B-Season 1Designated Survivor ends its first season with unearned optimismZack Handlen5/17/17 10:42pmSaveEditEmbiggenSend to EditorsPromoteGo to permalinkOne the challenges when writing villains in an adventure story is making them a threat credible enough to be a…
C+Season 1Designated Survivor is two good tastes that taste dull togetherZack Handlen5/10/17 11:07pmSaveEditEmbiggenSend to EditorsPromoteGo to permalinkI was all set to question the logic of Kirkman’s latest move—pushing a nuclear disarmament proposal through NATO—but…
C+Season 1It’s Hannah in the box on a bland Designated SurvivorZack Handlen5/03/17 11:00pmSaveEditEmbiggenSend to EditorsPromoteGo to permalinkHannah’s been captured by the conspiracy! Hookstraten is on the ropes! There are only three episodes left in the…
C+Season 1Designated Survivor tries for thrills, doesn’t quite get thereZack Handlen4/26/17 10:49pmSaveEditEmbiggenSend to EditorsPromoteGo to permalinkI’m not sure what we’re supposed to make of Abe Leonard. Rob Morrow plays him like a man who probably isn’t drunk right…
C+Season 1Designated Survivor wanders through the woods in more ways than oneAllison Shoemaker4/20/17 1:48amSaveEditEmbiggenSend to EditorsPromoteGo to permalinkDesignated Survivor has a Peter MacLeish problem.
BSeason 1An average Designated Survivor has Kirkman scrounging for votesZack Handlen4/12/17 11:02pmSaveEditEmbiggenSend to EditorsPromoteGo to permalinkMore leaning into the politics, and more struggles by the Kirkman administration to push a political platform that’s…
B+Season 1Designated Survivor gets political in a simple but effective entryZack Handlen4/05/17 10:46pmSaveEditEmbiggenSend to EditorsPromoteGo to permalinkDesignated Survivor has spent the weeks since the assassination attempt that marked the midpoint of the season focusing…
B+Season 1Kirkman makes one friend, loses another on Designated SurvivorZack Handlen3/29/17 10:58pmSaveEditEmbiggenSend to EditorsPromoteGo to permalink“Commander-In-Chief” finds our hero getting a few more pieces of intel on the conspiracy that put him in the White…
BSeason 1Designated Survivor battens down the hatchesAllison Shoemaker3/23/17 3:00amSaveEditEmbiggenSend to EditorsPromoteGo to permalinkIt’s understandable that, after an hour like “The End of the Beginning,” Designated Survivor might need a moment to…
A-Season 1Designated Survivor finds its balance in a grim, exciting episodeZack Handlen3/15/17 10:51pmSaveEditEmbiggenSend to EditorsPromoteGo to permalink“The End Of The Beginning” finds Kirkman still stuck in a hospital bed. That’s not a huge surprise, and, at least on a…
BSeason 1Designated Survivor returns with its usual chaste thrillsZack Handlen3/08/17 10:41pmSaveEditEmbiggenSend to EditorsPromoteGo to permalinkThere’s a fundamental corniness to Designated Survivor that I find fascinating. It’s not really a good thing; at its…
B+Season 1Shots fired as Designated Survivor ends on an effective cliffhangerZack Handlen12/14/16 10:49pmSaveEditEmbiggenSend to EditorsPromoteGo to permalinkIt’s an easy trick—introducing a tech nerd into a high stakes game of espionage and shooting people, and have him (or…
B+Season 1Designated Survivor plays it down the middle while upping the stakesZack Handlen12/07/16 10:26pmSaveEditEmbiggenSend to EditorsPromoteGo to permalinkI’ve misjudged Congresswoman Hookstraten, and rather embarrassingly at that. Given her combative behavior with Kirkman…
B+Season 1Designated Survivor finds modest inspiration in a threatened electionZack Handlen11/30/16 10:40pmSaveEditEmbiggenSend to EditorsPromoteGo to permalinkThe most obvious way to describe Designated Survivor—a mash-up of The West Wing’s idealism and fascination with the…
BSeason 1Designated Survivor finds traitors in strange places in a solid episodeZack Handlen11/16/16 10:29pmSaveEditEmbiggenSend to EditorsPromoteGo to permalinkWhenever a show doubles down on a seemingly uninteresting storyline, I always try to give them the benefit of the…
C+Season 1Kirkman compromises on a clumsy Designated SurvivorZack Handlen11/09/16 10:28pmSaveEditEmbiggenSend to EditorsPromoteGo to permalinkOf course Tom Kirkman is a registered Independent. Of course he is. It’s a classic TV move: try and make the fantasy…
B+Season 1One villain gets caught while another slips in the back door on Designated SurvivorZack Handlen10/26/16 10:00pmSaveEditEmbiggenSend to EditorsPromoteGo to permalinkTom Kirkman cares about his job. He cares about America, and, so far at least, there’s no indication that his passion…
B+Season 1Designated Survivor finds “The Enemy” and he is usZack Handlen10/12/16 11:02pmSaveEditEmbiggenSend to EditorsPromoteGo to permalinkLate in “The Enemy,” while newly minted press secretary Seth is giving an inspiring speech about rising to the…
CSeason 1Good intentions leave Designated Survivor in limboAllison Shoemaker10/06/16 1:51amSaveEditEmbiggenSend to EditorsPromoteGo to permalinkThere’s a triangle used by developers, project managers, artists, and others. Its purpose is to remind a creator (or…
BSeason 1It’s two steps forward, one step back on Designated SurvivorZack Handlen9/28/16 10:57pmSaveEditEmbiggenSend to EditorsPromoteGo to permalinkSo, now’s as good a time as any to acknowledge: this is a hokey show. I’m going to try and avoid 24 comparisons as much…
