Designated Survivor (ABC>Netflix) (1 Viewer)

[Yee-Ming]

However, Moss evidently opted not to run for reelection, so he'd be third in the line of succession after Kimble Hookstraten and the new president pro tempore of the Senate since the vice presidency is vacant.

I'm just wondering how they'd even figure out who the president pro tem of the Senate is: IIRC it is the senator who has served the longest, but if the entire Senate was killed in the attack (no mention so far of a designated survivor for the Senate, i.e. Hookstraten's 'counterpart'), then all the new senators would have had the same tenure: it would depend on the order in which they were sworn in, and how would that be determined, considering whoever gets to goes first also becomes second in line (for now, until VP is filled -- again) to the presidency...

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I'm just wondering how they'd even figure out who the president pro tem of the Senate is: IIRC it is the senator who has served the longest, but if the entire Senate was killed in the attack (no mention so far of a designated survivor for the Senate, i.e. Hookstraten's 'counterpart'), then all the new senators would have had the same tenure: it would depend on the order in which they were sworn in, and how would that be determined, considering whoever gets to goes first also becomes second in line (for now, until VP is filled -- again) to the presidency...

By custom, the president pro tempore is the most senior member of the majority party, but there's no reason it has to be so. The Constitution only says that "[t]he Senate shall chuse their other Officers, and also a President pro tempore, in the Absence of the Vice President, or when he shall exercise the Office of President of the United States." It's silent on what criteria the Senate should use when filling the position.

Until March 1890, the vice president was pretty active as president of the Senate, and the Senate only elected a president pro tempore when the vice presidency was vacant or when the vice president was called away from the capital. Senator Arthur Vandenberg, who served as president pro tempore from 1947 to 1949, wasn't the most senior member of his party. Arthur Capper, who was the most senior Republican senator at the time, had certain fringe views that were unpopular with the broader electorate and was in poor health.

So in this case my guess is that whichever party held the most governorships also appointed the most U.S. Senators, and the U.S. Senate subsequently elected an elder statesman from within that party's ranks to be president pro tempore.

 

[Matt Hough]

Enjoyed the episode very much. Plenty of excitement, enough political material to keep it legit (and the Town Meeting made me tear up a little bit), and some surprises with some characters.

 

[Nelson Au]

It's cat and mouse with Agent Wells. That last surprise made me think everyone in on the conspiracy is expendable. Must be a very powerful entity running it.

I wasn't sure I was as engrossed with this episode. They are trying to now show Kirkman as a governing president. Which of course makes sense and is a realistic thing to do. By separating the two story lines though seemed odd. Maybe I missed it but Kirkman wasn't aware of the attempt on Wells life. So there was no cross over.

Hookstraten can't be trusted. I'm worried for Aaron.

 

[Johnny Angell]

I've got my eyes on Kirkman's wife...

You just wait!

Don't forget when she was lobbying to move her and the kids to Camp David, the Prez said something "I'd fall apart without you and the kids" and she replied "I know, be we're going anyway." Those are not exact quotes. I always found that exchange odd.

 

[GlennF]

In about the second or third episode Aaron met someone at night in a park and an envelope or file folder was exchanged. It has never been mentioned since or did I miss something? Was it a story line they have since dropped or something that might come back?
Also getting a kick out of the fact that the show is filmed in Vancouver, B.C., usually the one Canadian city that does not get much snow. (And if they do it usually lasts only a day or so.) However, this year they got dumped on SEVERAL times, so now we see these very snowy scenes that are supposed to be in Washington. I know they get snow there, but nothing like poor British Columbia got this year.

It is sort of the opposite problem the second year of Fargo had, which they filmed in Alberta. That year they had an exceptionally mild winter, so by the end of the series the snow was gone and people were running around in open coats. Nothing like the Canadian weather to screw you up. The price of filming where there is a 74 cent dollar.

 

[SamT]

Where did that last USB come from?

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

In other news, showrunner on this show has to be the least secure job in Hollywood.

 

[Stan]

We're all different, thus, I think the show is that bad.

Oh I agree, the show is bad. Seriously, the entire government is killed off in one moment and Sutherland is the survivor? Way over the top, but in an odd way, just a fun, enjoyable way to waste 45 minutes a week.

There are a lot of really crappy shows I've bailed on (Mom, Two Broke Girls, all of the "Chicago...things except for Chicago Med, Bull, the NCIS spin-offs), but I like Designated Survivor.

 

[Johnny Angell]

Oh I agree, the show is bad. Seriously, the entire government is killed off in one moment and Sutherland is the survivor? Way over the top, but in an odd way, just a fun, enjoyable way to waste 45 minutes a week.

There are a lot of really crappy shows I've bailed on (Mom, Two Broke Girls, all of the "Chicago...things except for Chicago Med, Bull, the NCIS spin-offs), but I like Designated Survivor.

I'm not claiming the show is perfect, but you're complaining the Designated Survivor is the survivor?

 

[Josh Dial]

I'm not claiming the show is perfect, but you're complaining the Designated Survivor is the survivor?

Haha amazing. I literally laughed out loud at this one.

 

[Nelson Au]

The show feels like it's making another shift in tone from the last two episodes. Especially last night, it's feeling more like the West Wing, though I don't really recall that series. It feels like more about the politics of being a new president making his way through uncharted territory and the conspiracy has taken the back seat or is a undercurrent now. I'm not saying it's a bad thing. I came into the series because I was curious about the conspiracy. Hope that's not totally downplayed.

 

[Johnny Angell]

Oh, the conspiracy is still there and we'll see plenty of it.

Earlier I had commented I was worried about the first lady. Now I'm thinking they decided to downplay the family and that's why they moved the family to Camp David. In the last episode, we saw plenty of the first lady, so she's commuting a lot.

 

[Matt Hough]

Nicely balanced episode this week with the gun registration bill vote dominating, and the exploration of the conspiracy the "B" plot. Both held surprises and both held my attention admirably.

 

[Johnny Angell]

Nicely balanced episode this week with the gun registration bill vote dominating, and the exploration of the conspiracy the "B" plot. Both held surprises and both held my attention admirably.

Of course we know we have now entered deep, deep into the world of fantasy when that bill got passed by either house. Just sayin'.

 

[Mike Frezon]

It feels like more about the politics of being a new president making his way through uncharted territory and the conspiracy has taken the back seat or is a undercurrent now. I'm not saying it's a bad thing.

I am.

If the show continues on this path, I'll be out in a flash.

We have to sit and watch a Senate vote (a vote which was totally misrepresented in actual procedure) and care about the outcome? And people think this is interesting TV? And the outcome was impacted by a senator whose name conveniently came last in the alphabet and whom we had never heard of before in the series and come to find out after the vote that her vote was a surprise because of the politics of her deceased husband?

I'm at a complete loss to understand how the political discussion in this episode can have much of anything to do with the main premise of this story.

 

[SamT]

Yes I was also thinking this should not be The West Wing or another show on how the government works. This should be mainly about the conspiracy. This is how the show was sold. Imagine 24 where they talk about normal government work and nobody is running.

 

[Mike Frezon]

And, in particular, to take an issue like the 2nd Amendment is a risky idea because you are likely to piss off half your audience depending on how it's played.

But, yeah, you might need a little bit about how government works as they work to come out of the crisis...but it sure does seem like the House and Senate got filled mighty quick without much fuss/effort and we have moved on to mundane political issues way too quickly. Think back to 9-11-01 and how long it took government (and the country) to resume to "normalcy" and a routine way of life. This is getting way off the mark.

 

[Johnny Angell]

Of course we know we have now entered deep, deep into the world of fantasy when that bill got passed by either house. Just sayin'.

And, in particular, to take an issue like the 2nd Amendment is a risky idea because you are likely to piss off half your audience depending on how it's played.

But, yeah, you might need a little bit about how government works as they work to come out of the crisis...but it sure does seem like the House and Senate got filled mighty quick without much fuss/effort and we have moved on to mundane political issues way too quickly. Think back to 9-11-01 and how long it took government (and the country) to resume to "normalcy" and a routine way of life. This is getting way off the mark.

For those of us who liked that outcome, let us have our fantasy, because that's all it is.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Of course we know we have now entered deep, deep into the world of fantasy when that bill got passed by either house. Just sayin'.

In any other political show, I'd say yes, but the unique scenario of this series created just enough wiggle room for me to suspend my disbelief. If you think back to Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, it all came down to the unexpected death of a sitting senator opening the door for a governor to make an unexpected appointment that shook the conventional wisdom of Washington politics.

Given that the Capitol bombing led to the unexpected deaths of all 100 sitting senators, it's not outside the realm of possibility that enough Mr. Smiths not locked into traditional party orthodoxy got appointed along with the usual opportunists and down-the-liners.

The bigger question for me is why 51 votes was the cutoff when you need 60 to break a legislative filibuster in the Senator. Given Bowman's steadfast opposition, I can't imagine him not filibustering it. But given that so many other legs of the filibuster stool have gotten knocked out in recent years, I suppose it's not outside the realm of possibility that the post-crisis Senate changed the rules.

We have to sit and watch a Senate vote (a vote which was totally misrepresented in actual procedure) and care about the outcome? And people think this is interesting TV?

This is actually closer to the series I was rooting for when the premise of the show was announced. The thrill ride built around the conspiracy holds marginal interest, but the idea of a great calamity allowing the better angels of our nature to have a change at reforming the American experiment for the better holds great interest for him.

As for the Senate procedure: It's hard to say what's right and what's wrong when the entire traditional body got wiped out in one fell swoop. A lot of what governs how the Senate operates is built on tradition and inertia. When I first saw the modern-looking Senate chamber with voting screens at every desk, I was appalled at the lack of accuracy. But then I realized that with the House chamber completely destroyed by the bombing and the rest of the Capitol severely damaged by the subsequent loss of structural integrity and fires, of course the Senate would have to meet elsewhere and of course it would make sense to utilize modern facilities. With a whole new body of Senators, I can buy them revising the procedures of the chamber to suit their needs.

Yes I was also thinking this should not be The West Wing or another show on how the government works. This should be mainly about the conspiracy. This is how the show was sold. Imagine 24 where they talk about normal government work and nobody is running.

My dream, for two or three seasons down the line!

And, in particular, to take an issue like the 2nd Amendment is a risky idea because you are likely to piss off half your audience depending on how it's played.

For me it's about the human drama. When a show like "Supergirl" takes on gun control, it rubs me the wrong way because I don't come to "Supergirl" to be lectured about gun control. But here, especially with a president who'd just been shot, it feels more organic.

I would have been fine if Kirkman had turned out to be an anti-gun control president, to be honest with you. My main concern is that he's fighting for what he believes in with good motives. If he's acting with personal integrity, I can invest in his fight and his journey. If they ever make him a scum bag, then I'll disengage regardless of whether I agree with his politics. In some ways, there's wish fulfillment to have a decent man sitting in the oval office built into the premise, strange as that is to say about a show built around a devastating attack on our democratic republic and way of life.

But, yeah, you might need a little bit about how government works as they work to come out of the crisis...but it sure does seem like the House and Senate got filled mighty quick without much fuss/effort and we have moved on to mundane political issues way too quickly. Think back to 9-11-01 and how long it took government (and the country) to resume to "normalcy" and a routine way of life. This is getting way off the mark.

I would have liked more time spent on the actual rebuilding of the government in the immediate aftermath of the attack. That is one of my biggest criticisms of the first half of the season: Too much soap opera, and too many stupid plot developments with the conspiracy, and not enough nuts and puts about how the government pieces itself back together.

But the Constitution actually does provide mechanisms to rebuild Congress mighty quickly -- especially in the Senate -- and the show mostly did a good job of following them.