'Madam Secretary' season 3 spoilers: major character's life hangs in the balance
A major character's life is in danger in the next episode of "Madam Secretary" season 3.
In the last episode for 2016 titled "The Race," White House Chief of Staff Russell Jackson (Željko Ivanek) will suffer from a heart attack.
The trailer revealed that Russell was talking to Elizabeth McCord's (Téa Leoni) daughter Stevie (Wallis Currie-Wood) who visited him in the office to get her letter of recommendation for her law school application when he suddenly felt a pain in his chest before passing out on the floor. Stevie tried to administer first aid to save him, but Russell did not respond. Elizabeth tried to calm Stevie down as the paramedics arrived to take Russell to the hospital.
Aside from Russell's life-threatening condition, Elizabeth must also deal with the effect of the possible Israel–Iran war on the U.S. presidential election. In the upcoming episode, the U.S. Secretary of State will try to step in the middle of the two opposing countries to initiate a peace talk.
In the previous episodes, Iran raised their concern about the possible victory of Governor Sam Evans (J.C. MacKenzie) in the U.S. presidential election. If this happens, Evans will call off all the treaties that the U.S. had with Iran. This brought panic to the Middle Eastern country, especially since they just received an unexpected attack from Israel.
According to the synopsis for the episode that was posted by CarterMatt, "When a possible Israel-Iran war threatens the House's imminent vote on the U.S. presidential election, Elizabeth attempts to bring the two reluctant countries to the negotiation table in an effort to broker a peace between them. Also, Russell's life hangs in the balance after a heart attack."
Can Elizabeth come up with a solution to bring peace to the warring countries while taking care of the internal problems in the White House?
The winter finale episode of "Madam Secretary" season 3 is slated to air on Sunday, Dec. 18, on CBS.