S04.E11: Mitya

[bros402]

5 hours ago, Netfoot said:

It's been forty years since Georgi Markov was in the news!  Surely they have something new now?  Can't they hack into your bathroom server and upload a bomb or something?

Yeah, they use polonium nowadays :P

[Netfoot]

8 hours ago, Calvada said:

before putting a bomb on a car in a spot where your target can see...

Why do Hollywood Secret Gizmos (like bugs, trackers, bombs, etc) all go Beep!  Beep! Beep! and have giant, bright, flashing LED lights?

[CheshireCat]

On ‎09‎.‎01‎.‎2018 at 6:03 PM, Dowel Jones said:

She could end up as a Designated Survivor.  Bonus empathy points if Henry bites it along the way.

When I googled to see if "Designated Survivor" really was a thing (when the TV show with the same name came out) I read that it's unusual to pick a high level cabinet member. Although, considering the way the show has been going, I could see Dalton pick Bess because he seems to consider her the most capable out of his cabinet. And that includes his VP.

 

I'm surprised that the VP wouldn't know by now that she was picked only to deliver PA. I guess, given the politically ambitious woman that she seems to be, she would have gone for it anyway but Washington is a small town, so she shouldn't be surprised that she doesn't have the President's or Russell's backing (anymore) and she should have had a pretty good idea that she never really had it/that she would be fighting an uphill battle for it. She also shouldn't be surprised because this is politics. Additionally, I would think that she has seen Bess' approval ratings and given how long she has been in politics, if the ratings are as good as Russell said and I have no reason to doubt him, she should know that trying to get Bess to run would make sense from a political standpoint. And the biggest hint should probably be that Bess delivered the presidency to Dalton: she suggested he run as an Independent and she got him the peace deal solution with Iran and Israel which got him the votes in the House.

That said, I wasn't left feeling that she's naive. Maybe she also does know all of the above and that is why she acted the way she did. And it must be frustrating to work so hard to climb the political ladder and then come up against someone who never had any political ambitions. On the other hand, I think that is part of what makes Bess so good. She doesn't care about the optics, so she makes decisions differently and I can easily see how that would resonate better with the public. It probably makes her more authentic. (Maybe the VP should try it some time ;-))

Didn't they use a different VP actress in season 3?

I think it's kind of cute how Bess keeps saying she has zero ambitions to run for President. I actually believe her. I don't think she has any ambitions and she probably hates the idea of campaigning. But I don't think that that means that she wouldn't be interested in the job. She loved Conrad's pitch of affecting real change in the world, that is what drives and she could continue that as President, so I think that is something that would interest her. She probably just doesn't want to run for it. (And I really could do without the whole running for President story. Not because I don't want Bess as President, I really do, but I don't want to get my hopes up and then get disappointed)

I loved the beginning, the look that Russell gave Dalton regarding the VP and Dalton's immediate response. Great acting! Same goes for everyone else at the beginning and throughout the episode but the beginning really stood out as there was so much going on but it didn't feel overwhelming. Great scene between Bess and Russell in Bess' office, too, and I laughed out loud at Russell "We like you better". So do I and I think a whole bunch of other viewers, too ;-)

I also loved Bess drawing the line. I'm surprised the VP left with her but I guess, if she had stayed and negotiated she would have been finished. But that was really well done and very true to Bess' nature. She has a habit of staying back in situations like these but taking a stance when she has to.

I was surprised how little my sympathies were with the VP. She was fighting for a good cause, and it wasn't even that she was acting as an adversary. Bess just made more sense and acted more professional than the VP. And Bess stayed professional throughout the episode. I didn't want the VP to fail, I just wanted Bess to be the one to get the win, not because the VP was the adversary but because she acted so unprofessionally.

 

I certainly saw more of Stevie and Dmitri than I ever wanted to (and what is it with Stevie and meetings guys in hotel rooms?) but that was more or less the only thing I didn't like about the episode. If they had cut the scenes between Stevie and Dmitri and half and given me more of Henry and Bess then it would have been perfect but I'm not going to complain too much because I thought the acting was spot on! Henry's reaction and his confrontation with Dmitri: awesome! And Stevie was such a child when they told her but I thought it was very in character, too, and probably how a young woman would react in that situation. I liked that she was reasonable about it later on, and since I'm a sucker for continuity, and call-backs my heart melted when they brought up her past relationships! And, of course, we had the added bonus of domestic Henry and his intelligence work was tolerable and kept to a minimum and my absolute highlight was the scene between him and Bess when she came back from Russia! I've recently watched a lot of season 1 episodes and there were so many scenes like that and I really miss them, so getting it made me very happy. (I'm simple like that ;-))

[kwnyc]

Quote

Didn't they use a different VP actress in season 3?

I thought so too...it was Jan Maxwell (an excellent actress) who played her first, and now it's Jayne Atkinson (who's also someone I've long enjoyed as an actor).

[CheshireCat]

4 hours ago, kwnyc said:

I thought so too...it was Jan Maxwell (an excellent actress) who played her first, and now it's Jayne Atkinson (who's also someone I've long enjoyed as an actor).

I guess, Maxwell wasn't available? But at least, they looked similar enough.

 

Two more thoughts on the episode:

I think Henry needs to do some deep soul searching. If something had happened to Dmitri while they dangled him as bait, he would not have been able to forgive himself. Henry was way too emotional making this decision and I thought it was obvious that he thought Dmitri owed it to him and wouldn't say no because of it, and Henry shouldn't have made this decision in the first place.

 

And why was Russell going to blame failure in Russia on Bess? He said that they liked Bess better, so wouldn't it have been an excellent opportunity to blame it on the VP whose fault it was anyway? Or does Russell just have such a habit of blaming the person he's talking to that it doesn't mean anything anyway? Maybe it's just his way of motivating his conversation partner not to screw up?

 

ETA: I also liked that Henry had to adjust to the Afghanistan peace deal the administration supported. It seemed that for once, Bess didn't have to clean up Henry's mess or the administration had to take an earful from Mr I-can-be-oh-so-righteous but Henry had to actually adjust to something his wife/the administration was involved in.

Edited January 16, 2018 by CheshireCat

[cavin]

Henry is the least believable character in every way. I wonder if Daly felt embarassed at the pressure exerted by his girlfriend to give him every possible storyline.

[SeanBug]

The whole idea that they would have someone  who is married to the Sec of State running covert ops is insane.  If he was ever captured, it would be a nightmare. 

And then she gives Henry the same job in her administration and the press doesn't lose their minds? 

I watch this show on a loop when I'm not doing anything, or to fall asleep, and it really gets ridiculous after multiple viewings.  

Russell seems to blame Elizabeth if it rains, if anyone does anything that pisses him off, etc.  Then he's all on board with her running for POTUS. 

And for a couple married for over 20 years, E & H sure make out a lot.  I know IRL they had just started dating but come on. They're like a couple horny teenagers. 

I will say when they get Dmitri back from the Russians, Chris Petrovski broke my heart when he spit on the ground, then stopped and went back and hugged Henry.   How many times can they send this actor away and bring him back? 

On 1/16/2018 at 1:31 PM, CheshireCat said:

I guess, Maxwell wasn't available? But at least, they looked similar enough.

 

Two more thoughts on the episode:

I think Henry needs to do some deep soul searching. If something had happened to Dmitri while they dangled him as bait, he would not have been able to forgive himself. Henry was way too emotional making this decision and I thought it was obvious that he thought Dmitri owed it to him and wouldn't say no because of it, and Henry shouldn't have made this decision in the first place.

 

And why was Russell going to blame failure in Russia on Bess? He said that they liked Bess better, so wouldn't it have been an excellent opportunity to blame it on the VP whose fault it was anyway? Or does Russell just have such a habit of blaming the person he's talking to that it doesn't mean anything anyway? Maybe it's just his way of motivating his conversation partner not to screw up?

 

ETA: I also liked that Henry had to adjust to the Afghanistan peace deal the administration supported. It seemed that for once, Bess didn't have to clean up Henry's mess or the administration had to take an earful from Mr I-can-be-oh-so-righteous but Henry had to actually adjust to something his wife/the administration was involved in.

How about when they get into an argument in front of everyone in the Oval Office Or start making out when they walk just outside. Real professional. 

I liked Jan Maxwell more than Jayne Atkinson and I've liked Jayne in other roles. They made her version of the VP such a pain in the ass. Constantly going against Dalton, and her snotty remarks about the Christmas party.  Jan Maxwell's version was at least classy and on board with the agenda.