Designated Survivor “The Enemy” was written by the team of Dana Ledoux Miller and Jon Harmon Feldman and was directed by Paul Edwards, whose other credits include Gotham, Sleepy Hollow, Lost, and Fringe. Miller has also written for Blood & Oil, Narcos, and The Newsroom, while Feldman’s other credits include Blood & Oil, No Ordinary Family and Dirty Sexy Money, making for an interesting writing team. Kirkman (Kiefer Sutherland) continues to try to settle into his new role and crushing responsibilities as President. He is faced with a tipping point on the national front and has to solidify his position within the Whitehouse as well. Things seem to be heating up between Aaron (Adan Canto) and Emily (Italia Ricci), and I can’t say that I’m a fan. I would have liked to see them establish the characters a lot more before adding in an office romance. It looks like Hannah (Maggie Q) is about to move on when she gets a tip about McLeish (Ashley Zukerman). Alex (Natascha McElhone) makes a deal with the devil – ie Hookstraten (Virginia Madsen).
The opening of this episode felt very much like
The West Wing which perfected the walk and talk shot. Kirkman arrives back in the west wing after 3 hours of sleep, and Aaron brings him up to speed. Hookstraten is already in his office, waiting to be briefed on where they are with Nassar. Kirkman is starting to take a tougher stance and pushes back, telling her that she doesn’t have the security clearance.
Once again, Governor Royce (Michael Gaston) in Michigan defies Kirkman and goes back to persecuting Muslims. Emily is still not happy about being passed over for Chief of Staff but is determined to make the best of it. Emily insists that Kirkman use her to be a legal observer of the peaceful protests, but when she gets to Michigan, Royce won’t let her off the tarmac. He tells her that Michigan is off limits to Kirkman, who he continues to deny is President. Kirkman takes the drastic measure of federalizing the National Guard to prevent Royce from declaring a police state.
Kirkman is also facing a mutiny with his General – Harris Cochran (Kevin McNally) – who wants to bomb Nassar’s compound now that his location has been confirmed. They still have an agent unaccounted for, however, and Kirkman isn’t prepared to sacrifice him. Kirkman insists on trying a diplomatic solution first, and the General is not happy. The President Bishara (Chadi Alhelou) of Algeria denies that Nassar is in the country, forcing Kirkman to tell him he’ll fire once the allotted 12 hours is up.
Hannah continues to investigate McLeish, much to Atwood’s (Malik Yoba) displeasure. He tries to discourage her and asks if she needs to take time off to grieve. I’m still really not sold on this one part of the show. McLeish insists that he doesn’t remember leaving his seat, but his wife (Lara Jean Chorostecki) fills in the blank, saying she texted him because she’d lost one of their kids at the mall. Really? Is this the lamest cover story ever? Who would text someone sitting in on the State of the Union?
Alex starts to feel the confines of her new position when she gets a call that one of her clients – Maria (Paula Rivera) – has been picked up, had her children taken away from her and is about to be deported. I do like how the show is tackling a lot of the issues currently in the news, particularly the plight of immigrants – now on two fronts. Alex blames herself for dropping the ball with Maria, but Duncan (Darrin Baker) points out that she is now First Lady. She has a new forum from which to help her clients.
The situation with Nassar isn’t being helped in the Press room because current Press Secretary Carter (Ben Lewis) sucks. In his defense, like everyone else in the Whitehouse, he just got rocketed up the chain of command. Aaron appoints Seth (Kal Penn) to fix it. Seth tells Carter to deflect when he doesn’t know an answer. However, the next time the press go for Carter, he simply panics and flees the room, forcing Seth to step in. And of course, Penn had to end up here! He is able not only to deflect but to change the story – as a good Press Secretary should.
Naturally, Aaron comes to Seth and wants him to take on the job of Press Secretary. He tells him that he’s smart, likeable, and quick on his feet – Seth is also the son of Muslim parents. But Seth doesn’t want the job on those terms. In the end, Kirkman goes to Seth. He tells him that the job offer came from him. Aaron’s motivation was political, but Kirkman wants someone on the podium he respects. Seth accepts the job on those terms. I really like the chemistry between Sutherland and Penn, so I hope we get more of these chats between them.
Back in Michigan, General Munoz (Mark A Owen) is supposed to escort Emily past Royce and his men. However, in a shocking turn of events, Munoz sides with Royce! Kirkman is ready to bring Emily back, but she insists that they need to stand up to a bully. She wants to bring him back to DC with her for a sit down. Emily calls the leader of the Muslim protestors and gets them to come to the airport, forcing Royce to either act on them or come to DC.
Royce insists that Muslims blew up the capital, but Emily sets him straight – it was extremists, NOT Muslims. And isn’t that a familiar mistake on Royce’s part? Emily is shocked when Kirkman puts Royce under arrest for treason! She had told Royce that Kirkman was reasonable, thoughtful, and just. Kirkman tells her that he did what he had to do and that doing the right thing doesn’t always make you feel good. Emily is not impressed, however.
Aaron has two visitors about Kirkman. Hookstraten comes to Aaron wanting to know why the President hasn’t reached out to her as a friend of Royce’s. It’s pretty clear that Kirkman isn’t going to make the same mistake twice about trusting Hookstraten with sensitive material or ending up in her debt for help. She tells Aaron that there are other people in Washington who would appreciate his talents more, and she goes on to tell him that he’s hooked his star to a footnote. It’s clear that if he remains loyal to Kirkman, his career with likely be over when Kirkman’s is.
Emily also goes to Aaron about Kirkman. She is convinced that arresting Royce was all Aaron’s idea. Aaron tells her that it was all Kirkman. She asks Aaron to pour her a drink, and laments that Kirkman is changing. She has to be the only one on the planet to be surprised by that!
Interestingly, Kirkman tells Alex to go to Hookstraten for help with Maria. She does, and Hookstraten makes it crystal clear that if she helps Alex, Alex will owe her. Alex agrees anyway, and they get Maria freed.
When the General fires on Nassar without Kirkman’s explicit command, Kirkman relieves him of his command. By the end of the episode, they get a positive id on the Agent. Kirkman appoints the Admiral Chernow (Mykelti Williamson) as the General’s replacement and is ready to go to war. This is hard because I like both Williamson AND McNally, so I want them both to stay!
Hannah goes to Atwood when McLeish’s story checks out and admits that she wanted to blame him for surviving. She’s decided that she does want off the investigation and that she needs to start dealing with the death. Atwood agrees to transfer her but asks her to sleep on it. Naturally, we knew Maggie Q was a regular so she wasn’t really going to leave the investigation. Hannah gets a call in the middle of the night telling her to find room 105 and she’ll understand more about Peter McLeish. I still feel like this storyline is running parallel to the main story and I’m not sure how the Maggie Q storyline is going to be integrated fully…
This was another great episode. I like how we are seeing Kirkman evolve and learn to navigate the position. It’s clear that he’s starting to embrace it a little more – though he is clearly still uncomfortable being the person who decides who lives and who dies. Love that they’ve found a way to bring Kal Penn into the main group. The theme of the episode was trust your instincts – it’s what Alex tells Kirkman to do, and it’s what Seth tells the press corp that everyone in the White House is trying to do. What did you think of the episode? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
About the Author - Lisa Macklem
I do interviews and write articles for the site in addition to reviewing a number of shows, including Supernatural, Arrow, Agents of Shield, 12 Monkeys, The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, The X-Files, Designated Survivor, Timeless, Killjoys, and a few others! I'm active on the Con scene when I have the time. When I'm not writing about television shows, I'm often writing about entertainment and media law in my capacity as a legal scholar. I also work in theatre when the opportunity arises. I'm an avid runner and rider, currently training in dressage.
