When a Russian eco-activist asks an American diplomat for asylum, Dalton and Elizabeth grant the request -- in part because they feel it's the right thing to do and also to push back at the Russian government following the hack on the Afghan embassy. But when the plane lands, the activist is diagnosed with smallpox and put into quarantine. The possibility that he was poisoned by the GRU is floated, but a visitor of Elizabeth's floats an alternative theory that pans out -- the oil spill the activist was documenting melted the permafrost which released a previously frozen sample of the virus. Elizabeth is even more impressed with Kat Sandoval than she was from the television interview, and requests her help in coming up with a solution to this issue. The Russians are reluctant to agree to the idea the State team comes up with, attempting to repopulate the tundra with flora and fauna that will stabilize or lower temperatures. Elizabeth goes back to Kat who floats an idea about limiting oil drilling only in certain areas. The plan works, and Elizabeth gets other countries to sign on as well. Kat admits that she hates her retirement, and Elizabeth offers her Jay's old job. 

Henry and Elizabeth like Jason's new girlfriend, but worry when the school notifies them that his grades are slipping. When Jason admits to Henry that he loves her, they start to worry that the young couple is or may become sexually active. They try and prepare to talk to him about sex in a more nuanced manner, but find out that Piper's parents had apparently already talked to her and that the kids have decided to remain celibate. 

Henry's request for further funding gets shut down by the gang of eight, and a discussion with a student at the war college reveals a situation similar to the one in Afghanistan, but with the DEA. One of Henry's underlings digs a little and finds that there's been a bunch of burned agents in multiple agencies. The only people that would have access to all of the missions and undercover identities would be on the Cabinet, or in the Gang of Eight.