S01.E11: Warriors

[thewhiteowl]

Quote

The nation reels from the aftermath of the shooting on the steps of the Capitol while Emily struggles with the knowledge there may be a traitor in the White House. Meanwhile, FBI Agent Hannah Wells grapples with her decision to reveal what she knows about the conspiracy behind the Capitol bombing.

[Ashand11]

Why didn't Kirkman shut the market before he went in for surgery?

[marinw]

DS airs at 8 pm in Eastern Canada. So I suppose I can post my comments now?

First thoughts:  this made me soooo happy. Because Alex did not get shot-nice fake out there though. I am down for anything where Kiefer is vulnrable. Shot but not fatally so was what I was hoping for. *Happy Sigh*

I did role my eyes at the inevitable Tense Moment In The Operating Room which we have all seen about a quadrillon times in various shows.

Shouldn't the kids be at the hospital? Not tht I'm complaining

Kimble is my new hero. Virgina Madson is cleary having a ball.

Peter is in so far over his head. It was fun to watch him flailing around while trying to execute his Evil Plan. It was fun becuase this is a TV show and it isn't real. After the last couple a months of reality I need that. 

I do like that the country recongzies Tom as their rightful POTUS and that the wave from the window made the stock market happy.

Is there anything Mike dosn't do?

Edited March 9, 2017 by marinw

[Ashand11]

36 minutes ago, marinw said:

DS airs at 8 pm in Eastern Canada. So I suppse I can post my comments now?

First thoughts:  this made me soooo happy. Because Alex did not get shot-nice fake out there though. I am down for anything where Kiefer is vulnrable. Shot but not fatally so was what I was hoping for. *Happy Sigh*

I did role my eyes at the inevitable Tense Moment In The Operating Room which we have all seen about a quadrillon times in various shows.

Shouldn't the kids be at the hopital? Not tht I'm complaining

Kimble is my new hero. Virgina Madson is cleary having a ball.

Peter is in so far over his head. It was fun to watch him flailing around while trying to execute his Evil Plan. It was fun becuase this is a TV show and it isn't real. After the last couple a months of reality I need that. 

I do like that the country recongzies Tom as their rightful POTUS and that the wave from the window made the stock market happy.

Is there anything Mike dosn't do?

Haha so true.  Peter had no idea what he was doing and if they all ganged up on him I feel like he would have folded like a lawn chair. At some point though the country is pretty unstable if the president keeps getting shot at.

Edited March 9, 2017 by Ashand11

[marinw]

11 minutes ago, Ashand11 said:

Why didn't Kirkman shut the market before he went in for surgery?

Good point. Maybe he thought Kimble would somehow take care of it?

[Ashand11]

31 minutes ago, marinw said:

Good point. Maybe he thought Kimble would somehow take care of it?

Not smart considering he knows that she technically doesn't have the power to do anything. When he was in his hospital bed he told them they needed to make sure the markets were closed and stable and they said they were closed for the night. So he should have probably taken care of it.

[Ashand11]

53 minutes ago, marinw said:

Good point. Maybe he thought Kimble would somehow take care of it?

Also, Im pretty sure that Peter can't just kill the guy who may have tried to assassinate the president.  There is a thing called due process.

[paigow]

11 minutes ago, Ashand11 said:

Also, Im pretty sure that Peter can't just kill the guy who may have tried to assassinate the president.  There is a thing called due process.

I was waiting for VP to withdraw SWAT and use a drone to blow building away.

[DC Gal in VA]

Well, the VP did just that, ordered the killing of the failed assassin. While I like Virginia Madsen's character I find it really hard to believe that she would be stupid enough to tell the traitorous Peter that she's watching him like a hawk; just put a bull's-eye on your back why dontcha!!!!!!!????

Felt a little hinkey about Kirkman's head Secret Service agent for a minute. Really relieved that he's legit.

Edited March 9, 2017 by DC Gal in VA
To add additional comments.

[merylinkid]

No Peter, don't act all stupid, no one will suspect a thing.   You had 24 hours(ish) to be President and protect your ass.   You blew it.

Hannah -- yes you don't know who to trust.   But the solution is to broadcast it far and wide.   Because if you don't know who to trust and you keep your mouth shut, the truth dies with you.   They CAN get to you in jail.  

[Frozendiva]

I'm a Canadian also - I get the East Coast feed which means it's on at 8 pm for me. We also get the simulcast version at 8 pm (Canadian commercials).

Good to see that Kirkman is considered to be/recognized as the real POTUS. Probably the most honest and non-corruptible person to do so. At least for now.

Sometimes it's a good idea to keep your friends close and enemies closer - McLeish can't do much to her without seriously implicating himself. A chess game of sorts. With more bodies piling up, his plan will be exposed and the cushy President's chair and office will be taken from him.

Hannah, you keep logs, you keep records - not on the Cloud, though.  Personal hard drive or USB key.

[DC Gal in VA]

Have to say, after the very frustrating and maddening previous episodes, this one is my absolute favorite.

All of the crappy writing and plot twists that drove me and others here batty like the who-the-baby-daddy stuff, Hannah Wells' boss not assigning tons of security around his family after the mass murder of most of the government which made him open to being blackmailed into confessing that he killed the architect of the terrorist attack, Kirkman allowing himself to be bullied by the governors and so on, this episode was a relief!

Thanks Designated Survivor for not pissing me off on my birthday!

[Danielg342]

Something tells me they pretty much wrote this episode to have everyone put on their sad faces and mug for the Emmy's. Because that's pretty much all we got tonight.

(Did think Italia Ricci and Natasha McElhone were great with their angst, but it was still just angst)

Oh and a few scenes of Peter MacLeish ominously looking at the camera while overbearing tones play in the background making it look like they were scenes cut from a horror movie. Boy were they jarring, and not in a good sense.

Except for Virgina Madsen. She was absolutely brilliant. She should have her own show.

Still think Idiot of the Week goes to Hannah Wells...I still don't get why she doesn't want to talk. Perhaps she's in way too deep now but it still doesn't explain the fact that if she had just talked earlier- or held on to her files earlier- all this could have been avoided.

Episode Grade: C-. I'm not really sure we really got back on track...this was an episode light on movement and everything just wound up being posturing. I still think this is a great cast and that ABC is invested in it, but I'm not yet seeing the results.

[Netfoot]

This can't get renewed, can it?  Not with all the soap-opera grade writing.

[shapeshifter]

Anyone else get from the doctor's stilted announcement of the bullet fragments that the doc was in cahoots with the bad guys and about to nick an artery accidentally on purpose during surgery? I guess it was from School of Red Herring 101 acting class.

It looks like Mr. and Mrs. MacCleish are being blackmailed, but maybe not.

Edited March 9, 2017 by shapeshifter

[mertensia]

I do love Virginia Madsen, but dude, have them write Kimble smarter! 

The VP's wife is going to end up knifing someone, I bet. Probably Natasha McElhone's character.

[Happy Harpy]

Quite underwhelming. I'll watch the next one because of the last scene. Had Hannah and Kirkman not met, I was gone. I give the show one more week because of it.

I was biased. The episode annoyed me right from the start and I couldn't get rid of that negativity. I thought I didn't care for Alex, I realized how much I wanted her gone when it was revealed she wasn't shot. And then she got so much airtime (more than her husband, you know, the main character) for pretty much nothing of interest to me, or the plot.  

Kimble and the White House Scooby-gang continue to be best thing about this show. At least they had an immediate Aaron/Emily confrontation instead of entertaining the misunderstanding for two or three episodes. The premise was Kirkman as President, can he please hang around with them instead of his bore of a wife who makes him boring?

I would have liked the MacLeish parts, his wife could be a promising psycho, but their scenes were repetitive so I was too busy wondering if it meant that once more, the plot wouldn't progress at all during the episode to truly appreciate them. 

6 hours ago, mertensia said:

I do love Virginia Madsen, but dude, have them write Kimble smarter!

All the "good guys" need to be written smarter. I hope it starts next week.

Edited March 9, 2017 by Happy Harpy
It's "Kirkman"

[dwmarch]

I'm chuckling that since 24 is back on the air now, this show has had to turn into a medical drama. And also ermagerd, the stock market is crashing! Not the stock market!

The actor playing MacLeish would make a great T-888 series Terminator. He's really got that whole looking pissed off while not actually making a face thing down.

This vast conspiracy starts to unravel just because one character finally said a couple of words to another. Communicate, people! Early, loudly and often!

[marinw]

I liked this episode because it was preictable. We knew that Tom was going to survive. This show is kind of comforting, which is a weird thing to say about a show which starts with the Capital and most of the Goverment being blown up. The earnestness is a feature, not a bug IMO.

Edited March 9, 2017 by marinw

[mochamajesty]

11 hours ago, Ashand11 said:

Haha so true.  Peter had no idea what he was doing and if they all ganged up on him I feel like he would have folded like a lawn chair. At some point though the country is pretty unstable if the president keeps getting shot at.

Especially without his wife in the room.  She wears the proverbial pants.

[Princess Lucky]

12 hours ago, marinw said:

Is there anything Mike dosn't do?

Personally, I'm just surprised they didn't have him perform the surgery on Kirkman.

Fun episode. Tense. You could see they were going for a more political thriller-y vibe, and I appreciated it. I didn't love all the weepy moments at the hospital, though they were competently acted, but everything with Hanna in custody (especially the way she JUMPED on Mike) and also everything with MacLeish, that all kept my interest one hundred percent.

I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised it was Kirkman himself who got shot. And, not gonna lie, at first I assumed they'd think Hannah was the shooter, despite the different caliber bullets and the angles, because this show is dumb. I'm glad I was wrong. I'm really happy Mike took the initiative in that storyline. He seems to be trustworthy (he better be!) and Hannah really wants to help. He's the best guy to talk to, for that.

Finally, Kirkman and Hannah meet. When Mike yelled "clear the floor" I cheered. I was expecting a fake-out, but there she was! Man, now I'm really looking forward to the next episode.

It was chilling to see all the WH people and the military people deferring to MacLeish. And eerily topical. What do you do when the President gives you an order? You have to follow it, no matter how nonsensical or even dangerous it may be. Unless you're a badass, like Kimble Hookstraten. I LOVE her. I hope she's brought up to speed when Hannah finally briefs Kirkman.

12 hours ago, Ashand11 said:

Why didn't Kirkman shut the market before he went in for surgery?

I think it didn't occur to them that MacLeish would want to proceed as normal. I can believe that, actually. I agree with the other posters, his behavior while he was acting President was totally and blatantly shady. He pulled quite a few stunts, and while some of the damage is lasting (like the death of Catalan), I also think his own reputation was damaged. Now he's probably seen as either incompetent or too aggressive or just plain wrong for the job.

9 hours ago, Danielg342 said:

Oh and a few scenes of Peter MacLeish ominously looking at the camera while overbearing tones play in the background making it look like they were scenes cut from a horror movie. Boy were they jarring, and not in a good sense.

Definitely. The music was way too creepy, and that shot of him sitting on the bed, perfectly centered, that felt really out of place. That said, I still think the actor is doing a great job, and I'm totally enjoying him as an antagonist. And Mrs. MacLeish, too. The Lady MacLeish/Macbeth vibes were especially strong this week, with the washing of the blood and all. Nice.

[Guest]

10 hours ago, Danielg342 said:

Still think Idiot of the Week goes to Hannah Wells...I still don't get why she doesn't want to talk. Perhaps she's in way too deep now but it still doesn't explain the fact that if she had just talked earlier- or held on to her files earlier- all this could have been avoided.

 

I thought she didn't trust the person she knew was listening in on the conversation.  She looked up at the "hidden" camera several times, and that's why the agent wrote her the note secretly.  At least, that's how I read it.  It makes more sense to the storyline, so in my head I'm going to believe my little theory. :) 

I thought this episode was good, but the break was so long I had forgotten a lot of the plot.  Like the FBI director "confessing" I didn't remember til I read it up thread!

[Biggie B]

Quote

I thought she didn't trust the person she knew was listening in on the conversation.  She looked up at the "hidden" camera several times, and that's why the agent wrote her the note secretly.  At least, that's how I read it.  It makes more sense to the storyline, so in my head I'm going to believe my little theory. :) 

I agree. She looked up at the camera and with her eyes, indicated to Mike that there was a camera/microphone. Luckily, Mike figured out what she meant. And right before Mike went in to question her, that other fellow said to him, "If you get any info from her, share it with me," which of course Mike is not going to do...but what a sleazy thing for that guy to say - he's filming and recording everything that happens in that interrogation room, no need for him to ask Mike to share!

[paigow]

I wanted Kirkman to start counting backwards from 30 on the operating table and fall asleep when he says 24

[Primetimer]

The assassin's bullet hasn't killed anyone...yet.

View the full article

[marinw]

2 hours ago, Princess Lucky said:

Personally, I'm just surprised they didn't have him perform the surgery on Kirkman.

I can now see this happening: When Mike learns that a member of the Conspiracy is on the surgical team, he bursts into the OR just as the Evil Doer is about to nick an artery or inject something nefarious into the IV.

Speaking of Mike, I guess he is no longer tasked with watching Leo and Penny, so the First Son is free to resume his drug-dealing career.

Ashley Zuckerman did a great job in this episode. Peter manages to be creepy and scary while still being a dumbass who needs to have Lady McLeish feed him instructions.

Also great is the ever-reliable Kiefer.  Tom seems to be smarter and more confident at presidenting. He realized that getting out of bed to wave at the crowd was both a sincere gesture and an astute political move.

Edited March 9, 2017 by marinw

[piequinn35]

Peter, you're in trouble now! :P

[Ina123]

1 hour ago, marinw said:

.  Tom seems to be smarter and more confident at presidenting. He realized that getting out of bed to wave at the crowd was both a sincere gesture and an astute political move.

That scene was taken directly from history. It's exactly what Reagan did to calm things down after he was shot.

[Ina123]

If anyone is looking for something to binge-watch and appreciates Ashley Zukerman's (McLeish) performance, you can catch him in "Manhattan". It's about the Manhattan Project and he has a substantial part in it. It was on WGN a couple of years ago and was on for 2 or 3 seasons.

[blackwing]

I'm confused about the whole plot.  "They" (I'm assuming that includes the Mysterious Lady in the park who threatened Mykelti Williamson's son) wanted to install McLeish as Vice President so they could be close to the power.  "They" also appears to include Lady Macbeth McLeish.  So the 25th is invoked, McLeish becomes President for some small amount of time.  Why didn't he try and use that time more to "their" advantage and do something?  Instead, we had Lady McLeish telling him to just wait until the President comes back and then they'll be in the clear.  Huh?!  Why wouldn't they have tried to further their goals to the best of their ability?  

I disagree with others that think this actor is doing a great job.  I think McLeish is coming across as extremely shady and completely unbelievable.  I can't wait to see Kirkman's reaction when he finds out that instead of capturing the shooter alive and questioning him, McLeish had him killed.  It seems like Hannah is going to tell Kirkman that McLeish and the shooter were in the same squad.

 

15 hours ago, Danielg342 said:

Still think Idiot of the Week goes to Hannah Wells...I still don't get why she doesn't want to talk. Perhaps she's in way too deep now but it still doesn't explain the fact that if she had just talked earlier- or held on to her files earlier- all this could have been avoided.

Because at this point, she doesn't trust anybody.  She doesn't know who is on her side and who is going to try and kill her.  She knew that the FBI Director guy was listening in on everything she was saying.  But I don't understand why she wouldn't have asked for Hookstraten.  Hannah was on her way to see her and Hookstraten has some degree of power and would have been able to have gotten in to talk with her.

[Danielg342]

I get that Hannah Wells has no one she trusts right now, but I still feel like Wells isn't talking more for the plot's sake than for anything the story has actually earned. Is it any coincidence that her "I'm not talking" phase coincided with the murder of Catalan?

At least she spoke to the President and likely gave Mike a clue in the holding room to lead him to Chuck, but it was all still sloppy and doesn't make up for half a season of bad decisions by her character.

[orza]

They showed Hannah jump on Mike and whisper to him to contact Chuck about Catalan.

[alannaofdoom]

3 hours ago, Ina123 said:

If anyone is looking for something to binge-watch and appreciates Ashley Zukerman's (McLeish) performance, you can catch him in "Manhattan". It's about the Manhattan Project and he has a substantial part in it. It was on WGN a couple of years ago and was on for 2 or 3 seasons.

He's also in an Aussie series called "The Code" - I believe season 1 is available on Netflix (US at least).  

[marinw]

1 hour ago, blackwing said:

I disagree with others that think this actor is doing a great job.  I think McLeish is coming across as extremely shady and completely unbelievable.

Perhaps I confused "Great with "Entertianing". 

[thuganomics85]

Man, the break had it been so long, that I forgot about half of the stuff that they showed in the Previously segment, so I guess thanks for that, ABC.  It might have been a bit long, but I actually kind of needed it.

Anyway, so Kirkman still ends up getting a shot (assuming he was always the intended target), but Hannah's distraction made it go from a likely kill shot, to getting just injured.  He still has to go through surgery though, but he's alive and already waving to the crowds, in order for everyone to just chill the fuck out.  We also find out that Alex was the one who pushed him to accept the Cabinet position, which really isn't surprising.  She always seems to be the driving force in their relationship, which isn't really a bad thing, but it isn't surprising that Kirkman would struggle over the job, and she would be the one to just tell him to do it.

But back to the present: since Kirkman was out, the 25th Amendment was implemented, and Peter MacLeish is now in charge!  And he proceeds to obviously fuck things up keeping the stock market up and then have the assassin executed, instead of captured.  Yeah, subtly is not his thing.  He might has well worn a sign that said "I am against everything Kirkman stands for and should not be trusted!"  While I guess Kirkman won't be able to can him or anything (not sure how all that works), he does have the power to render him useless, so I really don't see Peter's play here.  Then again, it really seems like its his wife that is running the show.  And I still can't tell if he's being forced to do this or not, because he sometimes acts reluctant, but other times it is shot in a way where he seems to be enjoying it.  I don't know.

Aaron figures out Emily is looking into him and easily figures out that she and Kirkman are suspicious of him.  That has to put a dent in their relationship!  Still think he won't be the mole, since he's just the obvious frontrunner now.  Seth would probably be the most surprising choice.

Mike continues to be the best, and is able to get to Hannah and set-up a meeting with her and Kirkman.  Still not sure if Reed Diamond's character is going to end up being one of the good ones or bad ones.

Hookstraten openly throws the gauntlet at Peter's feet, so we'll see how that turns out!

Episode ends with Kirkman finally meeting Hannah, but really, it is much more awesome pretending that it's Jack Bauer finally meeting Nikita!  

[piequinn35]

It's odd that Ashley is the name of the actor playing Peter Mcleish.

[secnarf]

5 minutes ago, piequinn35 said:

It's odd that Ashley is the name of the actor playing Peter Mcleish.

Why?

[piequinn35]

Isn't that a girl's name?

[secnarf]

1 minute ago, piequinn35 said:

Isn't that a girl's name?

It's fairly common for boys, especially in the UK. Ashley was considered a male name before it was considered unisex. Similar to Jordan, Taylor, etc. There are many well-known males who are named Ashley. It's not odd at all.

[piequinn35]

Odd for me though, I understand Taylor but not Ashley.

[akr]

Isn't that a girl's name?

It started out as a boy's name and a generation or so ago was still more likely to be a man than a woman.

[akr]

  5 minutes ago, piequinn35 said:

Isn't that a girl's name?

It started out as a boy's name and a generation or so ago was still more likely to be a man than a woman.

[example: Ashley Wilkes in Gone with the Wind]

[shapeshifter]

I'm curious about whether the long hiatus was used my the writers (and producers) to modify scripts to reflect recent changes in D.C.. 

During the opening credits, words flashed across the screen stating that Ashley Zukerman is a "guest star." Did that happen last season?

[retired watcher]

1 hour ago, piequinn35 said:

Odd for me though, I understand Taylor but not Ashley.

Ashley Wilkes in Gone With the Wind. Ashley, Meredith, Shirley, Marion are all men's names. Not real common but used a lot in Britain.

[Dowel Jones]

I did some quick research and the NYSE closed shortly after both Reagan's shooting and the Kennedy assassination.  The news article indicated that it was done internally, not at the behest of the White House or anyone else.  And, of course, after it reopened the Dow Jones rebounded quite well after its initial drop.  I wonder if part of The Evil Plan was to play the market as it crashed, and make a couple of million before Tom recovered.  After all, what's the point of a conspiracy if you can't profit?

10 hours ago, Princess Lucky said:

What do you do when the President gives you an order? You have to follow it, no matter how nonsensical or even dangerous it may be.

I was watching officers of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on a talk show one time, and they indicated that the President doesn't have absolute authority to order executions at will, at least by the military.  They said there are military attorneys that clear executive actions.  Not saying that it's not possible, as procedure can be twisted.  However, giving civilian authorities an order to kill a suspect on sight is a blatant violation of Constitutional protections, in my humble opinion.  And he did it in the presence of several people, so it can't be covered up.  The police at scene should have balked at that order in the first place.

Did anyone notice the board behind Agent Mike when he cleared the floor in the hospital?  Code Black!

20 hours ago, DC Gal in VA said:

Thanks Designated Survivor for not pissing me off on my birthday!

Happy Birthday, DC Gal!

[Moose135]

3 minutes ago, Dowel Jones said:

I wonder if part of The Evil Plan was to play the market as it crashed, and make a couple of million before Tom recovered.

I assume that was part of their plan.  And I agree with you about the President (acting or otherwise) giving a "shoot to kill" order in a situation like that.  First, you're assuming you have the right guy in there, not some poor schlub who is in the wrong place at the wrong time.  Then there is that pesky Constitution to worry about.  I'm surprised there wasn't more resistance to his order - the military doesn't just blindly follow orders, it follows lawful orders, and I don't think this was one.

I didn't notice - who conducted the raid? Was it police/FBI?  It's hard to tell the way everyone gears up these days, but it almost looked like military - which gets into Posse Comitatus issues of the military conducting civilian law enforcement.

I was hoping the show was going to be better when it returned, but at this rate, I'm not sure how much longer I'm going to stick around.  Characters do silly things, and I don't really care about what happens to them.

[OtterMommy]

I was this close to taking this off my watchlist and I sort of had to talk myself into watching it today.  I was just so underwhelmed with how the first half of the season went after the first episode that, if I hadn't heard that they had made some changes behind the camera, I would have clicked off.

All in all, though, I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.  I agree that it was completely predictable, but that really didn't bother me. I will say I find it rather strange that the President (and everyone there with him) were not wearing their kevlar vests.  I mean, having an open air ceremony exactly when they would wear them?

I did feel that the pacing and the script were much better than the first half of the season and, while it was predictable, I think it still built a sense of suspense.  Okay.....they've got me for the rest of the season.  I just hope they can keep it up instead of spiraling down like they have been doing.

[marinw]

1 hour ago, OtterMommy said:

 I will say I find it rather strange that the President (and everyone there with him) were not wearing their kevlar vests.  I mean, having an open air ceremony exactly when they would wear them?

It was sort a callback to the second episode where Tom took off his Kievlar (Kiefer+Kevlar=Kievlar) saying that it sent the wrong message or something simelar.

Jack Bauer wore Kievlar like a knight wears shining armour.

You do bring up a good point: Do Politicans wear Kevlar or something under thier coats where they public can't see them?

I just rewatched. I am a little confused as to the timeline: at the second of Seth's outdoor press confrences, a reporter comments that "It's been two days." I though the hospital wave came the day after the shooting.

Edited March 10, 2017 by marinw

[Texasmom1970]

On 3/8/2017 at 7:25 PM, marinw said:

 

Is there anything Mike dosn't do?

No, and that is fine with me! 

18 hours ago, Happy Harpy said:

All the "good guys" need to be written smarter. I hope it starts next week.

Agreed. I am watching for Kimble, Mike, Hannah and of course Keifer. I am willing to give it a shot because I love all of them.

[marinw]

One more observation before calling it a night:

Earlier today I described this show as  "Earnest".  I stand by that, but I would also describe DS as "Canadian". And not just because it is shot in Toronto and has a Canadian actor in the lead. The show feels Canadian in that it is so darn earnest and the it seems like it was written by a committee checking off the necessary boxes of to satisfy a bureaucratic and rigid set of rules, and that the production values are good but not quite as polished as prestige cable shows.

Edited March 10, 2017 by marinw