'Designated Survivor' Recap: 'The First Day'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM...YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK...

When we last left President Tom Kirkman on Designated Survivor, he was sitting in the Oval Office delivering a grand speech for the people of the United States of America to quell their fears and provide a sense of normalcy, specifically that there was indeed someone in charge and things were going to turn out okay when all was said and done and for a moment there, it seemed like the series was about to head in a direction where rebuilding the U.S. Government would become the focus because if speeches were being written once again, the status quo would be soon to follow.

But that clearly isn't going to be this show's focus at this point in time and from the opening moments of the second episode in this intrepid series, 'The First Day' it's clear that the moment of blind hope has passed and the people need something more than comforting speeches because as it turns out, no one bothered to really listen to a word that Tom had to say and why would they? The United States Government is crippled. There's no Congress to enact law. No Supreme Court to enforce it. Just the President, also without a cabinet to consult trying his best to put the whole thing back together again and well...the people are rightfully afraid and that fear is what became the centerpiece of this week's episode and that fear was handled in brilliant and realistic fashion.

But before we get too deeply into all that, let's take a moment and talk about the sheer chaos that came about the morning after the attacks because that was equally as impressive. While Tom did his best to put a functioning government back together, the FBI was desperately searching for answers as to who is responsible for this heinous act and in bold fashion, the show gave us no easy answer. Sure there were signs that pointed to one particular terror group, but the smoking gun still has yet to be found, and Tom's first real challenge of the night was to once again quell the military's desire to fire off any and every missile to enact revenge, without 100% proof of who is responsible. This head-butting with the military is causing him grief, but President Kirkman wants everything done right and while that's easy with policy and decisions such as this, it's a touch more difficult when fear and panic come into play, which brought forth his most difficult challenge of the night, the panicked reaction of the Governor of Michigan.

After all, this is a man who made the decision to more or less go rogue in the face of a power vacuum in Washington and it was stunning to say the least as he brought some of our worst fears to life, rounding up Muslim residents in a witch hunt in the hopes of 'keeping the people safe'. He also let State Police work without regulation, resulting in the death of one young man, all while more or less telling the new President to kiss off in the process. It was terrifying stuff to watch, primarily due to the implication that this could be just the beginning, since the Governor was more or less declaring himself an authority higher than the Federal Government and who knows where that could have led. Thankfully President Kirkman finally figured out a way to defuse the situation, but alas, while it was great to see Kirkman put an end to this particular moment of fear related panic, there were others beyond his control.

Case in point, another chilling and bold moment came about when Seth faced a touch of racial profiling when D.C.P.D. stopped him on his way to work,  and questioned him in angry fashion before letting him go on his way and well, the show deserves credit for putting these real world issues front and center and reminding us without a heavy hand what's right and what's wrong. But, what is equally as impressive, is the fact that the show isn't trying to rush us toward some happy ending. Yes there are genuine moments of hope, in this case the final few moments of the episode, but there's no cuddly moments that comfort us, this is a world that is completely and utterly broken and it will take baby steps to put it back together and because this show is willing to take its time, respect its audience and offer us no easy way out, is precisely why we are all enamored by it, because when the cuddly stuff does arrive, it will be a worthwhile and fulfilling moment, since we have in essence, all been through hell together. Until next time.

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