'Designated Survivor' Recap: 'The Oath'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

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

It's always nice when you discover a new television show that immediately establishes the fact that you're going to be treated to quality storytelling week in and week out, and Designated Survivor meets that criteria. After all, every episode is compelling, the characters are downright fascinating and any mistakes that the show has managed to make are easily forgivable due to the fact that the series has been working toward something incredibly important, specifically the big reveal as to who was behind the Capitol bombing that put Kirkman in office in the first place.

But perhaps what the series should be proud of most, is the fact that it reaches its audience by allowing for anybody watching to experience some powerful emotions over the course of an hour, and last night's episode, 'The Oath', resurrected an emotion that the audience hasn't experienced since the series premiere...fear. Because this particular episode, was more or less a race against time, for several characters. For Hannah, it was all about exposing MacLeish before a quick surprise changed her mission and her goals and for President Kirkman, it was all about finding the traitor that leaked the file that eventually led to the Capitol building's destruction in what turned out to be quite the thrilling mid season finale. 

In fact this episode wasted no time in getting down to business, picking up right where we left off last week, with Hannah's life in grave danger. Because the accident that everyone thought was too perfect to be a coincidence was correct. It was an assassination attempt and while Hannah was able to escape her attacker, the evidence she had on MacLeish was gone...leaving her with no choisce but to visit her favorite technician to recover and try to start over in the case. Granted there wasn't much to work with, so Hannah chased down the last good lead she had left, the mysterious phone calls she's been receiving, and the person making said calls. The trail eventually led her to discover that President Richmond's former Chief of Staff, Charles Langdon, was alive and on the run from the same group trying to kill Hannah and this discovery eventually led to the biggest moment of the night.

Because everything was connected this episode and while Hannah worked to find some kind of solid evidence about this whole conspiracy, President Kirkman was racing against time to uncover who leaked the file, going so far as to bring in the man who wrote it, and he informed Tom that only a handful of people were able to see this file, including General Cochrane, who was promptly summoned to the White House. But unfortunately, the General had little information to offer up to the President, outside of the fact that the file was recalled before he could read it leading Kirkman to get Emily involved on this and find out who made the phone call to have that file pulled from the General's email and oddly enough, Charles Langdon's name surfaced once again. But alas, this was about as far as Kirkman could get in his investigation, because it was time to swear in his new Vice President and that's when everything came together in terrifying fashion.

It turns out, that MacLeish's confirmation and ascension to the Vice Presidency was all part of a master plan to install him as President of the United States, which meant that Kirkman needed to be removed from office and it would seem the only person in his corner to try and save his life was Hannah. Because she was able to discover that the people on her trail had access to a building with a clear line of sight to the ceremony and it was up to her to stop an assassin from killing the President, and although she did arrive in time, her actions on this day put her on law enforcement's radar, which means she was spotted on her way to save the day and while she was able to squeeze off one shot...so was Catalan, the assassin in question and well...at this point we have no clue who was hit by the bullet. The only knowledge we came away with in those final moments, is that Aaron appears to be the traitor in question since Emily received a last minute phone call letting her know that Aaron is the one who recalled the secret file and well, when all is said and done...this was a phenomenal episode and an effective use of a cliffhanger. Because now we have to wait until March to have all these incredible plot lines advanced or resolved...and while the wait is going to be utterly excruciating, at least we know deep down it will be worth it, because Designated Survivor always delivers and this midseason finale is more proof of that. Until next time.

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