S02.E08: Lights Out

[CooperTV]

As tensions rise with Russia, Elizabeth, Russell and Mike Barnow hatch a plan to oust Craig Sterling from his role as National Security Advisor without tarnishing President Dalton with a scandal. Also, Ephraim Ware, the Director of National Intelligence, identifies who hacked Air Force One.

 

[leighdear]

Wow, Conrad actually went there.  Good for him. 

 

Maybe it's me, but seeing Russell in his jammies at the beginning and with his medical wife, I thought he looked really ill.  He looks much healthier fully dressed and in the WH. 

 

I loved the way Bess "informed" the Ambassador.  The look on his face was priceless.  

Edited November 23, 2015 by leighdear

[whatsatool]

They've got me worried about the guy on the train. Darn Thanksgiving.

[missbonnie]

Yeah poor Dimitri is about to become a casualty of the spy machine I'm afraid. I really liked this episode a lot. Conrad isn't messing around. I have a question, why can't the SoS be read into the spy goings on?

[kwnyc]

Argh. I don't think Conrad should have gone all the way: taking out the grid means that innocent people die: people in hospitals, people killed when cars crash and all kinds of other accidents. It's retaliation that doesn't go directly after Ostrova, but will have a lot of collateral damage. Wish the Prez had been talked out of it.

 

Also, I hope the Dmitri plot goes away soon. Professor Doctor Arm Candy USMC-Ret is a pretty lousy spy handler, and this is totally screwing with his faith/ethics, so hopefully he'll be back at Georgetown with the Jesuits soon.

[betsyboo]

 

Maybe it's me, but seeing Russell in his jammies at the beginning and with his medical wife, I thought he looked really ill.  He looks much healthier fully dressed and in the WH. 

 

I spent the whole time wondering if the woman in scrubs was his nurse and he was hiding some horrible trauma from the President, or if she was his wife. I went with his wife only at the end when she said she had to get to work saving a child.

 

Good riddance NSA fellow!

Edited November 23, 2015 by betsyboo

[Guest]

Also, I hope the Dmitri plot goes away soon. Professor Doctor Arm Candy USMC-Ret is a pretty lousy spy handler, and this is totally screwing with his faith/ethics, so hopefully he'll be back at Georgetown with the Jesuits soon.

 

I was wondering if Dmitri's uniform was several sizes too large on purpose to emphasize what a lousy human being the Professor/husband is.  Dmitiri looked like a kid playing dress up. 

[Brookside]

Wow, Conrad actually went there.  Good for him. 

 

Maybe it's me, but seeing Russell in his jammies at the beginning and with his medical wife, I thought he looked really ill.  He looks much healthier fully dressed and in the WH. 

 

I loved the way Bess "informed" the Ambassador.  The look on his face was priceless.  

 

I thought Russell must have had a heart attack or something, he looked so dreadful.

[Netfoot]

Elizabeth's hair looked... wrong, most of the time this episode.  Time to call in the stylist again.

 

It was good.  They took down NSA-guy in a very left-handed way that he couldn't have seen coming, and such that even the President didn't realize what had happened.  I'd actually hoped for two or three episodes with him realizing he was on the slippery slope and being unable to do anything about it.  But I'll take this.

 

As for cyber-bombing the Russians, under the circumstances, I think they went hard, but good.  You start a fight, you'd better be prepared to take what you get. And I like the biblical approach.  What you give, you get back ten-fold.  Or, as I like to put it, you break my nose, I break your leg.  We have a few episodes left, for Maria Ostrov to make a counter play, before Elizabeth administers the coup de grâce.  As for people getting killed, yes.  For example, Dmitri's escape from his tail will probably end disastrously, if he can't get clear away, which may happen if the transportation system is crippled and the entire city is in darkness.  Besides, it's Russia. They'll start eating one another within 12 hours.  (How long was the shutdown expected to last?  I don't remember anybody saying, although that would be the first question I'd ask, as President, if the plan was suggested to me.)  But you know what?  It's war.  You fired the first shot, and if some of your people get axed when I respond with 500,000 shots back, you have only yourself to blame.  (You got me!  I don't really think ten-fold is enough.)

 

Henry.  Oh, for Dog's sake, Henry, stop with the NSA spy shit.  You're horrible at it, and you have put that young lad's life in danger.  I know the script-writer gifted you with the most important intelligence coup since a U2 spotted missiles in Cuba.  But it isn't believable that he would be able to get unrestricted access to such intelligence within only a day or two of being put in place.  And the Agent-86 cuff-button camera was so ludicrously unlikely I guffawed when I saw it.  And again when the guy collected the intelligence from the dead-drop waste basket (and nary twin in sight) and unwrapped it publicly for the world to see instead of just dropping it in his pocket and walking away nonchalantly.  Anyway, I'm sorry that Dmitri's ass is almost certainly toast, but at least we don't have to watch Henry's horrible tradecraft. The kid is your student!  You don't have to meet on secluded park benches and speak out of the sides of your mouths.  You can say "Dmitri, please come to my office after class!" and nobody will think it the least suspicious!  Which can't be said for anyone spotting you in some out of the way diner or bus station!

 

I went with his wife only at the end when she said she had to get to work saving a child.

 

I knew she was the wife as soon as he asked if he could choose the type of cardio.  Leer! Leer!

 

To tell you the truth, this is the first episode I recall with any mention of medical issues for Russell.  Frankly, the entire episode, I was just waiting for him to keel over dead, giving NSA-guy a pass!  I wonder if this is the first step to writing him out of the show?  Maybe he's had enough.

 

P.S:  What happened with Daisy and Cyber-expert guy?  They were all chummy, and he asked her out and she totally bailed.  Did I miss something?  

Edited November 23, 2015 by Netfoot

[auntiemel]

I think she started thinking he was too tree-hugger-ish with all of his biking to work and zip carring around.

 

To be fair to that guy, once she'd been with Matt for awhile, it must have been generally assumed that "too nerdy for Daisy to date" was not actually a thing that existed.

[pennben]

I believe that they have introduced in the first act of this season (we are only at episode eight):

 

1.  An "evil" NSA leader who is not the President's friend (now temporarily out of power);

2.  An "evil" Illinois Senator who is gunning (politically speaking) for the President (now temporarily out of influence);

3.  Dr. Husband's Spy Extraordinaire's, shall we say, protege (based on Dr Husband I Always Know Better's sole word over that of trained experts) who has been shown to miraculously land at the highest inner circle, within just days, in ages within Russia  (now stuck on a train);

4.  A computer savant/potential replacement love interest for a top staffer at the Secretary's office (thank god he's not the other guy, not sure where this is going, but I assume he's evil and she'll run back to the other guy at some point); and

5.  Russell with heart issues (where the hell did that come from?);

 

we can assume most of those things will reappear in act three (if not before, I guess).

Edited November 23, 2015 by pennben

[betsyboo]

P.S:  What happened with Daisy and Cyber-expert guy?  They were all chummy, and he asked her out and she totally bailed.  Did I miss something?  

 

 

I think she started thinking he was too tree-hugger-ish with all of his biking to work and zip carring around.

 

I actually thought she was playing games - "well you had to bail to go the White House because you're so important so now I'm going to postpone to re-establish my power in this non-existent relationship."

[Notwisconsin]

I believe that this is only the second time that this show has aired when it was originally scheduled to air (not episode order, but time on the DVR schedule) this season.

 

No kids, almost no staff. Just power politics. Cool.

[Guest]

I liked the maneuvering with the NSA guy. However, I think I would have preferred it if they had left Russell a little more ambiguous for a little longer.  Like a couple episodes, not a long arc.  When he talked to the NSA guy, I was wondering if he was playing him or playing Elizabeth.  

 

I think I've finally figured out why Henry being so great at everything and super high security clearance bothers me so much.  Even when a woman is one of the most powerful people in the world, the show had to make her husband have equal skills and high power.  His power isn't equal to hers, but it's been stated that he knows secrets that she doesn't have security clearance to know.  Really? Secretary of State.   Fourth in line for presidency.  Let's not forget that.

[leighdear]

I'm glad they pulled the trigger on the Sterling caper.  It lasted just long enough for me to admire all the maneuvering and shenanigans, without taking up an entire season.  

 

That last shot with all the lights going out in Moscow was a great visual.  

[secnarf]

I believe that they have introduced in the first act of this season (we are only at episode eight):

 

1.  An "evil" NSA leader who is not the President's friend (now temporarily out of power);

2.  An "evil" Illinois Senator who is gunning (politically speaking) for the President (now temporarily out of influence);

3.  Dr. Husband's Spy Extraordinaire's, shall we say, protege (based on Dr Husband I Always Know Better's sole word over that of trained experts) who has been shown to miraculously land at the highest inner circle, within just days, in ages within Russia  (now stuck on a train);

4.  A computer savant/potential replacement love interest for a top staffer at the Secretary's office (thank god he's not the other guy, not sure where this is going, but I assume he's evil and she'll run back to the other guy at some point); and

5.  Russell with heart issues (where the hell did that come from?);

 

we can assume most of those things will reappear in act three (if not before, I guess).

I think the Illinois senator only did what he did because NSA guy approached him and offered him some type of reward (I forget what the reward was). I don't think the senator actually has anything personal against the President.

 

I'm not all that surprised that Russell has heart issues, given his age and high-stress job that must result in a fairly high blood pressure. I do wonder if they're setting him up to be hospitalized at some point, though.

Just as long has he makes a full recovery!!

 

I'm glad NSA guy is gone. I was so sick of him.

[candall]

I think it would be pretty obvious to the NSA guy how essential it was to protect the president's name--pending election, reputation intact for history, blah blah blah.

 

He had a few cards left to play before slinking out the back door.  Marching the head of the NSA out in handcuffs and bringing charges because his personal journal of official White House activities had been destroyed = epic shitstorm.  The speculation would swirl for years and it would all reflect badly on the president.  Did he act on orders from a devious prez or puppeteer a foolish prez?  "I'd like to hear more about my golden parachute package and my shiny new job title before some journalist decides your bag of shreds proves I single-handedly staved off World War III and I'm being persecuted as a result."

 

Okay, I didn't like him either and I get that he was dispatched entertainment tv-style.  But Elizabeth's powerplay with the ambassador from Russia was top-notch--I wouldn't have minded a few more realistic dance steps ousting her powerful ideological opponent.  (Although it was a little strange that Elizabeth kept losing her cool about pulling the trigger on NSA guy, with Russell patting her back into place.)

 

Oh well, good riddance.

 

*************************

 

Popcorn scene:  again, show, is tossing food in your mouth and munching with your mouth open the only trick you know for "artificially casual affect"?

Edited November 23, 2015 by candall

[gazebo]

You know, I initially thought that Russell was flirting with his nurse in the kitchen.  He seemed very warm towards her.  Finally I realized that this nice nurse was actually his wife.  No wonder he was so nice to her.  Usually Russell is so serious and intimidating in the office and it was kind of refreshing to see a different, more vulnerable side to him.  Not surprised that he's suffering from health problems due to his high stress job.  He's lucky he's got a doctor for a wife.

 

Well, Sterling's out now.  I didn't think it would happen so quick in one episode.  Russell tripped him up good.  I'm going to miss Elizabeth's nemesis.  I think Sterling would've gone further in his career serving the POTUS if only he didn't do such a stupid thing as bribing that politician to interfere with plans for opening up relations with Cuba.  For a smart guy, he ended up pretty stupid in the end.

 

Poor Dimitri!  I have a sinking feeling that he might end up getting captured and executed after all.  By the way, I found it amusing that these two guys that followed Dimitri everywhere didn't even bother trying to hide themselves from him as they were following him through the park and through the train station.   You'd think they know that by exposing themselves to the quarry, the quarry would run faster to get away from them.

 

How come Daisy wouldn't go out with that nice dude?  It was cute scene anyway.

 

The POTUS continues to be very angry and retaliatory.  I wonder if his making the decision to make the electricity go out in Russia was a good idea.  Madam Secretary continues to try to be the voice of reason and to avoid war at all costs but no one wants to listen to her.  Tough job she has.

[betsyboo]

That last shot with all the lights going out in Moscow was a great visual.  

Agreed. However, all I could think was the Ambassador's poor wife won't be able to go to the Kennedy Center!   :-))

[buckboard]

Am I the only one who thinks that perhaps the Russians planted that information at the meeting for Dimitri to find?  They jail him briefly and then give him a job when he's released where he has access to highly classified information.  And then they leave him alone in that room with that classified information?  

And then they trail him.   (Unless those are CIA agents.  But they probably aren't or Jill Hennessey or Super Spy Manager Dr. Arm Candy (USM, ret.) would have known why Dimitri disappeared upon arriving in Moscow.)

[leighdear]

Popcorn scene:  again, show, is tossing food in your mouth and munching with your mouth open the only trick you know for "artificially casual affect"?

Agreed, it's overused. 

 

But I really enjoyed the joking about the Infomercial face cream and her admitting to only ordering 2 sample packs; that came off well paced and natural husband-and-wife banter.  

[Dowel Jones]

...bag of shreds...

 

It wouldn't have made any difference given the direction of the plotline, but, c'mon writers... Doesn't everyone in DC have a crosscut shredder after the embassy fiasco in Iran 1979?  Just something I noticed.

 

Those tail agents are either CIA or woefully inexperienced.  First he hands a folded bill to the bakery kiosk guy, then drops a paper in the wastebasket, and nothing is done with either?  And you're tailing him like, 20' away the entire time?

 

I liked the encounter with the Russian Ambassador too.  First you sit down, then I stand up.  Definite intimidation.

 

"Lights Out" may actually reference a new book by Ted Koppel, who was on The Daily Show talking about it.  The story is that the cyber war is not about "if", but "when".  He maintains that both the Russians and the Chinese already have the ability to hack into the major power grids of the US, and disable them for weeks at a time.  Stock up on popcorn, kids, and make sure you have enough battery power for the DVR.

 

So, Lt. Col. (ret) Dr. MI-6 now has the ability to direct the NSA on its operations?  I have this visual of all these spies and high level government functionaries all gathered up in that same park, sitting together on various benches, and conducting the world's business during lunch hour.  Lower the Cone of Silence!

[secnarf]

Am I the only one who thinks that perhaps the Russians planted that information at the meeting for Dimitri to find?  They jail him briefly and then give him a job when he's released where he has access to highly classified information.  And then they leave him alone in that room with that classified information?  

And then they trail him.   (Unless those are CIA agents.  But they probably aren't or Jill Hennessey or Super Spy Manager Dr. Arm Candy (USM, ret.) would have known why Dimitri disappeared upon arriving in Moscow.)

I don't think Dmitri was jailed. He was brought to what looked like a jail, but it was more of a "just passing through", like a visitor. Maybe it was designed as some sort of intimidation for him, as in 'this is where you might end up if you're not careful', but I don't think he was actually "jailed".

[bros402]

Yeah poor Dimitri is about to become a casualty of the spy machine I'm afraid. I really liked this episode a lot. Conrad isn't messing around. I have a question, why can't the SoS be read into the spy goings on?

 

I'm guessing it is for plausible deniability.

 

It is the only reasonable explanation.

[CooperTV]

I skipped everything related to Gary Stu Arm Candy the Awesome Spy (Kinda)'s shenanigans and could onlysay it looked like this on fastforward.

 

 

Everything else was very good.

 

I'm glad we had glimpses of Russell's life outside the office. He's (predictably) a workaholic but his wife and he are cute together. And Russell in the office was a badass. I liked how he played the Scrappy NSA guy. I also thought Russell and the Annoying Dog Guy are match made in hell. Was into their dynamic the entire episode. The show needs this ruthless pair of guys because political intrigue is always awesome.

 

I find Elizabeth's pearl-clutching over Russell's and ADG's plan for the Scrappy to be really, really out of place. It was like she refused to see a bigger picture Russell was seeing in regards to the re-election and the POTUS' public image.

 

Oh, well, I guess, the show will go on its hiatus when they're going to war with Russia. Or something.

 

I don't care about Daisy's love life. She obviously has giant commitment issues but you gave me nothing on why! Sorry, show.

[candall]

 

 

But I really enjoyed the joking about the Infomercial face cream [...]

LOL.  I've seen that infomercial and she's right--that one melon stays rock solid.

[SparklesBitch]

I actually thought she was playing games - "well you had to bail to go the White House because you're so important so now I'm going to postpone to re-establish my power in this non-existent relationship."

 

This is exactly how I saw that scene too, and I had momentary rage at her for being stupid. He seems like a sweet guy, and as much as I could not possibly care less about Daisy's love life, i think he's better than Matt by a long shot. He looked like he was genuinely distressed at having to cancel on her and she's playing games. Ugh. Stupid Girl Syndrome.

 

That last shot with all the lights going out in Moscow was a great visual.

 

It really was, but I'm still trying to decide if striking back that strongly against Russia was a great idea or whether it was too much. All I could think about were all the innocent casualties of such a drastic action. Then again, this is probably just one of the many, many reasons I'd never make it in the White House.

 

You know, I initially thought that Russell was flirting with his nurse in the kitchen.  He seemed very warm towards her.  Finally I realized that this nice nurse was actually his wife.  No wonder he was so nice to her.  Usually Russell is so serious and intimidating in the office and it was kind of refreshing to see a different, more vulnerable side to him.  Not surprised that he's suffering from health problems due to his high stress job.  He's lucky he's got a doctor for a wife.

 

Agree with all of this. I loved seeing the softer side of Russell, and couldn't help but grin at his "choosing the type of cardio" comment. However, I started out being really confused because, maybe it's just me, but I thought the actress playing his wife looked A LOT like the actress who plays Admiral Hill, so I thought he was sleeping with her. When she mentioned saving a child i was even more confused until the retirement email from the actual Admiral Hill came through and then it all made sense that she and the woman in Russell's kitchen were two different people. I was thinking why didn't she just tell him she was retiring when she was in his kitchen??? Then it all clicked. I just hope we're not being set up for Russell having some major medical issue that lessens his time on the show, because he's easily one of my favorite characters and I'd miss him too much.

 

But I really enjoyed the joking about the Infomercial face cream and her admitting to only ordering 2 sample packs; that came off well paced and natural husband-and-wife banter.

 

Me too. They continue to be super cute and give me all sorts of warm fuzzies!

 

I'm very glad that Sterling is gone, and really enjoyed watching Russell play him the way he did. It would have been nice for the game to be drawn out just a little bit longer, especially since I wasn't sure whether he was playing Sterling or Elizabeth, but it ended up being pretty perfect.

 

Lastly, Henry....just please, for the love of everything good, just stop being a super secret spy handler. You're awful at it. Really awful.

 

Am I the only one who was proud of Dimitri for saying he was out? A pawn no longer, yay him! I hope he makes it to his sister and we get to see a happy reunion, but after seeing those two guys following him everywhere (and being incredibly obvious about it!) and the grid going dark as he finally escaped from them onto the train, I'm pretty sure he's going to end up dead.

Edited November 26, 2015 by SparklesBitch

[shapeshifter]

I am old and tired and usually the last to pick up on stuff, but I knew it had to be Russell's wife because I couldn't imagine buttoned up Russell being intimate outside of marriage, and that seemed pretty intimate to me. But then over decades of divorce I have developed a phobia of touchy feely people including medical personnel, so maybe that's why I leapt to the correct conclusion for once.

all I could think was the Ambassador's poor wife won't be able to go to the Kennedy Center! :-))

"Wife"? I thought he said "one of my girlfriends." Or was he just teasing Elizabeth when he said it and they both knew it was his wife?

Any chance Dimitri will outsmart everyone?

Or maybe he will see people die on the train, find out it was the Americans (but not necessarily in retaliation for the Russian attack on Airforce One), and then switch sides so we see the modern alphabet organization for the KGB go after Dr. Arm Candy.

When Dimitri was released from the chain link area I thought maybe he had survived interrogation by the Ruskies because of what he went through with the Americans. Maybe that was an original plot left on the cutting room floor.

I was really hoping that at the last minute it would turn out Sterling was behind the Airforce One hack and just deliberately made it look like the Russians.

ETA: I was surprised to see that stuffy Sterling had Dr. Arm Candy beat in the bare legs contest.

Edited November 26, 2015 by shapeshifter

[betsyboo]

"Wife"? I thought he said "one of my girlfriends." Or was he just teasing Elizabeth when he said it and they both knew it was his wife?

 

Oohhh, you're probably right. I think heard "blah blah <name of woman> has tix to KC tonight..."

[lucindabelle]

Brands new to this show after watching it last week when the good wife was supposed to be on (which it did again this week).

So I dont know the characters and it was obvious to me at once that was a married couple. Just e shorthand, what's the number? Was a wife to a husband. Not a nurse.

And they just looked married. I think coming to it NOT knowing them helped me see that.

Also, that would never ever happen re taking lights out to a whole capital city... You'd need to at the very least alert allies. It would be the start of open war. Not buying it.

Though I will watch earlier episodes to see what led to it. When I think of the looting in New York during blackouts I find this action to be irresponsible in the extreme. And would back Russia into a corner. I hope no president would ever be that reckless.

[CheshireCat]

I just rewatched the episode and the one thing I keep tripping up over each time is when they're discussing how to deal with the hacker at the beginning. When Bess is suggesting a CIA op because it's quiet, Sterling mentions Turkey and Bess doesn't respond. Why didn't she just remind him that the op was blown? Did they just do it out of convenience or could she not have done it due to classification? But since Dalton had Russell set up a National Address, would the simple Detail that the op had been blown really be so classified that she could not have mentioned it? She wouldn't have to have named names, just say "That op was blown". Period.

This is just one of those very few things that I can't make sense of.