Political Animals Recap: Love And Politics

"Political Animals" opens on governor Elaine Barrish's concession speech. She's lost the bid for the democratic nomination for the presidential election, but she is still surrounded by her family. Her husband, former president Bud Hammond, her mother Margaret Barrish, and her two sons TJ and Douglas (who's accompanied by his girlfriend Anne). In her speech she talks about her confidence in the bright future of women in politics, and afterwards she and her family retire to a back room to discuss the loss. With just a little conversation, every member of the family falls into a role: Margaret is fiery, Bud is self-centered, TJ is sweet, Douglas is ambitious, and Elaine is strong (although currently exhausted). The room clears, leaving Bud and Elaine alone, and after Bud spouts some more inconsiderate and self-centered remarks Elaine purposefully walks out of the room, asking for a divorce.  The show then jumps two years ahead in time. Elaine is now the Secretary of State and is being interviewed by Susan Berg, the journalist who broke the story of Bud's infidelity during his presidency. As she continues the interview, flashbacks show she's an extremely competent Secretary of State. They also reveal that Bud has fallen from political grace and is now dating a young, beautiful TV actress. Susan is writing a piece by interviewing and shadowing Elaine during the week of Douglas' engagement party; Elaine agreed to be interviewed because Susan threatened to write a story about something that happened with TJ six months prior that the entire family wants to stay out of the public eye.

Back at Susan's office, she chats with her editor/boyfriend about her piece on Elaine as well as her jealousy over a colleague who openly flirts with him. The phone rings with a huge story: three American journalists have been taken prisoner in Iran. The perspective shifts to the White House where Elaine is briefed on the situation: the journalists were coerced into signing documents saying they were American spies, and they will be tried within two days. The Iranian leader responsible for their arrest has promised to sentence them to death unless the president comes to Iran to ask for their release.The president has no plans to go to Iran but asks Elaine to keep the press from freaking out until they can figure what to do about the situation.

Susan goes home to get ready for the pre-engagement party where TJ corners her to ask for funding ($50,000) for a night club he wants to invest in. She agrees to back him if his father agrees, and he reveals he picked out one of her old sparkly dresses so she'll look nice and feel confident seeing Bud for the first time in two years. At the party Margaret is sassy, Elaine keeps looking slightly longingly at Bud, it seems like Anne and Douglas aren't exactly on the same page as far as honeymoon plans, and after Anne is roundly praised by her future in laws it's revealed (to the viewers, not the guests) that she suffers from bulimia. After dinner TJ takes his parents and his brother in another room to lay out his business proposal, but before he can get into it his father shoots him down, bringing up his past drug abuse as well as the still undefined incident that Susan is using for blackmail. Discouraged, TJ storms out, going to the bathroom to snort cocaine. Elaine and Bud are alone, and in between Bud's compliments she asks what he thinks of the Iran hostage situation. Bud believes the president is using the situation for political capital, which Elaine can't believe.

At Susan's place she rails against what she perceives as Elaine's continued affection for her cheating ex-husband, and her boyfriend asks what story she has on TJ. She reveals that he tried to commit suicide and while she's not above using the information as blackmail she would never think of actually writing the story.

Elaine flies to New York to talk to the Iranian ambassador to the UN. He informs her the Iranian leader in charge of the hostage situation is suffering from pancreatic cancer. Knowing he won't survive long he made this drastic move to make a splash in his political world so he'd have more of a voice for the issues he wants to address before he dies. The president admits he knew what was going on behind the scenes but he can't go to Iran and negotiate for political reasons. Just as she's leaving that very frustrating meeting Douglas finds her to tell her the story of TJ's attempted suicide has gone public. Now that the story is out Susan has no more leverage so Elaine kicks her out, immediately calling someone she "needs to see." The person she needs to see turns out to be her ex-husband, and they end up in bed together. Afterwards,  she tells him she plans to ask the president to send him to negotiate the hostage's release on the president's behalf, and based on his reaction she begins to believe he wanted that all along. She asks him if that was the reason he agreed to meet her, not a lingering attraction or affection. He insists it's both, but she storms out, yelling that it's over between them for good.

At Susan's office, she learns it was her paper that leaked the story, specifically the girl who was flirting with her boyfriend. She doesn't get him to confess  he gave the other journalist the story, but he does admit he slept with her. He excuses her of being a commitment phobic and she insists she's moving out.

That night, Elaine invites Susan to meet with her. Susan apologizes for accidentally leaking TJ's story and explains after leaving her own boyfriend over his infidelity she realized Elaine stayed with Bud not for political gain but because she loved him. Elaine in turn gives Susan the exclusive story that she's going to tell the president he can send Bud to Iran to negotiate or she's resigning. Leaving Susan behind to start her story Elaine gets in a car with a member of the secret service, confiding in him her plans to run for president again.