Speculation: Who Will Survive?

[eagle]

I could be Mrs. MacLeish because she is only scheduled to appear in Ep. 11 and is in another series.  That might also make sense since VP MacLeish is only scheduled for Ep. 11 and 12.

[Danielg342]

They shoot Kimble Hookstraten I might be out. Virgina Madsen has been a joy to watch and I'd hate for her to bite the bullet.

She, other than Seth Wright, might be the only one I care about on this show other than Kirkman, who is going to survive anyway.

[secnarf]

3 hours ago, eagle said:

I could be Mrs. MacLeish because she is only scheduled to appear in Ep. 11 and is in another series.  That might also make sense since VP MacLeish is only scheduled for Ep. 11 and 12.

I don't think LJC being in X Company would have an effect on her appearance in the show - X Company filmed their final season in Budapest from sometime in August - Nov 3 this year I believe, and DS filmed from Mar 7 - Dec 8. Although I don't think LJC would have had to be in Budapest the entire time, I assume she filmed some DS, went to Budapest, filmed some X Company, then returned to Toronto to film more DS. If her role is over after Ep 11, that's probably more because of the writers/storyline, not so much scheduling.

Personally, I find her much more interesting than her husband at the moment. I feel like getting rid of her now (by her getting fatally shot or by any other mechanism) would be quite a let down.

[Zanzibar]

13 hours ago, Princess Lucky said:

Agreed. Now that I'm used to watching a dumb but fun action-packed mess, I'll really feel the void. And I know it's on another network (so no promo to remind us), but I'm hoping the Prison Break revival airs in the meantime (they've said "early 2017", so I have hope). If I can't get my dose of batshit action and nonsensical twists from Designated Survivor, I'm guessing Prison Break will have me covered.

I agree. What I don't know is, what happens if he's killed? They appoint a new one (who'll have to go through the same vetting process)? And what if he's injured and incapable of serving, but only temporarily? Will there be an interim Veep? Wait, quick googling tells me that the line of succession falls to the Speaker of the House. So Hookstraten? Count me in!

The Speaker of the House does not become Vice President if something happens to the Vice President.  That's not how the line of succession works; that is in place to ensure there is always a president.  If BOTH the president and VP die or are not able to continue to serve, then the Speaker of the House is next in line to be president.  Consider that the most recent VP to vacate the office before the end of his term was Spiro Agnew, Nixon's first VP, who resigned in 1973.  The Speaker at that time, Carl Albert, did not become VP. Nixon then nominated Gerald Ford, who was confirmed by the Senate, became VP, and less than a year later, became president when Nixon resigned.

Section 2 of the 25th Amendment explains it: "Section 2. Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress."

[Princess Lucky]

7 hours ago, Zanzibar said:

The Speaker of the House does not become Vice President if something happens to the Vice President.  That's not how the line of succession works; that is in place to ensure there is always a president.  If BOTH the president and VP die or are not able to continue to serve, then the Speaker of the House is next in line to be president.  Consider that the most recent VP to vacate the office before the end of his term was Spiro Agnew, Nixon's first VP, who resigned in 1973.  The Speaker at that time, Carl Albert, did not become VP. Nixon then nominated Gerald Ford, who was confirmed by the Senate, became VP, and less than a year later, became president when Nixon resigned.

Section 2 of the 25th Amendment explains it: "Section 2. Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress."

Ooooh, I see where I got confused. I read this on CNN:

Quote

 

In the case that the president can no longer serve, the vice president would serve as president.

If the vice president cannot serve, the line of succession falls to the speaker of the House, then to the Senate president pro tempore, then to Cabinet members.

 

but I didn't realize that both the POTUS and the Veep would have to be incapacitated (at the same time) for the Speaker of the House to serve as president. Thanks for the clarification.

Is it too much to ask for Catalan's bullet to have, like, ricocheted off of Kirkman and into MacLeish? I mean, with this show, I wouldn't even be surprised if that happened.

[Moose135]

5 hours ago, Princess Lucky said:

Is it too much to ask for Catalan's bullet to have, like, ricocheted off of Kirkman and into MacLeish?

The Magic Loogie!

[paigow]

Lee Harvey Catalan

[BasilSeal]

I think the victim will be Kirkman himself, he'll be shot, seriously but not fatally, Hannah's intervention at the last minute will have saved him by putting the assassin's aim off slightly.

At the point in the story we're currently at, all that's needed to stop the conspiracy is for Kirkman to speak to Hannah, then he has a full overview of the conspiracy and as he's the president, can do something about it, he's already open to the view that there is a conspiracy of some sort, so would be sympathetic to Hannah's evidence, rather than dismiss it out of hand, as one would expect.

Incapacitating Kirkman would make McLeish the acting president, which would move the plot forward and create more conflict as the different players (hannah, secret service Mike, Aaron Square Head, Improbably Attractive First Lady etc) move to try and protect Kirkman and or try and finish him off.

Shooting Kirkman at this point seems the most logical narrative move to keep things in the air for another 10 episodes. the obvious disadvantage is that sutherland would be out of the action, but he could make a speedy recovery and then face political machinations to prevent him retaking office.

[marinw]

4 hours ago, BasilSeal said:

I think the victim will be Kirkman himself, he'll be shot, seriously but not fatally...but he could make a speedy recovery and then face political machinations to prevent him retaking office.

I am leaning towards this theory too. If Frank Underwood can recover from that liver transplant, then Tom can recover from taking a bullet to his wherever. And nobody manpains like Kiefer.

I am still annoyed that we have to wait until March 8.

[Danielg342]

I believe the Cabinet can declare that the President is "unfit for office" and remove him that way, making the VP the President. This could mean that Kirkman being shot is still viable, because all the bullet has to do is get him bed-ridden- with enough time passing that Kirkman could not legally object. Since the show could easily time-skip the next episode- making one or two months pass in-between episodes, the scenario wouldn't impact the story too much.

[shapeshifter]

5 hours ago, Danielg342 said:

I believe the Cabinet can declare that the President is "unfit for office" and remove him that way...

Is there a link to some place that lists the criteria for declaring a president unfit? Just wondering.

[Danielg342]

42 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

Is there a link to some place that lists the criteria for declaring a president unfit? Just wondering.

According to Snopes, there are no criteria- the Cabinet can declare the President unfit for any reason and, after the President objects, if Congress votes and two thirds deny the objection, the President is removed.

Considering this Congress has 169 independents, Kirkman's status is very much in limbo.

[paigow]

Like Jack Reacher 1 [and other movies] showed, sometimes the best way to cover up an assassination is create lots of victims so that it appears random and the true motivation is obscured. The Afghanistan massacre is cover for the CIA targeting 1 or 2 individuals. Maybe "Passenger 21" was brought on the mission to be executed and thrown in with the other bodies and somebody else was brought back.

[justjen]

Mike the Security Guy is my pick for Head Bad Guy because...yes he was shot, but he got over it pretty quick; he's Prez. Keifer's confidant -- he knows too much, he knows it all. He's just too...there at the right times, if that makes sense. Please tell me that makes sense!