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Designated Survivor

Credits

Cast

Network

Reviewer

Paul Asay
Kristin Smith

TV Series Review

Tom Kirkman never asked to be president.

No one voted for him. No one encouraged him to run. He’s far more comfortable behind a desk than in front of a teleprompter, a hard-working bureaucrat with an eye for policy details, not political intrigue. He was Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, after all. It’s a job that earned him a spot at the big boy’s table in Washington. But it’s not exactly a launching pad to political stardom.

“At the end of the day, I’m not President of the United States,” Kirkman reminds Emily Rhodes, his loyal chief of staff, one fateful day. “You should remember that.”

But ironically, and tragically, he’s wrong. That evening, a massive explosion rips apart the Capital building, where the President was giving his State of the Union address to Congress. All the country’s high-level senators and congressmen were there, as were most members of the President’s administration. Only Kirkman—singled out as the emergency “designated survivor” in the case of just such a cataclysm—wasn’t on the Hill.

So at the end of the day, he is President of the United States. And it’s up to this bespectacled policy wonk to shepherd the country through the greatest crisis it’s ever known.

Hail to the Chief

Designated Survivor marks the return of 24′s Kiefer Sutherland to the small screen in a much different role. And the show that first aired on ABC for two seasons has now been picked up by Netflix for its third season. No longer Sutherland he being asked to torture the truth out of dastardly spies and race across busy metropoli before the next commercial break. No, President Kirkman has a much different skill set.

But Kirman’s job is no less stressful, really. Many a nation would love to take advantage of this apparent moment of American weakness. Many a politician and general would like to bring this inexperienced POTUS to heel and have him do their bidding.

Kirkman’s leadership abilities are questioned by the world and even by his own staff. Especially in Season 3 as Kirkland’s term comes to an end and he prepares to run for office from scratch—something he’s never done before.

Mr. Bauer Goes to Washington?

While some of Kirkman’s new staff may be less-than-impressed with their head honcho, television critics showered Designated Survivor with praise when it originally aired on ABC.

Variety said the pilot episode was “annoyingly good.” TV Insider’s Matt Roush name-dropped a handful of critically acclaimed, Emmy-bait shows by way of comparison, saying that “fall’s niftiest new drama has West Wing idealism, Homeland suspense and House of Cards political intrigue in its robust and compelling DNA. Jack Bauer would die for this guy.”

High praise from a secular critic to be sure. But discerning viewers might note that at least two of those shows—Homeland and House of Cards—often pair seriously problematic content with their dramatic storylines. Does Designated Survivor follow in those programs’ explicit, bloody footsteps?

The original two seasons on ABC were largely free of content conundrums. But now that Designated Survivorhas moved to Netflix for its third season (with another reportedly in the works), problematic content flows freely from the Oval Office.

Not Politics as Usual

Now, it’s not all problematic content. The drama in the West Wing still involves more backbiting than bone-breaking. This is, after all, a political drama. And Kirkman is, at his core, a family man. He was a devoted husband to his wife until her tragic death; and he’s a caring father to his son, Leo, and young daughter, Penny.

But this show definitely has more problems in Season 3. Sexual content now includes prostitution, heterosexual couples shedding clothes and climbing into bed together and a prominently featured gay male couple who share a kiss or two. The language we hear inside the White House now includes f-words and other harsh profanities. And, of course, there’s a great deal of lying and subterfuge going on in and around the Oval Office.

In its early stages, Designated Survivor was a rare beast indeed—a good, gritty show that kept its nose relatively clean. But with its migration to the free-range realm of Netflix, it has fully morphed into something much more explicit, almost as if the showrunners wanted to run its formerly clean nose deep in the new iteration’s TV-MA rating.

Episode Reviews

Designated Survivor: Sept. 21, 2016 “Pilot”

An explosion rips through the heart of Washington D.C., destroying the Capitol Building and taking out most of the United States government. Tom Kirkman, tabbed as the “designated survivor” and thus not at the Capitol during the explosion, is sworn in as President of the United States. But he barely has time to adjust the Oval Office chair before challenges begin cascading.

Iran uses the crisis as an opportunity to flex its military muscle in the Middle East, and a U.S. general is pushing the new President to respond in the strongest possible manner. “Forty minutes ago, they showed me the nuclear football,” Kirkman nervously quips. “I guess I’ve had it long enough to try it out.”

We see the Capitol explode from a distance. FBI agents comb through the rubble. Secret service agents have trouble tracking down Kirkman’s teen son, Leo, who lied to his parents about his whereabouts. They eventually find him at a rave where he (unbeknownst to the agents) is selling packets of drugs (perhaps Ecstasy) and kissing one of his female customers. Kirkman and his wife, Alex, smooch in bed, and he encourages her to stay so they can go further. (Penny, their daughter, demands they get out of bed to make her breakfast.)

Kirkman, overwhelmed by his new responsibilities, vomits in a toilet. People plot behind the new President’s back. Characters say “a–” once, “p-ss” once and “h—” at least seven times. God’s name is also misused more than a half-dozen times.

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paul-asay
Paul Asay

Paul Asay has been part of the Plugged In staff since 2007, watching and reviewing roughly 15 quintillion movies and television shows. He’s written for a number of other publications, too, including Time, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. The author of several books, Paul loves to find spirituality in unexpected places, including popular entertainment, and he loves all things superhero. His vices include James Bond films, Mountain Dew and terrible B-grade movies. He’s married, has two children and a neurotic dog, runs marathons on occasion and hopes to someday own his own tuxedo. Feel free to follow him on Twitter @AsayPaul.

kristin-smith
Kristin Smith

Kristin Smith joined the Plugged In team in 2017. Formerly a Spanish and English teacher, Kristin loves reading literature and eating authentic Mexican tacos. She and her husband, Eddy, love raising their children Judah and Selah. Kristin also has a deep affection for coffee, music, her dog (Cali) and cat (Aslan).

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