S02.E03: Outbreak

[thewhiteowl]

President Kirkman is faced with a viral pandemic which threatens  countless Americans. Meanwhile, Hannah and Damian uncover evidence that could change the lives of the First Family.

[paigow]

Zika!

[Dowel Jones]

The MLB playoffs!

[Pindrop]

I'm going to suggest some plots to the beleaguered writers. We've now had a plane hijack and a viral pandemic, so how about: -

1) A giant meteorite heading for Washington. 

2) Alien invasion. 

3) Zombie pirates.

4) A Vampire-werewolf hybrid.  

5) Dinosaur rampage.

6) Intelligent monkey uprising. 

7) A cut in funding to an arts programme. 

President Kirkman is faced with a dinosaur rampage which threatens countless Americans. Meanwhile, Hannah and Damian uncover evidence that could change the lives of the First Family... see, how much better does that sound? 

Edited October 10, 2017 by Pindrop

[Danielg342]

3 hours ago, Pindrop said:

President Kirkman is faced with a dinosaur rampage which threatens countless Americans. Meanwhile, Hannah and Damian uncover evidence that could change the lives of the First Family

Throw in PETA putting up opposition by saying "let them roam! Let them roam!" and you could have a field day with this episode.

[transitfan]

On 10/10/2017 at 9:00 AM, Pindrop said:

I'm going to suggest some plots to the beleaguered writers. We've now had a plane hijack and a viral pandemic, so how about: -

1) A giant meteorite heading for Washington. 

Too much like Salvation  :)

[paigow]

On 10/10/2017 at 9:00 AM, Pindrop said:

7) A cut in funding to an arts programme. 

Hookstratten saved public school arts funding....maybe she has to save PBS now

[marinw]

On 10/10/2017 at 10:00 AM, Pindrop said:

1) A giant meteorite heading for Washington. 

2) Alien invasion. 

3) Zombie pirates.

4) A Vampire-werewolf hybrid.  

5) Dinosaur rampage.

6) Intelligent monkey uprising. 

7) A cut in funding to an arts programme. 

 

How about killer bees?

Leave it to Designated Survivor to make a pandemic boring. I’m usually all over anything that involves HAZMAT suits and isolation protocols.

I am alone here, but the Kirkman frog was sorta funny.

Kirkman’s handling of Pharma Bro was clever.

[janeta]

There would be too many ppl in this town rooting for the meteorite...

—posting from D.C.

[paigow]

Intelligent monkeys will domesticate dinosaurs...ash cloud from meteorite kills everything...

[notcreative enough]

I know I probably way late on this but I just blew my mind when I noticed Chuck was the guy from Degrassi. I clearly never read / pay attention to the opening credits.

[janeta]

I knew POTUS would like the frog. :)

[Frozendiva]

The frog was cute. Had personality, too.

Nice to see Alicia Coppola again (Another World/Jericho).

The pandemic was a little dull but the pharma guy was well-handled. Maybe if the pandemic stretched to two episodes.

So now the President's mother-in-law has a connection to what is going on?

[TobinAlbers]

7 minutes ago, Frozendiva said:

So now the President's mother-in-law has a connection to what is going on?

 

When you hire a name actress like Bonnie Bedelia to play her, yes she becomes a part of the conspiracy.

I was more than willing to give Lyor a chance but this episode he grated so much. Kiefer geeking out over the frog was too cute.

And yet I'm not feeling the direction of this show. I get now that they course corrected away from the thriller urgency doomsday angle towards handling American issues in the way we would like the President to act rather than the current real life administration, but the dialogue is so...not good. Tom's talk with Mike and Tammy's constant references to being a solider and staying on the battlefield lacked nuance and sophistication. They were clunky.  And I love Alicia Coppola but she was turning on those moon eyes at Kiefer that if this had been a different show I would've thought she was crushing on him something fierce and she would be recurring as a stalker.

And the 'gee isn't he awesome ?!' that the entire staff constantly gushes at Kirkman is getting old as is the gnashing of teeth that they (new lawyer lady, Tammy of the CDC, Tom) didn't nail it 100% and save everyone. They didn't have time for all this navel gazing in S1 with crap hitting the fan. I get it was unsustainable but what the show has become is the right mix for me either.

[Driad]

I liked the frog, and hope it gets safely back to where it lives. Amphibians have plenty of problems these days.

Alex’s parents’ case: When they learned that the witness was still alive, I knew he would die by the end of the episode. They should have sent someone who could get there quickly to protect him. Hannah is not the world’s only law enforcement officer.

[oakville]

The show continues to copy the West Wing. There were too many different plot lines. The Confederate statue issue was rushed &  could have been an entire episode by itself.

The baby frog issue was funny but not so much when there is a pandemic killing people

Once again, Maggie Q is the only agent in the USA.

The conspiracy issue is heating up again.

Where is the Congress? Secretary of Health?

I think the writers are trying to throw as many issues as possible at Potus. They are trying to make him a Superman.

There was too much identity politics with the pandemics. Mr Nerdy kept spouting stats every 2 seconds.

[Moose135]

Who was the dead guy Hanna found in her place at the end?  Not that it really matters, I'm about done with this mess...

[shapeshifter]

2 hours ago, TobinAlbers said:

Tammy's constant references to being a solider and staying on the battlefield lacked nuance and sophistication

Wow, somebody forgot to edit the rough draft for that part of the script.

And it seemed pretty implausible that the bad guy would assume the 2 agents on the case would be able to follow the path of destruction to the incriminating documents he planted.

But I did enjoy Kiefer giving hell to the big pharma chump, as well as seeing him in love with his namesake frog. That might have been a good cameo moment for the first daughter.

ETA: I just realized that when Kiefer smiles these days, he sort of resembles Kermit the Frog.

Edited October 12, 2017 by shapeshifter

[marinw]

I actually like Paulo Costanzo in this role, even though I'm not sure what he does.

6 hours ago, TobinAlbers said:

Tom's talk with Mike and Tammy's constant references to being a solider and staying on the battlefield lacked nuance and sophistication. They were clunky.

I was rolling my eyes at that too. 

Edited October 12, 2017 by marinw

[Chas411]

God this show is soooo boring. Every week it gets significantly worse.

[TaraS1]

8 hours ago, TobinAlbers said:

And yet I'm not feeling the direction of this show. I get now that they course corrected away from the thriller urgency doomsday angle towards handling American issues in the way we would like the President to act rather than the current real life administration, but the dialogue is so...not good. Tom's talk with Mike and Tammy's constant references to being a solider and staying on the battlefield lacked nuance and sophistication. They were clunky.  And I love Alicia Coppola but she was turning on those moon eyes at Kiefer that if this had been a different show I would've thought she was crushing on him something fierce and she would be recurring as a stalker.

ITA, I thought they were hinting at the possibility of some future Tom/Tammy romance there for a minute. 

I gave up on this show towards the end of last season because I thought the writing/storytelling just wasn't nearly as good as it could be.  But I've been a diehard Alicia Coppola fan since the beginning of her brilliant soap days in 1991, so there's no way I was going to miss her.  Imagine my horror at the writing for her.  SO embarrassingly bad.  Even as a guest star, she deserved better than that.  This whole cast deserves better.  (But she looked gorgeous and I adore her and I hope they have her back lol)

[Biggie B]

I thought the First Lady's parents were Russian. Yet again, her mother has no accent and has a very un-Russian name, as does/did her husband (their names escape me...was the last name Booker? It was something rather bland). I guess that's being forgotten.

I don't like Seth's beard.

[marinw]

56 minutes ago, TaraS1 said:

I thought they were hinting at the possibility of some future Tom/Tammy romance there for a minute. 

 

Spoiler

Natascha McElhone is leaving the show, so that is a possibilty.

[TaraS1]

I hadn't heard that @marinw - thanks for the info!

Alicia did say on Instagram yesterday that last night was her first appearance.  Of course she also said her character was named Tracy...lol

[marinw]

9 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

ETA: I just realized that when Kiefer smiles these days, he sort of resembles Kermit the Frog.

I knew Tom was going to like his frog becuase he's adorkable like that.

Edited October 12, 2017 by marinw

[marinw]

12 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

But I did enjoy Kiefer giving hell to the big pharma chump

Kiefer yelling at people always makes me happy.

So of course the writers couldn’t resist getting into the Confederate Statue issue because the Outbreak and whatever the frak is going on with Hannah’s investigation wasn’t enough to fill the episode. I dare not comment on this except to say I did like like how Ron Canada’s character showed some nuance and had a interesting perspective.

Edited October 12, 2017 by marinw

[paigow]

Sorkin wrote "The American President" before he created "The West Wing" - so for all the complaints that DS is ripping off WW... Sorkin ripped off himself first....

[nitrofishblue]

I was somewhat disappointed with this episode. I feel like the writers are trying to get every current news story/issue in the story line. Something just felt way off for me. Too much happy happy endings to all story lines. I felt like I wanted to throw-up at some of scenes.

[secnarf]

Wtf was up with the statue? I feel like I tuned in halfway through that storyline and it had no relevance to anything else.

It felt like three different shows. I do continue to be interested in the plot that will drive the first lady from the show, but I really don't care about the rest.

[Moose135]

2 hours ago, paigow said:

Sorkin wrote "The American President" before he created "The West Wing" - so for all the complaints that DS is ripping off WW... Sorkin ripped off himself first....

Actually, TWW served as something of a continuation of The American President.  He had written enough for about a 6 hour movie, and used that material as the basis to launch TWW.  Not that he wasn't fond of reusing some of his best stuff in later works.

[marinw]

Where is the VEEP? Selina Meyer needs a job. She can bring along her duaghter. :-)

[paigow]

If FLOTUS is actually leaving, Kirkman will have to choose a Designated Stepmother

[KaveDweller]

20 hours ago, Moose135 said:

Who was the dead guy Hanna found in her place at the end?  Not that it really matters, I'm about done with this mess...

I don't think that was her place. They went to go talk to the guy that signed some contract while the first lady's mother was department of defense.  He was the guy they thought could tell them if the first lady's mother gave someone the contract to get her husband a heart transplant. So I guess we're supposed to think she is/was involved in something even worse than bribery, because the heart transplant thing doesn't seem like a big enough scandal to murder for or why the main evil guy would have cared.

I need to learn people's names.

[Moose135]

Thanks! You can tell how much I was paying attention.

[jhlipton]

On 10/11/2017 at 5:03 PM, marinw said:

Kirkman’s handling of Pharma Bro was clever.

Except Big Pharma Bro wouldn't have cared about his "reputation".  Neither Martin Shkreli nor Heather Bresch suffered much from their egregious actions (Shkreli is going to jail over a related matter but not the mark-up). 

23 hours ago, Moose135 said:

Who was the dead guy Hanna found in her place at the end?  Not that it really matters, I'm about done with this mess...

3 hours ago, KaveDweller said:

I don't think that was her place. They went to go talk to the guy that signed some contract while the first lady's mother was department of defense.  He was the guy they thought could tell them if the first lady's mother gave someone the contract to get her husband a heart transplant. So I guess we're supposed to think she is/was involved in something even worse than bribery, because the heart transplant thing doesn't seem like a big enough scandal to murder for or why the main evil guy would have cared.

I need to learn people's names.

FLOTUS dad (Mr. Booker) needed a heart transplant.  FLOTUS mom awards a contract to Eric Little.  Eric Little is a big-wig at a hospital and gets FLOTUS dad bumped from the bottom of the list to the top.  So FLOTUS mom must have bribed Eric Little (and every other person who maintains the heart transplant list) to bump dad.  Whoooo!  What a controversy!!!  Alert the press!!!!!!

18 hours ago, marinw said:

I actually like Paulo Costanzo in this role, even though I'm not sure what he does.

Lyor has taken over everything that made Seth, Seth.  And he always knows the right solution to everything.  In short, a really crappy deus-ex-machina.

[femmefan1946]

Kiefer geeking out over the frog was too cute.

I loved the way he mimicked the frog’s stance — all elbows!

Why did FBIgirl talk to the First Lady, who was all of 10 years old when her father had his operation, when her mum was right there in the White House?
Why did FBIgirl go to see the guy who signed the papers, when the mum was right there in the White House?
At least this time she took backup.

But the one who could tell her what she wants to know was right there in the White House!

DH told me to stop shouting at the TV at that point.

ITA, I thought they were hinting at the possibility of some future Tom/Tammy romance there for a minute. 
I thought it was a past romance, with warm feelings remaining

because the heart transplant thing doesn't seem like a big enough scandal to murder for or why the main evil guy would have cared.
DH and I had a disagreement about that. It strikes me as a ‘but her emails’ kind of faux-scandal that the BigBad’s flunkies and followers would love to push.
DH agrees with you that it’s too long ago and too minor for anyone to care. And yet he adores Rachel Maddow.

Eric Little is a big-wig at a hospital
But he was living in a half-double. Admittedly in Toronto that’s a $2million house, but it seems pretty downmarket for someone with enough pull to get a heart transplant pushed through from the hospital board.

[jhlipton]

4 hours ago, femmefan1946 said:

Eric Little is a big-wig at a hospital
But he was living in a half-double. Admittedly in Toronto that’s a $2million house, but it seems pretty downmarket for someone with enough pull to get a heart transplant pushed through from the hospital board.

Maybe he fell on hard times in the 30 years since...

[Blue Plastic]

11 hours ago, marinw said:

Kiefer yelling at people always makes me happy.

Hee hee, me too.

First Lady's mother is annoying and whiny so I don't mind if she turns out to be shady.

[thuganomics85]

Hey, we got another Nikita reunion!  The detective dude that was all up on Hannah's case about the break-in/explosion, was Dillion Casey, who played Sean Parker on that show.  That continues my hope that either Shane West or Lyndsy Fonseca will show up and team up with her.  Anything is better then boring British dude.

Other then that, a better episode then the other two, but still kind of dull.  The outbreak stuff held no surprises, Evil Pharma Guy was evil and had no dimensions, and the stuff between Kirkman and this Tammy character was awkward, despite Kiefer and Alicia Coppola's best efforts.   Yawn!

Kendra's first assignment is deal with a bunch of people arguing over where to put a confederate statute (in Chattanooga!  My hometown!  Second time I heard it mentioned in television land this week!), that just ends with her having everyone bond over their hatred to Lyor after he naturally offends all of them, and that makes them.... compromise, for some reason?  Still, it's always great seeing Ron Canada.

The frog stuff was actually the best part about the episode.

Alex gets one whopping scene for the entire episode.  For being the second billed star, Natasha McElhone sure gets to take it easy!  But it is now looking like her mother did some shady stuff to get her husband a heart transplant, so she might actually have more stuff to do now.

I'm pretty sure (or it at least felt like) Lyor had more screen time then Aaron, Emily, and Seth combined.  It's like everyone wants to be on this show as little as possible.

Admittedly, I can be easy though, and I did laugh at the bit when Mike opens the door, hears all the yelling, and just closes it and slowly walks away.  Need more Mike on this show.

[paigow]

8 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

Hey, we got another Nikita reunion! 

Xander Berkeley must be next for the 24 / Nikita Daily Double....

[oakville]

On 10/12/2017 at 5:03 PM, paigow said:

Sorkin wrote "The American President" before he created "The West Wing" - so for all the complaints that DS is ripping off WW... Sorkin ripped off himself first....

Designated Survivor is not only copying the West Wing. They are also bringing in actors like Ron Canada, who appeared in 10 episodes of the West Wing. LOL!

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0133474/?ref_=nv_sr_2

 

What's next? Will Kirkman get a young assistant like Charlie?

[thewhiteowl]

This show would be doing much better if it were copying West Wing, so far it's a pale, bland insulting wannabe.

[paigow]

2 hours ago, thewhiteowl said:

This show would be doing much better if it were copying West Wing, so far it's a pale, bland insulting wannabe.

Lyor seems to whine [smugly] enough for Josh, Toby & Donna combined...

[Danielg342]

I wanted to like this. I really did.

It's a broken record at this stage- there's so many elements that should make this show work.

...but it just doesn't.

The stuff with the statue? Easily should have made a whole episode, although Reverend Dale chewing up the youngins and then Lyor putting everyone down was gold.

Patrick Lloyd's escapades into the First Lady's family medical files? How many times have I said that Maggie Q's section of the show should be it's own show?

I've lost track.

Oh, and Kiefer Sutherland...wonderful actor. Boy can he make anything sound riveting.

Why he accepts such pedestrian writing and plotting...I just don't know.

I will say I'm getting tired of Tom Kirkman's "appeal to your heart" speeches...kind of glad one didn't work.

The frog stuff was pretty cute...light comedy seems to be a strength of this writing crew. Maybe if this was a zany show it would work better.

I think at this stage...I'm in at least until the midway point.

Spoiler

I want to see what happens with the First Family, as certain departures seem to hint at.

Then I'll see if it's worth continuing with.

Edited October 15, 2017 by Danielg342

[Chas411]

3 hours ago, Danielg342 said:

Oh, and Kiefer Sutherland...wonderful actor. Boy can he make anything sound riveting.

See I'm in the minority with this but.. I think he's awful in this. His dialogue is corny on its own but the way he delivers it? It's like a big plate of cheese. I can't take him seriously when he gets annoyed. He just seems so weak.

The Emily/Seth romance continues to suck.

Edited October 15, 2017 by Chas411

[marinw]

7 hours ago, Danielg342 said:

Oh, and Kiefer Sutherland...wonderful actor. Boy can he make anything sound riveting.

Why he accepts such pedestrian writing and plotting...I just don't know.

One of the mysteries of the Universe. The Flatliners reboot is said to be a dud.

Edited October 15, 2017 by marinw

[Pindrop]

2 hours ago, Chas411 said:

See I'm in the minority with this but.. I think he's awful in this. His dialogue is corny on its own but the way he delivers it? It's like a big plate of cheese. I can't take him seriously when he gets annoyed. He just seems so weak.

The Emily/Seth romance continues to suck.

I agree. I think he is bad in this, but he is working with terrible, terrible material. As to why does he take these roles? I would posit two reasons: -

1) He is an Executive Producer and (although unravelling as this season progresses) it was doing good metrics.  

2) It probably strokes his ego. The show has been created around him in the role of an idealised, selfless, Mary-Sue of a President (who actually comes across as smug, self-satisfied and self-righteous due to the absence of any subtlety or nuance in the writing or his character).   

Edited October 15, 2017 by Pindrop

[aemom]

Have we seen the Tammy character before?

The way they were talking,  they seemed to have a past history, which if they did, then I completely missed the explanation. Especially when he said "hi Tammy, it's Tom," during one of their Skype calls.

I'm still trying to figure out how FLOTUS' parents are Russian when she doesn't have a trace of an accent and their last name is Booker!

[jhlipton]

7 hours ago, Danielg342 said:

The stuff with the statue? Easily should have made a whole episode, although Reverend Dale chewing up the youngins and then Lyor putting everyone down was gold.

I thought he came off as a jerk.  If they had put his comments first, before the compromise, it would have worked a lot better.

[paigow]

3 hours ago, AEMom said:

I'm still trying to figure out how FLOTUS' parents are Russian when she doesn't have a trace of an accent and their last name is Booker!

Bukarinov