Critic Reviews

A particularly taut and well-structured pilot episode lays out McCord’s essential struggles, while Leoni delivers a calm, cool and wry performance.

Madam Secretary is not perfect, but it could be. There are seeds of something excellent in this pilot, one that’s able to tell a character-driven story in a world that’s constantly changing.

Solid but a bit staid.

Madam Secretary starts off solidly, with an engaging performance by Téa Leoni as the secretary of state.

As fascinating as Madam Secretary can be regarding its global focuses, it’s so far less detailed when it comes to McCord, her family, and her colleagues.

Costars like Daly, Ivanek and Neuwirth promise great things, but Madam Secretary belongs, obviously, to Leoni, who conjures a gratifying mix of brains and heart, humor and flintiness without, and this is important, any sign of mental illness.

Leoni has great potential here, but the character development and "I'm already hooked" magic (a la The Good Wife) aren't quite there yet. [19/26 Sep 2014, p.126]

No one wants this show to channel "24," but C-SPAN won't do either. For the most part, however, Madam Secretary charts a steady--and intelligent--middle course.

Diplomacy by its nature doesn’t lend itself well to visual storytelling. Perhaps that’s why the show adds a conspiracy element.... Give props to Madam Secretary for the casting.

It can all be a bit much: Elizabeth needs to be wrong now and then. Still, against considerable odds, Leoni sells it, conveying the brains and toughness Elizabeth needs to be successful in her job and the warmth, vulnerability and sometimes prickly humor she needs to be successful at home.