'Designated Survivor' Recap: 'Family Ties'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

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​When we last left President Tom Kirkman on Designated Survivor it seemed as though quite a storm was on the horizon. His Secretary of State was now a person of interest in a high-profile murder investigation. His mother-in-law continued to come under scrutiny from the FBI and it really just seemed like the poor man was never going to quite get a break when it came to the mounting issues surrounding him. That is until last night. Because ‘Family Ties’ finally allowed for a little light to shine through the window for Tom Kirkman, at least…for the most part.
 
Because there is still trouble brewing for the President and his family, but at least he was able to enjoy some victories in this episode. Case in point, the fact that his Secretary of State was finally absolved of any wrong doing. Because despite learning that Cornelius and Charlotte were having an affair behind the scenes, it turns out that Secretary Moss never harmed her, he only tried to set things right with their relationship. Instead, Charlotte’s assistant was the one who pulled the trigger simply due to the fact that her boss had zero interest in starting a romantic relationship with her.
 
But while that removed one lingering issue for the President, the highlighted story for this episode was the President of Turkey’s long and twisted power play to gain leverage over Kirkman and well, I thoroughly enjoyed this plot line simply because it once again allowed for Kiefer Sutherland to shine and shine bright. Because nobody puts President Kirkman in a corner and to see him stand up to an international bully and find a way to put him in his place once the man’s grand scheme was revealed, was the stuff of magic and I always love when the series allows for Kirkman to simply do his thing.
 
If anything, it just seemed like win after win were rolling in for the President, to the point where It even appeared that the whole mess with Eric Little was finally going to go away after a solid interview and quality deposition came into play. But I made mention of the fact that trouble is still waiting in the wings for Tom Kirkman, because despite that victory, it would seem that Patrick Lloyd’s grand plan is now coming to fruition since we learned that the First Lady has been subpoenaed over an offshore bank account set up six months ago in her name and well…just like that, the light from all those victories was snatched away.
 
It would seem that Lloyd’s plan from beyond the grave is to make the Kirkman Administration appear to be as corrupt as can be, which would allow for the American people to lose hope in all the institutions they’ve placed their faith into and once that’s accomplished, who knows what comes next. But when all is said and done, I love the fact that this series is willing to give us stand-alone episodes such as this, that still manage to entertain and captivate when the bigger plot is advanced just a little bit, and as long as they keep delivering stories where Tom Kirkman is allowed to shine like this, I’ll be tuning in and I can’t wait to see what complexities await the Commander-in-chief when he travels to Afghanistan next week. Until then. 

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