Designated Survivor - Season 1

One the challenges when writing villains in an adventure story is making them a threat credible enough to be a…

I was all set to question the logic of Kirkman’s latest move—pushing a nuclear disarmament proposal through NATO—but…

Hannah’s been captured by the conspiracy! Hookstraten is on the ropes! There are only three episodes left in the…

I’m not sure what we’re supposed to make of Abe Leonard. Rob Morrow plays him like a man who probably isn’t drunk…

Designated Survivor has a Peter MacLeish problem.

More leaning into the politics, and more struggles by the Kirkman administration to push a political platform that’s…

Designated Survivor has spent the weeks since the assassination attempt that marked the midpoint of the season…

“Commander-In-Chief” finds our hero getting a few more pieces of intel on the conspiracy that put him in the White…

It’s understandable that, after an hour like “The End of the Beginning,” Designated Survivor might need a moment to…

“The End Of The Beginning” finds Kirkman still stuck in a hospital bed. That’s not a huge surprise, and, at least on…

There’s a fundamental corniness to Designated Survivor that I find fascinating. It’s not really a good thing; at its…

It’s an easy trick—introducing a tech nerd into a high stakes game of espionage and shooting people, and have him…

I’ve misjudged Congresswoman Hookstraten, and rather embarrassingly at that. Given her combative behavior with…

The most obvious way to describe Designated Survivor—a mash-up of The West Wing’s idealism and fascination with the…

Whenever a show doubles down on a seemingly uninteresting storyline, I always try to give them the benefit of the…

Of course Tom Kirkman is a registered Independent. Of course he is. It’s a classic TV move: try and make the fantasy…

Tom Kirkman cares about his job. He cares about America, and, so far at least, there’s no indication that his…

Late in “The Enemy,” while newly minted press secretary Seth is giving an inspiring speech about rising to the…

There’s a triangle used by developers, project managers, artists, and others. Its purpose is to remind a creator (or…

So, 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…