U.S. drama reveals the diplomat in all women
The show: Madam Secretary, Season 2, Episode 12 The moment: The incisors. U.S. Secretary of State Elizabeth McCord (the fabulous Tea Leoni) is trying to leave the office. Her chief of staff Nadine (Bebe Neuwirth) stops her. “I’ll be going with you to Myanmar tomorrow instead of Jake,” Nadine says. “OK. Everything all right?” Elizabeth asks.
“I just thought he could use a break,” Nadine says. “The baby’s teething. Incisors.” Both women wince. “Those are the tough ones,” Elizabeth says. “What’s the real reason?” Nadine takes a breath. “I recently found out my son is there,” she says.
“Your son?” Elizabeth asks, surprised. “From a brief affair when I was touring Europe with a dance troupe,” Nadine explains.
“Dance troupe?” Elizabeth asks. “Before law school,” Nadine replies.
“You and I really should have gone out for a drink at some point,” Elizabeth says.
This is why I watch this show. Yeah, yeah, it’s about international events: ambassador trade agreement embargo diplomacy, blah, blah. What it’s really about is how women navigate their careers/ personal lives. Elizabeth is a diplomat, but aren’t we all, when it comes to massaging bosses’ egos, managing underlings and trying to keep our families from resenting us too much?
Women in power talk about teething. Right on.
After this, we cut to Elizabeth at home, lugging a suitcase down her stairs in heels, while her husband and daughters sit a metre away at the breakfast table, immersed in their phones. “OK, I’m off to the treaty signing in Myanmar!” Elizabeth trills. No one even looks up. Every working mother has played that scene. Madam Secretary airs Sunday nights at 8 p.m. on Global TV. Johanna Schneller is a media connoisseur who zeroes in on pop-culture moments. She appears Monday through Thursday.