The Riderless Horse
Season 3
Episode 3
Editor’s Rating
4 stars
****
Will someone please release Kate from this marriage?
Photo: Netflix
I’m a broken record, I know, but please, let the Wylers divorce. This public-marriage, private-divorce plan they’ve cooked up isn’t going to work. By their own admission, they’re too likely to backslide into a sexual relationship, which, regardless of whatever emotional guardrails they may think they’re putting into place, is going to muddy the waters every time. They’re also spending way too much of their mental bandwidth negotiating what’s okay and what isn’t between them, and on remembering who to tell and who to keep it from. Also, divorce just isn’t shameful, not even for people serving in some of the highest offices in the land (see: the twice-divorced man currently serving his second term as POTUS), and for all their flaws, Hal and Kate Wyler are entirely capable of implementing a conscious uncoupling type of divorce. They could even spin it as something they’re doing for the good of the nation, which would have the added benefit of being true!
Being divorced would mean an end to stumbling their way through agonizing meetings like the ones they have with Billie regarding their “We’re married to government service and each other!” talking points and how frequently Kate will be visiting D.C. It would also forestall well-intended but deeply intrusive conversations about the children they don’t have, like the one Kate found herself having to be very gracious about with a chatty senator keen to put her in touch with his husband, who is their family expert on the best schools in London. At a certain point, they’re going to have to decide that there’s a better way to conduct their private and public lives than to continue opting into these kinds of interactions.
When the Wylers are getting along and in each other’s corner, they’re a pretty remarkable power couple. We get a good look at that aspect of their relationship in “The Riderless Horse”, with Hal agreeing to heed (some of) Kate’s advice, and Kate herself going to bat for him one-on-one with Grace following Bill Rayburn’s funeral. For his part, Hal tees up two prime examples of the arguments for and against him as a potential veep: his public incineration of his clearest rival for the post, Pennsylvania governor Seiler, and getting within shouting distance of whipping enough votes to pass the Law of the Sea Treaty. (In our timeline, the U.S. observes but is not yet a signatory to that convention.)
The first is a demonstration of Hal’s intense competitiveness, and more significantly, of his staunch loyalty to Grace. He’s still not wild about her being president, but regardless of who holds that office, Hal wants her vice-president to be someone better than a swing-state governor who is so keen to get the job that he volunteers a home-state sacrifice that proves he’s not ready for prime time. The way Hal unleashes an impromptu volley of death blows regarding Seiler’s suggestion that a factory producing imperfect fighter jets that are nonetheless the envy of China’s Air Force and a prized purchase by Turkey’s demonstrates a purposeful recklessness that Grace will have to either get onboard with or leave by the side of the road.
In their heart-to-heart about Hal’s pluses and minuses, Kate doesn’t obscure any facts about Hal or even tiptoe around his most infuriating qualities. He’s an acquired taste, and often maddening thanks to his habits of talking to everyone (even sexist, alt-right political enemies of the administration he’s hoping to join), setting his own meetings, and improvising. None of that is going to change, and Kate knows from abundant experience that it will push everyone he works with to the brink of wanting to be rid of him, but then he pulls a historymaking rabbit out of a hat that can make all of his mess worthwhile.
It’s a tradeoff, and there’s something very Fantastic Mr. Fox about Hal’s big swings and breezy self-assurance that everything will work out. Grace is probably going to have to warn him, multiple times, that if what she thinks is happening is happening, it better not be, but if she can stomach that, the two of them could do great work together. Has he really whipped enough votes to pass the Law of the Sea Treaty? That’s hot! Politically speaking. It’s also smart for Grace to consider having a fearless bulldog like Hal in her corner. If he charges into the fray, willing to be bold and loud on her behalf, it will spare her untold grief about being shrill.
As divorcees who work closely together, Kate and Hal should be able to lean into a more evenly matched variation on their longstanding, successful dynamic of her being a trusted, effective second in command. The dark side of that dynamic is also very much in evidence in this episode. Kate gets so wrapped up in advocating for Hal with Grace that she forgets to attend a meeting with the CIA director to advocate for Eidra, exacerbating an already delicate and fraught situation that Kate had promised to resolve. Back at Embassy London, Howard reads aloud the incensed and baffled texts from his friend at Langley who works for the director, who now thinks Kate has inflicted some “girlboss-on-girlboss violence.” Yikes. Eidra deserves so much better than this mess.
She’s unlikely to get anything better anytime soon, though, thanks to her MI6 counterpart, Tom, still being quite salty about not having been informed that Roylin was in CIA custody until after she died. He hasn’t said anything about what he could have done or said about it earlier, and he knows that his boss of all bosses was a very likely suspect in the Courageous bombing plot, so I’m not sure what he might have been able to accomplish on Eidra’s behalf, but the problem remains. Roylin’s autopsy has come back totally normal, making it easy to sell the press and public on the story that she died by suicide at home. Ultimately, there’s no change in this situation. Tom is looking for a way to save Eidra without putting himself in Trowbridge’s crosshairs, but his options and motivation are limited.
Back in Virginia, in the midst of Kate making her case for Hal as vice-president, we get a glimpse of Billie making peace with the idea, too. Given all she had seen unfold between the Wylers, not to mention that she was working hard behind the scenes to oust Grace as vice-president and had wanted Kate for that role from the beginning, she’d been just fine with Governor Seinar as an alternative to Hal. I’m actually a little confused about why Billie seems to be sticking around as Grace’s chief of staff. Wouldn’t Grace want to bring Nora along with her, and wouldn’t Billie not want to work for Grace at all? She should be enjoying the experience of being headhunted by every major corporation and nonprofit in the country, right?
Now that Grace is getting back on board with picking Hal as her veep, Hal and Billie are gingerly finding their way toward something like a professional détente. She’s willing to listen when he says that Grace needs to develop and pursue her own agenda, not run out the clock on Rayburn’s, and he appreciates her confiding in him about Rayburn’s little not-so-secret cupboard of treats that he wasn’t supposed to eat. She blames the cornucopia of sweet and salty snacks for his poor health, and though I’m not convinced of that, it’s touching to see Billie and Hal toast the late president’s memory with some potato chips.
The final scene of “Riderless Horse” is clearly in conversation with the final scene of “Last Dance at the Country Club”. Hal is departing alone once more, this time in Grace’s SUV back to the White House, another step on his road to the role Kate thought she’d be filling barely 72 hours earlier. This time, though, neither of them seems sad or conflicted (for now), and Kate has her increased freedom in London to look forward to. Their good-bye hug is very sweet, and when he begins to pull away and she pulls him back in, we’re not wondering if she still loves him or not. Kate keeps choosing her love and respect for Hal over and over again. Whether or not that’s the right decision for either of them is still an open question.
Last time, Kate made an active, impulsive decision to stay in London, and this time, she’s been very active in making it possible for him to stay in D.C. She looks very much as I imagine her looking at any of Hal’s previous big career moments: proud of him and a little wistful as he goes off to do his next big thing. This time, she’s returning to her own big thing, all on her own.
• I like the little moment when Grace asks Kate about Hal and opting for more headaches and more historymaking. Kate’s response — intentionally or not — isn’t just an affirmation, but a vow: “I do.”
• We see neither Todd Penn nor Carolyn Rayburn in this episode; they are present, but upstairs having a quiet chat at the Rayburn home. A little bit of a bummer, as this was the most likely chance for the audience to meet Mrs. Rayburn, but shooting schedules and balancing out plot elements are tricky beasts!
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