The final five episodes of the fifth season of the CBS drama Madam Secretary narrativize the national and international politics of climate change. The arc begins when the impact of climate change threatens to erase the low-lying Pacific Island of Nauru. Secretary of State Elizabeth McCord (Tea Leoni) works to aid the stricken nation and subsequently works to build an international coalition to work on the issue of climate-related migration. The show investigates the political divisiveness of climate change manifest in generational differences in the religious right, domestic and international concerns about immigration policies, and rising nationalist tensions around the globe. The season ends with McCord dealing with objections to a proposed international treaty from the left who argue the agreement only alleviates the symptoms rather than the causes of climate change, followed by a terror attack by a nationalist group, the Knights of Western Freedom, on climate symposium in Geneva. This paper will consider the ways in which the show negotiates the complex terrain of climate politics while maintaining its place on the procedural-heavy CBS schedule, and whether it lives up showrunner Barbara Hall’s claim that the “mission statement for the show is a place people can go to talk about politics that isn’t so polarizing.”
About the presenterJames Burton
James Burton is an Associate Professor and Chair of Communication at Salisbury University. He teaches classes on Cinema and Society, Mass Communication Law, Mass Media in Society, and Critical Issues in New Media. He is a contributing editor to Literature/Film Quarterly.