Designated Survivor “The Results” was written by the team of Paul Redford and Sang Kyu Kim and was directed by Chris Grismer, whose other credits include
Containment,
The Vampire Diaries,
Killjoys, and
Orphan Black. Redford’s other credits are packed with Presidential experience, including
Madam Secretary and
The West Wing, as well as
The Unit and
The Newsroom. Both Redford and Kim have written previous episodes. This episode finally moves the conspiracy plot along a little, but also seems to be full of some rather stupid moves by people.
The episode begins with Nassar’s (Nicholas Massouh) body being prepared and transported. It’s not long before we see Seth (Kal Penn) giving a press conference. I quite liked this scene, and Seth proves several times during the episode why he was the perfect choice for Press Secretary. He’s answering a question about a flu outbreak in Kansas and hyping the election scheduled for the next day. There’s a great shot of Seth noticing a reporter getting a call and trying to wrap up the session before he gets asked a question he doesn’t want to answer – which of course, he does.
I also really liked that Seth answered truthfully – which was all part of a prearranged agreement. Tom (Kiefer Sutherland) disagrees with Emily (Italia Ricci) and Aaron (Adan Canto) about the need to provide any details, however. Naturally, Hookstraten (Virginia Madsen) is angry that she wasn’t told about the death immediately, but she agrees with Tom that they can’t let Nassar’s death overshadow the elections – they need a Congress and a Speaker.
Of course, this isn’t the only threat to the election, however, as the “flu” in Kansas turns out to be a bioterrorist attack of ricin being planted in polling stations. Dr Arnold (Michael Therriault) returns with the CDC to advise the President. They find a suspect in the attack, and Tom’s first instinct is to protect the election at all cost. He has Seth tell the reporters that polling inspections are simply precautionary.
Tom determines that it is simply too dangerous to go ahead with the elections. Aaron reminds him that a federal election has never been cancelled, and Seth points out there are never going to be any guarantees in regards to safety. What ultimately changes Tom’s mind is happening to see the daughter (Ashleigh Rains) of the one victim in the attacks on television. She tells of her mother’s belief that everyone deserves to have a voice and her dedication to volunteering at the polls because so many people sacrificed their lives to provide the freedom to vote.
Tom announces that the elections will go ahead at his first press conference. He is honest and confirms that it was a bio-terrorism attack at the polling stations. He tells Mindy Hesser’s story, and confirms that he will go to the polls the next day. He’s getting pretty good at the stirring speeches and tells the reporters that “We owe it to every American who has given their life for our democracy” and we “will not live in fear!” Maybe it's because I'm not American, but it can be easy for a show focusing on American politics to go a little overboard on the patriotism.
He and Alex (Natascha McElhone) go to vote first thing in the morning and there is only one other person there – the polling station is empty. However, once the people see that Tom has voted, they swarm the polling stations. Tom’s worry was that he’s considered an “illegitimate” President, and if only 10% of eligible voters had gone to the poll, Congress would be considered illegitimate too doesn’t come to pass. Interestingly, there is another sub-plot about legitimacy.
Mike (LaMonica Garrett) has been assigned to guard Leo (Tanner Buchanan), and Leo is waylaid by reporter Jared Abbott (Daniel Maslany) at school who asks him about the rumors that Tom isn’t his father. Leo goes home and confronts Tom and Alex. They try to explain, but Leo is upset that they don’t know for sure one way or another. It was nice to see more of both Garrett and Buchanan in this sub-plot and both characters are growing on me. I’m also very glad to see that they seem to have moved away from Leo being the obnoxious, troubled teen. An over-used storyline that the show can do without.
In the end, Tom has had the quickest DNA test in the history of the world done. He presents the sealed envelope to Leo, and tells him that the results never mattered to him – and still don’t. Leo is his son and nothing will ever change that. He does apologize for not recognizing that Leo might feel differently about it though – and this was also a welcome plot development.
I loved Mike giving Leo some additional perspective by telling Leo about his own experience – and I also liked him cutting Leo off when Leo starts the whiny teenager, “this is supposed to be about my dad” and Mike telling him, no. I’m telling you about my dad.
Leo eventually brings the envelope – still unopened back to Tom. He tells him that he doesn’t need to open it because he knows Tom is his dad. Tom does open it after Leo leaves, and I loved how Sutherland kept his face completely neutral. Alex and Tom have already discussed that being President means that their new home cannot hold any secrets.
Seth has already been looking into where the leak came from because Lisa (Melanie Scrofano) was supposed to kill the story. She tells him that her editor wouldn’t let it die and gave it to Jared. Seth calls Jared in – who is pumped to be in the White House! – and Jared tells him that Lisa gave him the story. Seth then tells Lisa that anything that might have happened between them is definitely off the table. Surprisingly, Tom shares the results with her – the DNA test proves that Tom is Leo’s father. Lisa offers to turn in her Press badge, but Tom says that democracy needs journalists committed to the truth. So the only remaining question is did Tom give her the real results???
Finally, in the major conspiracy plot, Atwood (Malik Yoba) is forced by the mysterious woman (Mariana Klaveno) to tell Tom that he is responsible for Nassar’s death in order to save his son. Hannah (Maggie Q) is suspicious the minute Atwood walks in the door of the office and enlists Chuck Russink (Jake Epstein) to help her. Hannah tries to get Atwood to open up and let her help, but he shuts her down – or does he? He tells her to look into the Wattles case.
Hannah follows Atwood to his meeting with the mysterious woman where he gets his orders from her on the roof of a warehouse. We see that Catalan (George Tchortov) is watching Hannah. Chuck tells her that the Wattles case was closed 8 years ago and involved a DEA Agent whose daughter was kidnapped in order to coerce him to commit illegal acts. Atwood has clearly left her a clue, but Hannah can’t follow him to the Whitehouse and stop him from confessing.
Tom is shocked – and this is a great scene as we see Atwood tell Tom to press the button to call in the Secret Service – it’s nicely done in slow motion with a crane shot. It is clearly costing Atwood a great deal to make these lies and Yoba is just fantastic in this scene. He’s also excellent on the phone with his son. Tom is not entirely convinced by Atwood’s speech about a man like Nassar not deserving to live etc. He insists that it doesn’t make sense for a man like Atwood to build a career over so many years and then just throw it away.
Tom calls both McLeish (Ashley Zukerman) and Hookstraten to the Oval office to give them the news about Atwood. He wants a full investigation. Hookstraten agrees that once Congress reconvenes, it should be a top priority to investigate. McLeish chimes in to say that Congress will have many more pressing concerns – but Tom shuts him down. This sets off warning bells for both Hookstraten and Tom. Hookstraten meets with McLeish and calls him on it. He tells her that he won’t support the investigation. For her own part, she realizes that McLeish is trying to position himself to take over for when Tom implodes. Hookstraten tells him that she’s never going to let that happen – so she is clearly putting a target on her own back.
We finally see McLeish meet with the mysterious woman. She tells him to stay on top of the investigation. McLeish wants to know how many more people will have to be destroyed, and she tells him just one – clearly, Tom. It certainly doesn’t seem like McLeish is in a power position with her or that he’s particularly happy about the plan either.
Finally, Hannah gets a mysterious text not to say anything to Aaron when he calls her in to the Whitehouse to get her take on Atwood’s behavior. In the end, in what is simply an aggravating plot twist – and by aggravating, I mean unnecessary – Hannah tells Aaron nothing. She then gets a call from the mysterious woman who tells her that she will never meet with Hannah, but that Hannah should look into 11:14pm.
So the episode does give us some answers – maybe – but asks a lot more questions too. Should either Atwood or Hannah spoken up? Is McLeish acting voluntarily? Is Tom really Leo’s dad? What did you think of the episode? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
