Designated Survivor Season 1 Episode 15: One Hundred Days Review

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

Synopsis: As President Kirkman releases an agenda to reset his presidency, Alex makes a controversial public statement that threatens to derail it. Meanwhile, FBI agent Hannah Wells unknowingly finds herself in the center of a dangerous trap while getting closer to the truth. While the country still mourns the loss of there Vice President.  (IMDB)

Writer: Dana Ledoux Miller

Director: Kenneth Fink

Rating: TV-14

Running Time: 45mins

The last episode ended with Tom tasking Wells to lead the investigation into the conspiracy to give him the opportunity to govern and that is what he tried to do here. Considering how it has gone for Tom so far this season, that was easier said than done. The episode started with Tom making a statement to the press about resetting the clock on the first 100 days of his presidency (hence the episode title). He made a bunch of ambitious promises, as most politicians do, so we will see if they all become true. He also announced that he would be holding a town hall which Aaron, who was watching on TV, thought was a great idea.

Alex was making a speech to a women’s luncheon where she was asked questions but the most notable one was her thoughts on gun control. She was frustrated by the lack of agreement on background checks in Congress. This statement caused a controversy as it undermined Tom 100 days announcement. Tom wanted to avoid this issue so soon but he needed her to publicly distance her views from the administration’s. She then walked back her statement.

Tom practiced for his town hall but Emily and Seth wanted him to not be professorial and listening and relating to people. This was about him as much as it was about the people. Tom’s town hall went well. He had some great answers about his state of mind and well-being and about jobs but the most notable was a woman who lost her daughter to gun violence asking about gun control.

Tom had an emotional moment with the woman and from that point on, Tom focused on gun control. Tom held a meeting with high ranking members of the government to start a discussion about working together to create a bipartisan plan. One of his opposition on gun laws vowed to work with him but then undermined him by reintroducing an old Senate bill thus backing them into a corner.

Ever since resigning as Tom’s Chief of Staff, Aaron has nothing to do. In this episode, he is visited by his cousin Nadia (Mercedes de la Zerda). He then took her to a job interview with a Congresswoman. Hookstraten ran into him and told him that she felt bad that what she did may have led to his resignation but offered him to help if he needed it. Nadia was nervous but cheered him up when he was thinking of doing something else with his life.

Perhaps inspired by Tom’s town hall, Aaron met with Hookstraten in her office and asked her to introduce him to a lobbyist firm. Instead of that, she convinces him to work for her instead. While getting his new credentials, Emily runs into him and tells her that they will now be working together in a different capacity.

We now know that the mysterious woman is named Claudine but Wells still has to find her. She asked Chuck to see if she can get her fingerprints from a wine glass from Langdon’s picture of her (you kind of have to suspend belief for that one). Chuck manages to get some fingerprints.

Knowing who and where she was, Wells approached Atwood to join her as backup. Atwood decided to tag along but had an outburst on the way which led Wells to believe that he wasn’t ready. She offered to drive him home but he wanted to walk instead. Wells then went to the address herself but it seemingly was just a vacant building whose property taxes were still being paid by a defunct defense contractor. They were then interrupted by someone posing as a gas man planting a bomb in Chuck’s building. They escaped just before the building blew up.

Chuck managed to find another property they owned so Wells headed there but when she got there, she found Atwood who was following them since the explosion. He was now ready to go in. They found the woman who put up a fight but she and Atwood got the upper hand on her. When they had her, Atwood kept pointing his gun at her but when they argued, the woman pulled out a gun and forced them to shoot and kill her (none of these conspiracy people want to get taken alive).

After an exhausting day, the episode ended with Tom surprising his family at Camp David with some pizza. Also, Wells and Atwood were still in the building and on a flash drive, they find similar simulations of explosions featuring several important landmarks.

Overall, this was another good episode with a great performance by Kiefer Sutherland as Tom. He was determined about governing and showed great empathy with his wife and the woman who lost her daughter. It took the conspiracy in a new direction with the simulations from the end but I’m a little scared that they are trying to stretch this out too far. I hope that there will be people left because everyone seems to want to kill themselves instead of being captured.

Score: 8.5/10

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Keith Noakes

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.