‘Designated Survivor’ Recap: ‘#truthorconsequences’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

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There is no greater moment for a television series than when the story finds a way to make the audience’s jaw drop in complete and utter surprise. For being able to do that, when there are so many television shows on the air, means that something powerful and incredible happened in the story, and it just so happens, that Designated Survivor managed to pull of this particular feat. For ‘#truthorconsequences’ was simply a magnificent and fascinating story, one that challenged the audience and its characters like never before when it comes to this series and well, it’s best we dig right in and discuss what made this particular tale so incredible and so bittersweet.

For you see, this should have been a celebratory tale, since President Kirkman won re-election in this story, but the circumstances surrounding his victory instead give the viewer pause. Because the season three finale took the time to dive full bore into the question that the last episode posed, specifically whether or not a man like Kirkman can maintain his moral standing in Washington when there’s blood in the proverbial political water and apparently the answer to that question is a resounding no. Because once he was presented with the evidence that Emily brought to him, he chose to bury the whole mess out of the belief that he was doing the right thing for the country, and that will come back to haunt him in his second term.

After all, the FBI had to get involved in the matter since Emily tipped them off in regard to what Miles and Lorraine were up to and sadly, it’s clear that Moss is aware of what went down as well since he let Kirkman have his moment in the sun, all while hinting at being a thorn in Tom’s side down the road and really, what makes this story so breathtaking and stunning, is the sheer fact that you don’t know what to think about Tom, once the dust from this election settles. Because initially, you want to follow his line of thinking and his absolution of his actions because there is some logic to be found in what he says to his therapist. But the fact of the matter is, there’s no justification here, and no common ground to be settled upon; because Tom Kirkman did a very, very, bad thing.

Which of course leads one to wonder, has Washington corrupted this good man? And I think the answer to that question is, no. I think Tom surrounded himself with some bad people and got some supremely stupid advice, and is now going to pay the price dearly in the weeks and years to come since the stigma of being ‘illegitimate’ will continue to hang over his head. Which means, the only thing that matters now, is what Tom does next with all of this. How does he recover, how does he win back the American people and more importantly, his soul, since he’s hosting great doubts about the man he’s become during this campaign and all of this, is downright brilliant when all is said and done. Because this makes Tom Kirkman more human than ever since we’ve all made dubious decisions when the prize is right within our reach and also because, this could become quite the compelling redemption story in season four.

Unfortunately, though, as of press time, Netflix has not announced whether or not Designated Survivor is coming back for a fourth season and honestly, I really hope they give it the greenlight. Because while it may have stumbled a bit early on, this show quickly found its footing and accomplished wonders storytelling wise and I’m ecstatic that it finished on this ambiguous and provocative note, because this was just great writing that quite frankly, speaks to how this show is evolving to tackle real world topics in a manner that no political series has done before. So, please, Netflix, as a fan, I implore you, give us more of this powerful and poignant journey. Because this series really is becoming something special and it wouldn’t be right to end Kirkman’s story, without giving him a proper shot, at redemption.  

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