Designated Survivor Season 1 Episode 21: Brace for Impact Review

Keith NoakesMay 18, 2017n/a8 min

If you would like to read my review of the last episode, click here.

Synopsis: Hannah Wells must stop the conspiracy from carrying out a final attack while President Kirkman authorizes a nationwide manhunt for the mastermind behind it all. (IMDB)

Writer: David Guggenheim

Director: Frederick E.O. Toye

Rating: TV-14

Running Time: 45mins

It has been a great first season for Designated Survivor, seeing a literal “everyman” take on the position of President of the United States while giving him a conspiracy threatening to undermine him has been compelling so far but one can’t help but wonder where they go from here? That question was answered but more on that later.

The last episode ended with a standoff between Wells and the police after waking up in a van with a bomb inside. We learned that the reason the police were there was that they were tipped off that she would be there thanks to the evidence they planted in her appartment. She quickly dispatched of the bomb by getting it out of harm’s way and not killing anyone.

The next question was where do they go from here? The next step was to arrest Lloyd and raid the domestic terror cells. They went to work but of course the traitor warned him and he escaped through a tunnel under his house. Meanwhile, the traitor used his access to make an ID for Lozano for him to get inside the Pentagon and hack into one of their servers.

Wells got there and as she was driving, she spotted Lozano and a chase ensued. Lozano crashed and ran away until Wells followed him into an unfinished house. The fought, leading to Wells pushing Lozano through a wall and him falling and getting impaled to death. His last words were that it wasn’t over.

Aaron is still around and was defending Tom on a cable news show against the host and Bowman. Later, Tom told Aaron about the conspiracy and asked him for help to find out who had the power to make him the designated survivor. Aaron went to visit Cochrane, who was under house arrest, and he had changed his opinion on Tom and offered to help by giving Aaron a list of potential names. Aaron also convinced Tom that Cochrane was innocent.

Once Wells returned to her office, Chuck told her about her many unread emails including one from Atwood which turned out being the one he sent before he died that contained evidence of the White House traitor and his conversation with Lloyd. The traitor was then cornered and arrested. Wells was still thinking about Atwood as a walk by his office triggered a flashback of their first meeting.

Leonard was still around and now learned that Atwood was arrested for killing Nasar. Tom wanted to speak to Leonard. He made it clear that he was not going to prevent Leonard from doing his job but he just asked him to hold off on his story as it would jeopardize national security. Tom left it to Leonard on whether or not he believed him but it appeared to work as Leonard agreed to hold off on his story.

Tom informed Aaron, Emily, and Seth about everything that had happened and that he was ready to tell the country. He also offered Aaron a new position in the White House and he accepted. Moss was proud of Tom and in a funny twist, Tom named Moss his designated survivor.

The episode ended with Tom making another great speech that pretty much summed up the season while also rallying the nation. Afterwards, Alex brought the kids back to see Tom but that was interrupted when we learned what Lozano did at the Pentagon which was hack the Defense Department server and sending all the information to Lloyd, leaving them vulnerable.

Overall, this was a great season finale, ending on a high note and offering satisfying resolution to most of the lingering subplots, including setting up the beginning of next season by offering them an adversary in Lloyd. I wonder how long that will last and I can’t wait for next season!

Score: 9/10

If you liked this, please read my other reviews here and don’t forget to follow me on Twitter, follow me on Instagram, and also like me on Facebook.

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