Madam Secretary Episode 1.09 So It Goes

Secretary McCord took office because her predecessor, Secretary Marsh, died in a plane crash. But when Madam Secretary starts digging into the particulars of his death, she finds out that she may be poking her nose into some very dangerous territory.

Madam Secretary enlists the help of her husband Henry, a former Air Force pilot, and her friend Isabelle, a former CIA colleague, to pour over audio of the plane crash and see if anything's awry. Henry comes up with a theory that there was more than turbulence that brought Secretary Marsh's plane down. What if the pilot said the word "turbulence" just to get them off course? But the most intriguing thing they hear is Secretary Marsh's last words. On the audio, Madam Secretary and her team hears the terror of the flight's final moments and then Secretary's Marsh calm last words, "So it goes." What did he mean? Did Secretary Marsh know something we don't? .

Amidst all this intrigue, Secretary McCord needs to attend to more pressing matters of daily life – like attending her daughter's soccer game. Her security detail doesn't want her to expose herself so publicly, but Madam Secretary is determined. She'll bring Secret Service, she'll do whatever it takes. But she won't lose out on an opportunity to watch her daughter play..

At the game, Secretary McCord watches her daughter make some impressive saves. Then, she enlists her help for a little switcheroo. Madam Secretary leaves the game but as she sneaks out, her daughter hugs a blonde decoy, getting the press off track. Madam Secretary rushes off to secretly question a potential suspect in Secretary Marsh's death - the man who fueled his final plane..

Madam Secretary discovers that Secretary Marsh was indeed murdered. The suspect confesses to tampering with the plane's fuel. But someone hired him. Someone he never met. Who was it?.

As we go back and forth in time between Secretary Marsh's staff and Secretary McCord's, we learn that the speechwriter, Matt, was spying on Secretary Marsh on behalf of Russell Jackson, the President's Chief of Staff. Now that Madam Secretary holds the office, Russell wants Matt to spy on her too, in exchange for the promise of a plum job in the West Wing..

Matt eventually comes clean with Secretary McCord, saying he doesn't want to spy on his new boss. But Madam Secretary sees an opportunity in this confession. She asks Matt to accept Russell's assignment. Then he'll also be spying for her as well – a double agent of sorts. Matt is wary, but he doesn't have much choice now that he's revealed his prior disloyalty..

Finally, Matt tells Madam Secretary a piece of information that might help place the last piece of the Marsh puzzle. Matt overheard Russell threaten the former Secretary of State. Secretary Marsh was considering running against the President in the next election, but Russell warned him not to – or there'd be consequences. Secretary Marsh asked if this was a threat? Would the President of the United States really threaten his own Secretary of State?.

Hearing Russell's response makes Madam Secretary cringe..

"So it goes," said Russell. The same three words that Secretary Marsh spoke before his plane went down. Now, Madam Secretary fears that she's not playing on one unified team. After this revelation, she realizes that the President's Chief of Staff and potentially the President himself are not only disloyal – they could be murderers.