Henry McCord quotes from Madam Secretary

Elizabeth

No females can resist his charm.

Henry

I heard that.

Elizabeth

Eat this.

Henry

I'm not hungry.

Elizabeth

Fascinating. Eat this.

Stevie

And drink this.

Henry

You two are terrifying when you're in agreement.

Elizabeth

You don't have to know all that stuff by heart, you know.

Henry

I want to be prepared.

Elizabeth

Classified briefs? The CIA doesn't even read those.

Stevie

If you look too smart on the first day of school, the other kids won't like you.

Hey dad.

Henry

Hey.

You look terrible.

Henry

Thanks honey.

Crazy for you to be starting a new job. I mean you just got out of the hospital.

Henry

It's not a new job; it's more like an aspect of what I'm doing at the War College, only less teaching.

So what is it, exactly?

Henry

(hesitates) Consulting.

Jason

Everybody knows what that's code for, Dad. It's intelligence work.

Henry

Jace, I'm employed by the Defense Department. You're not blowing the lid off of anything with that observation.

It just seems so soon.

Henry

I'm fine, Noodle, really. Look, eating eggs, drinking juice.

Jason

Reading some counterterrorism-- breakfast of champions.

Henry

How are you guys doing?

Elizabeth

You know you guys can talk to us about anything. You went through a lot.

Henry

That goes for adult children, too.

Stevie

I know. I'm fine. Pre-law is a very overwhelming distraction.

Elizabeth

What about that guy you were seeing, the one with the cute butt?

Stevie

Mom!

Elizabeth

Well, uh, you said it. Garrett, was it?

Stevie

Jareth.

Henry

David Bowie's character in the Labyrinth? You're dating the Goblin King?

Stevie

God, you guys, he's never heard that one before.

Elizabeth

So how is he?

Stevie

He's fine... We've been busy. I... This conversation is far more stressful than the dirty bomb, okay? That's gallows humor; it's a coping method.

Elizabeth

We want to meet him.

Henry

I won't say the David Bowie thing.

Henry

Well, that was thorough. Are they gonna make you sign me in every day?

Russell

Security's extra spooked. And only top levels are aware of Hizb al-Shahid Issue Station.

Henry

Tell me there's a code name.

Russell

Murphy Station. For the soap-- it's a cleanup mission.

Henry

So conde names not your gift?

Russell

I was in a hurry.

Russell

And you know Jane Fellows, Army captain, long stint at SOCOM, currently head of HUMINT at DIA. She's a lauded tactician who's run enough covert ops to keep conspiracy theorists awake at night.

Henry

And apparently modest, too. I didn't know half that stuff.

Welcome back. Can't keep a good man down.

Henry

Well, when I heard I didn't have to take orders from you anymore, they couldn't keep me away.

Russell

Henry here is a decorated Marine pilot whose recent DIA work in Russia is the reason we aren't all bundled up for nuclear winter. He's also a highly regarded theologian with expertise in Islam. We're fighting a radical ideology as much as any man.

Look, we can talk religion till the sacred cows come home, but at the end of the day, we're a hunter-killer team. We do our job right, and a whole bunch of men are gonna die. I hope you're on board with that, Professor.

Henry

All in a day's work, right?

Hey. I'm sorry to interrupt. I just wanted to apologize for Jose.

Henry

No need. I've met a hundred guys like him in the Marines.

He's an ops guy. He spent a little too much time outside the wire. And he's naturally suspicious of analysts like me, who sit indoors with highlighters, looking for odd discrepancies and patterns.

Henry

Or professors who spend their day doing close readings of obscure texts. So you're an interrogator, too, yeah?

Yeah, it's not as edgy as it sounds. You just get them in a room and establish a rapport and talk and talk and talk until some little detail reveals what's really going on.

Henry

Sounds like raising a teenager.

Where do you think I got my skills?

Henry

The CIA's improvising a safe house in a country overrun by terrorists. Mimi's on a plane as we speak. It spooks me how quickly we're moving.

Elizabeth

Hey, the government could take months to send a tax refund; when it comes to spy stuff, we move fast.

Stevie

Okay. So, just to put your mind at ease about my social life, guess who's coming to dinner tomorrow?

Elizabeth

Jared?

Henry

Jareth! Like the David Bowie movie.

Stevie

You guys, you have to get all this stuff out of your system now. You can't embarrass me with him.

Henry

Oh, I think we can.

Elizabeth

Like falling off a log.

Stevie

Seriously. I like him. Plus, he's British, so he might not even get your sense of humor.

Henry

I heard we're huge in the U.K.

Elizabeth

(Fake British Accent) We will be proper citizens. Should I cook? Of course not. What should we order?

Stevie

I'll cook. You just show up and be cool.

Elizabeth

We can do that. I swear.

Elizabeth

God, it'll be nice to do something normal.

Henry

I wonder how old he is.

Elizabeth

We like him.

Henry

Got it.

Henry

What went wrong? Nothing about Shamekh presents as Jihadi. Somehow they played us.

Elizabeth

Because that's what they do. They sit around and think about how to kill people all day long.

Henry

I dare you to yell out "capital gains tax." See what happens.

Elizabeth

Be safer to yell "fire."

Henry

Well, well. Look at this. Did you happen to catch any philosophy?

Yeah, but I got a strong immune system.