'Designated Survivor' Recap: 'Three-Letter Day'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

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The age-old storytelling notion of good versus evil is one that always manages to resonate with us, simply because, everyone enjoys a good old-fashioned story wherein someone who is just and true, does their best to keep the darkness at bay and make the world a better place in the process and in many ways, this notion is what has fueled Designated Survivor from the get go. After all, President Tom Kirkman is a beacon of shining hope, one that represents the best of us and he does everything within his power to make the world a better place and keep the bad people in the shadows where they belong.
 
But for some time now, Kirkman hasn’t had a true villain or nefarious cause to fight against and while that’s allowed for us to really see the character shine, it truly seems as though the good times are coming to an end. Because last night’s episode, ‘Three-Letter Day’, seemed to signal that some serious trouble is approaching on the horizon for the Kirkman Administration. But before the clouds came rolling in, we were at least treated to one last joyous tale, wherein every character was allowed to shine as the President asked his team to solve a few mysteries that made their way to his desk in the form of three letters, that he felt could be solved.
 
The end results that came about from the team’s hard work allowed for the President to a put a military’s widow mind at ease about her husband’s service without revealing his infidelity so that his memory could be preserved, and Kirkman was able to save a man’s life without raising any eyebrows regarding any abuses of his power, and to top it all off, we even were treated to some fantastic laughs when it came to Seth and Lyor’s mission to save some bees and for that matter, Seth’s lingering plot line regarding his arrest last week was finally put to bed as well and thankfully it looks like we will be seeing more of our favorite White House Press Secretary since the President values strong people that will do anything to protect those they love. 

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​Yet, while all of this made for some quality smiles on our end, as I mentioned before, there are dark clouds gathering in the distance and all of them stem from Patrick Lloyd’s lasting gift to the President by way of the growing scandal with Icarus Astrotech and so much of that came to a head in this episode. For starters, the First Lady seems determined to have Tom abuse his powers to clear her and her mother’s name, something that Tom certainly doesn’t agree with, but more importantly, we came to learn in this particular tale that after all this time, there has been a traitor in the White House’s midst, one that quite frankly I don’t think any of us saw coming.
 
As it turns out, the traitor in question is the ever-plucky MI6 Agent Damian Rennett, and it was revealed in this story that he did everything within his power to prevent Hannah from meeting with the banker who set up the account for the First Lady since such a conversation would reveal all of this to be another Patrick Lloyd scheme and well, this reveal is devastating to say the least because of the implications that come with it. Case in point, did Rennett help Lloyd stay one step ahead of Hannah while he bounced around Europe? Did he help Lloyd return to the United States to execute the plan that’s slowly coming together now, and more importantly…what other plans and schemes is he helping along behind the scenes?
 
Sadly, these are all questions that will have to wait for another time to be answered but in the here and the now, this was quite the shocking turn of events to say the least. It makes this episode bittersweet at best and with Damian’s cover now blown, I have no doubt that things are going to escalate quickly in next week’s midseason finale, so the time has most certainly come to brace ourselves. But, in the meantime, at least we have the other lovely storylines to hang on to from this one, and the fact that once again, Kirkman proved himself to be a champion and force for good, and it would seem that the wonderful moral center that drives him will be an utter necessity for the President in the dark days to come. Until next time. 

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