US Secretary of Housing and Development Tom Kirkman (Kiefer Sutherland) is on the outs with the administration and possibly his wife Alex (Natascha McElhone). He is the designated survivor for the State of the Union speech. When a terrorist attack destroys the Congress and the Presidency, Tom becomes the new President. With his assistant Emily Rhodes, he recruits the President's Deputy Chief of Staff Aaron Shore and speech writer Seth Wright. Mike Ritter is his Secret Service protection. FBI agent Hannah Wells (Maggie Q) under Jason Atwood investigates the incident. Kimble Hookstraten (Virginia Madsen) is the opposition's designated survivor. Rookie congressman Peter MacLeish is the sole survivor of the attack.
The first season literally starts with a bang. It has a compelling investigation. The politics is a little clunky but Sutherland's sincere leading man keeps the train on the tracks. I like Maggie Q's half which has an action thriller aspect. The mix is good but the second season falters. The twisty investigation ends and a new one struggles to emerge. The political half gets too West Wing. It is way too sincere and boy scout Kirkman is too perfect. It tries to add humor which is jarring for this show. The West Wing gets cringy. It's too black and white. It gets annoying. I do like Maggie Q going rogue but it becomes the lesser half of the show. This gets cancelled after two seasons and who knows if it's getting a new life somewhere else.
EDIT: Netflix picked up the show but quickly cancels it after streaming an additional 10 episodes. The third season has President Tom Kirkman running for the election as an independent. Mars Harper is the new Chief of Staff. Hannah Wells gets fired from the FBI and is recruited by the CIA. She begins hunting for a bio threat to the nation. The show is doubling down on the West Wing. The good news is that Kirkman is an independent. The bad news is that the show intends to make a point about modern day politics. I think most people are tired of talking about it or watching it on their fictional TV. He's way too sincere to be that much fun anyways. Hannah does her separate adventure which only ties back to the main story close to the season's end. It's not any worst than the second season although I prefer to incorporate Hannah's side a lot better. This show is better off canceled at this point.
The first season literally starts with a bang. It has a compelling investigation. The politics is a little clunky but Sutherland's sincere leading man keeps the train on the tracks. I like Maggie Q's half which has an action thriller aspect. The mix is good but the second season falters. The twisty investigation ends and a new one struggles to emerge. The political half gets too West Wing. It is way too sincere and boy scout Kirkman is too perfect. It tries to add humor which is jarring for this show. The West Wing gets cringy. It's too black and white. It gets annoying. I do like Maggie Q going rogue but it becomes the lesser half of the show. This gets cancelled after two seasons and who knows if it's getting a new life somewhere else.
EDIT: Netflix picked up the show but quickly cancels it after streaming an additional 10 episodes. The third season has President Tom Kirkman running for the election as an independent. Mars Harper is the new Chief of Staff. Hannah Wells gets fired from the FBI and is recruited by the CIA. She begins hunting for a bio threat to the nation. The show is doubling down on the West Wing. The good news is that Kirkman is an independent. The bad news is that the show intends to make a point about modern day politics. I think most people are tired of talking about it or watching it on their fictional TV. He's way too sincere to be that much fun anyways. Hannah does her separate adventure which only ties back to the main story close to the season's end. It's not any worst than the second season although I prefer to incorporate Hannah's side a lot better. This show is better off canceled at this point.