'Designated Survivor' Recap: 'Overkill'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

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To say that war is hell, would be an understatement, but not for the obvious reasons. After all, everyone knows that lives are lost when two factions enter into that kind of conflict, but there are other complications that arise from such an act. There’s resistance from those who wish to see peace prevail and really, men and women of honor, who make the call to send soldiers into battle when they feel there is no other alternative, cannot sleep well at night knowing that they are sending human beings into harm’s way and it is this tougher and more cerebral side to war that was explored in depth in last night’s episode of Designated Survivor.
 
Because ‘Overkill’ picked up immediately where we left off last week, wherein Tom Kirkman had just ordered a massive military response against the Kunami regime for attacking the United States and wouldn’t you know it? What should have been a simple assault, quickly turned into a prolonged conflict. One that was supported by the American people, but one that began to concern Kirkman’s inner circle. Because without an end in sight to this war, the Administration’s goals would continue to take a back burner to the conflict and that was in fact a valid concern since the Emir of Kunami, dug in and refused to surrender without a golden parachute in hand. 
 
But while it was fascinating for the show to take into consideration how war can in essence, make a government stagnant, as always, it’s the character development that makes this series shine and once we got past the political implications, we got down to business as to how war can grind on the minds of those involved, and that was accomplished by way of Hannah and the President. In Hannah’s case, she saw this conflict as a chance to avenge John’s death, going so far as to put a gun in Greg Bowen’s face when she learned he was involved in this whole mess and that fury only grew more dangerous once she arrived in Kunami to work on finding a worthy successor to run to the country since she was free to take her rage out on any enemy solider that pointed a gun her way. 
 
As for Tom, well, it didn’t take long for the war effort to wear him down mentally. After all, he is a good man, one that believes in peace and compromise, so this definitely took him out of sorts, to the point where he questioned his own motives in ordering the strike, despite being told that his decision made sense and thankfully, trusting his gut eventually paid off in spades when it was discovered that the Kunami Ambassador was the true brains behind the attack and that the Emir, had chemical weapons ready for deployment in his country, meaning that Tom had done the world a great service and it was just lovely to once again see the gentler side to Tom pop back up in this episode, because it is something the series has sorely missed.
 
However, while it seems as though this episode was wrapped up in tidy fashion, once again the hacks have brought forth all kinds of trouble. Because our mysterious hacker tapped into the computer belonging to the president’s therapist, and leaked the doctor’s notes onto the web, which will likely raise all kinds of questions about Tom next week when it comes to his mental fitness. But what’s more disturbing, is that these hacks truly seem to be targeting Tom since they are either directed at him, or at places near him, indicating some form of revenge. But alas, it will be some time before we discover who is behind this and why they’re targeting Tom and it should be interesting to see how President Kirkman will deal with having his dirty psychological laundry aired out for all the nation to see. Until next time.

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