It’s the oldest, most obvious trap in politics, and we fall for it every time. The greatest enemy isn’t the one you set your sights on, it’s the one you welcome into your living room with too little question. What we realize too late is that it isn’t just politics. It’s life or death when you’re keeping your loved ones safe. Designated Survivor finally gets somewhere into the investigation on the Captiol explosion, but are immediately sidelined. President Kirkman has a mountain of problems. He really didn’t need a snake in his fledgling garden on top of everything else.
Most of the country is trying to get back to business as usual. That means going to work, taking care of the kids, watching the occasional sport’s match, etc. The U.S. sends a few athletes over to Russia for a match. As soon as they land on the ground their coach is arrested for possession of performance enhancing drugs. It is only later that Kirkman learns that Coach Weston is actually an asset for the CIA. His ability to infiltrate rooms with high-powered dignitaries. The drugs were planted on him as a pretense for his orchestrated arrest. The Russians play hardball. They demand that the U.S. withdraw all of its weaponry from Turkey, but there’s no way Kirkman will agree to that. Instead Kirkman strikes, in Emily’s words “a transnational three-way spy trade” between America, Russia, and Saudi Arabia. But a deal is only as trustworthy as the people involved, and that’s not saying much for beloved Coach Weston, who turns out to be a double agent. This was a really bad moment for the Americans, but Kirkman won’t be played again.
On the personal front Alex’s ex is being a real pain in the Kirkman’s side. He’s shouting to anyone who will listen that he is Leo Kirkman’s biological father, and now Seth has to figure out how to hold off the truth being leaked to the public. The Kirkmans know that this isn’t going to go away now that they are in the public eye, but how they handle it will affect not only the presidency, but their son’s emotional and physical well-being. The best Seth can buy them is 24 hours, so Alex takes a trip to see her ex. He agrees to stop flapping his gums. All it will cost the Kirkmans is his sentence vacated with time served. Alex and Tom discuss taking the deal, but they won’t have Leo find out about his parentage like this. If Leo has a different father than the one he grew up with he is going to find out the right way, not in some sleazy tabloid story. Seth is able to make the story go away by offering an exclusive on the double agent debacle.
Nassar’s assassination leaves everyone on edge, especially Deputy Director Atwood and Agent Wells. They know that MacLeish and his conspirators has Nassar killed, but they can’t risk letting anyone else know that. Like a good boy scout, MacLeish is only too happy to offer his help in the matter. Because of this Atwood can’t even tell President Kirkman the truth about what’s going on. The good news is that if Atwood wasn’t already onto MacLeish, the man overplaying his hand would have sent out warning signals. MacLeish comes by FBI Headquarters to offer up personal records so that the FBI doesn’t have to trouble itself with too much work. Atwood does his best stare down, but regrets it when his son doesn’t make it home from school.
In the meantime Wells follows a lead on Catalan to a friend of hers at the CIA. The minute she says the name he panics, only telling her that Catalan is an American and a traitor. He is able to bring her the CIA’s only file on Catalan, and Wells recognizes him from the prison the day she interviewed Nassar. By this time it’s too late. Atwood’s already been given explicit instructions to follow or the next item on his to-do list will be to bury his son.
Are Catalan and MacLeish working for one another, or are they apart of an even larger web of traitorous terrorists unknown to the government?
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