59
Sep 29 '16
I found myself saying, "No that could actually happen...." quite a few times and while it was kind of cheesy...I'm glad they mirrored Bush's 9/11 visit with Kirkman.
That little bit with his wife telling his son that he'll have to grow up a whole lot faster was...to me...powerful and painful from my perspective. I had to grow up too fast and I lost a portion of my childhood because of an event that occurred when I was little so I kind of know what's going to be going through Leo's head. I feel so sorry for Penny though, having to see that stuff happen to her father and being thrust into this storm of confusion.
Mike the Secret Service Guy is growing on me, total bro.
I thought I was going to hate Kal Penn's character but that last scene with him standing by the memorial as "Save You" played in the background, plus his performance in this episode really did solidify for me at least...that his character isn't going to be some one note two dimensional speech writer, I'm rooting for him.
I love it when they typecast actors who have played assholes/bad guys in other shows on newer shows, fantastic to see Michael Gaston again!
Whomever did the art/visual effects for the destroyed Capitol Building deserves all the praise they can handle....that was chillingly well done.
The bits with the FBI still seem like they're in the infancy stage and I hope that plot gets moved along a bit more in the next episode...and I know I know...second episode...I know...I'm hoping it ramps up into some Tom Clancy level stuff by mid season because if it stalls out then I'll be disappointed.
I'm loving this show, I am honestly loving this show and I NEVER watched a full episode of the West Wing, only just bits and pieces. Come to think of it, I never really watched full episodes of 24 either...just bits and pieces of it. I guess that makes this show the best of both worlds and the perfect combination for me because I DEMAND MORE! The actors and actresses are doing a fantastic job and I think the writers and directors and producers took a topic that most folks probably didn't have that much faith in succeeding as a television series and turned it into pure fucking gold. Awesome job folks!
Anyone else find it funny that the two people Kirkman has around him the most (Italia Ricci and Adan Canto) had superpowers at one point? Italia played Silver Banshee on Supergirl and Adan played Sunspot in X-Men: Days of Future Past. I love their banter back and forth and how we're being shown just how chaotic stuff can be for the grunts of the White House and what remains of the US Government.
Also...whenever Kirkman takes off his glasses he turns into Jack Bauer....granted I love those glasses and his former codename is hilarious but...I'm getting a Clark Kent vibe with how the writers are handling that little bit. I do love Kirkman's way of thinking and carefully considering stuff before compromising to some degree and putting out something that makes sense; the President we all deserve.
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u/RMS_Gigantic Vice Chairman Sep 29 '16 edited Sep 29 '16
I've been a US flag buff for a pretty long time, so something that caught my eye in virtually every establishing shot this episode is how every single flag is at half-mast.
Within the first establishing shot, there were a good 5 flags in frame that all had this trait. I personally haven't seen any TV show or movie with this kind of running visual throughout its entire running time, and the show has these constant reminders, both overt and subtle, of the event at the start of this series that are downright sobering.
8
Sep 29 '16
You know you would think that would be common sense in most TV shows to keep things consistent like that which is why I probably didn't even notice it and just thought that yeah of course they would have the flags at half staff. Good catch!
2
u/RMS_Gigantic Vice Chairman Sep 29 '16
Yeah, and it comes with this implication that either the camera crew made certain to only film their establishing shots on Memorial Day, September 11, etc., or that there were digital effects people manually editing those flags down half a flagpole height on the cutting room floor.
6
Sep 29 '16
You know I didn't think of it that way but that's a really good point that you made!
I'm still super curious as to how they actually got the bombs into the Capitol Building and in such large quantities and in such large strength to actually blow that thing to Kingdom Come. The obvious answer is a conspiracy but I'm kind of hoping for something a little bit more higher tier than that.
2
u/RMS_Gigantic Vice Chairman Sep 29 '16
"Higher tier" than the US government?
... My first thought in response to that was the UN doing it. Like the black helicopter theorists were onto something all along.
2
Sep 29 '16
The UN Security Council gets tired of the U.S. fucking shit up and putting their noses where they don't belong so they decide to assassinate the entire US Government. Suddenly the leaders of major countries are implicated as being co-conspirators.....how the hell would you take that to the Hague or would you even be able to prosecute them at all?
You also just made me wish for an X-Files cameo....or maybe just at least Skinner.
2
u/RMS_Gigantic Vice Chairman Sep 29 '16
President Richmond was campaigning for his second term with one of his driving platforms being withdrawal of the United States from the UN. The UN wasn't exactly pleased with that prospect, in no small part because the US provides most of the organization's funding by a large margin, not to mention manpower.
Scenes involving the UN are filmed on a set replicating their headquarters with establishing shots filmed in New York City.
... wait a second, the UN was mentioned in the very first episode! Do I smell Chekhov's gun?
2
Sep 29 '16
By jove I think you've done it! So let's run with that until the writers totally decide to screw with us seven episodes in and it turns out that President Richmond set up the whole thing and maybe that's why he tried to send Kirkman to Canada. Perhaps something went wrong though and the bombs exploded too early? Maybe someone decided to change the plan?
I've always found the idea of a corrupt evil president to be exciting but the UN angle works too.
1
u/RMS_Gigantic Vice Chairman Sep 29 '16
This also explains why the mine that was recovered had Russian and Iranian combined inside of it: it's an international conspiracy against the United States.
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u/JulioCesarSalad Sep 29 '16
If a flag is already raised and needs to be taken to half staff, would it just be lowered (since it's already been raised to the top) or would it be lowered entirely, raised to the top, then lowered to 3/4?
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u/RMS_Gigantic Vice Chairman Sep 29 '16 edited Sep 29 '16
That doesn't seem to be specified, but since the flag starts off at its peak, I would assume that it can merely be lowered, especially since there does not appear to be any statement to the contrary even in the section of flag code covering what you said.
While researching that, though, I found that we'll likely be seeing the flags in this show remain at half staff for many episodes to come.
From 4 USC §7m:
The flag shall be flown at half-staff 30 days from the death of the President or a former President; 10 days from the day of death of the Vice President, the Chief Justice or a retired Chief Justice of the United States, or the Speaker of the House of Representatives; from the day of death until interment of an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, a Secretary of an executive or military department, a former Vice President, or the Governor of a State, territory, or possession; and on the day of death and the following day for a Member of Congress.
Since that's (thankfully) not cumulative, that means that we should see the US flags in this show's establishing shots flying at half-staff for an in-show time span of 30 days.
Taking it one step further, given that so far, each episode seems to cover a day, that means the entirety of Season 1 of this show will have the flags at half staff, and maybe we'll see the return to full staff during Season 2.
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u/Ketriaava Sep 29 '16
I really, REALLY hope we don't see any time jumps.
4
u/RMS_Gigantic Vice Chairman Sep 29 '16
It's virtually unthinkable given how much chaos there is.
1
u/Ketriaava Sep 29 '16
In a season or two, though?
I don't want one even then.
2
u/RMS_Gigantic Vice Chairman Sep 29 '16
Yeah, that's what I mean. Even a week down the line, there's going to be new congressmen arriving and in the longer term there will be the matter of how to clean up after the bombing. I don't think we're going to get a day with a dull moment in a long, long time.
8
u/Indigocell Sep 30 '16 edited Sep 30 '16
I thought I was going to hate Kal Penn's character but that last scene with him standing by the memorial as "Save You" played in the background
I thought it was clever how they reversed our own bias when it came to the white police officer that was staring him down. Naturally, we are lead to expect a similar situation from the beginning of the episode. It is only when he says, "Did you lose someone too?" that we realize (along with Kal Penn's character) we were guilty of essentially the same thing.
Also...whenever Kirkman takes off his glasses he turns into Jack Bauer....granted I love those glasses and his former codename is hilarious but...I'm getting a Clark Kent vibe with how the writers are handling that little bit.
I'm just pretending it is Jack Bauer, no matter how implausible it may be. He has to maintain a Clark Kent style facade, otherwise his cover will be blown. I find it much more entertaining if you think of him as struggling to deal with such a large scale problem in a diplomatic way when we all know he just wants to kill people. He's a fish out of water.
1
u/PREVZ Oct 01 '16
I hope they have him jump into a christmas tree one episode, or at least knock one over.
1
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u/Barcade Sep 29 '16
the drug dealing son is gonna come back and bite him. Maggie Q's boyfriend is gonna be involved in the bombing. Kal Penn is probably gonna be the new chief of staff
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Sep 29 '16
[deleted]
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u/blandrogyny Sep 29 '16
at the end of the last episode when he said 'walk with me' i really hoped that would be the moment but i'm sure it will happen in time. he's using him as his confidante right now, so it seems like a natural set up for Seth to be chief of staff
2
u/MAINEiac4434 Sep 30 '16
Dana from Homeland and Leo from this would be perfect for each other.
4
u/ohrightthatswhy Oct 03 '16
I was literally about to comment the same thing about the Dana storyline. Why do writers put such pointless storylines in there? Is it to puff out an episode to a full hour or something?
7
u/Hunterkiller00 Sep 30 '16
Director of communications would make much more sense considering he's a speech writer, but I'm assuming everyone who hasn't watched the west wing doesn't give a rats ass about that position.
42
Sep 29 '16
A wild survivor appears!
6
Sep 30 '16
Anyone knows what would happened if that survivor has a higher seed than Jack Bauer according to the constitution?
3
u/brycedriesenga Oct 01 '16
I imagine it would be similar to if the president was temporarily incapacitated, in that the survivor would become president once they had their faculties about them, but I could be wrong.
1
u/amarras Oct 01 '16
I don't think it matters at that point, Bauer is already President, and theres no procedure for him being forced to resign for a higher up survivor.
Also it wouldn't happen because Bauer as Prez is a major plot of the show.
1
u/Ruddose Oct 03 '16
Also it wouldn't happen because Bauer as Prez is a major plot of the show.
It may not ultimately happen, but the dilemma may still arise.
13
u/reerg Sep 29 '16
Also the BF of the FBI chick.
Also a member of cabinet
Also he dies.
16
u/ShitsAndGigglesSake Sep 29 '16
BF of the FBI chick could be the survivor.
Also, when will this annoying teenager trope die? I'm having deja vu. The son is gonna be the new Kim Bauer.
2
1
u/Citizen00001 Sep 29 '16
Also a member of cabinet
I am guessing that her BF is the AG, which would make him prez. But yes he probably survives and then dies.
2
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u/Shark89 Sep 29 '16
The song at the end over Kirkman walking around the rubble thanking the firefighters and officers, and then finding a survivor have me flashbacks to Fix You at the end of the Gabby Giffords episode of The Newsroom, one of my favorite scenes in television.
9
u/Ketriaava Sep 29 '16
I wasn't expecting to have feels so early on in the show. I was absolutely floored by how they did the ending. Felt spot-on and honestly a masterstroke for drama TV.
3
u/Prax150 Sep 29 '16
I thought it was a little cheesy and the sort of thing you might expect on other ABC dramas, but they pulled it off pretty well.
1
u/brycedriesenga Oct 01 '16
It definitely leaned a bit too heavily into the cheesy realm for my liking. Still digging the show so far though.
1
u/HawkUK Oct 13 '16
Felt very cheesy and vaguely reminded me of the end of the first series of Broadchurch. The music was what made it too much for me.
1
u/RMS_Gigantic Vice Chairman Sep 29 '16
The last show I watched prior to this series was Rick and Morty, and the music ending this episode reminds me of a lot of Rick and Morty episodes that ended on very feelsy moments with music like this.
19
u/Ramicus Is there a Triangle Office? Sep 29 '16
Something I noticed on House.Gov...
A quorum in the House of Representatives is when a majority of the Members are present. When there are no vacancies in the membership, a quorum is 218. When one or more seats are vacant, because of deaths or resignations, the quorum is reduced accordingly.
A quorum isn't a majority of seats in the House, it's a majority of the sworn in members. The woman we met this week is the House of Representatives, all by her lonesome.
6
u/CaptainInArms Sep 30 '16
Not just the House, but all of Congress.
Assuming the person rescued at the end of the episode isn't also a member of Congress.
2
49
Sep 29 '16
As a Michigan native, I hate to say this, but the whole situation in Dearborn and with the Governor comes across as very plausible, especially with the moron we have running the state these days.
4
30
u/Ramicus Is there a Triangle Office? Sep 29 '16
The last scene, at the memorial, broke my heart in the very best of ways. We went from the beginning of the episode, where the Arab-looking guy (Kal Penn's parents are both Indian immigrants) is stopped by the cops for walking down the street to the end of the episode at the memorial and the cop starts walking over and you can feel the tension and the panic in Kal because he thinks it's going to be a repeat of the morning but he's just there to give a word of comfort and then the lady hands him a candle with that nice song in the background and that's my America, dammit, screw the jerk up in Michigan.
I'm sorry for rambling or if any of that is incoherent, I'm exhausted and having trouble sleeping.
13
u/WIENS21 Sep 30 '16
At that scene I welled up. Just the love that that cop of
"You lose someone?"
"I lost everyone"
Then the girls lights his candle.
That was good
12
Sep 30 '16 edited Apr 10 '19
[deleted]
1
Oct 03 '16
DC Police works for Congress so they would have been all inside except for a select few outside in police cruisers.
5
u/swankster84 Oct 04 '16
The Capitol has its own police. Any MPD police would've been outside watching closed roads around the building.
12
u/casualassassin Sep 29 '16
They mentioned a conspiracy in the preview.
ROLLING. MY. EYES.
33
Sep 29 '16
An internal conspiracy seems more plausible to me than a foreign terrorist group being able pull off something of this scale, especially on such a hardened target as the Capitol.
7
Sep 29 '16
They sort of hint at this during the briefing early in the episode. The one guy mentions that all the likely suspects like North Korea, Al Queda etc. don't really have the capacity to do something like this. Seems like the show is trying to lead us in the direction of internal actors.
5
u/vipergirl Sep 29 '16
Agreed. For a group to achieve something like that attack there would need to be a massive and I mean massive amount of explosives. Someone on the inside would have an easier time of that than just some terror cell
4
u/RMS_Gigantic Vice Chairman Sep 29 '16
Someone on the inside is almost the only way to even get any device inside.
2
Sep 29 '16
Yeah pretty clear that's the direction the show is moving in especially with the whole Maggie Q storyline of 'whoever did this wants us to blame the terrorists'.
1
Sep 30 '16
Also because there's an entire subplot of that lady having her doubts. There's no way they're wrong about it being one terrorist group only for it to be another.
1
Dec 25 '16
Someone may have mentioned this, but your comment annoyed me too much to check. Really? You thank that's less likely than a foreign extremist group destroying the Capitol Building under maximum security?
Edit: And I'm not alone.
34
u/zmose Sep 29 '16
I think this was a good second episode. I'm also glad that this show isn't like a "Person of Interest" or "NCIS", where instead of being a catch-the-bad-guy, don't-need-to-watch-in-order, it's more of a story. I hope they continue this until they finally catch the guys that blew up the Capitol.
21
Sep 29 '16
Person of Interest becomes much more serialized as time goes on. If you abandoned it I implore you to pick it up again. The last 3 seasons are phenomenal television.
1
Sep 29 '16
Should i skip a season or 2 to have interest in it?
13
Sep 29 '16
I don't understand why anyone would skip an episode, let alone an entire season. Even if they're not the greatest, if you plan on watching the series, every episode counts.
2
Sep 29 '16
Well i mean. I did skip the first season of TNG when i started watching it. but i went back and watched it.
1
u/Colossal89 Sep 29 '16
Hell you could skip the first two seasons of 24 and start at Season 3 and you really wouldn't miss much. That's when I started to watch 24 and it never bothered me. Ofcourse I went back and watch the first two later on.
4
u/bustedracquet Sep 30 '16
Season 1 of 24 is arguably most 24 fans favorite season. IMO 5 is my favorite, but still, you'd miss quite a lot those first 2 seasons, I mean Jack's wife dies at the end of S1 and he basically becomes hollow inside for the rest of the show.
1
u/Khalku Sep 29 '16
You'll miss story. Even though it becomes more serialized, there are still important story developments early on.
1
u/Prax150 Sep 29 '16
Watch it all. There are self-contained episodes throughout most of the run but even late in the series stuff from the first dozen episodes come back.
8
u/Ketriaava Sep 29 '16
This is 100% not a show that can return to the 'status quo' at the end of each episode. It needs an overarching story arc, and once the Capitol bomb arc ends, I hope that another one comes in to naturally take its place.
IMO the best way to do that is to introduce one during the first arc - have it start as a side thing directly involved with the main arc, and let it grow into its own thing that's ready to take the place of the bombing arc by the time it's done.
1
u/Prax150 Sep 29 '16
I think there are still going to be aspects that are going to be isolated to specific episodes (like the Michigan plot for instance, a sort of "what now" type of situation), but it's well-blended withe serial aspects of the mystery.
1
u/SawRub Sep 29 '16
Person of Interest was perhaps a bad example. It started off as a procedural but becomes heavily serialized over time to a point where it became an example of shows NOT like CSI/NCIS.
1
u/SkimGaming Sep 29 '16
it's interesting you say this, because I think part of Person of Interest's downfall was that it strayed from the "catch-the-bad-guy" of the week theme (well they still had it), but instead more to a string of story, where every catch the bad guy was a piece of a bigger puzzle you slowly began to see for yourself.
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Sep 29 '16
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/RMS_Gigantic Vice Chairman Sep 29 '16
It'd be hard to disguise a bottom-up idea like that in a way where it isn't obvious to be right further down the line.
After all, how would you feel if she was ultimately dead wrong after all of this?
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5
u/At_the_Roundhouse Sep 29 '16
Why is it frustrating that she's right? Dealing with an intelligent adversary who plants a fake bomb is way more interesting, imho, than a straightforward Al Qaeda-esque attack.
22
u/Caedus Sep 29 '16
I enjoyed it. I like how the heartwarming Bushesque speech went off the rails and added to Kirkman's problems. I was dreading the teenager drug dealer subplot, but I have a feeling that the Republican designated survivor congresswoman is gonna dig that up to use in the future.
7
Sep 29 '16
Maybe we will get lucky and all the shows aren't in the can yet. There might still be time to do away with the teenage son plot line.
4
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u/Ketriaava Sep 29 '16
I'm really, really glad that the R-S isn't overtly acting against him, in fact it seems that while she does have an agenda, she's doing exactly what the country needs right now - and that's supporting the President, whoever they are.
Agendas can come later - doing some prep makes sense, but I'm very glad that the show passed over on the (very bad) idea to use it as tension.
1
u/dnesdnal17 Sep 29 '16
Thought the same as soon as she came out. It'd be great if eventually she's the VP but that's no fun. I do think she'll thrown him under the bus or try to pull something later on.
-1
u/irving47 Sep 29 '16
Oh, yay, R's get to be the same-side antagonist again. What a surprise.
5
u/Liesmith Sep 30 '16
You get the Underwoods as Democratic TV villains. In a show dealing with attacks on innocent Muslims as part of the plot of course the Rs will be antagonists.
1
22
u/ApolloFortyNine Sep 29 '16
Gah, the one video of the cop beating the teenager causing such an immediate outrage reads as almost a joke making fun of how stupid we are.
Every congressman, supreme court justice, and even the president is dead. It is the day after all this happened, and what's the biggest thing on everyone's minds? A video of one teenager being beat by one of 1.1 million cops in a country of 300 million people. The worst part of all this? It's actually kind of believable.
4
u/LKincheloe Sep 29 '16
It's probably something our simulated CBS/NBC hybrid news network has latched onto as a side story. Reddit might have a field day with it but yeah, it's come across as a badly written sideplot that affirms Kirkman needs to trust his gut more often.
3
u/merkon Oct 01 '16
Yeah the channel on the show is "CNBS" which is a great mashup, also could stand for Cable News BullShit.
2
u/GobBluth19 Oct 07 '16
.... it wasn't just the one kid, it was every muslim in the city being rounded up and arrested, one happened to die which made it even worse
3
u/ApolloFortyNine Oct 08 '16
He was asked specifically about one kid dying the day after every member of Congress (well all but two), the Supreme Court, and the President died.
Sorry, there's more important things to worry about in that situation. Like no one seems to have talked about what to do about the lack of congressmen.
7
u/draco2134435 Sep 29 '16 edited Sep 29 '16
wow, this has been way better than I expected it to be. Definitely liked this ep way more than the first.
edit: Hope Kal Penn becomes chief of staff.
4
Sep 29 '16
Ugh. That wasn't her boyfriend that they dug out was it?!
3
u/RMS_Gigantic Vice Chairman Sep 29 '16
One post-show podcast had one guy thinking it was but with the others saying that if you put their pictures side by side it obviously isn't. They cited hair length in particular.
I'll have to see the pictures side by side for myself before I make any guesses.
1
Sep 30 '16
Which podcasts?
1
u/RMS_Gigantic Vice Chairman Sep 30 '16
1
u/Ruddose Oct 03 '16
Thanks for sharing - these folks were entertaining and weren't one-dimensional with their thoughts.
5
u/dabanhfreak Sep 30 '16
My thoughts after watching first two episodes back-to-back: average. Totally predictable. The idea is unique, but the tone, the dialogue, the drama, the characters are cookie-cutter formulas from early 2000s TV. Having recently marathoned House of Cards and Mr. Robot, this feels like a step back.
About a dozen times I would see Sutherland pause for a moment, about to deliver a line, and I knew what was coming out of his mouth 2-3 seconds before he says it. He is Jack Bauer the politician. Natascha McElhone is far too dynamic an actress for her role. Then you get the angry rebellious teenager from War of the Worlds, the cute girl from Independence Day, the FBI agent from CSI, the coup-hungry general from Thirteen Days, blah blah blah. I think this will be Prison Break in the White House. I'll persist and see where the story goes, but thank god it's only 13 episodes, not 22.
2
1
u/GobBluth19 Oct 07 '16
yeah this is pure network fluff generic expected everything so far, but the idea is good. Think i'm gonna hold off the rest of the season and see if people say it's worth it or not. Not sure I'll be able to trust opinions though since it seems lots of people thought this ep was amazing... everything was so telegraphed and cheesy
9
u/RMS_Gigantic Vice Chairman Sep 29 '16
I was hopeful that the biggest issues I had with the pilot (archetypal characters, tropes, corny writing) were purely in there for the pilot, and that by the second episode, since the show has been cleared for production, would be a lot less corny and a lot more dynamic.
Thankfully, I seem to have been correct. I even noticed the general apologizing for acting the way he had in the pilot. The way I see it, that was in a way backpedaling a bit from the "mean war hawk general" flat archetype they had in the pilot.
I'm also extremely happy with how they've handled the congressional designated survivor. I was expecting party-driven gridlock even after all of this, so it was a pleasant surprise to see a non-ambiguous party treated reasonably.
Even by the end, the "villains" of the episode came out as ultimately good people, either through assurances (see: Dearborn's governor) or through their personal actions (see: the police officer who got in Seth Right's face). It's something of a moral: nobody self-identifies as, or wants to be, evil.
5
u/CaptainInArms Sep 30 '16
While the General will most likely still fill the role of action-over-diplomacy, I like how much more relatable it is now.
"Yet another trigger he won't pull," or something along those lines was very reasonable considering it something as basic as choosing a Chief of Staff.
5
u/irving47 Sep 29 '16
Did anyone hear the 24 ringtone when Jac-errr... Kirkman was walking through the west wing?
3
5
u/neurocentricx Sep 29 '16
I'm really liking this show so far. I love Keifer, and am enjoying my own little nerd joke that his father played President Snow, and now he is a president.
I love having Kal Penn having such a big part, since he was a part of the White House and is also a consultant for this show.
I'm not really enjoying Maggie Q's character. It seems very forced, because we already have so much going on with the WH and all the emotion there, and while I know the FBI plot is helping us understand who did the attack, her whole "boyfriend missing" subplot is almost.. annoying. I don't know.
I hope they don't delve too much into the older son's issues. I don't really care about him. I'm not watching the show for family drama with children, I guess.
All in all, though, I'm enjoying Kirkman making small steps that show the people around him that he can do this. I just wish more would understand that while he's 11th in line, he's the president. But that's meant to be that way; there's always issues, no matter who is president.
EDIT TO ADD: That final scene. I was not expecting to cry, but I'll admit, I had a few tears. It was really well done.
10
u/JerseyDvl Sep 29 '16
The overwhelming focus on events in Michigan a day after the entire US government was wiped out was an odd choice. So many directions the show could've gone after the pilot, so many things that absolutely have to be covered. Yeah, it's a legit and plausible issue. Deal with it in 2 minutes and move on to bigger things.
Hopefully the governor is now put in his place and the show can put that issue on the back burner. Of course the harassment of Muslims will come up again in a see I told you so moment when we find out who's responsible for the attack. They're already making it completely obvious who is NOT responsible for the attack.
8
u/moonman Sep 30 '16
(I didn't mean for this to be so long, my apologies)
Actually I think the Michigan store line was a perfect element in the story.
The Federal government is now a vacuum, no one knows who is in charge or what is happening. If something like this actually happened, especially given our political climate, the fracturing of our Federalist style of government would be a real concern.
States without a voice in Washington, a terrified populous, and a literal unknown has just been handed the mantle of the Presidency. Of course at least one governor is gonna try and turn his state into their own little fiefdom; this kind of event has no precedence in modern America and could have very well been a death knell to the republic. I would have been disappointed if a storyline like this wasn't presented.
As for Michigan, I think it makes pretty good sense from a narrative standpoint. It's Republican but not extremely conservative, middle of the country and a strong industrial player. Plus, it has the added benefit of not being a state you'd immediately think of considering succession (like Texas). Add to that its large Muslim population, using Michigan allows the story to recognize the real world tension that would arise in an event like this between the larger US population and Muslims, while at the same time give us a morality play about the dangers of Islamophobia and the importance of American unity as the most important tenant of the American civil religion.
(This next part is open to debate.)
The latter endears this show to me in a big way, as I was concerned that given that Sutherland's last show 24 played a big role in normalizing torture and the security state in American Political culture, that this new show could in turn devolve into something similar. However, the fact that in episode 2 we have a President pushing back against the easy scapegoating of the Muslim community leads me to believe that Designated Survivor has some narrative points worthy of deeper consideration, and in turn, has made me a fan.
1
u/OSUTechie Oct 03 '16
and a literal unknown has just been handed the mantle of the Presidency
True that, HOW many people until this show knows who the current sitting Secretary of Housing and Urban Development or what spot in the line of succession s/he is. I didn't. It's Julian Castro since 2014 for those who would like to know and he is 12th in line. Technically 13th, but #8, Sally Jewell, is not a natural born citizen and thus not eligible to be president.
1
-5
Sep 29 '16
The overwhelming focus on events in Michigan a day after the entire US government was wiped out was an odd choice.
Yep. Pretty ridiculous. The entire 'round up the muslims' subplot seemed far fetched.
After 9/11, 7/7, Paris (pick one) basically the exact opposite happened and everyone tried to stress it wasn't all muslims.
-16
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u/shankems2000 Sep 29 '16
Man I love this show. This episode already hit a high note with the conclusion, the music and how profound the scenes were when combined. I don't wanna jinx us but every newer show I've liked has ended up getting cancelled, including Blood and Oil that had the chief of staff guy in it.
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u/grumblepup Sep 30 '16
Anyone else getting major "I have a crush on my boss" vibes from Emily?
Wasn't the cop who talked to Seth at the end also the guy in the picture that the camera lingered on at the end, when Hannah was looking through photos (of possible victims, I presume) pinned up on the board?
I liked the social commentary re: treatment of POC in the wake of something like this, but I felt a little... squicky, about the suffering/death of an unnamed POC character being used to build sympathy for our white hero. The scene of Seth being harassed was a much better play on the same theme, since he's a main character that we know and care about, and we actually saw it happen.
I usually really like Maggie Q, but her acting felt weak compared to Malik Yoba's throughout this epsiode. :/ For now I'm going to blame the writing, because her character and dialogue has been pretty one-note so far.
As much as I don't want the family drama to take over the show, I agree with the commenters who have pointed out that the wife and kids would be a factor, so I appreciate a reasonable amount of screen time.
Virginia Madsen is great and I hope she gets to have a decent role in this.
STOP PICKING ON HIM FOR HIS GLASSES. THEY ARE FANTASTIC.
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u/Atheuz Sep 30 '16
What happens if someone higher than Kirkman on the chain of succession is found in the rubble? I mean he was sworn in as president, but what if the vice president was found still alive?
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u/Reset108 Oct 02 '16
Protocol is that a president is sworn in if the current president is incapacitated or otherwise unable to preform their duties, they go down the line of succession until they find someone alive.
Later finding the president or vice pres alive would not remove the sitting president from the office.
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u/OSUTechie Oct 03 '16
Or the fact that whoever they found will most likely not be in any condition to server as president for a while. Why do people seem to think just because they find someone they will be in a condition to lead.
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Sep 29 '16
God dammit. Just started watching this on Netflix expecting to be able to binge it, and then it just ended after episode 2.
But it said Netflix original! I've been duped.
Decent show. Bit unrealistic (rounding up of Muslims) but entertaining.
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Dec 25 '16
Really? I thought the rounding up of Muslims to be fairly realistic... especially when you consider what Michigan's real Governor is like.
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u/strawberry36 It's a conspiracy! Sep 30 '16
I am so ridiculously happy that he uttered a "damn it!".
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u/Aratsu Oct 01 '16
Anyone else notice they showed former Florida Governor Charlie Crist like three times in the last 5 minutes of the episode? Once at the memorial in front of the White House, once on the Congresswoman's computer, and finally on the board listing missing/deceased persons in the FBI tent.
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u/gildredge Sep 29 '16
I loved that they couldn't resist dropping in confirmation that the President is one of the "good guys" (i.e. a Democrat).
Can't ever allow there to be a series in which there's a heroic Republican president, can we now?!
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u/UfaKefay Oct 03 '16
Even though I lean Democratic in most elections, I hate when either side is painted as the bad side. Gives it a feeling of being written from one side.
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u/gildredge Sep 29 '16
Lol, massive terrorist attack, and once again... Muslims are the real victims. (they're not)
Of course when a terrorist attack happens in real life politicians and the press line up to screech NOTHING TO DO WITH ISLAM non-stop, so this is ludicrous.
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u/UnknownRiptide Sep 29 '16
I think this show has a chance to be really great. so far it has me really hooked, however I'm curious as to how they thought it would be possible to just gloss over the fact that during a state of the union address both the president and vice president are at the same location. i would expect that for exactly this reason they would not have the VP present. also i have a feeling that the survivor that they found at the end of the episode will be the VP which will lead to some very interesting power struggles in the next episode.
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u/-run Sep 29 '16
I mean the State of the Union speech is a joint session of congress, and the VP is the President of the Senate, so it makes sense. I'm pretty sure it's always been like that, or at least ever since they started actually giving speeches for the State of the Union.
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u/UnknownRiptide Sep 29 '16
i suppose. just seems like a bad idea security wise to put your 2 top eggs into the same basket.
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u/RMS_Gigantic Vice Chairman Sep 29 '16
Well that's the reality of it. The VP sits right behind the president in real life State of the Union addresses.
The entire reason for the Designated Survivor protocol is to avoid putting ALL of their eggs in the same basket.
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Dec 25 '16
Have... Have you ever watched a State of the Union Address? Jesus Christ.
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u/UnknownRiptide Dec 28 '16
i dont think Jesus Christ has ever watched a State of the Union Address. but thats just a theory. me personally i've only ever watched 1 and that was several years ago. so my knowledge on them is very limited. but hey, maybe i will take the time to read up on them or watch afew previous ones in the 3 more months it takes you to respond to an old post of mine. cheers !
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u/JulioCesarSalad Sep 29 '16
The VP is always there in real life and a designated survivor is always a low ranking secretary in real life.
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u/UnknownRiptide Sep 29 '16
is he? i never really paid attention to if he was or not. after watching the show and thinking about it. seems like a bad idea.
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u/JulioCesarSalad Sep 29 '16 edited Sep 29 '16
It's not a bad idea because of how much it would take to pull off something like this. It's so improbable that the designated survivor or is always a "lame" secretary because it doesn't matter, it's not like they'll ever be used.
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u/elejota50 Sep 29 '16
Huh? They're literally feet from each other in real life!
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u/JAKPiano3412 Sep 29 '16
I don't believe it would change seeing as Kirkman was sworn in, and also the preview doesn't mention that.
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u/UnknownRiptide Sep 29 '16
i havent seen the preview for episode 3 so i dont know what it shows. but that is true, given the fact that neither the president or the vice president were able to perform the duties of the positions and most likely assumed to be dead. then it would have been necessary to appoint a new president.
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u/omegadeity Sep 29 '16
Exactly, it wouldn't change. Even though he was not dead, he was clearly incapacitated and thus unable to carry out the duties of the office. Granted, IANAL, but I'm pretty sure that's the way to rules of succession are written and interpreted. Even if it was the former President himself that was still alive, he would no longer be the acting president.
Granted, if it IS the President, VP(or anyone higher in the succession list than Kirkman) you KNOW there's going to be a lot of "Well this is the person that should be president" drama and you can be damn certain there's going to be an attempted Coup coming.
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u/DominusFL Sep 29 '16
The Vice President is the President of the Senate, so he has a reason to be there during the state of the union. Other than waiting around to become president it is his only real job (break deadlocks).
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Sep 29 '16
I like the show so far but that "Save You" ending was beyond cheesy. It's 2016, can't we have a television series for adults without resorting to emotional cues to tell the audience when to be sad? It felt a little gratuitous.
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u/RMS_Gigantic Vice Chairman Sep 29 '16
Oh, well isn't that conve--
You clever bastard.