S03.E07: Tectonic Shift

[CooperTV]

Quote

 

Will faces a big decision, torn between helping earthquake victims in Venezuela and saving his marriage by accepting a job at Walter Reed Medical Center. Meanwhile, Elizabeth works to stop a power grab in the devastated South American country.

 

 

[Netfoot]

I guess I am supposed to know who "Will" is?

[CooperTV]

13 minutes ago, Netfoot said:

I guess I am supposed to know who "Will" is?

Will is Elizabeth's brother, played by Eric Stoltz.

[Netfoot]

Thanks, @CooperTV!

[kwnyc]

He's the one who won't marry the mother of his child, but prefers to go off to war-torn countries in a version of Doctors Without Borders?

Edited November 15, 2016 by kwnyc
punctuation

[shapeshifter]

Just an FYI: Here in the suburbs of Chicago (CST), the show started broadcasting on free, over the air TV at 8:45pm, and then at 9:15 pm the CBS signal pooped out.

Edited November 21, 2016 by shapeshifter
typo

[KaveDweller]

I have a hard time that 3 candidates for president would all work together to secretly help save a bunch of aid workers, and then not immediately leak what they did (and take credit for it).

[milner]

Does anyone know the name of the actress who played the brother's wife?

[buckboard]

2 hours ago, KaveDweller said:

I have a hard time that 3 candidates for president would all work together to secretly help save a bunch of aid workers, and then not immediately leak what they did (and take credit for it).

True, it's surprising that they wouldn't leak their roles, but if word got out that they lied -- even though it was to save the medical workers -- any promises they made in the future would be worthless.  

OTOH, I agree that it is hard to believe the president could get the others to agree to work with him on this secret scheme.   

Edited November 21, 2016 by buckboard

[VinceW]

47 minutes ago, milner said:

Does anyone know the name of the actress who played the brother's wife?

Tara Summers (Boston Legal)

[Dowel Jones]

Pretty trick shot on Dalton's part.  I would have been tempted to tell "President" Junior that if he didn't release the hostages immediately, neither his presidency nor he would be in effect for more than 24 hours.  That may be the case anyway, without the US involvement.  And Russell actually gets a nod from Dalton about his reality check on the campaign, but Bess shoots him out of the chair almost immediately.

After an earthquake of that magnitude, would any commercial flights land in Caracas?  Would anyone even be in the ATC Tower?  I would think her brother wouldn't be going anywhere soon.  In any case, since he bailed just before boarding, I'm sure the other passengers on the plane were really happy with the TSA hold on the plane so that they could remove his checked luggage.

Nadine, shagging your way across the USA and points south.  Did she know that he was involved in the scandal?  I've forgotten that plotline from S1.

Poor Henry, reduced to being a bartender and chauffeur for the second week in a row.

[VinceW]

A C+ episode at best. The wannabe president rebel soldier son was a real loser. He was no match for Elizabeth. The whole Venezuela diplomatic outcome was a reach.  I missed the purpose behind the Nadine conversations with the Vincent Marsh widow. Sometimes, things are best left unsaid.  Will needs therapy over his obsession. I was glad to see Elizabeth rip into Will over the way he has treated his family. I hope this is the end of the vanity stories for this season with show producers pushing their liberal causes.

Sidebar: Stevie is not wearing an engagement ring. She wants to attend law school.

Edited November 23, 2016 by VinceW

[shapeshifter]

44 minutes ago, buckboard said:

True, it's surprising that they wouldn't leak their roles, but if word got out that they lied -- even though it was to save the medical workers -- any promises they made in the future would be worthless.  

OTOH, I agree that it is hard to believe the president could get the others to agree to work with him on this secret scheme.   

I agree but wonder if we would feel differently if the US presidential election had turned out as predicted by the media.

[bros402]

That episode was... bland - and way too sappy.

[hatchetgirl]

I must admit, I loved it. Daw. I'm a sucker for mom dying in front of kid. That was sad.

[MaryHedwig]

Quote

I must admit, I loved it. Daw. I'm a sucker for mom dying in front of kid. That was sad.

Great Casting. Sixteen-year-old Bess looked hauntingly like Madame Bess. And their mother look like she could have been the Tea's real-life sister.

[HurricaneVal]

After seeing teenage Bess, we can now clearly see where Stevie gets her annoyingness from...

Those scenes between Nadine and the former Secretary's widow were deliciously awkward.  Especially when the widow haughtily asked (with a bit of side-eye) if there were anything else Nadine wanted to share with her.  We were really left wondering--as was Nadine--if the widow knew about the affair or not.  That was really well done.

Edited November 21, 2016 by HurricaneVal
To remove unnecessary html code. Forgot which forum I was on...

[hatchetgirl]

I just kept looking at Bebe's figure and thinking "noooooooooo,why didn't I know dancing my whole life would keeping me looking as fabulous!". DAMN!  

[betsyboo]

6 hours ago, tvaddict44 said:

I enjoyed last night's show because I was able to follow all the action (usually there's a lot I don't quite catch but I love the dialogue).  What was the really dry funny comment Russell made.  He never makes me laugh but that one did.  Wish I could recall it...

"So what? We just give Suarez Jr. what he wants?"

"Maybe. As Russell said, when there's no rule book, you don't have to worry about breaking the rules."

"Sometimes I just say stuff."

"Yeah, but there's always a little wisdom in it."

Snort. I did enjoy that as well.

The conversation between Bess and Will on the stairs about who disappointed who more BROKE ME. I can think of several circumstances in my own life where I thought I was doing the right thing by keeping something to myself, when in retrospect sharing it might have helped both me and the person I was keeping it from. GAH. (Also, I have no recollection of their parents dying young. None. But I have to think we learned this last time he was in town, yes?)

Agreed that Young Bess can play Young Tea in the Lifetime movie of TL's life.

Bebe was great in the scenes with Mrs. Former SOS.

Edited November 22, 2016 by betsyboo
because verbs count.

[Noneofyourbusiness]

On 11/15/2016 at 11:15 AM, kwnyc said:

He's the one who won't marry the mother of his child, but prefers to go off to war-torn countries in a version of Doctors Without Borders?

They are married, but he's never home.

[kwnyc]

Quote

They are married, but he's never home.

Yeah, that was one cold 6-year-old: "Bye, Daddy." (continues coloring.)

[Netfoot]

15 minutes ago, kwnyc said:

 

Quote

They are married, but he's never home.

Yeah, that was one cold 6-year-old: "Bye, Daddy." (continues coloring.)

The guy is a dick.  He could walk away from his family, time and again, without any hint of remorse.  But the minute someone (the kid) treats his departure with total disinterest, he's all "Wait!  This is wrong!"

[buckboard]

19 minutes ago, Netfoot said:

The guy is a dick.  He could walk away from his family, time and again, without any hint of remorse.  But the minute someone (the kid) treats his departure with total disinterest, he's all "Wait!  This is wrong!"

At least his daughter's response finally got through to him, when his sister's pleading alone hadn't.  

 

[Hanahope]

I just wanted Elizabeth to tell her brother that there's nothing more he could have done for their mom.  He was a kid, of course he didn't know how to help anymore than he did.

[CheshireCat]

On ‎22‎.‎11‎.‎2016 at 3:52 PM, betsyboo said:

 

The conversation between Bess and Will on the stairs about who disappointed who more BROKE ME. I can think of several circumstances in my own life where I thought I was doing the right thing by keeping something to myself, when in retrospect sharing it might have helped both me and the person I was keeping it from. GAH. (Also, I have no recollection of their parents dying young. None. But I have to think we learned this last time he was in town, yes?)

We did. Henry mentioned it during the conversation he and Bess had in the bathroom, if memory serves.

I really liked the episode although I certainly would have loved to have more of the impact that Will's revelation made. It may not seem like a big deal but thinking someone you love died instantly and wasn't aware vs knowing they were aware is a big deal. And when Bess got that call and had to leave for the WH, my heart broke for her. Finding that out and then having to leave ... And yes, it definitely was part of Bess' life and no, it wasn't not just part of Will's life.

But I can't think of anything that I didn't like - the scenes between Nadine and the wife were awesome! Great acting. And I love how we're all left guessing if the wife knew or maybe had an idea/was suspecting and the conversation with Nadine brought up the suspicion again.

The scenes between Dalton, Bess and Russell were fun, too. I thought they were a bit slow in figuring out that the aide workers had been taken hostage so that the could blackmail the US into acknowledging him as President. I've probably watched too much Madam Secretary but it was the first thing I thought of when I heard hostage and someone claimed the Presidency.

And yes, the three candidates working together... it is a little bit out there but okay. Let's chalk it up to a very idealistic view of the world.

Loved the moments between Henry and Will and the Henry, Will and Bess scene. Although - Henry knows his limits? Yeah... okay... Bess is in love and as Nadine reminded us, love and blindness go hand in hand ;-)

And I agree with the great casting! Bess' younger version and her mother were spot on.

I wonder if they had already had this background in mind during S1 or if it was something that came up for S2. The reason I'm wondering is because Russell mentioned that he lost his brother in a car accident and that he had survivor's guilt and I would imagine that Bess could certainly relate. Not only did she lose her parents in an accident, too, but she wasn't even there. That's reason for some big survivor's guilt right there.

 

On ‎21‎.‎11‎.‎2016 at 1:40 AM, Dowel Jones said:

After an earthquake of that magnitude, would any commercial flights land in Caracas?  Would anyone even be in the ATC Tower?  I would think her brother wouldn't be going anywhere soon.  In any case, since he bailed just before boarding, I'm sure the other passengers on the plane were really happy with the TSA hold on the plane so that they could remove his checked luggage.

It was a military flight. Bess went to Andrews and she was asking for a military flight leaving for Caracas.