'Designated Survivor' Recap: 'Fallout'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

​THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM...YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK...

When we last left the Kirkman Administration on Designated Survivor, the situation was grim. Because despite being able to broker an incredible peace treaty between a pair of shattered nations, intelligence pointed toward a Dirty Bomb hiding somewhere on U.S. soil, which meant that this week’s episode, ‘Fallout’, was most certainly going to focus on the hunt for that bomb and while we were indeed treated to a frenzied search for this troublesome device, this episode had far more to offer than a mere game of cat and mouse, it produced what could be considered as Tom Kirkman’s boldest move to date as President of the United States.
 
However, before we get to that part of the story, let’s take a moment and discuss just how intense this particular tale turned out to be. Because the hunt for the Dirty Bomb was a breathtaking affair, with every single agency doing their best to find it quickly, and that meant bending the rules a bit by using some seriously smart technology to figure out who is behind this mess and where the bomb might be and well, this part of the story actually managed to toy with us for a little bit because in all honesty, while breathtaking it felt rather by the numbers and quite frankly, there was a reason for that…to lull us into a false sense of security.
 
Because eventually it seemed as though the FBI diffused the situation, and life could return to normal in D.C., allowing for the President to happily travel about town, make peace with Director Forestell and there were even lulls in the hunt that allowed for the story to examine Emily’s desire to bring charges against President Moss for his actions, and how tough that will be since she obtained the information about the leak illegally, and just when it seemed as though everything was safe in D.C. once again, the big surprise arrived. The Dirty Bomb was still out there, hidden inside the Subway and despite Forestell’s best efforts to get his agents clear of the potential blast zone, the bomb went off, killing the Director of the FBI in the blast as well. 
 
This was, a stunning development to say the least, because it was the first major act of terror to happen under Kirkman’s watch and while it seemed at first that Chairman Kim had to be responsible, a little digging brought a familiar country’s name to the table; Kunami, the same nation that Kirkman squared off with earlier this season when the U.S.S. Verona was disabled off the coast of that nation. And their name came up, because they were responsible for everything revolving around this particular attack and Tom’s response to the matter was simple; hit them back and hit them hard, and without any warning to members of Congress or our allies, President Kirkman took the nation to war…
 
So, yeah. The only word to describe this episode is, wow, because it ended up being filled to the brim with some seriously shocking moments. I mean come on, the bomb went off after all, and Kirkman opened fire on Kunami and that’s really about as epic as it can get for an episode of this show. Especially when one considers that Tom has always tried the peaceful solution, but clearly an attack such as this, crosses the line for the president and puts an end to any goodwill within his heart. Either way, this was one wild episode, and it’s strange to know that next week we are a nation at war and regardless of how the conflict ends, there are other issues waiting in the wings to be resolved, like Emily’s leak to the press and well, I’ll be counting down the minutes until next week’s episode to see how these ugly issues play out. Until next time.  

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