S03.E15: Break in Diplomacy

[CooperTV]

Quote

 

Elizabeth is shocked when the Philippines’ unconventional new president, Datu Andrada (Joel de la Fuente), makes a pass at her during their meeting to discuss his refusal to participate in an Asia-Pacific territory treaty. Also, Elizabeth asks Jay to look into Kevin Park’s CIA connections, and Henry fears for his operative who is embedded in the religious cult when he goes radio silent.

 

Promos

[milner]

Is this guy supposed to be the Phillipines version of Trump??

[shapeshifter]

16 minutes ago, milner said:

Is this guy supposed to be the Phillipines version of Trump??

Yes, but Duterte is a more violent version of Trump.

Love the line: "Sexual assault is not an indiscretion; it's a crime."

[pally]

that was a pretty pointed episode

[thewhiteowl]

I know the comparison is almost irresistible but please keep U.S. politics out of the discussion.  Thanks.

[Calvada]

Should have kicked him in the nuts too, Bess.  After the punch, both actors did a really good job of acting stunned - the president because for once, his prey fought back, and Elizabeth realizing holy shit, I punched a foreign leader.  New territory for them both, and it was clear they didn't know initially how to react. 

I wonder in real life, how far away the Secretary's security detail would be?  And do they meet without staff people in the room, or close by?  A basic truth is the more people that know a secret, the more difficult it is to keep it a secret.  How many people would have seen him leaving the room with a bloodied face?  Security, staff, domestic staff, any media in the vicinity when the American SoS meets with a foreign leader, and so on.  I think it would have leaked really quickly that something happened during their meeting which resulted in the injury to him.  Can you imagine the zoom lenses zeroing in on her right hand, looking for bruising, swelling, broken skin? 

[CheshireCat]

7 minutes ago, Calvada said:

I wonder in real life, how far away the Secretary's security detail would be?  And do they meet without staff people in the room, or close by?  A basic truth is the more people that know a secret, the more difficult it is to keep it a secret.  How many people would have seen him leaving the room with a bloodied face?  Security, staff, domestic staff, any media in the vicinity when the American SoS meets with a foreign leader, and so on.  I think it would have leaked really quickly that something happened during their meeting which resulted in the injury to him.  Can you imagine the zoom lenses zeroing in on her right hand, looking for bruising, swelling, broken skin? 

I would think that depends on media access granted by the host nation and whether it's a government with state controlled media or not. No idea what kind of government the Philippines have or were supposed to have but if it is a state controlled media then it would leak only if the President wants it to leak. Can't imagine that that kind of a President as depicted would want it to be leaked that he was punched by a woman though  ;-)

[Dowel Jones]

I was thinking that someone could hack into the ubiquitous surveillance cameras and upload the footage to YouTube.  I've probably been watching Scandal too much.

I liked Henry's line to their kids:  "Hey, guess what?  School starts at the same time every day."

Sometimes, Democracy Just Blows really is a good book title from a former Chief of Staff.  I would read that. 

The secret agent in the God cult is just too nonchalant to be really believable.  Showing up with a db of one of the cult guys, who will be missed no doubt about it, and just passing it off as "some bad news", just doesn't ring true.  Of course, these guys are not top cabin material.  You have a shed with something really secret, so secret that the new guys can't even look at it, and you leave the door unlocked. 

[shapeshifter]

4 hours ago, Dowel Jones said:

I was thinking that someone could hack into the ubiquitous surveillance cameras and upload the footage to YouTube.  I've probably been watching Scandal too much.

I liked Henry's line to their kids:  "Hey, guess what?  School starts at the same time every day."

Sometimes, Democracy Just Blows really is a good book title from a former Chief of Staff.  I would read that. 

The secret agent in the God cult is just too nonchalant to be really believable.  Showing up with a db of one of the cult guys, who will be missed no doubt about it, and just passing it off as "some bad news", just doesn't ring true.  Of course, these guys are not top cabin material.  You have a shed with something really secret, so secret that the new guys can't even look at it, and you leave the door unlocked. 

But the line did seem totally in character for this very nonchalant secret agent.

I too hope we at least hear at the end of the series that Russell is working on his memoirs tentatively titled Sometimes, Democracy Just Blows.

[secnarf]

I laughed when Elizabeth punched him. And then Elizabeth starts going on about how she can apologize and say that he caught her by surprise. That struck me as realistic but very depressing.

[sinkwriter]

That scene between Elizabeth and the female informant who begged for asylum (because she wouldn't be able to return to the Philippines after providing the evidence) made me pretty emotional. The whole "he said, she said" sort of situation is brutally unfair when you're in the victimized position. Seeing Elizabeth grapple with that (and then seeing that poor woman who wouldn't be able to go home, simply for standing up for what is right) makes me both furious and really upset.

[VinceW]

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. 

Edited March 15, 2017 by VinceW

[shapeshifter]

The bit of dialogue in which Daisy asked Jay to tell her one true thing about her deceased undercover lover worked well as exposition. I doubt the writers planned that in advance when they decided to have Daisy involved with a spy who gets murdered and Jay getting dumped by his wife, but I am wondering if the end game was for Daisy to be pregnant and Jay to be either the supportive male friend or even more. In terms of using the main cast actors, it makes sense, but it also seems like a potential screen time suck.

[secnarf]

4 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

The bit of dialogue in which Daisy asked Jay to tell her one true thing about her deceased undercover lover worked well as exposition. I doubt the writers planned that in advance when they decided to have Daisy involved with a spy who gets murdered and Jay getting dumped by his wife, but I am wondering if the end game was for Daisy to be pregnant and Jay to be either the supportive male friend or even more. In terms of using the main cast actors, it makes sense, but it also seems like a potential screen time suck.

How was that exposition? To me, it seemed pretty tangential to the plot.

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, secnarf said:

How was that exposition? To me, it seemed pretty tangential to the plot.

In real life, it would have been tangential to his death, but since this a show rather than a book and so we can't read on a page what the characters are thinking, this bit of dialogue told the audience that 1) the dead spy guy was a good guy, and 2) Daisy really didn't know him but thought they knew each other and she cared about him.  

[Hanahope]

Hah, loved Bess' punch to the Philipine president.  And I loved that afterwards, one almost expects her to immediately say "Oh, I'm so sorry" and its so great that she didn't!  She wasn't sorry and she shouldn't be.  But its so ingrained in women to automatically say that, so love that the script didn't.

I'm sure the Philippine president is not the only leader of a country to act like that, over the decades/centuries.  So great that women are fighting back and are in such positions of power to do so.  What's on TV becomes accepted in real life too.

And of course, he couldn't admit he was punched hard by a woman, so he made up the 'sparring' story.  Nice that Bess got other information to use against him

I loved the idea of imbedding the hidden camera into a neck tattoo.  very creative for when cults make you change clothes, get rid of jewelry, etc.  Who'd've thought they'd make him be baptized?  I guess they can't make it too easy for Henry.  Bad news and bad news was right!  I wonder how they will use the dead body.  And really, the military isn't missing a drone?