Director of Unicef. He’s also working on a children’s album that he composed and sung himself. it turns out that the arrival of his grandchild made him want to work on building a better future for the children.

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The next day, during his interview with Bob Schieffer on live TV, he defends Elizabeth by giving her his full confidence. “The last thing Elizabeth McCord needs is my advice,” Conrad says when asked about the issue that the president is facing. “Her judgment is impeccable and her honor unimpeachable. If anyone can get through this farce of an investigation, it is she.” Conrad then performs one of the songs in his upcoming album, a beautiful ballad dedicated to his grandchild.

On the day of Conrad’s portrait unveiling, Elizabeth urges Conrad to offer his advice freely. It’s a touching scene where a former student still looks to his master not for advice, but for friendly guidance.

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The episode ends with Daisy packing her things and remembering the time when the polls were finalized and showed Elizabeth winning the election. It gave her great joy to be the first one to congratulate Elizabeth as Madam President. Elsewhere, Dmitri’s (Chris Petrovski) naturalization ceremony finally comes through, with Henry in attendance and Stevie arriving at the last minute to give Dmitri a gift. Seriously, these guys need to get back together soon. And by soon, I mean soon.

‘Madam Secretary: Daisy’ Overall Verdict

So I guess this means goodbye for Daisy Grant? It hurts to think that the only surviving State Department team member for this season is Blake. But at least, Daisy was able to exonerate herself and go out with a clean conscience. I get her drive and passion to not let America suffer from a president who would’ve thrown the country into racial chaos. For a woman president to rise up above the hate and bigotry, Daisy had to take the fall. “Daisy” is an episode that’s hard to swallow but comes packed with narrative perfection. Madam Secretary never failed to tug at my heartstrings with its humanistic approach to politics and the day-to-day struggles of leading a country to better fields. Tonight’s episode, however, stands as one of the strongest chapters of the show. The message that it sends in support of just and fair American journalism is a strong statement in today’s real-life political climate.

Madam Secretary continues Sunday, November 10th, with “Deepfake” at 10:30/9:30c on CBS.