Designated Survivor (ABC>Netflix) (1 Viewer)

[NeilO]

Regarding the latest surprise with the conspiracy I have to wonder what they are going to do with all those bombs they found and how fast they are going to act on that.

 

[Johnny Angell]

Regarding the latest surprise with the conspiracy I have to wonder what they are going to do with all those bombs they found and how fast they are going to act on that.

Since it's a requirement in fantasyland, they won't do the logical thing, which is to immediately seize the bombs.

 

[Nelson Au]

Tonight's episode was a good one. Balanced between the conspiracy and the Supreme Court.

 

[Johnny Angell]

Since it's a requirement in fantasyland, they won't do the logical thing, which is to immediately seize the bombs.

What did I tell you?

 

[SamT]

Who is this guy who is alive now? The same that the Vice President ordered to kill?

 

[Johnny Angell]

Who is this guy who is alive now? The same that the Vice President ordered to kill?

Yes, that's my understanding.

 

[SamT]

I remember him by Catalan. They said some other name. Must be his real name.

 

[Matt Hough]

Any time the Administration can find a workaround to thwart that strutting popinjay that Mark Deklin plays, I am happy.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

The Supreme Court thing was kind of interesting, with Kirkman taking the high road and nominating four conservative-leaning justices alongside four liberal-leaning justices, presumably preserving the status quo from before the bombing. It still beggars belief a little bit that all nine justices were killed in the Capitol bombing. It's common for three to four justices to skip the State of the Union, and I can't remember the last time all nine justices attended.

I do appreciate the show noting that the number of justices is set by Congress, and the nine current seats only date back to the Judiciary Act of 1869 (a statute which also only requires six justices to constitute a quorum.)

The Chief Justice is the head of the federal judiciary and performs many important administrative functions. But he still only gets one vote on the bench and his only real power over the associate justices isthe power to assign opinions when he's in the majority. In the absence of a Chief Justice, mostly recently the period between Chief Justice Rehnquist's passing and the confirmation of John Roberts, the justice with the most seniority serves as acting Chief Justice. In that case, Roberts had already been nominated to fill the seat that Sandra Day O'Connor intended to vacate in order to care for her husband so the confirmation process was well underway. O'Connor agreed to stay on for a while longer, and Roberts became the Chief Justice only 26 days after Rehnquist's death. During those four weeks, John Paul Stevens (a Ford appointee) acted as Chief Justice.

Given that, the order of confirmation for President Kirkman's eight nominees here takes on outsized importance. Presumably the Republican-controlled Senate would make sure to confirm one of the conservative-leaning nominees first to ensure that someone ideologically compatible was acting Chief Justice.

Since it's a requirement in fantasyland, they won't do the logical thing, which is to immediately seize the bombs.

I had your post in my head most of this episode. I think I audibly groaned when Reed Diamond's character told Hannah Wells he was sending in a team to seize the explosives and Hannah was all, "No don't! We can't tip them off that we're on to them!" She might as well have added, "Wait until the weapons are on the verge of disappearing to send the team, when it'll be too late!"

 

[Flashgear]

Needless to say, my opinion only...no intent to offend anyone who enjoys Designated Survivor...

I've been watching this show with a smirk on my face...perversely entertaining for me, as I subject myself to this inept political fantasy...I knew going in what to expect, and haven't been disappointed...

Tonight I had my best laugh yet...a boldly placed and explicit product placement...with lingering camera shots to drive the point home... for a Ford Motor Company Smart Phone app to perform the remote starter function on your brand new 2017 Ford Fusion...just another subtlety among many...ha, ha...

As good as they are as actors, I thought Maggie Q. and Malik Yoba weren't quite up to concealing their embarrassment while walking back to the Fusion...

 

[Nelson Au]

I missed the first minute or so, I came in as those guys were shooting their machine guns and then we see Hanna and Jason speeding away in the suv. I assume they made a mistake and gave themselves away?

I was at first surprised to see Agent Welles remotely start the car with her smartphone, I thought maybe she was activating a bug or tracing device.but as a blatant product placement ad for Ford, it was a little surprising, but certainly not the first. Many companies have been doing this on other shows, Microsoft on Hawaii Five-0, Apple on Modern Family are recent examples off the top of my head. Sony was all over Casino Royale.

I thought Agent Welles was still sort of flying under the radar and not general to be known as exonerated from the shooting incident.

Poor Hookstraten, though it looks like she's got her chip to pull out against her enemies.

 

[Mike Frezon]

I'm getting the sense that writers don't have a clearly thought out resolution to the conspiracy story. Maybe they thought they'd get canceled a few episodes in? It feels like they are making it up as they go--and not in a good way.

As disappointed as I am about the segments of the show focusing on legislation and the attention to such inane details as a Hookstraten's "bad optics" of authoring legislation impacting Turkey after a visit there...I am horrified to what I saw in the tease for the next episode. This really looks like it is quickly turning into a show pushing a political agenda.

This show needs to focus on the concepts which got them here. Why can't we be given more insights into the people fronting the conspiracy--pushing the anarchism?

I am still stunned that we are spending more time with these dopey little side issues (like the ginned-up malfeasance by Hookstraten or romantic relationships among the West Wingers) than the deep shell-shock that should still be gripping the entire country after an attack as horrific as the destruction of nearly all the elected federal government and it's Capitol Building.

But I'm still in.

Maybe this says something: us guys in my office have been having weekly discussions about the latest episodes of 24: Legacy and Designated Survivor. A bunch of them got visibly excited last week when they revisited President Kirkman's first "Jack Bauer" moment when he blew up at the members of Congress who were walking away from the agreement on nine Supreme Court justices. "SIT DOWN!"

 

[Matt Hough]

Well, at least they're giving us some answers (slow as they are to reveal them) despite the product placements and dunderheaded kidnap moves. The underhanded political dealings still continue to capture my attention.

 

[Yee-Ming]

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.

I thought the whole point of them arguing they needed to switch 5 Republicans was that even the appointees were indeed locked into traditional party orthodoxy, and it was only that the widow Senator turned out to not share her late husband's political leanings that "won" them the bill. Although that glosses over the fact that not each and every senator's party affiliation would have matched that of the governor of the same state (assuming generally that governors appoint replacement senators). But it was a convenient shorthand, I suppose.

As to why Bowman didn't filibuster, I thought he made the point in a TV statement, that he wanted to show Kirkman and the country that "the people" did not want gun control, so he wanted the bill defeated by a straight vote. After all, he was the one who either introduced the bill in the first place, or allowed it to come up for a vote -- he hasn't been explicitly called so, but one assumes he must be the Senate majority leader?

As an aside, if Hookstratten was the "designated survivor" from the House, why wasn't there one from the Senate?

 

[GlennF]

Well, I am going to stick it out the rest of the season, but unlikely continue after that. The conspiracy thing just gets more and more wacko. The only thing that keeps me watching is Keifer and Virginia Madsden. She just "exudes" authority to me. If she goes, I be gone. (And the Ford ad puts another nail in the proverbial coffin.)

 

[Johnny Angell]

Well, I am going to stick it out the rest of the season, but unlikely continue after that. The conspiracy thing just gets more and more wacko. The only thing that keeps me watching is Keifer and Virginia Madsden. She just "exudes" authority to me. If she goes, I be gone. (And the Ford ad puts another nail in the proverbial coffin.)

That commercial was a WTF moment for me. It really was so obvious.

However, if I may compare the conspiracy of this series to the one in 7 Days in May, in today's world I find Designated Survivor's conspiracy to be more...possible.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I'm still watching, but this show has a way of falling lower and lower on my priority list lately.

I liked when the Speaker completely shut down her vengeful former aide. I was also pleasantly surprised that the FBI was able to secure the weapons in the silo, and that it turns out that they were legally acquired. Given that they will presumably match up with explosives used to blow up the Capitol, however, it should be a slam dunk to keep them under lock and key.

I could not have been less surprised that the conspirators were the reporter's source. While all of the tidbits they've fed him have been true, each disclosure has advanced their agenda and at best kept the Kirkman administration distracted.

 

[Nelson Au]

Lots happened last night.

Kirkman's solution for Hookstraton was a nice bit of trickery to keep the young whippersnappers on their toes. Though it's unfortunate after her years of dedicated service, she had to be forced into taking this route.

I have to question if Jason really ended up the way he's shown to have ended up.

That last shot of Hanna's situation reminded me of Agents of SHIELD And I kind of expected it when she's seen running through that maze.

I liked the little character bit with Seth getting a photo on Airforce One and his star struck excitement of his situation.

The reveal of Whitaker and then seeing Lloyd doing his speech was a little chilling.

 

[Matt Hough]

But wouldn't Hookstratten still have to be confirmed to her cabinet appointment? Wouldn't there still be lots of problems in confirmation hearings and such?

Is that really true about paying for food on Air Force One?

Gripping episode.

 

[Johnny Angell]

The reveal of Whitaker and then seeing Lloyd doing his speech was a little chilling.

Too real?