Designated Survivor 1.6: The Governors

Watching Designated Survivor 1.6 the other night, after our own Presidential election came to a conclusion in what passes these days for the real world, was almost too much, or maybe too little, because in some ways the show seemed less insane. But I digress ...

The episode mined a new element in the series, perfectly plausible when you think about it: with almost all of our Senators and Congresspeople wiped out in the terrorist blast, the new President needs to turn to ... the governors of our states, who are empowered in laws to appoint successors when a Senator dies or otherwise suddenly leaves office.

Designed Survivor presented this well.  The assembled governors don't trust President Kirkman, who after all wasn't elected, and who was also actually serving his last day as the lowly HUD Secretary, anyway.  So they subject him to a trial via a barrage of pointed questions.

Meanwhile, we learn what was already clear - the catastrophic attack was not the doing of the Islamic terrorist picked up in the raid last week.   So who was behind it?   Likely some domestic group, likely someone who was pretty high up in the government, is the best guess right now.

The surviving Congressman, on queue to become Vice President, was likely involved in this. Was there any foreign involvement at all?  How prescient will Designated Survivor turn out to be? Will a Russian President turn out to have had a hand in the Capitol bombing?

Designated Survivor couldn't have been made with knowledge of what happened this past Tuesday. On the other hand, it wasn't made that long ago, and certainly was informed by what was already going on in our country last year.  In fact, in this week's episode, and in previous hours, hostility towards immigration plays a big role.

It will be especially good to see how Designated Survivor and our real world continue to coincide - good to see what's going on in Designated Survivor, that is.

See also Designated Survivor: Jack Bauer Back in the White House ... Designated Survivor 1.2: Unflinching and Excellent ...  Designated Survivor 1.4: "Michigan's on the Verge of Anarchy" ... Designated Survivor 1.5: The Plot Thickens


  terrorist squirrels and bombs in NYC

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