Sorry but better late than never. I’ve been busy with movie reviews and award predictions but now I am ready to wrap up the first half of Season 1 of Designated Survivor. A show about a seemingly normal man, thrust into an extraordinary circumstance has been compelling for the most part so far because of the likability of Kiefer Sutherland as Tom Kirkman. Not everything the show has given him worked but the subplot about the bombing which put him in that position to begin with has been exciting but it won’t last forever so it will be interesting to see where the show goes after that has been cleared up.
If you would like to read my recap of the last episode, click here. In the best episode since the premiere, everything worked with the subplot connecting to multiple characters and brought up revelations of who may be responsible for the Capitol bombing.
The episode starts off at the scene of Wells’ accident. A bystander appears to come to her aid but he is more interested in the classified documents on her front seat. He tries to kill her in order to get those documents but she wakes up just in time and manages to get away from him.
The rest of the senators are impatient with Hookstraten holding up the confirmation hearing. Tom and Alex looking over the blueprint. Tom is unsure how to proceed since he doesn’t know who to trust. He wants Alex to take the children somewhere safe. The other senators force Hookstraten forced to continue with the hearing.
Wells shows up and Chuck’s appartment and refuses to go to the hospital. Aaron, Emily, and Seth are celebrating MacLeish’s inevitable confirmation. Seth leaves and Emily and Aaron talk about how they underestimated each other and then they kiss.
Tom meets the doctor who wrote the blueprint. He denies being involved and was scared of coming forward because of the massive conspiracy involved. Tom asks him about the people who had access and almost everyone who saw it is dead except for Cochrane.
Wells wakes up and learns that macleish was confirmed. She believes that those responsible wanted macleish as Vice President. Chuck urges her to stop after everything that has happened. Chuck just wanted to help people and so did Wells. She left med school in defiance of her father and decided to help people in her own way by joining the FBI. She says it’s not the terrorists’ job to stop but it was their job to stop them. If they quit, then the terrorists win. They try to track down the mystery woman.
Tom meets with Cochrane. He denies ever seeing the document. He claimed that it was taken away from his computer before he had the chance to see it. He says the Secretary of Defense took it away and reclassified it under orders from the White House. Cochrane offers his help.
Aaron and Emily want to help with push other cabinet members through confirmation hearings. He tells her to not worry about the kiss. He asks her out on another date. Emily is called over to see Tom. He wants her help to find the traitor since she was not part of the previous administration.
Seth still being pressed on Nassar. He ignores Lisa. He announces that the macleish swearing in will be held at the Capitol site because they’ve always taken place there and what happened wasn’t going to stop it. Lisa confronts him and apologizes for before. Aaron walks in on Emily working and tells him that she can’t go on their date and lies about why.
Chuck finds that the mystery woman called Wells from a burner phone and tracked down the store where she got it. Tom meets with Hookstraten about macleish. She tells him about the extent of her relationship with Wells. Tom tells her what macleish said about Wells but she has never acted that way with her. She asked Tom if everything was alright but he’s not sure.
Tom asks Mike to find Wells. Mike meets with Forstell who doesn’t know where she is. He gives him her file. Wells goes to store where the burner phone was bought. She looks at the surveillance footage and finds a man buying the phone and his licence plate. Seth has another press conference. Lisa knows they have a suspect in the Nassar murder and then the rest of the reporters go crazy.
Emily is looking through the White House call logs. She finds out that President Richmond’s chief of staff, Charles Langdon (Peter Outerbridge) called the Secretary of Defense to issue the order. Mike updates Tom on Wells and tells him about the accident. He wants her brought in because either she’s crazy like they said or she knows something.
Wells tracks down the car to a seemingly deserted home in the countryside. She sees a man running away. When she stops him, she notices that it is Langdon, a man who is supposed to be dead. Langdon is extremely paranoid and scared and warns her about the conspiracy. A shootout ensues where Wells kills the shooter and Langdon gets away. When Wells investigates the shooter, she learns that he worked for a private security firm and finds a keycard which she later learns if for a room in a building overlooking the swearing in site, leading her to believe that they will try to assassinate Tom.
Seth briefs Tom and Aaron about Lisa. Tom receives an FBI report proving Atwood’s guilt in the Nassar murder. Tom decides to give Lisa an exclusive on the investigation. Aaron asks Tom for clarification about what he and Emily were doing and figures out that she lied to him.
They are getting ready for the macleish swearing in. Tom is unsure to go on. Macleish doesn’t know if he can go through with it. Beth urges him to continue. She tells him that he has a responsibility (implying that she may be involved in the conspiracy). Wells is racing towards the site. Catalan walks into the overlooking the building and sets up a rifle hidden in the room. Emily gets call saying that Aaron, who was a former deputy of Langdon, called the Secretary of Defense on Langdon’s behalf.
Tom makes a speech. Wells arrives and has to rush through people. Catalan is aiming his gun and appears to be waiting until macleish finishes his oath. The Secret Service spots Wells. She sees Catalan and shoots up in the air to cause a distraction.
Overall, this was an exciting midseason finale, revealing more about the conspiracy involved in the Capitol bombing. It appears to be much more than that and promises to continue in the second half of the season. The Langdon reveal didn’t quite make sense and came out of nowhere but maybe they’ll explain it in further episodes. The reveal that Aaron may have been involved was unexpected and I can’t wait to see how it will effect the dynamic. The episode ended on a cliffhanger but it wasn’t much of one since we already know what is going to happen.
Score: 8.5/10
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*Note: These may come later on certain weeks as this show airs on the same day where I attend advanced screenings*
The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.
