S01.E08: The Results

[formerlyfreedom]

On the eve of the country voting to elect a new House of Representatives, an unexpected development forces Kirkman to consider cancelling the elections entirely. Meanwhile, news has leaked about Majid Nassar’s death, and Kirkman has to handle the fallout.

 

[The Wild Sow]

OK, it was stated twice that it's "February."  Nassar's funeral was February 6 and the election was February 7.

The trees are all green and leafy (and, in the polling place scene, orange/red and leafy!); people are outside in light spring jackets; the jogger in Tshirt and shorts; no snow on the thick, green grass........

Perhaps this show is set in some vague future time where Global Warming has already happened? 

[qtrim]

I think the mysterious called to Hannah is Beth MacLeish. Peter and Beth's daughter went missing the night of the attack. Peter was called on the phone and told to hide in the special room and then do what he's told or his daughter would be harmed. Beth knows all of this because Peter has told her. She's tipping off Hannah. She has Hannah's phone number from when Hannah went to question Peter.

[Netfoot]

^^^ That all sounds very reasonable!

Unless two timelines are in play.....  :-/

[Amy Beth]

Is there a reason Atwood didn't trust Kirkman enough to tell him about the blackmail and ask to have a staged arrest to satisfy his son's kidnapper?

[shapeshifter]

15 minutes ago, Amy Beth said:

Is there a reason Atwood didn't trust Kirkman enough to tell him about the blackmail and ask to have a staged arrest to satisfy his son's kidnapper?

IIRC, the bad folks told Atwood they could see him, which I suppose means they have a lip reader unless it means that they can hear him too.

There were a couple of chuckles, but I'd have to rewatch to recall them. 

[Bobbin]

12 minutes ago, Amy Beth said:

Is there a reason Atwood didn't trust Kirkman enough to tell him about the blackmail and ask to have a staged arrest to satisfy his son's kidnapper?

Atwood probably assumes the Oval Office is bugged.

I'm glad they put the Leo DNA plot to rest. Big speeches, little emotion. I wonder how Leo will react when he sees his DNA results in the news and realizes that his dad looked at it after all.

Another show with the gimmick of people having critical clues that they refuse to share until they get more information.  I couldn't tell if she realized that Atwood's bringing up that other case was his trying to say, "My son has been kidnapped!

[Netfoot]

3 minutes ago, Bobbin said:

I couldn't tell if she realized that Atwood's bringing up that other case was his trying to say, "My son has been kidnapped!

She must have!  My Budweiser pointed that out, and he was only half watching!

[Dowel Jones]

Does a sitting President vote in the DC precinct, or does he cast a vote in his home district?  The only reason I ask is that DC has non-voting representatives in Congress and no Senator, and that's all that was on the ballot.

Couldn't Atwood have written a note to the President, to be handed to him as he was speaking?  These people should be able to think on their feet. Plus, he let another opportunity to remove the courier from the equation.  And the scene in the Oval Office.  Sorry, all I could think of was Mystery Science Theatre 3000.  "Push the button, Mr. President."

Alright Leo, got that settled in your mind?  Then cut your damn hair, stop moping, and start looking like an actual First Son.  You'll get laid eventually.

So, the results are in, there's a Congress and a Senate to be sworn in and educated about how the processes work, and they'll have a budget to work with now.  Wait, what planet are these people from?  We're talking about Congress here.

[revbfc]

Pres. Kirkman: "I don't need to open this envelope to know your my son!"

Pres hugs son, everybody leaves the room...

...Pres. Kirkman says "F--k it!" And opens the envelope.

This show does not disappoint.

[Happy Harpy]

I fastforwarded the all family scenes. Couldn't care less. At least it's over, and at least Seth and the journalist ended on courteous professional terms, but I wish they didn't go for the cliché route and she had nothing to do with leaking the story.

Yeah, they're doing a will they-won't they...will Kirkman and Hannah freaking meet or not? It's getting as annoying to me as a romantic one. Someone needs to spill the beans, NOW. The convolutions in order to keep Kirkman and his team in the dark are going against the interest of the show in terms of pacing especially.

Not knowing anything is getting annoying at this point, too, and the one step forward, two steps back dance even more. Again, show, you need to be compelling NOW. Because no one will be watching when the writers stop to complacently pat themselves on the shoulder for giving crumbs of information and decide to reveal more than what everybody had guessed from the get-go or almost (here, that McLeish is on in the Conspiracy, and probably manipulated by the Conspirators). The move with Atwood surprised me but yet again, it didn't spur more immediate actions or reveals, and the show was back to stalling in no time. 

They're supposed to keep the viewers on their toes to compensate with the lack of progress in the season-arc, I know, but the show should stop with the big crisis of the week because it still suffers from the same issue. It tells, it doesn't show, there's no sense of urgency and the result is an artificial fable I don't feel connected to in spite of Kiefer Sutherland speechifying his ass off to convey the emotional weight of the whole storyline. There's so much one actor, even great, can do. So it's a fail with this viewer.

If Kirkman had cancelled the elections I'd have been done with DS. I'm not supposed to think, once more, that Aaron would make a better president, am I?  I know that Kirkman can be a suave badass, let him be that. Stop with Saint Tom Of the Hesitation. A President should rely on his team, a President should be in dilemmas, but Kirkman always intends to fold and his team as a whole always urges him not to give up so in the end, he looks weak imo even when he makes the ballsy decision.

Why do I still watch? The actors are great, starting with K.Sutherland, I love Aaron, Emily and Seth, Maggie Q's Hannah as well as V.Madsen's Kimble and the White House and investigation storylines have potential. It just needs to be exploited better imo.

Edited December 1, 2016 by Happy Harpy

[Princess Lucky]

5 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

There were a couple of chuckles, but I'd have to rewatch to recall them. 

Biggest laugh of the night for me (paraphrasing):

"I can't track Atwood, he's an expert in surveillance detection, he must have pulled out his phone battery!"

Oh and when the mystery voice was like "11:14" and Hannah was like "oh cool, where?" and the voice was like "lol psych, that's not a time for our meeting, that's another clue," I lost it.

I love this show.

Atwood has the worst pokerface known to man. Both Hannah and Kirkman knew something was off. I loved the scene of his confession, and "push the button" was badass, but the best part was Kiefer's "W...T...F?????" face throughout that scene.

5 hours ago, Amy Beth said:

Is there a reason Atwood didn't trust Kirkman enough to tell him about the blackmail and ask to have a staged arrest to satisfy his son's kidnapper?

Right? I was hoping they'd do that, but they showed us the entire meeting so they might not be able to reveal that "twist" later. I like the idea of slipping Kirkman a piece of paper, somehow, but for now it seems the arrest is legit, and Hannah will be the one to crack the case. Which is fine by me. Also, I can't believe how invested I am in Hannah meeting Kirkman. When Aaron was like "I'll call Atwood's most trusted colleagues" I cheered. I cannot wait for their actual meeting.

Seth remains the best. And I'm loving the Seth/Aaron/Emily dynamic. When Kirkman wanted to cancel the election and Seth nudged Aaron to say something, that showed their closeness. By the way, I think Kirkman should always listen to Aaron from now on. Aaron seems very savvy, but he's not 100% cruel and heartless. With every episode, I see why Kirkman chose him over Emily. Kirkman's sentimentality needs to be balanced out.

By the way, me yesterday:

On 30/11/2016 at 3:20 AM, Princess Lucky said:

Or, for something more realistic, if "militia" suddenly rose up and attempted to start a civil war of some kind. Maybe an organized and simultaneous attempt in every state (that'd be a fun show to watch. Though maybe not right now.).

Um.

On 30/11/2016 at 3:20 AM, Princess Lucky said:

The cabinet members can be replaced, and not having a Congress won't exactly impede the function of the US government, in my opinion. Not like they'd need to approve a budget, or something.

Oops.

It was a great idea to have an attack on the election itself, and we got the prerequisite "Kirkman acts on emotion" beats, but it was hilarious how they shoehorned in the paternity drama. Like, sure, millions of voters could die, but let's follow Kirkman's dumb son to school! I will say that I loved Mike (who is my lowkey favorite) and Kiefer did some great stuff with the quieter scenes. That said, after the kid stormed out and the phone rang, and Kirkman was like "This better be an emergency!!!!" I was like "um, I'm pretty sure it's totally an emergency." Not like there was an actual bioterrorism attack unfolding, that very second. Priorities!

I am loving how fast-paced every episode is. Catalan seeing Hannah so fast? The kidnappers making demands immediately? Atwood confessing and getting arrested so soon? Atwood giving Hannah a clue which she figured out immediately? Hannah calling her source and getting yet another clue? I love it.

Kimble Hookstraten is awesome. Always love seeing her. I'm glad she has McLeish on her shit list now, I trust her to handle him more than I trust the FBI. And speaking of McLeish, that kidnapper lady said "I took care of a loose end for us". Like he was totally in on it. Like he was selected by "them" (whoever's behind this), maybe a long time ago, to survive and become the new POTUS. He didn't exactly seem like a victim, more like a conflicted villain. Hm.

[marinw]

44 minutes ago, Princess Lucky said:

the best part was Kiefer's "W...T...F?????" face throughout that scene.

 

Kiefer is such a great actor.

Speaking of which, the CDC really Jack Bauered the f*ck our of the Risen crises. That was one speedy resolution. And poor Tom got a win by being all brave and voting. And he gave a presidential press conference!

I wanted to slap Atwood. Hannah would never cave to that sort of blackmail. As Princess Lucky has already said, Kirkman's expression of incredulity was great. Atwood is a terrible liar. HIs confession was so stilted and forced "I totally Killed that Terrorist. Yes, that was me. Lock me up. Mr. President. Thank you and good day."I hope he has never worked undercover.

So if Leo wasn't Tom's bio-son, would Tom still have given the results to Reporter Lady? I don't blame Seth for being angry.

Good music this ep, very 24ish.

Overall, a strong episode by the standards of this show.

[Sparger Springs]

I don't understand if the kid wasn't his bio son the nation would think he was a liar and couldn't be trusted.  Kirkman wanting that stupid reporter around to keep him honest, made no sense. She wasn't exactly outing state secrets about torture and government malfeasance.  Its turning into a bad soap opera.

[mwell345]

8 hours ago, qtrim said:

I think the mysterious called to Hannah is Beth MacLeish. Peter and Beth's daughter went missing the night of the attack. Peter was called on the phone and told to hide in the special room and then do what he's told or his daughter would be harmed. Beth knows all of this because Peter has told her. She's tipping off Hannah. She has Hannah's phone number from when Hannah went to question Peter.

I think you're on to something. Way back, as soon as Beth said her daughter went missing at the mall and they found her with some woman eating ice cream, I thought Peter was being forced into complying.  The kidnapping of the FBI agents son confirmed that of course- but I never considered Beth being the caller and it's very plausible.

[merylinkid]

I loved the First Lady saying "We learned we can't have secrets in our new house."   Ummm, so have you told your husband about your son's drug dealing yet?  

Yeah, reporter lady, I saw a story, I ran with it.   About the first kid.   It's not Watergate or the Pentagon papers.   The president needs someone who will call him on his policies, not his personal life.  

So Hannah figured out that Atwood's kid was kidnapped.   She knows people who have information about the bombing are dying.   Does she tell anyone else her information?   Of course not.   She keeps it to herself until she can work out a plan with Atwood.   Because secrets are totally the way to go here.

I just can't with McLeish being "a heartbeat away from the Presidency."   Hey President hesitation, did you notice how he acts every time you try to get government up and running?   Yeah, he is up to something.

Ooooh nooos, ricin at the polls.   Except we never see sick people or concerned people.   Just like with the one kid in Dearborn dying, we see one family affected by it.   They really do need to convey the concern and effect better.   Or make it clear that the one example they are using is a snapshot of the whole nation.   

[TobinAlbers]

I know it would never happen, but just once I would love for the parent of a kidnapped kid that's being blackmailed into something murderous and traitorous to say to 'Never liked my kid much anyway' and spill ALL to the proper authorities.

Or more realistically, play along to get as much info as possible and then spill to a locked room full of the proper authorities and come up with a game plan to out the conspiracy that includes trying to save the kid.

The convo with MacLeish and Umbrella Lady had enough leeway where MacLeish was still a blackmailed participant in that Umbrella Lady's comment of 'Us' could be ironic/further impressing on MacLeish that he is a part of the 'team' whether he likes it or not.  MacLeish also asked about more innocent people dying and seemed exasperated and impatient. Atwood just got pulled in that same day so he was much more resistant and angry but MacLeish has had his chain yanked since at least just before the bombing and he may have not believed this operation could pull off what they did but when he was pulled from the rubble and survived it hit home that these people have BIG reach and he needs to play along.

The only thing that makes me think he may be part of it was his scene with Hookstraten where he seemed borderline gloating that he wasn't going to play along with her which immediately put him on her radar. However maybe that  was an offbook play by MacLeish to make sure Hookstraten DID pay attention to him and take him down along with the President so that the conspiracy group's plan is thwarted.

The First Son drama was so not needed.

[Primetimer]

Bioterrorism threatens the election, kidnappers threaten FBI boss Jason Atwood, and questions about Leo's paternity would threaten Kirkman's relationship with his son, if he had one.

View the full article

[Nanu160]

So the Director of the FBI has a 1999...Flip Phone?

[Bobbin]

So, what's to become of Atwood's son? Was he that "loose end" that was taken care of? Release him, don't release him, the motive behind Atwood's confession comes out either way. Unless the boy suddenly acquires a mysterious new "au pair".

Jeopardizing Kirkman's relationship with his son I get, but I don't understand why it would be a national disgrace if Leo wasn't his bio son. It's supposed to be noble for a man to step in and raise another man's son, under a variety of circumstances, including prenatal. Realistically, willfully not knowing at the outset is silly and foolhardy. My friend's roommate in college was there as a result of a coin-toss with his buddy. Seriously.

IRL, going ahead with the election would be recommended, because canceling elections is a ploy of dictatorships and military juntas. And being intimidated into not voting is the mark of a Third World country.

So Atwood is in maximum security. A lot of good that did the supposed terrorist. And Hannah is going to confide in one the President's most trusted advisors. Trusted does not necessarily mean trustworthy. Choose wisely, Agent.

[Dowel Jones]

3 hours ago, merylinkid said:

The president needs someone who will call him on his policies, not his personal life.  

He has policies?

[misstwpherecool]

Once I got past the political subtext of this epi -"voter suppression" this was an ok but  clicheish epi. Not bad not great. I guess the big question is who is leveraging who. The VP candidate or congress lady? And who was following Maggie Q to the secret meet.

[merylinkid]

52 minutes ago, Dowel Jones said:

He has policies?

Presumably he will get around to having some when government is rebuilt and starts govermenting.

[Netfoot]

4 hours ago, TobinAlbers said:

I know it would never happen, but just once I would love for the parent of a kidnapped kid that's being blackmailed into something murderous and traitorous to say to 'Never liked my kid much anyway' and spill ALL to the proper authorities.

Atwood is a (the?) senior man in the FBI.  One of the FBI's special responsibilities is kidnapping.  Surely Atwood realizes that playing along with the kidnappers is totally against all his knowledge, training and work experience?

3 hours ago, PreviouslyTV said:

Bioterrorism threatens the election

Ricin is a poison distilled from castor plants.  (They grow wild around here, and every so often some kid drops dead after chewing a bean.)  Is poison a biological attack?  Just because the poison originates from organic sources?  If so, would a cricket bat also be a bio-weapon?  (They are made from the wood of a willow tree.)

[paigow]

3 hours ago, Nanu160 said:

So the Director of the FBI has a 1999...Flip Phone?

That was the burner phone from the bad guys...untraceable....http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/424543/scitech/technology/phone-of-choice-for-drug-dealers-in-uk-nokia-8210

[MaryHedwig]

Quote

It's supposed to be noble for a man to step in and raise another man's son, under a variety of circumstances, including prenatal. Realistically, willfully not knowing at the outset is silly and foolhardy

I agree. It is romantic but foolhardy; especially for a man that aspires to hold public office. I tried to do the math: Alex was dating someone else right before she started dating Tom; Tom and Alex got married as soon as she discovered she was pregnant. So how long did Alex and Tom date before they got married? One month? Six weeks? Any longer and it would have been clear that the baby was the other guy's. That's one whirlwind romance for two lawyers (I'm assuming Tom is a lawyer.) Also, Keifer is 49; Natascha is 46, let's assume that they are playing characters their own age. Leo is only 17. That means Tom and Alex made this rash decision 31 and 28 respectively? (Rash to get married so fast and rash not to check paternity.) I know Alex is hot, but damn...

Quote

Atwood is a (the?) senior man in the FBI.  One of the FBI's special responsibilities is kidnapping.  Surely Atwood realizes that playing along with the kidnappers is totally against all his knowledge, training and work experience?

Thank you. Even I got more training on how to handle kidnapping during my employee orientation. Atwood, never negotiate with the enemy by yourself. Also, how is Atwood's wife handling all of this?

Edited December 2, 2016 by MaryHedwig

[marinw]

23 minutes ago, MaryHedwig said:

(I'm assuming Tom is a lawyer.) 

I think he was an architect.

[Bobbin]

6 hours ago, Netfoot said:

Ricin is a poison distilled from castor plants.  (They grow wild around here, and every so often some kid drops dead after chewing a bean.)  Is poison a biological attack?  Just because the poison originates from organic sources?  If so, would a cricket bat also be a bio-weapon?

A cricket bat you can usually see coming, it can only be used to take out one person at a time, and you can see who's wielding it. It may be "biological", as is a fist, but it's not a stealth weapon in the same league as ricin.

As for Atwood's actions, I can only imagine that all the protocols, all the regulations, all the training in the world go out the window when it's your own child who's been taken.

[jhlipton]

21 hours ago, Amy Beth said:

Is there a reason Atwood didn't trust Kirkman enough to tell him about the blackmail and ask to have a staged arrest to satisfy his son's kidnapper?

PLOT!!!!!!!!

[Netfoot]

43 minutes ago, Bobbin said:

A cricket bat you can usually see coming, it can only be used to take out one person at a time, and you can see who's wielding it. It may be "biological", as is a fist, but it's not a stealth weapon in the same league as ricin.

My point being, wouldn't ricin be a chemical weapon (in the NBC sense) rather than a biological one?

ETA:  They used it to kill Georgi Markov, but they had to jab him with an umbrella and get it under his skin / into the blood.  Does it work from skin contact?

Edited December 2, 2016 by Netfoot

[secnarf]

46 minutes ago, Netfoot said:

My point being, wouldn't ricin be a chemical weapon (in the NBC sense) rather than a biological one?

ETA:  They used it to kill Georgi Markov, but they had to jab him with an umbrella and get it under his skin / into the blood.  Does it work from skin contact?

https://emergency.cdc.gov/agent/ricin/facts.asp

Unlikely to get poisoned from skin contact, but inhalation is possible.

[nutty1]

I just watched last night's episode. I was yelling at the TV for Atwood to hand the President a note. 

Who is the guy that Hannah was confiding to all of a sudden, the one tracing the phone. Has he been around all this time?

So I wonder who the lady with the umbrella is working for? 

Edited December 2, 2016 by nutty1

[KaveDweller]

25 minutes ago, nutty1 said:

I just watched last night's episode. I was yelling at the TV for Atwood to hand the President a note. 

Who is the guy that Hannah was confiding to all of a sudden, the one tracing the phone. Has he been around all this time?

So I wonder who the lady with he umbrella is working for? 

I was assuming he was the same guy that helped her find those pictures of McLeish not being in his seat during the State of the Union. 

[Moose135]

On 11/30/2016 at 11:10 PM, The Wild Sow said:

OK, it was stated twice that it's "February."  Nassar's funeral was February 6 and the election was February 7.

The trees are all green and leafy (and, in the polling place scene, orange/red and leafy!); people are outside in light spring jackets; the jogger in Tshirt and shorts; no snow on the thick, green grass........

Perhaps this show is set in some vague future time where Global Warming has already happened? 

Last week - I think - they were saying it was 6 weeks since the bombing. Since the SOTU is usually held in mid to late January, it should be March by now, not February 7.  Also, when the Kirkmans were getting ready to leave for the polls, the newscast was talking about "when the polls open at 6:30am"  It was way too bright outside to be that early in DC in February (or even March).

 

20 hours ago, Dowel Jones said:

Does a sitting President vote in the DC precinct, or does he cast a vote in his home district?  The only reason I ask is that DC has non-voting representatives in Congress and no Senator, and that's all that was on the ballot.

Usually you see the President voting in his home state, which I think is New York for Kirkman.  As you noted, DC doesn't have a Congress member, although they could have been voting for the district's non-voting representative.  That said, I don't think they would have been voting in DC.  And what's with going places in that black Suburban all the time - POTUS has a big ass, armor-plated limousine to travel in.  With everything going on in the world, there's no way the Secret Service don't use it.

 

16 hours ago, Sparger Springs said:

I don't understand if the kid wasn't his bio son the nation would think he was a liar and couldn't be trusted.  Kirkman wanting that stupid reporter around to keep him honest, made no sense. She wasn't exactly outing state secrets about torture and government malfeasance.  Its turning into a bad soap opera.

A little bit about how the family is dealing with being thrust into the spotlight would be sufficient, but the "drama" of the paternity issue, the drug dealing, FLOTUS poking her nose into various affairs of state, I can do without.  It does make me wonder though, has the First Daughter gone off to Mandyland?

 

15 hours ago, merylinkid said:

I loved the First Lady saying "We learned we can't have secrets in our new house."   Ummm, so have you told your husband about your son's drug dealing yet?

She's waiting for the next international crisis to drop that little nugget on him.

One other nitpick, maybe they should have covered the Canadian registration on the helicopter they used when they were moving the terrorist's body.  I checked it - I'm an aviation geek, it's what I do - and it is an actual registration, owned by a company in Toronto.  I know they film up there, but you can at least try.

I'm not sure how much longer I'm going to stay with this.  It seemed like a great concept, but it's quickly heading off the tracks - the family drama, the incredibly inept FBI investigation, a President who gets twisted up in knots when he has to decide between cereal or eggs for breakfast...

Aaron Sorkin has ruined me for any other White House show.  I kept comparing (unfavorably) Kirkman's press conference speech to President Shepherd's at the end of The American President and the way the Secret Service agent handled the reporter who ambushed Zoey Bartlett on campus in The West Wing.

[dwmarch]

On 11/30/2016 at 9:21 PM, shapeshifter said:

IIRC, the bad folks told Atwood they could see him, which I suppose means they have a lip reader unless it means that they can hear him too.

There were a couple of chuckles, but I'd have to rewatch to recall them. 

I loved the bit between Kirkman and wife when she said "He's definitely my son" and Kirkman replied something along the lines of "that is not even funny!"

23 hours ago, Netfoot said:

She must have!  My Budweiser pointed that out, and he was only half watching!

Is "My Budweiser" an unconventional use of the term or is your auto-correct being a melon farmer? ;)

21 hours ago, Dowel Jones said:

Does a sitting President vote in the DC precinct, or does he cast a vote in his home district?  The only reason I ask is that DC has non-voting representatives in Congress and no Senator, and that's all that was on the ballot.

I live in Canada so things might be a little different up here because we have fewer voting districts and the resources of Elections Canada to manage them. However, it seemed fairly ridiculous to me that the POTUS would have to leave the White House (during heightened security tensions no less) and drive a big-ass motorcade to some polling station in the burbs so he could cast his vote. Why isn't there a polling station right in the White House? Once my girlfriend was in the hospital during an election. Know where she had to go to vote? The lobby!

10 hours ago, Netfoot said:

Atwood is a (the?) senior man in the FBI.  One of the FBI's special responsibilities is kidnapping.  Surely Atwood realizes that playing along with the kidnappers is totally against all his knowledge, training and work experience?

That was the most insane thing about this plot. The last person in the world anyone would want to try to kidnap is a family member of someone in the FBI! The full wrath of that entire agency would descend on whomever did it and if they actually followed through and killed their only leverage they'd want to kill themselves at the same time. The FBI would never, ever give up no matter how many moles or conspiracies or flip phones they have to suffer through.

[wilnil]

13 minutes ago, Moose135 said:

Usually you see the President voting in his home state, which I think is New York for Kirkman. 

Remember, he's a former Cabinet member, not a member of Congress who officially remains a resident of her/his district or state. When he became HUD secretary, Kirkman moved to the D.C. area, and the precinct for his neighborhood is no doubt where he voted from.

[Johnny Dollar]

Since D.C. has one Representative, who can't vote, and no Senators, the last of voters at the D.C. polling station should not have been surprising. What with all that ricin going around...

 BTW - whatever happened to the "Leo is a drug dealer" storyline?  

Edited December 2, 2016 by Johnny Dollar

[TaraS1]

I'm at a loss with this show.  I don't know what I was hoping it would turn out to be, but I don't think this crisis-of-the-week (now there's Ricin in the heartland!) with ridiculous melodrama ("Walk into the Oval Office, be as unconvincing as humanly possible and confess to murrrrrder!") and soapy family angst thrown in is it.

Come on, show, be better!  I'm rooting for you!  I'm going to hang in there for the winter finale and keep my fingers crossed.  Maybe Maggie Q will finally make it into a meeting with Keifer.  

[Nanu160]

18 hours ago, paigow said:

That was the burner phone from the bad guys...untraceable....http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/424543/scitech/technology/phone-of-choice-for-drug-dealers-in-uk-nokia-8210

Ooh sweet! I'm digging my old Nokia out right now!

[RemoteControlFreak]

On 12/2/2016 at 0:36 AM, dwmarch said:

I live in Canada so things might be a little different up here because we have fewer voting districts and the resources of Elections Canada to manage them. However, it seemed fairly ridiculous to me that the POTUS would have to leave the White House (during heightened security tensions no less) and drive a big-ass motorcade to some polling station in the burbs so he could cast his vote. Why isn't there a polling station right in the White House? Once my girlfriend was in the hospital during an election. Know where she had to go to vote? The lobby!

That's definitely not how it works in the United States.  You have to vote at your officially-designated polling place.  If you're unexpectedly in the hospital and didn't vote by absentee ballot in advance, then you have to get an emergency absentee ballot.

Elected officials (yes, I understand that Kirkman was not elected) and candidates voting publicly and in-person is an unofficial part of the job. It sends a message about the open system of elections  in the U.S. and creates good "optics."  POTUS could legally vote by absentee ballot but that's not a good option when he can get a nice photo op at the polls.

The White House cannot be a polling station.  Polling places have to be in a public location that's open to all during all hours that the polls are open and those hours are determined by the state, or in the case of DC, the district.  While the White House is technically a public building, it's certainly not wide open to all and couldn't be for the 12 hours or so that polls are typically open.

Edited December 4, 2016 by RemoteControlFreak

[Raja]

On 12/1/2016 at 0:02 AM, Dowel Jones said:

Does a sitting President vote in the DC precinct, or does he cast a vote in his home district?  The only reason I ask is that DC has non-voting representatives in Congress and no Senator, and that's all that was on the ballot.

 

 

9 hours ago, Moose135 said:

 

 

Usually you see the President voting in his home state, which I think is New York for Kirkman.  As you noted, DC doesn't have a Congress member, although they could have been voting for the district's non-voting representative.  That said, I don't think they would have been voting in DC.  And what's with going places in that black Suburban all the time - POTUS has a big ass, armor-plated limousine to travel in.  With everything going on in the world, there's no way the Secret Service don't use it.

 

 

 

8 hours ago, wilnil said:

Remember, he's a former Cabinet member, not a member of Congress who officially remains a resident of her/his district or state. When he became HUD secretary, Kirkman moved to the D.C. area, and the precinct for his neighborhood is no doubt where he voted from.

The DC area would be the key. The Secret Service could have easily set up a Kirkman traffic jam to travel into Maryland or Virginia on voting day if that is where he settled before being moved to the White House.

[Nanu160]

On 12/1/2016 at 4:24 AM, Happy Harpy said:

I fastforwarded the all family scenes. Couldn't care less. At least it's over, and at least Seth and the journalist ended on courteous professional terms, but I wish they didn't go for the cliché route and she had nothing to do with leaking the story.

Yeah, they're doing a will they-won't they...will Kirkman and Hannah freaking meet or not? It's getting as annoying to me as a romantic one. Someone needs to spill the beans, NOW. The convolutions in order to keep Kirkman and his team in the dark are going against the interest of the show in terms of pacing especially.

Not knowing anything is getting annoying at this point, too, and the one step forward, two steps back dance even more. Again, show, you need to be compelling NOW. Because no one will be watching when the writers stop to complacently pat themselves on the shoulder for giving crumbs of information and decide to reveal more than what everybody had guessed from the get-go or almost (here, that McLeish is on in the Conspiracy, and probably manipulated by the Conspirators). The move with Atwood surprised me but yet again, it didn't spur more immediate actions or reveals, and the show was back to stalling in no time. 

They're supposed to keep the viewers on their toes to compensate with the lack of progress in the season-arc, I know, but the show should stop with the big crisis of the week because it still suffers from the same issue. It tells, it doesn't show, there's no sense of urgency and the result is an artificial fable I don't feel connected to in spite of Kiefer Sutherland speechifying his ass off to convey the emotional weight of the whole storyline. There's so much one actor, even great, can do. So it's a fail with this viewer.

If Kirkman had cancelled the elections I'd have been done with DS. I'm not supposed to think, once more, that Aaron would make a better president, am I?  I know that Kirkman can be a suave badass, let him be that. Stop with Saint Tom Of the Hesitation. A President should rely on his team, a President should be in dilemmas, but Kirkman always intends to fold and his team as a whole always urges him not to give up so in the end, he looks weak imo even when he makes the ballsy decision.

Why do I still watch? The actors are great, starting with K.Sutherland, I love Aaron, Emily and Seth, Maggie Q's Hannah as well as V.Madsen's Kimble and the White House and investigation storylines have potential. It just needs to be exploited better imo.

This! Well put! Also... St. Tom of the Hesitation! Someone took their Clever Pills yesterday!

[Netfoot]

9 hours ago, dwmarch said:

Is "My Budweiser" an unconventional use of the term or is your auto-correct being a melon farmer? ;)

My Budweiser.

[Biggie B]

Quote

Who is the guy that Hannah was confiding to all of a sudden, the one tracing the phone. Has he been around all this time?

He's been in several episodes so far, but I can't recall his character's name. He works with/for Hannah. I have been calling him Chloe, as in Chloe from '24.'

[snarkylady]

10 hours ago, Moose135 said:

It does make me wonder though, has the First Daughter gone off to Mandyland?

She's waiting patiently for the episode where she's going to be kidnapped. 

[yogi2014L]

On 11/30/2016 at 10:26 PM, qtrim said:

I think the mysterious called to Hannah is Beth MacLeish. Peter and Beth's daughter went missing the night of the attack. Peter was called on the phone and told to hide in the special room and then do what he's told or his daughter would be harmed. Beth knows all of this because Peter has told her. She's tipping off Hannah. She has Hannah's phone number from when Hannah went to question Peter.

ohhhh great theory!!!!!!!!

[Driad]

Quote

I was yelling at the TV for Atwood to hand the President a note. 

So was I.  Atwood might say "Here is my resignation" but the note might say "Don't react. This office might be bugged. They kidnapped my son."

[shapeshifter]

12 minutes ago, Driad said:

So was I.  Atwood might say "Here is my resignation" but the note might say "Don't react. This office might be bugged. They kidnapped my son."

I like your wording of the note, but it also begs the question (stated above by other posters) of why this higher up fibbie is even in this situation (rather than having the whole force of the FBI dealing with it). IDK, I suppose the two scenarios are not mutually exclusive.

[orza]

Atwood knows the statistics of kidnap victim survival and rescue when the FBI is involved. While he may have to accept those numbers as a professional when he is involved as a part of his job, he may find the survival rate unacceptable when it is his own child in jeopardy. I don't find it at all unusual or weird that he would ignore all protocols and procedures and act on his own when it is his own child.

[Kromm]

6 hours ago, TaraS1 said:

I'm at a loss with this show.  I don't know what I was hoping it would turn out to be, but I don't think this crisis-of-the-week (now there's Ricin in the heartland!) with ridiculous melodrama ("Walk into the Oval Office, be as unconvincing as humanly possible and confess to murrrrrder!") and soapy family angst thrown in is it.

Come on, show, be better!  I'm rooting for you!  I'm going to hang in there for the winter finale and keep my fingers crossed.  Maybe Maggie Q will finally make it into a meeting with Keifer.  

Yeah. for the most part this show has been a real shit sandwich so far.  

When your political show makes Madam Secretary look brilliant, you know there's a problem.

I will add that it continues to be fairly painful watching a show about how the government may have been undermined by a foreign power... when that's exactly what happened recently in real life to our country.  Even if it was via stooges and hacking rather than bombs and kidnapping plots.