#Why the Thought-Provoking ‘Madam Secretary’ Is Your Next Netflix Binge

Mark Schafer/CBS via Getty Images

Sure, it’s fun to watch Veep‘s slashing satire of D.C. and House of Cards‘ over-the-top take on power. But for a more earnest political show in the vein of The West Wing, check out CBS’s thought-provoking Madam Secretary, which is available to stream in its entirety now that Season 6 is on Netflix.

The perfectly cast Téa Leoni (above) plays Elizabeth McCord, a former CIA analyst and college professor who becomes secretary of state and whose skill dealing with her most wily antagonists, Russia and China, to avert international crises is estimable.

“You don’t think outside the box—you don’t even know there is a box,” her boss, aka the president of the United States (Keith Carradine), tells McCord at one point.

It’s that unpredictability and independent streak that makes this Madam so fun to watch.

Madam Secretary, Seasons 1-6, Streaming Now, Netflix