‘Designated Survivor’ Recap: ‘#whocares’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

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If there’s one thing I love when it comes it to television, it’s being able to pinpoint when a particular season has found its proverbial stride and is beginning to bring everything together in beautiful fashion. Because that means the audience is about to be in for one heck of a ride, and everything one loves about the series is going to be on display from here on out, and after struggling to find its voice for a better part of season three, that all-important moment of convergence finally arrived for Designated Survivor, since ‘#whocares’ brought forth a powerhouse episode, one that exhibited everything that makes this series worthwhile.
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Because this show is really at its best when it takes a particular scenario that we see in everyday life, and strips away the rhetoric and the commentary to present the situation for what it is and this particular tale did just that, by introducing us to a Guatemalan family that was dealing with quite the crisis. For their son, Mateo, suffered from failed kidneys, and his health was in decline, and rather than watch him die at home, they made the dangerous journey to America in the hopes of finding him help and well, that’s where things got a little too real. Because the anti-immigration stance that currently permeates the American landscape was on full display here, with people protesting a hospital’s decision to stabilize the young man and that prompted Kirkman to send Aaron down there to get a better understanding of the situation and find out what the administration could do to help.

Which brings us to how exactly this episode handled that plotline in inspired fashion. Because this was a grand opportunity to scold, and rip into the current rhetoric that has gripped the socio-political scene. But instead of going that route, the show simply reminded us, that immigrants are not monsters or some kind of threat to the fabric of our nation, they’re human beings, and they come upon hard times like the rest of us, and while there is great work to be done in fixing our laws and our immigration system, there’s no reason that we cannot treat other human beings in decent and honorable fashion. Which is why it was so moving to see the Kirkman Administration do plenty to help this young man, and I love that this episode just showed people being good to people for a change, and that particular message, didn’t end with Mateo’s story.

For an incident in D.C., wherein Dante was mugged on his way to work opened Kirkman’s eyes to the harsh reality that there are still far too many communities where African Americans are simply not safe and it gave him the grand idea to call in an old friend to help pilot a program that could in fact, begin to revitalize these parts of our nation, and in turn, offer new economic and educational opportunities to those who didn’t have them before. And while there were some hints of politics that came into play with this, the bigger picture here was that once again, why not be decent to one another, and more importantly, if an opportunity arises to help others and one has the resources to pull it off, why not do it? And it was just refreshing to see this kind of positivity present in the series again and see so many characters working to just make lives better, which is in fact, what we expect government to do for us.

Yet, while all of these elements alone were enough to carry this story and satisfy the audience all at once, this particular tale still found ways to keep the wealth of other plotlines moving briskly, since Emily’s mom arrived in D.C. to make her end of life preparations, Mars is seemingly on a road to redemption when it comes to his wife and honestly, I would venture to say the only storyline here that needed a touch more focus was Sasha’s journey. Because the whole incident in the bathroom was a touch glossed over and I do hope the series finds a good balance for Sasha in the episodes to come. But, that’s a minor complaint, because that run in was still powerful and still tied into the decency theme that hovered heavy over this brilliant episode and well, welcome back Designated Survivor. It may have taken a little while to get you back on track, but it’s happened and its wonderful and I cannot wait to see what incredibly storytelling awaits me as I barrel toward the season three finale. Until next time.  

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