It seemed difficult to imagine Designated Survivor pulling a more heart-stopping move than killing off the entire United States government in the season premiere, yet they came close by midseason. After all, what better way to kill an already vulnerable nation than by taking out the one person capable of raising it up again. At least that’s the assumption many of us made when the show broke for midseason with a single sniper shot. Despite everything she hoped, FBI Agent Hannah Wells could not get to the podium before all hell broke loose again. She didn’t have time to warn anyone that the newly inducted Vice President was in on the Capitol bombing. Three long months later we finally know the answer to who was shot.
Turn back now if you don’t want to know who took the bullet. The unlucky winner of one sniper round was…none other than President Kirkman himself. The good news is that Hannah was able to get a shot off in the sniper’s direction so that he missed any of Kirkman’s vital organs. Newly appointed Vice President MacLeish is less than thrilled about this, and his adoring wife merely calls it a setback. However, he does need surgery to remove remaining bullet fragments. This means invoking the 25th Amendment to make MacLeish President temporarily. Now Kirkman may not know what MacLeish has been up to, but there is something in him that doesn’t trust this man with complete control of the country. Which is why he personally asks Hookstraten to keep an eye on the VP. Two people from different parties and with different ideals, but somehow Kirkman and Hookstraten have developed strong understanding based on the love they have for their country.
Hookstraten resembles a tiger who’s just realized her prey is a step ahead, but she’s right about one thing. It was a mistake to underestimate the ordinary man, the one everyone dismissed as just another nice guy. People like that don’t rise to the ultimate power so fast and start handing out orders completely contradictory to protocol. For now Emily has been trying to keep Aaron away from the President for fear he is apart of the conspiracy, but his outrage over MacLeish’s orders suggest Aaron is innocent of any wrongdoing. Kirkman would never have ordered his shooter dead without getting answers, which Aaron knows. If he’s innocent, it’s going to be devastating to watch Aaron be investigated, even worse than watching the shock dawn on his face that Emily suspected him of being corrupt.
While all this is happening, Kirkman sends Mike to talk to Hannah. You can tell it causes Mike real pain to leave Kirkman, but they need answers from the only person willing to talk. The problem is she is only willing to talk to the President himself, and he is unable to do so at the moment. Too many eyes make it impossible for Hannah to say anything outright to Mike, which is why faking an attack on him is the only way to point him in the right direction. Once out of surgery Kirkman gets right back to work. He makes a very strong statement by waving to American citizens from his hospital window. The news that MacLeish allowed the stock markets to stay open against advisement galvanizes Kirkman’s investigation, so Hannah gets what she wants. Months of waiting and hoping, and finally, Hannah can finally tell Kirkman face to face everything she knows about the conspiracy.
Can Hannah and Kirkman save the U.S. from catastrophe, or are they too late having already let the snake enter the garden?
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