‘Designated Survivor’ Recap: ‘#nothingpersonal’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

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Admittedly, I was pretty hard on Designated Survivor in my last recap of the show and there’s good reason for that. Because this is show that immediately comes with high expectations regardless of what network its airing on, simply because it established itself from day one as one of the finest political thrillers out there and in all honesty, seeing the show divert from what it does best, truly caught me off guard. But it would seem, that at long last, season three of this magnificent series finally finding its stride, because ‘#nothingpersonal’ was a breath of fresh air, thanks in large part to its incredible pacing, since it moved at a breakneck pace to move several of the plotlines that the story has been toying with, forward by leaps and bounds.
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Take for instance the whole mess that Hannah has been dealing with, because after spending four episodes chasing her tail, she and Mays finally found a solid lead on who might be responsible for this Bioterror attack and their investigation brought them face to face with a white supremacist who was trying to recruit others to his cause and that’s terrifying to say the least. Since now we know without a doubt that someone is trying to use a designed virus to do a little ethnic cleansing in America and she and Mays are going to have to work harder to learn who exactly is the brains of this outfit, so that they can stop them before this virus is deployed and the fast moving plots didn’t end with Hannah. For this tale also saw Emily learn more about her mother’s medical condition and her plans for the end of her life, and Mars also saw the whole mess with his wife come to a head since she overdosed on pills.

But while those plot threads didn’t exactly see happy resolution, progress is progress and they helped to balance out the true focal points of this particular story. For this episode also found a way to bring some genuinely thoughtful social commentary back into the mix, and that was explored by way of Seth’s little problem with the press. Because the fake story that claimed that Kirkman had his wife killed because she was a Russian spy went viral, and it became the focal point of the daily press briefing and well, Seth straight up lost it on the press, chastising them for feeding into something so stupid and vapid and for giving it life and well, that gave me pause. Because, everything he said was on the nose, since every form of media sensationalizes stupid stories that have no substance and well, we have to be better when it comes to that and not let that kind of crap distract us from what’s actually important.

Yet, I made mention of the fact, that there was more than one incredible moment present in this tale and the second moment of wonder, came about during the presidential debate. Because this looked and felt like what we normally see on television when it comes to this kind of event, since there was rhetoric, smart jabs and theatrics present from Kirkman’s competitors on stage, and rather than give into Moss’ baiting, and lose his temper, Tom found a way to be Tom, and took the high road with a beautiful answer that straight up embarrassed Cornelius on the national stage, and his response was so well crafted that it handed Kirkman the debate. But what mattered more here, is that this was vintage Tom Kirkman on display, and it was quite nice to see him not make any moral or political compromises in this tale since he’s flirted with that from time to time over the course of season three.

But while the major plotlines in this tale wrap up in the happiest of fashion, and we move forward elsewhere, the show also deserves some credit for setting up some fascinating conflict for future episodes. Because I’m sure the affair that Emily and Aaron had will come back to haunt them, and speaking of romances, I really do hope Donate’s storyline with Troy gets more screen time since its breaking new ground on television, but the big surprise hanging over this tale involves Lorraine, since we came to learn she is orchestrating some of the pitfalls that Tom is facing, in large part to motivate him to win, and it should be fascinating to learn as to whether or not Tom will learn the truth about this, and if he does, how he will respond. Either way, this episode, felt like home again, and while it wasn’t flawless by any means, it was definitely a step in the right direction, and I do hope the series continues to find its groove as season three rolls on. Until next time. 

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