This will be a double review of
Designated Survivor’s last two episodes – with only two more to go before the end of the season. ABC likely won’t make any announcements about renewals now until their appearance at the May 16th Upfronts. “Lazarus” was written by Jennifer Johnson and was directed by Chris Grismer. “Misalliance” was written by the team of Dana Ledoux Miller and Jenna Richman and was directed by Norberto Barba, whose credits also include
Preacher,
Grimm,
Law & Order: SVU, and
The Event, among many others.
In “Lazarus,” there is actually one resurrection and the beginning of the end for another character. It’s Lozano (George Tchortov) who turns out to be alive. Atwood (Malik Yoba) is shot as he and Hannah (Maggie Q) escape from the Pax Americana meeting. Hannah sidelines him, saying he can’t drive or shoot – though we see him driving – so that the two end up in danger from being alone – but I’ve given up on expecting much logic from this side of the story. It does give Hannah an excuse to work more with Forstell (Reed Diamond).
The investigation is jeopardized by Abe Leonard (Rob Morrow) continuing to investigate. I have to say, I’m extremely underwhelmed by Morrow in this. And how stupid is he to wait in a parking lot for three hours to discover that the only other car there had someone else in it? Leonard tries to get information from Atwood who punches him and drives away without saying anything – all before Hannah sidelines him.
Hannah is presented with footage from Homeland Agent Jay Whittaker (Richard Waugh) that seems to provide evidence of Lozano’s death, but on examination, you never actually see his face. They trace the real fingerprints from the body that was supposed to be Lozano back to the CEO of Browning-Reed – Patrick Lloyd (Terry Serpico). Hannah and Forstell visit Lloyd who basically stonewalls them. Forstell puts surveillance on him, but Lloyd is well protected.
The episode ends with Hannah being kidnapped and Leonard meeting with his informant who happens to be Whittaker. Hannah ropes Atwood into helping her with something before she is kidnapped – sending him off on a dangerous mission once again without back up. We also see Whittaker report to Lloyd.
In the White House, Tom (Kiefer Sutherland) signs the gun Bill into law. Hookstraten (Virginia Madsen) is at his side and also seen as one of the winners of this battle. There’s a nice parallel walk and talk scene. In one, Aaron (Adan Canto), Emily (Italia Ricci), and Seth (Kal Penn) discuss the possibility of Hookstraten being made Vice President. Seth is looking forward to having Aaron back, but Emily won’t comment. Seth insists that the public wants it, and Emily hedges. Tom is a consensus builder and Hookstraten is a … bulldog. She’s a politician and he’s not.
Meanwhile, Tom and Hookstraten have their own walk and talk on the White House veranda. They’ve come to trust each other. Tom feels that they have a chance to do something very special. He’s going to have the vetting started right away to have her confirmed.
Bowman (Mark Deklin) has other ideas, however, and is holding quite a grudge. A story is released via Politico about a trip that Hookstraten made to Turkey that was followed closely by an arms deal with Turkey. Emily and Seth report to Tom that while the optics are bad, there’s no real evidence of malfeasance. It turns out that Liam Price (David Lafontaine) is behind it because Hookstraten fired him 12 years ago for taking money from lobbyists.
Hookstraten meets with Tom and assures him that the trip and the bill she later sponsored were completely unrelated. The trip had to do with agriculture and her own district, while the bill done with her mentor at the time and was to sell arms to bolster security. Hookstraten tells Tom she’s unlikely to get much support from her colleagues because she’s seen as “old guard” and they are all new and young. Tom refuses to just throw Hookstraten under the bus, however.
Tom wants to remind everyone of all the good they’ve accomplished together so far and has Seth write an Op Ed to that effect. They still have to find someone to take credit for it, however, and an outlet to publish it, but in the end, they have to settle for a low level release because no one wants to take credit for it.
As “Misalliance” begins, Hannah is chained and gagged in the back of a transport truck with Lozano overseeing. Emily is discussing TSA screening with Jay Whittaker! Lozano contacts both Whittaker and Lloyd to tell them that the package – Hannah – is out for delivery.
The terrorist storyline continues to be tedious for me. Mike (LaMonica Garrett) ends up pulled into the storyline when it’s clear that Hannah has been kidnapped. Mike and Forstel follow the Browning-Reed lead and determine that there is someone on the inside deleting their records.
Meanwhile, Atwood collects spy equipment off the grid and keeps an eye on Lloyd. Lloyd is speaking at an alt-right rally and tells the crowd that it’s time to rise up. No illegitimate President or government is going to stand in their way!
Atwood follows Lloyd back to his ranch and manages to get pictures of Lloyd with Whittaker. He overhears that everything is on track with Leonard. The investigation’s focus is on the three targets that the FBI knows about. Lloyd states that they may not have the Presidency but the will have the country before long! Atwood starts sending information back to somewhere – we can only hope he’s sending it to someone other than himself or Hannah – when he hears a noise and goes to investigate. He comes upon a deer, but then Lozano is there, and he shoots and kills Atwood. Such a waste!
As usual for me with this show, I was more engaged by the political storyline, particularly as it touched some real world issues. Two threads ran through this part of the narrative that were nicely woven together at the end. It’s interesting to me that this side of the plot can do that while the two main threads seem like oil and water.
The first thread follows Hookstraten’s ethics hearing. We see Hookstraten testify and deny any connection between her trip and the aid package that followed. She tells the committee that they are all new but they all took the same oath to uphold the values of Congress. Anyone who could testify on her behalf is dead, of course, so she tells them that her record and reputation will have to speak for her.
Meanwhile, Alex (Natascha McElhone) is showing a group of high school students through the White House when Tom suddenly pops in to say hi and take selfies with them. The group is choir/orchestra from the recently re-named Robert Richmond school in New Orleans and former President Richmond’s son Tyler (Colin Woodell) is there with them.
Tyler and Tom catch up and Tyler tells him that the students may soon be without a music program because the program is part of a five year grant for Arts funding that is just coming up for renewal. Tom insists that “Every student in the country should have access to the arts in their education.” And I couldn’t agree more! With no arts, there would be no television or movies!! And of course, this is very much a debate taking place across the US and many other countries as the emphasis is being placed on science and technology to the detriment of the arts.
Hookstraten stops in to update Tom on the hearing and tells him she’s not sure how it went, but even if the committee finds there’s been no wrong-doing, the accusation is still out there. Tom vows again to stand behind her. Then he asks about the Funding for the Arts grant. She’s aware of it but points out that it has to go through Ways and Means to get funding and Owen Saldua (Vincent Rodriguez III) is heading that committee – as well as her Ethics committee. She suggests that Tom might have an in with him himself because both Tom and Saldua are Independents.
Saldua meets with Tom and is immediately concerned it’s about the Ethics hearing. Tom puts his mind at ease, telling him he’s not going to meddle in an on-going investigation. He tells Saldua about the visiting high school students and the Arts funding that’s running out. He asks if they can tack the funding on to something else and get it passed quickly. Saldua immediately gets his back up and tells Tom that he ran for Congress to fight against just such back room dealing. Tom insists that this is a National program.
Saldua, however, is also on the other side of the argument, saying that education needs to focus on science because US kids are lagging behind others in the world. Once again, Tom voices my own opinion: Children should not be forced to choose between science and the arts – anymore than students should be limited to one or the other. I’m all for encouraging young women in STEM, but not at the expense of the arts!
Aaron checks in with his cousin Nadia (Mercedes de la Zerda) whose Congresswoman (Grace Lynn Kung) is also sitting on the ethics committee. He gets the very disappointing news that the vote is likely to go 9 to 3 against. He tells Hookstraten, who really thought she’d done better than that. Aaron assures her she did, but it’s a kangaroo court. Aaron is ready to start a campaign to fight the decision in Congress, but Hookstraten is done. She knows they are gunning for her and will strip her of her Speakership. But he’s given her an idea for a last hurrah.
Hookstraten goes to Saldua, and he tells her that the kind of politicking she does should be a thing of the past. She tells him that if the committee’s decision goes to the House, she could eat up 6 months with delays and testimony. So, she makes him an offer he can’t refuse: She’ll resign her Speakership and her seat, but she wants the Arts funding re-authorized before she goes!
Hookstraten takes the news to Tom, and this is a really nice scene between the two. She tells him that she’s decided to resign, but she’s secured the Arts funding. She came to Washington to serve and she can’t do that for her constituents now the way she should. She tells Tom that he’s the best ally she could have hoped for and it’s been a pleasure to serve. I liked that they made it clear that whatever she had to do that was politically expedient, she did it to serve her constituents. The show hasn’t gone the easy route of making the Republicans the bad guys.
Meanwhile, Alex spends some time with Tyler. He asks how she and the kids are doing, and she says it’s been hard. He tells her that all that matters is that they stick together. Alex tells Tom about the sadness that still surrounds Tyler, who feels her missed out on getting to know his father. Alex wants to know if the kids aren’t better off with them. Wasn’t it Alex who wanted them out of harm’s way to begin with? Tom tells her not yet as he’s concerned about the reports he’s gotten about Hannah. He cryptically confides in Alex that he asked someone to do something for him and he’s worried it has endangered them – and of course, he’s referring to Hannah.
The other matter that the White House is dealing with is an upcoming arms Summit in Toronto. This was super fun as, of course, the show if filmed in Toronto (where I grew up!), so I’m looking forward to seeing lots of location shots coming up! Moss (Geoff Pierson) is excited because the French Ambassador wanted to talk about de-escalating nuclear armaments. Tom is worried that if they start laying down their weapons, it will open them up to the Russians if they don’t reciprocate.
There’s a nice meeting between Moss, Emily, Seth and Tom to discuss strategy for the Summit. Tom’s focus is to be more multi-national than national – a nice contrast to actual reality – and Moss is concerned with reducing military hotspots and raising awareness – another nice contrast. Emily isn’t going on the trip, but Seth is excited about his first trip on Air Force One. As it turns out, Mike is pulled off Tom’s security detail to continue to help look for Hannah, which can only leave Tom vulnerable…
Tom introduces the choir and orchestra, and he’s able to tell Tyler that the Arts Grant is being renewed beforehand. As he introduces the kids, he also mentions that Tyler reminded him of the importance of the Arts. We learn that he’s making Hookstraten Secretary of Education! Let’s face it – she’s going to do a much better job than Betsy DeVos! However, I wonder if this means that Madsen is leaving. It would certainly indicate a much smaller role for her if she stays, which is a shame. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed her.
Finally, Moss ensures that Seth gets the picture his mom wanted – Seth on the steps of Air Force One waving – and with the President! And of course, Penn actually did take selfies with Air Force One in real life when working for the Obama administration.
Hannah manages to use the underwire in her bra (also done earlier this year on another ABC show –
Timeless) to pick her locks. Even though she’s been drugged and not eaten, she finally manages to win a fight and drug her captor to escape from the container she’s been in, only to discover she’s on a ship out at sea!
I’m still not sold on the terrorist plot, but I am really enjoying how real world elements are being mirrored in the show. I’m very much looking forward to the last two episodes of the season! What did you think of the episodes? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
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| Kal Penn and the REAL Air Force One from his time in the Obama Administration |
