S01.E01: Pilot

[Maximum Taco]

Just now, Nidratime said:

No he wasn't. Cheney was in the Capitol during the 2002 State of the Union which was the first after September 2001.

I wasn't talking about the 2002 State of the Union. I was talking about the Presidential Address to the Joint Session of Congress, which took place on Sept 20, 2001.

[formerlyfreedom]

1 minute ago, Nidratime said:

No he wasn't. Cheney was in the Capitol during the 2002 State of the Union which was the first after September 2001.

Let's take further convo about that over to the Small Talk topic, since it's not about the show. Thanks!

[Quilt Fairy]

This pilot really needed to be 2 hours long.  I think it's too confusing for the viewer when there's that much backstory and multiple storylines pushed into a single hour. It makes you wonder if things are ever going to settle down and if it's going to be worth your time to keep watching.

The on-off, on-off, on-off with the glasses was driving me crazy.  Most people don't do that.  If you need them for reading only it's understandable, but if you need them for distance but not reading/intermediate (which appears to be the case with Kirkland), you get bifocals or progressive lenses. (Or you just keep them in the car, which is what I do.)  Also, the bargain bin at Walmart wouldn't have frames that dorky these days.  I wonder where the heck they came up with them.

52 minutes ago, anna0852 said:

The image of the Capitol really affected me too. I actually got choked up.

 Me, too.

[Nidratime]

Ahhhh, I see that Cheney and Tommy Thompson who was Secretary of HHS sat out the joint address to Congress on Sept. 20, 2001. But, that isn't what we are talking about here which is the State of the Union where we don't anticipate an attack on our government and isn't a special -- unanticipated -- address to Congress.

[Partly]

18 minutes ago, pcta said:

Hope it is domestic, nonislamic terrorism.  

It's always domestic, nonislamic terrorism. Even 24, it was more often domestic and nonislamic.  And, if it wasn't, the driving force was always domestic and non-Islamic.

[hiccup]

When the son was being driven to The White House, he called the Secret Service agent by his first name.  There was a lot going on, so I must have missed something.  How do they know each other?

[oakville]

1 hour ago, Constantinople said:

In the morning Kirkman was out of a job.  Now the President is dead and Kirkman is the Preident.   Seems fishy.

It would quite a twist if Kirkman was the mastermind! I suspect that it could be a Jericho meets the West Wing series. That was an inside job

[Kromm]

A million cliches, but I did think it mostly worked. The material may be hackneyed, but the acting was about as good as we could expect. Kiefer was definitely the VIP. I didn't find myself thinking "wow, Jack Bauer took some weak pills today didn't he". I did see him as another person, despite that voice of his. Kirkman isn't a total marshmallow, but I bought "meek" pretty easily. Wifey definitely wears the pants, and that came off properly too.

Didn't see enough of Maggie Q in this episode to say if she's doing a good job here yet. Ditto for Italia Ricci (I did like the little we saw of her). But I thought Kal Penn did best of the non-leads. Perhaps having actually worked in that actual place for a year, it was enough for him to absorb some of the reality. 

[marina to]

I enjoyed it and I'm looking forward to see where it's going. I hope it isn't going in a 24 direction. As much as I like Sutherland (and I've had the pleasure of meeting him), I don't enjoy shows that are heavy on violence. I never watched 24 for that reason. I'm here for the intrigue and watching the development of people being struck in extraordinary circumstances.

Was I the only one who caught the line that they had secured the White House while they were transporting the Kirklands? When he was outside, we could hear helicopters close by. I thought they did a great job in establishing that there's tons of security around there. I can also fully believe (being non-USian) that having the new President conducting business in the White House would be something that would be very important for the remaining administration as a show of strength in the face of adversity.

[marina to]

47 minutes ago, pcta said:

Having lived through too many assassinations, one criticism of crowd scene at bar (?) early on - there would be a lot more crying. (Even in DC)

I looked at it as everyone was in shock. Just looking at the discussion here, no one would expect something of that magnitude.

27 minutes ago, hiccup said:

When the son was being driven to The White House, he called the Secret Service agent by his first name.  There was a lot going on, so I must have missed something.  How do they know each other?

That wasn't established. Hopefully we'll know by the end of the next episode.

[Kromm]

11 minutes ago, marina to said:

Was I the only one who caught the line that they had secured the White House while they were transporting the Kirklands?

Hee. You made the same exact mistake Kal Penn's character did!  Bravo!!!

[hiccup]

3 minutes ago, marina to said:

That wasn't established. Hopefully we'll know by the end of the next episode.

Ahh, so I might have actually picked up on something.  That's a shocker for me!  ;)  Thanks for answering!

[Kromm]

36 minutes ago, Quilt Fairy said:

This pilot really needed to be 2 hours long.  I think it's too confusing for the viewer when there's that much backstory and multiple storylines pushed into a single hour. It makes you wonder if things are ever going to settle down and if it's going to be worth your time to keep watching.

I think they did a good job with where they cut it off thought. They didn't try to act like they'd resolved anything. His former chief of staff was still isolated from him. The Iran situation was still undecided. The general and other dude only barely introduced the idea of treason. So I think they sliced and diced things correctly because it basically gave them a few cliffhangers all at once.

With a 2 hr premiere they would have wrapped too much stuff up, IMO. This way we're still wondering about what Maggie Q really has to do with anything, where her boyfriend or husband is, what General McEvil really means to do, and tons of other stuff.

[WhitneyWhit]

Overall I liked it, but, shouldn't they have heard that explosion? They didn't seem to be too far from the capitol building, and heck I would think even far away you could hear an explosion that size.

[maraleia]

FYI Keifer's character is the 13th in line of succession (provided that everyone above him was US born). These are the cabinet posts that are lower in the line of succession than the HHS Secy-Secretary of Transportation, Secretary of Energy, Secretary of Education, Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the Secretary of Homeland Security.

For those who haven't seen Keifer in 24 he was fantastic in the role.

So glad to see Italia, Natascha and Maggie back on TV in non-recurring roles.

[Silver Raven]

I hope this new President stops moping around and starts making decisions.  He was just being really annoying. His threat to blow up Tehran was a little over the top, wasn't it?  He could have just threatened to attack their warships.

A Cabinet Secretary serves at the will of the President.  He doesn't get to say "Hell no, I'm holding on to my job."

No this is not "The worst terrorist attack since 9/11".  This is the worst terrorist attack in history.  The entire Congress, Supreme Court, and executive branch were destroyed. I'm also shaking my head that all of this business going on at the White House wasn't being done in a bunker somewhere.

Is there more than one nuclear football?  Didn't the previous President have one with him?

I guess with all of the people scrambling around at the site of Capitol building, the bomb wasn't nuclear?

They couldn't send in a robot to investigate that dud bomb?

Even if Islamic terrorists didn't do this, wouldn't they still want to claim credit, and wouldn't Islamic terrorist leaders still want to relocate their families just in case the US decides to get revenge on the wrong people? 

I bet that general was behind it.

[Silver Raven]

3 hours ago, AimingforYoko said:

Only disappointment: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs who thinks he's on 24 and wants to run a coup before the bodies are even cold.

He apparently isn't even the Chairman.  I thought I heard somebody say that they couldn't get a hold of the Chairman, and people were questioning this guy's authority to do anything.

[Silver Raven]

2 hours ago, suddenlyforever said:

I'm calling it now - Maggie Q's character is having an affair with Keifer Sutherland. They took away his phone at the very beginning, hence why he's been unreachable. 

The person she was calling is named Scott, not Tom.

[brgjoe]

You beat me to it, SR.  I thought that they couldn't get ahold of the Chairman.  So this general is really over-reaching his authority.

I dunno.  It was OK, I guess.  If it wasn't for Kiefer, I probably wouldn't keep watching.  I like that he's not (at least starting out) as the alpha-male role he had in 24.  It was pretty much his wife that was (for lack of a better term from my lack of brain power) wearing the pants in that family.  Still, their relationship was one of the things I liked about it.  So that part is off to a good start.

The First Kid thing was a bit strange.  He was out drug dealing/clubbing in the area when all Hades was breaking loose?  Really?  That seemed really out of place to me.  As mentioned above, didn't like general thinking about starting a coup just hours after something like that just took place.  Just speculation, mind you, but since the President repeated to the Iranian ambassador "Three Hours", I think Mr. Evil General will launch some sort of attack against Iran before those 3 hours are up.   Regardless, I hope this show doesn't de-evolve into President vs. Military each and every show.  That would get old real soon.

Generally I think it was decent for a pilot.  Interesting concept.  Will probably stick with the show for awhile.

[Shaynaa]

40 minutes ago, Silver Raven said:

No this is not "The worst terrorist attack since 9/11".  This is the worst terrorist attack in history.  The entire Congress, Supreme Court, and executive branch were destroyed. I'm also shaking my head that all of this business going on at the White House wasn't being done in a bunker somewhere.

Is there more than one nuclear football?  Didn't the previous President have one with him?

I guess with all of the people scrambling around at the site of Capitol building, the bomb wasn't nuclear?

They couldn't send in a robot to investigate that dud bomb?

Even if Islamic terrorists didn't do this, wouldn't they still want to claim credit, and wouldn't Islamic terrorist leaders still want to relocate their families just in case the US decides to get revenge on the wrong people? 

I bet that general was behind it.

THANK YOU.  The 9/11 line drove me nuts.  Like you said, worst terrorist attack ever.  I also couldn't figure out why everyone was still at the White House.  If these terrorists can take out the US Capitol, the White House would surely be next.  On 9/11 they thought one of the planes was headed for the WH and President Bush was flown around all day to various undisclosed locations all day.  Taking the new prez to the WH is just putting a huge target on it.

I remember when Oklahoma City happened and some Islamic terror group took credit.  I definitely don't buy that no one took credit.  I'm sure there would be multiple claims of responsibility if only from people who wanted free publicity.

[bros402]

4 hours ago, Constantinople said:

I never understood in real life why, if the Designated Survivor were taken seriously, it wasn't the Secretary of State or Secretary of Defense instead of the Deputy Assistant Undersecretary  for Public Urinals.

They like to shake it up. They sometimes have a rump congress, too.

 

Pilot was decent, should've been longer.

Edited September 22, 2016 by bros402

[Happy Harpy]

The pilot was the perfect reflection of Tom Kirkman's personality imo. You can discern the badass under the mild-mannered exterior. I wasn't sure I'd like this one, I watched because of the cast. The first part was OK, but the second part I loved.

I found it interesting that Kirkman knows how to play the game, he just chose not to until now. I don't think he's truly meek. Loved Kiefer's scenes with Kal Penn and the Iranian ambassador.

Among the supporting characters, I liked Aaron and Emily. They're going to be the Ship, aren't they? Seth and the bodyguard (Mike) I liked, too. They've got snark game. The whole cast had good to great chemistry imo.

I'm not big on family plots, that's why I didn't like the first part that much although I understand that such a set-up was necessary. Kirkman is the center of the show and the viewer had to get a sense of who he is. The kids weren't 100% hopeless but they are no Trixie (Lucifer) and definitely the weakest link, so I hope their presence will be kept to a very minimum. Nevertheless, Natasha McElhonne and Kiefer Sutherland had good "married" chemistry and made for a believable couple. I liked the moment when Alex realized she was now the First Lady.

I'm looking forward to seeing more of Maggie Q, one of my main reasons for checking this out, but it's only a pilot and again, it had to be mostly about Tom. He conveyed the bafflement and confusion following a terrorist attack. She conveyed the worry and loss of a loved one, so I could connect to her character.

For me, it was a good pilot. It did its jobs by setting-up characters and plots. It did even better by making all of it interesting and make me want to know what's going to happen. This show stays on my watch list.

[PumpkinPK]

I eagerly watched the pilot with my husband, and we were both bored.  Perhaps ABC built this show up too much.  The explosion and aftermath scenes seemed cheaply done, compared to even the awful Quantico.

This never happens to me, but about 40 minutes into the show I couldn't stop yawning.  The second it was over I crawled into bed and passed out.

[shapeshifter]

4 hours ago, anna0852 said:

4 hours ago, suddenlyforever said:

I'm calling it now - Maggie Q's character is having an affair with Keifer Sutherland. They took away his phone at the very beginning, hence why he's been unreachable. 

Except Kiefer's character is Tom and she kept calling Scott.

I saw affair/potential affair with Emily, the secretary who got shut out. But if Scott turns out to be dead...

[Danielg342]

I wonder if Kirkman being the designated survivor was meant to another slap to the face of the character by the previous administration.

"Not only are we firing you and completely omitting your stuff from the State of the Union address, you won't be able to see it!"

[vibeology]

5 hours ago, WhitneyWhit said:

Overall I liked it, but, shouldn't they have heard that explosion? They didn't seem to be too far from the capitol building, and heck I would think even far away you could hear an explosion that size.

You think they would have felt it too. I've got some issues with the explosion itself since the TV cut off and then Kirkman had time to go to the window where he saw an explosion. That means more than one and one after another. You would hear and feel that. 

4 hours ago, brgjoe said:

The First Kid thing was a bit strange.  He was out drug dealing/clubbing in the area when all Hades was breaking loose?  Really?  That seemed really out of place to me. 

I get that they wanted to quickly establish that he's the "bad" kid in the family, so having him sneak out and party on a night he knew his parents wouldn't be around made perfect sense but the idea that no on at that party knew what was happening is impossible to me. Kids in that club would have been on their phones, they would have seen what was happening and they would have cared enough for word to get around.

[marinw]

Kirkman was into affordable housing. My hero! An issue that seems to be ignored by governments in RL.

I like that he's a beta male, Betas need to have stories about them too.

 

Quote

This pilot really needed to be 2 hours long. 

Agreed. That would have given the Secret Service the time to go to Kirkman's house and fetch him his own (hopefully not tweed) suit.

[Danielg342]

20 minutes ago, vibeology said:

I get that they wanted to quickly establish that he's the "bad" kid in the family, so having him sneak out and party on a night he knew his parents wouldn't be around made perfect sense but the idea that no on at that party knew what was happening is impossible to me. Kids in that club would have been on their phones, they would have seen what was happening and they would have cared enough for word to get around.

It would depend, I think, on when the official news would get out and lockdowns would be initiated. Stuff like that wouldn't happen right away.

[revbfc]

This is one of the worst shows I have ever seen, and I will watch it every week.

[marinw]

Maybe that warmonger Genreal is the Mastermind. He engineered all this so that he could seize power. Mwahahaha! Too Obvious?

[ProfCrash]

I don't think I will be watching this for too long. They got exactly nothing right.

1) The Designated Survivor is not going to be in a room by himself with his spouse. There will be Secret Service in the room and the shades/blinds whatever are not going to be opened for any reason. The Designated Survivor is tucked away some place very secure so that there is not a chance that anyone can get even remotely close to said individual.

2) The new President is not going to be wandering into bathrooms by himself. Nor is he going to go into a bathroom with anyone else in it. The President probably has his own bathroom that no one else gets to use and Secret Service is watching through a peep hole because, well, he is the only person who can be President right now so no he is not going to the bathroom by himself.

3) The Secret Service will bring a suit to the new President in about 10 minutes because, well, he has to look to job and jeans and a Cornell sweatshirt are not going to impress the four star general and all the military folks plotting a coup

4) The four star General is not going to be plotting a coup. The Four Star General is a highly trained and educated, professional member of the military who is highly political savvy who has spent his/her life dedicated to preserving the Constitution of the United States. He is not going to challenge the new President, who used to be a lower ranked Cabinet Secretary, in such a blatant manner nor is he going to suggest a coup.

5) Keifer Sutherland was dressed the entire time. I watched 24 for as long as I did because there were normally great shots of Keifer naked, barely clothed or handcuffed. If you are going to know nothing about how the Secret Service, Military and or anything else works in this type of scenario I want to see Keifer chancing clothes. Reward me for watching your poorly research and developed show damnit.

At the very least I want to know that there is a perimeter that has been established.

[ProfCrash]

9 hours ago, janeta said:

I'm getting a feeling of deja vu here.... Wasn't there a show where POTUS dies (or something) and his VP steps up, and half the gov't spends all their time trying to get rid of her because she's -gasp- a woman? 

There is a book written by Tom Clancy called Executive Orders. It is a good read and a far more realistic version of how the transition would actually happen. Mind you, it is a reach that Ryan is named and approved to be the Vice President but once you move past that, it works. There is even a legit challenge to his hold on the office that is well thought out and involves lawyers and not the military.

8 hours ago, maraleia said:

No Cabinet member is elected. They are confirmed by the Senate.

Many Cabinet members have held elected office before moving into the Cabinet. A good number of Senators are tagged to serve in Cabinets. So while they are not elected to their current job they have been elected to other positions and there is at least a sense that they were selected by the public for their job at some time. Kirkland has never been elected and that could easily be a talking point at some time.

8 hours ago, numbnut said:

I think there was a scene missing -- the wife was upset about moving to Canada but was in a good mood in the bunker before the bomb. Did I miss something? Also, why would everyone stop to swear in Kief- uh, Jack, er, Tom in a vulnerable White House hallway after a bomb took out an entire DC block? Can't they do that in a bunker? Overall, not a bad start. It's cheesy but compelling. I like Natasha McElhone and Maggie Q. Kal Penn's voice annoys me for some reason.

Yeah no idea what happened there. I am less concerned that the kid knew the Secret Service Agent. Kirkland would have a Secret Service Agent assigned to him because he is in the Cabinet. I am sure that the kids have met the person. I doubt that his Agency is one that the detail is overly large and probably doesn't even live at their house or any thing. The Secret Service works hard to make sure that the families who are being protected are comfortable with the people in the detail, it encourages the protectees to listen to the detail in a time of stress or need. They know the folks who are with them and have a level of trust. So drug dealing son with a kind heart who is a great big brother knows the man and was fine with him and totally willing to stop running away from the cops when he saw who it was.

And the overall depiction of the military in this show is likely to drive me bat shit crazy. Hollywood has a tendency to be clueless and treats them in a manner that is offensive and this show is well on the way to joining that group. Look, I have a Bernie Sanders coffee mug on my desk but I have worked with all of the branches of the military in my career. I know how proud the members of the military are of their service and why they have served. Treating a Four Star General as this type of caricature is blatantly disrespectful and demonstrates to me that the writers on this show are clueless as to how promotions in the US Military work and what type of person would be sitting in that chair. And it irks me that they write him like this because it does not do justice to the men and women who have dedicated their lives to this country.

[TaraS1]

I'm a Maggie Q fan, so this is the only show I was looking forward to this fall and it definitely wasn't bad for a pilot.  I thought it did a nice job of introducing people and setting things in motion that will play out over the course of the season.

I don't think I've seen Keifer Sutherland in anything since A Few Good Men because I just don't care for him, but he didn't bother me here.  What did bother me was the wife's accent constantly slipping.  I'm too lazy to google where the actress is from, but I know she has some kind of British-ish accent in real life.

One of the plot points that interested me was Kirkman's demotion.  If he was officially demoted, should he have even been the DS and in the line of succession?  If I remember correctly, someone brings it up in the preview for next week, so I'm curious to see how that plays out.

[Haleth]

9 hours ago, Zazoo said:

I never want to see that image of the Capitol destroyed and in flames again. That hit *way* too close to home.

That was really disturbing.

It was also a bit disconcerting to see Keifer as a character so out of his element.  Jack would already be torturing a suspect and yelling WHO DO YOU WORK FOR?!  Instead Tom is puking in the bathroom.  And he has Pop Woodhull skulking around, threatening a coup while Dr Kutner insults him behind his back.  

It will be interesting to see Tom find his footing.

Quote

At the very least I want to know that there is a perimeter that has been established.

Ha!  As if that worked so well on 24.

Edited September 22, 2016 by Haleth

[cambridgeguy]

Quote

At the very least I want to know that there is a perimeter that has been established.

They did talk about a perimeter being established at the Capitol so if the SS andFBI on this show are as competent as the crew on 24 random people should have been hunting for souvenirs.  That general certainly would have fit in over there.

I do agree that there's no way Kirkman would be brooding OUTSIDE of the White House - he'd be handcuffed to a table in that bunker if necessary.

Quote

One of the plot points that interested me was Kirkman's demotion.  If he was officially demoted, should he have even been the DS and in the line of succession?  If I remember correctly, someone brings it up in the preview for next week, so I'm curious to see how that plays out.

Even if it was considered a done deal (sorry, a cabinet secretary can't just refuse to leave) I'd imagine without an official letter of resignation or firing he was still technically the HUD secretary - otherwise he couldn't be the designated survivor in the first place.  Kirkman had better go through the Resolute desk and make sure there isn't a signed letter saying he had been fired.

[topanga]

8 minutes ago, TaraS1 said:

I'm a Maggie Q fan, so this is the only show I was looking forward to this fall and it definitely wasn't bad for a pilot.  I thought it did a nice job of introducing people and setting things in motion that will play out over the course of the season.

I don't think I've seen Keifer Sutherland in anything since A Few Good Men because I just don't care for him, but he didn't bother me here.  What did bother me was the wife's accent constantly slipping.  I'm too lazy to google where the actress is from, but I know she has some kind of British-ish accent in real life.

One of the plot points that interested me was Kirkman's demotion.  If he was officially demoted, should he have even been the DS and in the line of succession?  If I remember correctly, someone brings it up in the preview for next week, so I'm curious to see how that plays out.

I watched the pilot with my kids, and the only other thing they've seen Kiefer Sutherland in is Stand By Me. My son couldn't believe it's the same actor. "But he was so mean!" Isn't it funny that Kiefer seems to be aging in reverse? He looks younger for some reason than he did when he was playing "bad boy" roles. 

I've said before that the wife didn't resonate with me. She seemed very bland and generic. And yes, the actress seemed to have an accent that would slip out every now and then. 

I don't think the demotion was official yet, though everyone seemed to know about it. 

[Constantinople]

4 hours ago, Happy Harpy said:

The pilot was the perfect reflection of Tom Kirkman's personality imo. You can discern the badass under the mild-mannered exterior.

I just realized we shouldn't be comparing this show to 24 or West Wing, but to Breaking Bad.

What happens if mild mannered high school chemistry teacher Walter White suddenly becomes President of the United States?

[greekmom]

I loved the first episode. It was fast paced.  I agree with posters above that a) they have zero confidence in Kiefer’s character that he can do the job b) the general was too gung ho to go straight out and attack and then stage treason because Tom won’t attack just yet.

Even Bush didn’t attack within 24 hours if memory serves me correct after 9/11. 

Maggie Q’s character was calling someone named Scott which is a senator (as per IMBD).   I lol’d when Penn’s character advised Keifer’s character he’s going to move to Canada (since Keifer is Canadian). 

I am hoping as well this is a domestic, nonislamic terrorism.  Get some other group with some political agenda trying to get noticed.  

I’ll be tuning in but I hope they do not make the main focus of the show  all season about who to blame for the bombing.   I like the fish out of water storyline with having Kal Penn’s character and the secret service people watching Tom’s back.

[marinw]

Quote

I want to see Keifer chancing clothes. 

Me too! As you know from 24, Kiefer has a lot of tattoos that don't always go with his character. Why an actor would do that to himself is something you will have to ask him. You could always cast him in a Prison Break or Blindspot type show.

[MaryPatShelby]

I'm in, mostly because I love Kal Penn.

I know I could research this, but far too lazy.  Is Maggie Q the actress's name, or the name of a character she played in another show?

[Constantinople]

9 hours ago, suddenlyforever said:

I'm calling it now - Maggie Q's character is having an affair with Keifer Sutherland. They took away his phone at the very beginning, hence why he's been unreachable. 

 

6 hours ago, Silver Raven said:

The person she was calling is named Scott, not Tom.

She's going to be pissed when she finds out her boyfriend is married, has kids and his real name is Tom!

Edited September 22, 2016 by Constantinople

[Danielg342]

3 minutes ago, MaryPatShelby said:

I'm in, mostly because I love Kal Penn.

I know I could research this, but far too lazy.  Is Maggie Q the actress's name, or the name of a character she played in another show?

I believe it's a stage name...her last name is Quigley.

[sjohnson]

9 hours ago, anna0852 said:

Except Kiefer's character is Tom and she kept calling Scott.

Well, yes, Tom is the name of the character's *big* head. "Scott" is Maggie Q's nickname for the character's *little* head! 

The series would indeed be the most fun if Kiefer Sutherland was the Big Bad. 

Re Maximum Taco's observation that it was unrealistic for all those people to be dead. Yes, and no. Yes, because the mushroom cloud did indeed show an explosion big enough to kill them all. No, in that there plainly was no such explosion because the camera didn't show a crater! The visual that made more impact on you is the one that counts for you, I guess. Personally, I would have thought even in the bar and the nightclub the sound of such an enormous explosion would have been heard by someone near the door at the very least, not to speak of everyone feeling the tremor. 

Edited September 22, 2016 by sjohnson

[random chance]

9 hours ago, numbnut said:

 Kal Penn's voice annoys me for some reason.

I've never been crazy about his voice but I can live with it. However, the daughter's voice was like nails on a chalkboard to me.

[vibeology]

35 minutes ago, TaraS1 said:

One of the plot points that interested me was Kirkman's demotion.  If he was officially demoted, should he have even been the DS and in the line of succession?  If I remember correctly, someone brings it up in the preview for next week, so I'm curious to see how that plays out.

This is one of those times were Politics gets in the way of doing the right thing. If the President had no faith in Kirkman he should have demoted him right away and made sure whoever was DS was someone he wanted running the country. The problem is, the last thing you want to do to your news cycle on State of the Union day is have it be all about firing a Secretary. On a random Friday, the HUD Secretary "resigning" is a couple of lines in a Newspaper and something that would be in the scroll on CNN. On State of the Union day, when talking heads have to fill time, it would be a story so it seems clear that he hadn't been demoted yet because politically that was a bad move and of course the President didn't think his pick for DS mattered, because the very idea that the Capitol would be totally destroyed is so far removed from reality and expectations that no one would really worry about it. And to those people, I present the wisdom of Donna Moss: "What percentage of things exploding have been anticipated?"

1 hour ago, Danielg342 said:

It would depend, I think, on when the official news would get out and lockdowns would be initiated. Stuff like that wouldn't happen right away.

I just don't believe an explosion that loud, that people would feel and hear, in a busy city like Washington DC, while every news organization and major network is covering the event, wouldn't be all over social media in minutes. People would not know the whole story, but I do not believe that 20-30 minutes later (of however long we're supposed to believe it took for the secret service to go to the house, find the kid isn't there, track his cell phone and get to that club) not a single person in that club saw anything on social media when people out at clubs are always on social media, posting pictures. The idea that the party is going on like no one has a single clue was too much.

17 minutes ago, Constantinople said:

I just realized we shouldn't be comparing this show to 24 or West Wing, but to Breaking Bad.

What happens if mild mannered high school chemistry teacher Walter White suddenly becomes President of the United States?

Yep, yep, yep. My big interest in this show is seeing Kirkman take on the Presidency. I am a West Wing person and one of the very interesting things the show looked at was the ego involved in being the President. I want to see Kirkman struggle with that and see how that impacts his relationships with his family and with the staff. I was appalled when he walked into the "Situation Room" and every person stayed in their seats while he was standing. That should not happen and I hope more and more Kirkman is able to negotiate those things. That's the character study I want to see. And yes, thrilling suspense and a big mystery too, but the character stuff is what I think gives the show the potential to have legs going forward. I want to see Kirkman enjoy the power of the Presidency and struggle with what that means.

[ProfCrash]

42 minutes ago, cambridgeguy said:

They did talk about a perimeter being established at the Capitol so if the SS andFBI on this show are as competent as the crew on 24 random people should have been hunting for souvenirs.  That general certainly would have fit in over there.

I do agree that there's no way Kirkman would be brooding OUTSIDE of the White House - he'd be handcuffed to a table in that bunker if necessary.

Even if it was considered a done deal (sorry, a cabinet secretary can't just refuse to leave) I'd imagine without an official letter of resignation or firing he was still technically the HUD secretary - otherwise he couldn't be the designated survivor in the first place.  Kirkman had better go through the Resolute desk and make sure there isn't a signed letter saying he had been fired.

This. He needs to put in his formal letter of resignation and it has to be accepted by the President. Even then, the letter would include a date of departure and he would hold the job and his position in the Cabinet until he has out processed from his office. The Chief of Staff broke the news to him, he was going to provide his formal answer in morning. He would not be the Designated Survivor unless he was allowed to hold that position. Secret Service would not put him in the room.

And yes, Tom should have been handcuffed to a desk somewhere and not outside the White House with no noticeable security talking to his wife. He should have been naked to insure that he would not run off.

Yes, my posts are going to regularly mention naked Keifer. I am that poster.

[Constantinople]

8 hours ago, Quilt Fairy said:

This pilot really needed to be 2 hours long. 

God in Heaven, No!

Breaking Bad, Mad Men, The Sopranos, The Wire and other highly acclaimed shows succeeded with a 1 hour pilot.  In my opinion, there is no excuse for any show's pilot running longer than that.  If more time is needed, that's a reflection on the writers and the pilot needs to be rewritten so that it's only an hour long.

[Kelda Feegle]

I'm cautiously in, didn't watch 24, or the west wing, as a non American some elements will always confuse me about the governmental system. Didn't love kiefer in dark city, although the movie remains a personal favourite.  Its unfortunate that this show comes along at a time when American politics are a huge televisual presence already.

[kili]

I'm suspicious of Scott. He's totally involved and not answering his phone because he has more "planned".

I'm not a member of a terrorist group, but if I was and the US Congress was just blown up, I'd probably be moving my family to safer ground. That piece of wisdom from Maggie Q made no sense at all to me. Al Qaeda would totally be throwing a party if Congress blew up while ducking for cover even if they weren't involved. You would think there would be a lot of chatter from those groups too - trying to figure out what just happened. In fact, the phone circuits in most of the US should probably be overloaded from people trying to phone everybody they know. 

The bathroom chat was a little too much. Who talks that much to some random guy in the next loo? That was straight out of sitcom 101. 

Loved Kiefer, Kal Penn and Maggie Q. Lots of big names in this. The general needs to stop chewing up all the scenery. The bomb scene looked like a set.

Edited September 22, 2016 by kili

[numbnut]

53 minutes ago, Haleth said:

It was also a bit disconcerting to see Keifer as a character so out of his element.  

He did do nerdy early in his career (he was great in Promised Land with Meg Ryan, who didn't play a nice girl for once).

Quote

The series would indeed be the most fun if Kiefer Sutherland was the Big Bad. 

I hope the character doesn't get macho. I doubt KS wants to go there as an actor after 10+ years of 24.