VinceW

The arms smuggling arc was confusing for the most part. There were too many players to follow which made it hard to keep track of the actual bad guys. In the end, the writers threw the Vesuvian security group, hired previously by the State Dept, under the bus. There were several minutes of wrap up exposition given by SoS staff members at the end of the episode to help explain things which suggests the plot was too complicated. The US government seized the assets of an arms dealer who wasn’t trading in stolen American weapons, but the feds still kept his funds. Jay getting involved in a CIA case made no sense. No wonder the CIA director was upset with the SoS meddling in the operation. He could have easily been killed. Once again, a family dynamic situation saved the episode for viewers with Jason using his parents well defined advice to fix a communication problem with a girlfriend. IMO.

In the Aram deposition given to WH Counsel Panabaker, he explains away the security breach on his laptop as part of an ongoing issue with having bad taste in women. In a later conversation with Samar, he professes that he can't be with a person like Elise because she is a spy, but yet he carries on with her. It is hard to tell what the writers are trying to accomplish with this so-called love triangle story, but clearly Samar has been hurt by his lies. The scholarship offer might be a prelude to Samar leaving the show or a set up for some kind of final relationship drama between them in the season finale.

ON 4/23/2017 AT 0:31 AM, VINCEW SAID: ......In the preview for next week, Mr. Kaplan is holding Agnes when Liz comes home. Maybe Kate speaks something in Russian to Liz at some point and it jogs her memory about her childhood and the fact that Kate was her nanny. Kate: “You are safe, You are loved, You are wise”. Liz: “Where did you hear those words? I know those words”. Kate: "You and I were very close once. You knew me as Katya. I was your nanny.” Liz: “I don’t believe you” Liz should be moved now to get her memory back ("I just found out Kate Kaplan held me as a baby"). Unless Kate reveals herself as doing something dark while working under Red, I don’t see how Liz could abandon her. At this point, it doesn't look like things will end well for Red.

The writers have carried on the Samar/Aram pseudo relationship for so long that it presents more like a sister looking out for a younger foolish brother. IMO. Samar is emotionally a much stronger person. The Aram/Janet couple makes more sense because both are just lightweights. However, at some point, I am looking forward to watching Samar in the shower before the end of the season (fingers crossed).

I must have been watching a different episode. What young guy? The man in motel room #8 had nothing to do with getting the bodies. The man and woman were a hindrance to Kate getting access to the room. It is unclear what actually happened to him after Kate offered him some smokes in her camper. The uncle was keeping them on ice at the rink without any timeline explanation. It is unclear how long it took to retrieve the bodies. It is unknown how much time had passed between her release from the hunter and her startup to retrieve the dead bodies.

No Henry;No Show. Tim Daly recently said "Henry is just an every man committed to doing the right thing. He's no 007 or Jason Bourne, but he can sure get himself out of tight spots." His comments are made in the same context that were espoused by the show creator Barbara Hall when the series was created. The super-hero label is just an exaggeration for the most part. IMHO.

It is good to see Daly walking while using just the one leg brace and no walking boot. However, I expect that he will be using a cane to support the injured knee for some time. I am sure that Tea will take good care of him over the hiatus.

It was the scene right after Sam came to see Kate at the bail bond business and Sam told Kate that Red wanted to talk to her.

The bounty hunter uncle willing to store all those bodies out of loyalty to Mr Kaplan because of her relationship with Annie as well as her ability to retrieve all those bodies on her own was a stretch. IMO. How clever were the writers that Kate once kicked a knife on the kitchen floor to help protect the mother and then later in the flashbacks, the daughter gets the gun thrown to her feet to help protect the mother as well.

Recall in the season 2 finale when Liz fatally shoots Tom Connolly. The shooting triggers her memory of the night of the fire when she shot and killed the so-called abusive father in order to protect her mother. Liz escapes police capture with Red's help and she confesses to having regained her memory, as well as her full understanding of Red's desire to protect her. That sounds like she gets her memory back. In the preview for next week, Mr. Kaplan is holding Agnes when Liz comes home. Maybe Kate speaks something in Russian to Liz at some point and it jogs her memory about her childhood and the fact that Kate was her nanny.

Some other holes in the story: What does Liz know that puts her in so much danger after all this time? What is the background of the so-called abusive father?

It is strange that Liz has no memory of Mr. Kaplan taking care of her as a child. She doesn't remember playing card games with her? In the preview for next week, Mr. Kaplan is holding Agnes with Liz in the room which should make for some unexpected angst for Red. Maybe Kate speaks something in Russian to Liz at some point and it jogs her memory about her childhood.

It was great to get the backstory on Mr. Kaplan, but the body in the motel room wall was overdone and it suggested for me that she had a somewhat dark side to many of her actions. I missed the timeline for the name changeover from "Masha" to Lizzie. In the Alexander Kirk arc, viewers found out that his DNA was not a match with Lizzzie and we now find out that Katarina had a one year affair with Red. So, is Red the father or not? Why let it still remain unknown? How did the mother find Lizzie after the kidnapping? I missed the continuity over the house fire and what was behind the argument that brought about the shooting.

Seems logical since Dmitri was his only operative with connection to Russia. I think that Dmitri is still under the arm of the FBI to help with his assimilation to US life, but as part of the spy exchange, the US agreed with Russia that he can't be involved any further with intelligence work.

SUNDAY, MAY 21 Madam Secretary (season finale): Elizabeth heads to Brussels to seek NATO’S support against Russia when it threatens to invade Bulgaria, but when France refuses to cooperate, it threatens the alliance’s existence. Also, when Henry’s new government role has him dive into the Russia issue, he turns to his former operative for help. Murphy Station 2.0 or Henry joins Elizabeth working in the State Department?

The objection to the length of the dress was forced and it really seemed awkward to the story given that the audience is well aware how much Alison is versed now in fashion design. The writers must have forgotten about the home scene in Season 1 when Stevie allowed a boyfriend of Alison into the house without the parents being home and she actually started to let them go upstairs into the bedroom to have some fun because Stevie wanted to payback her mother over recent arguments between them about her career path decisions. I don’t like Alison being used this way by the writers to make a social point and at the same time make Jason look unable to be strong for his sister.

The worse part was the viewers getting Henry's walking boot in our faces time and again in order to let us know that he was hurt. The writers seem obsessed with the concept of appeasing rogue nation state leaders with entitlements, no matter the danger, as a form of diplomacy which is scary if this kind of leverage is actually how things happen in real State Department politics. Elizabeth pushing the cause with the celeb mother was hard to watch because it seemed so out of character for her. The human trafficking premise was pretty much a train wreck. After Henry's accident, a show spokesman said that Henry's role was limited for the rest of the season, but once again he was involved in a critical action scene driving a truck loaded with a bomb off to a nearby field and then running away before it exploded using leg braces which was just overdone. IMO. ETA: Final TV Primetime Live + Same-Day ratings adjusted up. The episode pulled in 0.8 rating in adults 18-49 and 7.58 million viewers, airing at 10PM due to overrun of network Masters Tournament coverage. "NCIS: Los Angeles" pulled 1.1, 9.5 million in regular MS 9PM slot. The last original MS episode (3x17) (9:35PM-10:35PM) pulled in 1.1/8.77. The sports overrun adverse effect is exaggerated. At this point in the season, it presents more about content.

From Newsday By Frank Lovece, Posted Saturday Apr 8, 2017: Leoni, 51, talked recently about her series. Q: Co-star Tim Daly broke both legs skiing in January. How’s that affecting the show? A: "He’s impacted for the whole run of this season. It’s a broken ankle on his right leg, and on the left he crushed his tibial plateau. He’s had surgery, two or three pins, and it’s hard, but it’s interesting. There’s not a lot you can do until that surgery heals, until the bone really takes to the screws. God bless, he’s got an amazing attitude – he’s a fighter." A tibial plateau fracture is a bone fracture or break in the continuity of the bone occurring in the proximal part of the tibia or shinbone called the tibial plateau; affecting the knee joint, stability and motion.

A family member got me interested enough in the final season to watch the show again after being away since the death of Lance Sweets. I give Emily Deschanel a lot of credit coming back after two babies to finish the series. It was great to see all of them that final time going thru namesakes while clearing the lab. The music (Almost Home) playing in the background during that last segment said it all for the moment.

Give the writers some credit. At least the bullets didn't bounce off his legs.

Actually, Tim Daly did not break both legs. He broke his right ankle and his left kneecap. If he had actually broken both legs, he would have both legs in casts and he would not be able to finish the season. Still, it is hard to imagine five more episodes with him in a wheelchair. No Henry, no show. I wonder how much of the episode was rewritten to accommodate his injuries since the storyline was Henry centric for the most part. The car accident explanation was predictable, but unfair to the kids. Elizabeth was right to be upset over his exposing himself to unnecessary risk from the cult. I expect that the CIA arms smuggling plot will dominate the rest of the season given the appearance of the mole lawyer Jim Fox (POI) acting as a foil for Elizabeth.

Henry: Sure you are OK? Bess: Yea, you should have seen the other guy. Elizabeth should have followed her punch to his face with a strong knee to the groin. Where was her security guy? In a room that large, her bodyguard should be in the room, but standing out of hearing distance. During foreign visits in most past episodes, her guards stay in sight. The show has a history of depicting foreign officials, for the most part, as shady characters, but they usually show respect for the SoS position. The Philippine president was just over portrayed as a punk. He sat across from her in a chair with his legs wide open. He took bribes from the Chinese government. He showed Elizabeth no respect during the hallway conversation after the final press conference. No wonder some real Philippine officials were upset over the episode.

It seems unlikely that a Daisy pregnancy would be part of the remaining episodes for the season given that filming is almost done for the year, but the Jay/Abby convoluted relationship plot might be a pretense for some kind of one-parent storyline for the rest of season. A weak episode for the most part given all the secondary character confusion. IMO. Grade C. Series low ratings (0.8/3 7.44) NCIS:LA (1.3/4 9.46) continues killing it in the old MS 8:00PM time slot.

'line items' is tech talk which describes each entry item on the FC episode list. I was not disputing the episode count per se , but rather just giving out further details to help others confirm when an episode airs on the network which is what atlantaloves was asking about.