Madam Secretary

Okay... we are down to Nantucket Mist or Cappuccino Foam.

You're sure you don't like Ionian Grotto.

No

I do like grottos.

And the Ionians.

- Who doesn't? - Hi, Dad.

They loved art, philosophy, democracy.

One of my all-time favorite ancient civilizations.

Okay, great. But which one says warm and welcoming kitchen?

You know, stylish without trying?

Aren't those all the same?

Seriously, Dad?

No, they're completely different.

You should get all three and see which one

really pops on the wall.

Look how smart college is making you.

Here you go, Hieronymus.

- Oh, an Ionian pet name. I like it. - Hmm.

And I have construction and materials class in five. Ciao.

All right, thanks for helping, Noodle.

- Love you. - I lo...

Okay, I'll pick up a quart of each of these

on my way home tonight. Yeah, great.

We'll-we'll paint this weekend.

I'm not painting.

Well, okay, Grumpy. Your dad and I have it.

Uh, we do?

Yes.

You're the original Mr. DIY.

You fixed the washing machine.

Well, that was a part. Painting is like a craft.

Well, we can be crafty, okay?

It'll be fun. Come on, come on.

We'll get all sweaty and have a paint fight, okay?

Okay.

Okay.

I'm out. See ya.

We feel good about him driving himself to school, right?

We feel great about it.

Especially if it means we get the house to ourselves.

Care to head back upstairs,

- Hieronymus? - To the grotto?

Well,

the Ionians also had an appreciation of pleasure.

Stop talking.

"Needed at White House""

Hey.

Traffic is really bad this time of day.

It's the worst.

Hi, hi, hi.

Hi, I'm Dmitri Petrov,

but my cover is Alexander Mehranov, which...

which, of course, you also know

and now I'm babbling like a...

Oh. Chert.

Chert, chert, chert, chert, chert.

How do I look?

You mean do you look high?

Do I?

No.

Just nervous.

I haven't taken anything since yesterday morning.

I'm clean.

Udachi. _

Should I try the house line again?

Just... give her another minute.

Oh...

Good morning.

- Good morning, ma'am. - Good morning.

Okay.

So... what is the crisis Du jour?

The Libyan civil war is back on.

What? What happened?

Well, about two hours ago,

talks between the Libyan National Congress

and the Unified Republican Ministry

broke down over control of the National Oil Company.

So the URM

took the opportunity to launch an offensive

on the Mabruk oil terminal.

Aren't we offering them like a-a billion dollars in aid

to bury their hatchets? I mean, why would they put that at risk?

Reconciliation is hard.

Working through the usual smorgasbord

of power-sharing dilemmas.

Natural resource distribution,

security leadership, frequency of elections,

local versus centralized power, counterterrorism strategies.

Your basic 3-D chess

on top of a Jenga tower negotiation?

At least we still have the aid package for leverage.

Congress is pulling the plug on the aid package.

Since when?

Ten minutes ago.

The leadership drafted a new amendment

reallocating the Libyan aid to

American farm subsidies.

Because that's what the world needs,

more corn.

Senator Morejon is on the Senate floor right now

arguing that our aid money

could fall into the hands of terrorists.

And he's not wrong.

They will never make a deal without the promise of aid.

And we can't give aid without the promise of a deal.

So, catch-22.

Fantastic.

Not if we can get the Libyans

to agree to a deal before you sign that bill.

How long can you wait?

Four days.

Any longer,

Congress will start questioning all our aid packages.

- It'll be a feeding frenzy. - I can work with that.

We'll start by showing them how resolved we are

to stand with them

if they choose unity and peace.

And how do you plan on doing that?

I'll go and literally stand with them.

In a conflict zone?

Off the record.

It's still a hell of a risk.

A failed Libya is a much bigger risk.

You're not some random envoy, Elizabeth.

If anything happens to you, we won't just be sad,

it'd-it'd be an act of war.

I will have my detail and a Marine Detachment,

I'll be fine.

But with our problems

in Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq,

we can't afford to let Libya slip away.

Not without a fight.

No heroics, Bess.

And if DS decides to pull the plug

at any point,

I'm authorizing them to pick you up

and throw you back on your plane.

- You got that? - Yes.

Thank you... sir.

I know.

- Morning. - Hey, good morning.

Come on.

I'll introduce you to the team.

- They're excited to meet you. - Yeah.

Since we're sticking with your cover as a tech consultant,

our front is an I.T. firm.

Makes sense.

Morning, Sally.

Good morning, gentlemen.

This is Alexander Mehranov.

Welcome to the agency.

Thanks.

Don't be fooled by her demeanor.

Word is she can shoot the beak off a sparrow at 100 yards.

Russian military trained me not to be fooled.

Especially by Americans.

Dylan Larsen, Molly Reid.

This... is Dmitri Petrov.

It's like seeing a ghost.

Oh, my God, did I say that out loud?

Okay, get it all out.

Because from now on, he's Alexander Mehranov.

Even here.

Well, nice to meet you, Alexander.

Hey, there.

Or do you prefer Alex?

Uh, yeah, in Phoenix, most people called me Alex.

Ah.

So...

Just not "Alexi."

Well, you guys are gonna have plenty of time

to get to know each other, but, in brief, Dylan is

- ex-Army Rangers. - Yeah, a few pounds ago.

He transitioned to the CIA seven years ago.

Molly is career CIA. She started her career

as a field agent in Chechnya.

Also a few pounds ago.

But you have a better excuse.

I'm due in a couple months.

Um, and you know Alex, of course.

He helped us win a proxy war against Russia in the Ukraine

a couple of years ago,

and he's the highest-ranking Russian military official

who's working for us.

His breadth of knowledge about the greatest geopolitical foe

that we have is, well, it's unmatched anywhere in the IC.

That's all?

So, let's move on to why we've assembled

all this talent, and what we hope to achieve.

The Russians are stepping up their efforts

to bolster the Taliban and undermine

the democratic government in Afghanistan.

I don't have to tell you how disastrous that would be

to the United States...

well, the entire Western world, if they were to succeed.

We now have evidence that

they're bribing Afghani officials in an attempt

to further destabilize the rule of law.

- Sounds like we need to turn one of them. - Exactly.

Our field office in Kabul has identified