Season 2 – Madam Secretary

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David d @RT60547085 11/22/2024 I was watching Madam Secretary when it first came out, one episode per week. But got a bit impatient. Now streamed Season 1 and 2 consecutively. It's entertaining but at times less captivating or even boring, for these reasons: * entertaining because: - building on geopolitical realities of the times (and still today...), providing a view of the challenges and intricacies of political negotiating, decisionmaking, bureaucracy. - real-life characters making both good and faulty decisions, struggling with ethics and emotions, political (out)manouevering, etc. - a mix of work and private life, especially interesting when the paths of wife and husband (tea Leoni and Tim Daly) cross each other and sometimes conflict. (She is Sec State and he engages in covert ops abroad...). And when the children are drawn into the imagery the public has of Sec State. * at times less captivating or even boring, because: - due to the (too) large number of episodes the writers are sometimes coming up with uninteresting fantasy stories with a low reality or believeability content. My advise: skip those. - at times the family affairs of the McCords are too spun out and overshadow the main narrative: the geopolitical situation. - incidentally disappointing acting and/or narrative from the main protagonists. Tea Leoni excels 50% of screen time in a puzzled posture with half-open mouth and her voice is nearly all times rather flat. But that is of course my subjective view. Tim Daly's got better intonation but here the writers gave his character in S 2 an overdose of emotional struggle due to which he gets in conflict with Elizabeth (Leoni) and they end up at the shrinks' couch. Overdone, unneeded. And not in line with the development of the character as we got to know him in S 1. Also the American vocabulary seems to have only ONE expression for getting in touch with someone: 'reaching out'. Repeated in eternity. What happened to 'giving a call', 'getting in touch', 'contacting' etc ? Maybe it is diplomatic speak but throughout the show the characters, obviously, do not always stick to official language, so why do they with this particular expression ? It does become a bit annoying..... Finally, what struck me the most - BEWARE SPOILER - is the starting story of S 2. This was filmed in 2015 or 2016, yet there is the Russian invasion of Ukraine ! I found this preview of real events scary, to say the least😗.And though the characters are other then the real ones, there is a rogue Ukrainian operator called: Zelensky 😢. Is there a visionair on the production team, or did the US (CIA/NSA) already know what was brooding under the hood of Putin's team right after they took Crimea ? And did they share this with the show producers ? Then again, it is not illogical to come up with this preview of the real future that we now find ourselves in. That then begs the question, however: why did the US and NATO partners not begin arming Ukraine to the teeth with missiles, warplanes, drones and artillery right back in 2015 ?! In that case Tsaar Wladimir Putin would probably not have made any move at all. Balance of deterrence, conventional. Or did the real politicians rely on diplomacy too much, when a show of brute force was needed...... See more 10/11/2019 The series continues strongly. Very entertaining, and intelligently written. Often events are brought up that mirror real-world issues. I love how Mr. McCord is also made to be a strong character that we can respect. Well done! See more 12/21/2018 My wife and I watch this show together on Netflix and we've thoroughly enjoyed it. While many of the plots seem predictable the cliffhangers are well done. Bess's character is believable and mostly realistic. Her husband Henry is the only character in the series that I have a hard time believing could have a real life counterpart, but even then I enjoy his quips and sidequests. Conrad is the president most of us actually want to lead the country, and Russell is who I picture when I think of the White House chief-of-staff (along with Leo McGarry from the West Wing). If you're looking for a semi-serious, enjoyable, and relate-able show to watch in the evenings this is it. See more 06/20/2017 My fave tv series. Would give 10/10 if I could. See more 10/30/2016 <@ if (review) { @><@= review @><@ } @> See more 05/25/2016 Season 2 went into more exciting and more conflicting forays while staying true to its warm, wise, family-friendly vibe. See more Read all reviews

Madam Secretary — Season 2

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