'Designated Survivor' Recap: 'The Interrogation'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

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

It's been so far, so good for President Tom Kirkman on Designated Survivor. He's handled the devastating attack on the United States Government with grace and poise. He's stood up to insubordinate members of his cabinet, stopped insurrection dead in its tracks and even managed to bring a major terrorist to justice. Yes, he's doing quite the fine job to say the least and with such big crises behind him, the time has come to start rebuilding a fractured nation. 

Last night's episode, 'The Interrogation', was the genesis of that process, as Tom invited all fifty governors to the White House to appoint a standing Congress and set a date for special elections to select a House of Representatives and while that plot line alone sounds like it should be boring and dry...it most certainly wasn't. Because up until this point, Tom has dealt little with the day to day rigors of politics and well, leave it to this show to make such a thing damn interesting since the governors in attendance were more than ready to grill the President on a great number of subjects and with good reason...they don't know the man, or what he is about and in these tense times, they have to know if Tom is someone they can truly trust.  

So naturally, Tom did his best to answer their questions, but for the first time ever...we saw the pressure finally get to him. After all, these governors were ruthless, challenging the legitimacy of his Presidency and ripping into his character...to the point where it seemed as though Tom was ready to step aside and let someone else deal with the job. But rather than allow that to happen, we saw Aaron step up in his role and explain to Kirkman how his grit and resolve and drive made Aaron a believer and it was time for him to do the same with the governors and well, that little pep talk brought back the fiery Kirkman we have all come to know and love. But despite his best efforts to simply woo them, the governors had another idea in mind...they had come to Washington to bargain and in exchange for temporarily closing the borders to our country, he would receive his Senate. 

But the title of this episode did not merely extend to President Kirkman's story. A gunman that took aim at the White House, one loyal to Al-Sakar prompted Kirkman to order the FBI to get a confession from Majid Nassar in order to get him moved to a more secure location and this little plot thread, continued to advance the mystery of who blew up Capitol Hill because Hannah and Jason were indeed able to get Nassar to confess...to the fact that he took responsibility for someone else's work, a mystery person known only as 'Catalan'. However, who that name belongs to still remains a mystery since the FBI database has no information related to it and their only source of information in Nassar is gone now, courtesy of a poisoned dinner, and it's clear now that whomever or whatever Hannah and Jason are up against are powerful and well connected to say the least. 

Either way, I have to admit that while this episode was entertaining and I am thoroughly enjoying the conspiracy plot line and how we get just enough week in and week out...the constant challenging of Tom's Presidency is getting a little old. I can understand a few people going after it here and there, but the Line of Succession is no secret and it is as legitimate as it gets in order to keep the Government functioning, so here's to hoping we are about done with that particular element storytelling wise. Outside of that little quirk, it was good to see the President get down to business politics wise and I love the fact that Kirkman truly doesn't have a taste for all the posturing and dealmaking that occurs to get things done. It speaks to the fact he just wants to govern and do what's right for his country, but he also understands...that a deal has to be made from time to time. Either way, the clock is ticking for the FBI to figure out how MacLeish is connected into all of this mess, and let's hope they can figure it out, before Tom officially appoints him as the Vice President. Until next time.

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