A truly amazing political-drama and action-thriller series with a truly inspiring story, Designated Survivor was one of the best shows ever, with the kind of leader we need today... all until Netflix produced the final season and wrecked it entirely.
I watched this show before Netflix had gotten a hold of it simply out of curiosity, and was instantly hooked. Tom Kirkman (Kiefer Sutherland) is the lowly Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and is content living his life with his family. When a devastating attack destroys the Capitol during the State of the Union address and claims the lives of the president and all other heads of government, Kirkman finds himself promoted to the leader of the free world. Now the responsibility of keeping the country from dissolving into chaos and maintaining order falls upon him as he must adjust to the power he never wanted, and as the threat to America still seeks to destroy everything it stands for.
It was a novel idea and played out spectacularly, and every episode delivered something new. It actually followed two main stories which were strongly interconnected, that of the new President Kirkman and of FBI Agent Hannah Wells (Maggie Q), trying to uncover the plot behind the attack and stop any more from coming. The show is a great balance between action both on the field of battle and politics. Kirkman is a unique leader (the one I wish could be our real president), who keeps transparency and honesty with the people, without any strings of political parties or personal objectives to push, trying to maneuver the political minefields and undercutting of everyone he has to work with. He has to balance the roles of father and commander-in-chief without any allies in the beginning. But he makes friends in the unlikeliest ways, who feel like real people and help him in his goals, even if they don't believe in his abilities as a leader. As this goes on, Agent Wells risks everything to find the truth, in a great action side that actually adds to the plot. Both sides of the story are suspenseful and hilarious, and you love the characters and their stories.
Designated Survivor was the perfect balance of real-life politics and great action, and a fantastic show. That is, until Netflix bought it from ABC to produce the third season and completely altered everything. From the beginning, it started to imitate other popular shows, like House of Cards. Kirkman began to become like the other dirty politicians and denying his values just to get reelected. Wells' role was put down as the action was slowly taken away, and it relied solely on dialogue, which was really nothing but cussing, unlike before with the witty conversations that gave the show character. Hannah's ally and reliable friend Chuck disappeared and was replaced by another brainiac for no reason at all, and this happened with many characters that had been greatly developed in the past two seasons were taken off the show and replaced with another very similar character. And, as Netflix has done before with many shows, the whole thing had just devolved into almost nothing but liberal propaganda as Kirkman turned from a unique and driven leader to a guy who just reacted to what people said. I wasn't even able to finish the season because it had become almost nothing but trash.
Designated Survivor is still one of my favorite shows (the first two seasons at least), and I still recommend watching it, if just to see what a true leader for the people really looks like in Tom Kirkman.
Rory P.
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