Madam Secretary · Season 1
Hey. I hope I didn't really make things difficult for you with Gorev.
No, I like that you stood up to him. It's sexy.
Is it?
Yeah. Your ethics are... even sexier.
Really?
Mmm. A man with a solid moral compass? Big turn on.
Who says you have to be a bad boy to get the hot girl?
As for a trial, it has already been scheduled for next week.
(Elizabeth lets a shocked facial expression slip)
I see your intelligence services haven't penetrated our legal system.
Can you postpone the trial?
Madam Secretary, your country has shown it can disrespect our sovereignty with impunity. The prerogative of the greater power. But when you are caught, you must accept the consequences.
Madam Secretary Schaeffer's capture by the Pakistanis just hit the wires.
It's wall-to-wall on the cable outlets.
Everyone needs to stop ambushing me on my way in.
We thought you'd want to know right away.
Well, we might need to redefine "right away."
So, how do you want to spin it?
Schaeffer? I don't.
So, we're going with, "Yeah, he was spying on their nukes, our bad?"
We expect Pakistan to treat all prisoners, including U.S. citizens, humanely and in accordance with the third and fourth Geneva Convention.
You have a visitor, Madam Secretary.
(Startled) God, where did you come from?
I'm always with you.
All right, who's visiting? And why are we allowing it?
Our favorite reporter Gina Fisher. Says it's urgent.
Really? Put her in conference East and don't offer her a beverage.
(About Jed Heller aka Viper) He's welcome to come back and stand trial for espionage anytime he wants.
(About Jed Heller aka Viper) He has, uh, schistosomiasis. It's a rare African disease caused by an... infestation of worms in the skin.
A worm disease. Fitting.
(After Elizabeth seeks her advice for a hiring decision) Everyone is someone else's guy, until they're your guy.
Henry... Henry, this is important.
So is my integrity. As an academic, that's all I have.
Oh, come on. I compromise my ethics every single day in this job! T-That's not entirely true... I don't have time to worry about my decaying moral fiber. I moved heaven and Earth to get the president and Pakistan and Russia all on board, and the entire thing falls apart without you. So, please, just say yes.
No. You shouldn't have involved me in this. You're gonna have to find another way.
I've been on the phone with Gorev, and I got him to move off the "A."
Oh, my God. Now we're going to be fighting over a "B"?
No. All Gorev cares about is his daughter's GPA. If you would consider giving her an incomplete, that wouldn't affect it. She can retake the course next semester and you don't give an undeserved grade.
The deadline for an incomplete has passed.
Henry, I'm out of rabbits.
This operative will really die If you don't make this deal?
Yes
Does he have family?
A mom, a dad and three little sisters.
That you didn't shove in my face before to try to move me?
Well, even Elizabeth the Unethical has her lines.
Okay.
Thank you. (Obviously overwhelmed and exhausted, she collapses into Henry)
(While the staff is gathered around a bottle of Cognac gifted to Elizabeth by France) Madam Secretary, protocol explicitly states that foreign gifts remain in the gift room.
Noted. I decree an exception.
Oh, thank God.
(Elizabeth grabs the bottle and doles out the drinks)
I second the decree.
Uh, Uh, decrees don't need seconding.
Uh, this one felt like it did.
Let's have a toast to Roy Schaeffer. Welcome home.
Welcome home.
Matt draft a memo to the staff. "From now on, I expect all correspondence at every level of confidentiality to be civil and respectful, worthy of the office being represented.
How wide do you want it to go?
How many people work here?
31,822.
That'll do it.
(Trying to hand her his resignation letter) Now that, uh, things have settled down.
Well, unless that's great seats to the Kennedy Center, I don't want it.
What about Dubois?
I called him this morning and told him that while I was very sorry that he was insulted, he doesn't get to make decisions about my staff.
How'd he take it?
I had to pardon his French.
What about Jackson's guy?
Your idea helped to save a man's life.
You got it over the finish line.
So... we're a good team.
All due respect, I was on Secretary Marsh's team. I was his guy.
I know.
I was hoping to ride him to the White House. You don't have such ambitions.
You're right. But clearly you can make a difference here at State. And I am a sucker for anyone who's good at their job. But if something comes along with a presidential contender, I'll understand.
Okay.
Oh, and, uh, Jay, one other thing. As long as you're here, you're my guy now.
You notice that Allie's in much better spirits?
Oh, I noticed. Check this out. (Elizabeth hands Henry the iPad)
What?
Fresh intel on Allie's better spirits. Flint Summers.
Who's that?
They've been texting all afternoon. Clearly she's moved on from Josh. So I did a little digging. He plays on the varsity football team. Flint is two years ahead of Allie.
That makes him 17.
I know. Whole new world from 15.
Yeah, and by whole new world, you mean... sex... He'll push for it.
Of course. Name like Flint Summers? There's no boundaries.
What are we doing?
Losing our minds.
Pretty much.
We have to stop this, don't we?
Okay, if I push this button we sever the link forever.
Yeah
(pushes the button) Now, it begins. Parenting without a net.
Well, Stevie turned out all right.
She quit college.
She's not a meth addict.
That's a high bar.
Listen, about last night?
Oh, I'm over it. I saw the video of Schaeffer reuniting with his family.
Well, good. I wasn't apologizing about that. It's this job. Is it turning me into a morally compromised version of myself? Because I am worried that I'm going to become someone that you can't be with anymore.
Whoa, whoa. I talk a good game, but I am no pillar of virtue.
You're a good man. I need you to be my touchstone. Uh, to tell me if I'm crossing lines. I'd quit this job in a heartbeat if it threatened what we have.
That's not going to happen. But if you're asking me to be the man beside the woman? I'm in.
You read my memo?
I did.
And you have photographic memory.
I do.
That's impressive.
I'm told.
These quotes come from Wikiquote's Madam Secretary pages and are available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.
