I thought about that as well. The problem, I believe, is that his clearance level is also "top-secret" if you will - no one but a small group knows he's working with the NSA (wasn't it?), so it's not something you just toss out in a televised congressional hearing.

I continue to enjoy it every week without feeling the need to discuss anything that happens here, as in proud procedural tradition, everything gets resolved by the end of each episode, which doesn't leave much left to discuss.

All of the clearances that I had, both in Navy and civilian, were always on a need-to-basis.

I somehow managed to miss that announcement. Good news.

Will the Secretary's daughter get knocked up by the President's son? Talk about some scandal.

All one has to say is that he has a top secret clearance. One does not have to say what the involvement is.

Yep, he had a need-to-know in order to provide info for his wife.

I enjoy stories about competent, capable, idealistic people pitted against ignorance, greed, and powerful self-interest. It's indicative of our culture that most such stories these days require the heroes to have superhuman abilities and wear spandex.

I was pleased that there was as much extended, multi-episode storytelling as there was for a first-season show. Hopefully its ratings success will prompt the producers to get into even more complex and realistic (as much as possible, given the essentially fantastic nature of the premise) story arcs next season.

This was our favorite new network show this season. Everything else we liked was on cable or streaming.

An issue that has been catching my eye for a while is the lack of the .1 of DD 5.1. If you've been wondering why the sub-woofer has been quiet during the show, it is because there is no sub-woofer content. There is plenty of opportunity to have sub-woofer content. Weird.

That last scene reminded me of Evita.

LOL! I was thinking the exact same thing.

I thought this was a strange episode. And why is the president listening so much to Craig Sterling and not Elizabeth? It seems like a false conflict but then again it is "politics". TV politics, I mean.

Next week's plot looks like fun!

This shows is getting better! I liked the interaction with the new guy.

Yeah, the show has moved to my "Must See" list. It's jelling very well this season.

I particularly like the fact that it's an uplifting procedural where the main characters are usually able to effect positive change in the world, which is a stark contrast to most procedurals, where the good guys lose even when they win, as there's still a dead body, rape victim, or some other person whose life has been ruined somehow by the time the curtain comes down.

Not sure how accurate of a portrayal of what really goes on at State that this show represents, but if its even 50% accurate, it goes to show how feckless the current and previous occupants of that office were/are.

Not much love for this show here I guess, but I have to say it's seems to have hit it's stride this season. I've been enjoying the various plots and character developments. Much like The Good Wife they are using many current events in their fictional universe. It's not up to West Wing quality but I think it's an interesting take on politics.

I like it because the different twists turns it takes.

I really like the show but just don't post much here. I thought last night's episode had some great moments, especially one borrowed from The American President (the whole chasing senators for votes subplot).

I say we put these characters in the White House and let them run the country. Has to be better than what we have now.

Scary times.

If Tea Loeni smiled a little she would be really cute. After all Mrs. Clinton did and laughed her ass off to. Very un-cute to.

It's funny how they take real life incidents figuratively, and verbatim, but no mention of the private email scandal. It's obvious that the character was inspired by Clinton not Rice. But any case the second season gears up much more nicely as they dropped the office soap opera elements to a more manageable level.

In case those of you with a 5.1 audio system haven't noticed that your subwoofer is quiet during this series it is because they don't have any LFE. It is dead silence during the show. No idea why.

Looks like the marriage is going to hit the rocks now. Would prefer more of the drama and less of the soap opera elements.

Also, who was it on the roof with the bazooka?

I'm assuming it was a Russian soldier targeting Elizabeth on orders of the Russian cutie president, at least that's what I though it implied. The Russian president really reacted to the dirt that Madam Secretary dug up and she seems to be pretty crazy, so this action may not be totally unexpected, since she is a killer. Good looking, too, "surgery" notwithstanding.

I wonder if the assassination attempt will lead them to revoke the deal...

[quote=RayGuy;39771002}...Also, who was it on the roof with the bazooka?[/quote]

I would not be suprised if it was enemies of the top Russian lady. Russia is notorious for bugging rooms, and if someone heard that she had killed her (popular) husband....

While they made it look that the President and Secretary of State were the target my money is the Russian President is the target. As I told my wife, if they kill Madam Secretary there would be no show.

Sure, but obviously the shooter will miss if Elizabeth is the target.

Close counts in RPG.

However, previews are usually distractions to misdirect the viewer, and you are correct that they can't kill the star. The target is the Russian president. The question is whether the shooter is Ukrainian or Russian (or possibly someone else with a grudge).

I've quite enjoyed this series so far - I kinda like that the show doesn't get bogged down in political machinations, and focuses on the big picture. It's a very fun show to watch

As for the RPG, it's entirely possible that whoever the target is is "only" injured.