For weeks now, my sister-in-law has been urging me to watch Designated Survivor. Every time I’ve seen her she wants to talk about it.
Frankly, it didn’t sound like my thing. Kiefer Sutherland, not a huge fan. And it’s described as “a fast-paced, quickly engrossing escapist political action fantasy”. Really?
But in a weak moment as I climbed on the treadmill a few days ago, I needed something urgently to distract me from the fact I was hot, sweaty, panting and wanting to stop running. So I powered up Netflix on my iPad and started watching.
GLAD I DID.
OK, the premise is actually brilliant. If I was one of those Hollywood people with a big desk, 14 assistants and the power to green-light TV shows, I would have jumped on this one. And they did – it skipped the pilot stage and went straight to an order for a 22 episode season.
Currently there are about 11 episodes available on Netflix to binge on with more being added each week, I suspect.
The gist:
Every year the President of the United States gives a “state of the union” address to congress. Big speech. It’s like a report card on the past year and a declaration of priorities and policies for the year ahead. Everyone in government attends.
I’m going to get the words wrong because I’m not solid on the American political system, but it’s the US equivalent of both our houses of parliament, plus every elected federal politician and all the major heads of the big government agencies like the FBI and the CIA and all the other acronyms. Everyone’s there except one person. Each year there is a “designated survivor”, a low-level member of congress who is chosen to sit in a bunker at an undisclosed location to ensure the continuation of government in case of in case of a national emergency or tragedy (like the Capital building being blown up) and then that person becomes president.
SURPRISE: The Capital building is blown up. This is not a spoiler. This is the whole premise of the show.
This show is kind of soapy. Like, camp. It’s got a splash of the Bold & The Beautiful meets Scandal meets The West Wing meets Homeland meets House of Cards. Like one character will say, “I think that this is A” and another character will say, “But what if it’s not A. What if it’s B?” and they’ll look at each other. But the plot rollicks along and 20 things happen every episode and you have no time to be bored and it makes time on the treadmill pass really fast, which is how I always judge a show. FAST = GOOD.
Here are some other things you might like to know about Designated Survivor:
Kiefer Sutherland is really short and I found this mildly disconcerting. I know, I know. Nothing wrong with short men. But it’s sort of hard to take POTUS seriously when he comes up to everyone’s shoulder. Still, he has major star power after the success of his show, 24, so clearly TV execs wanted to replicate that vibe.
Tom Kirkman, as President, sort of whispers. I feel that he should be projecting his voice more forcefully if he wants to convey authority.
Kirkman is married to Alex, a kickarse immigration lawyer who fights for the rights of immigrants and is played by the luminescent Natascha McElhone who is FINALLY here to give Connie Britton a run for Best Hair On Television. Look:
The Kirkmans have two kids. A little girl called Penny and a brooding teenager called Leo who brings a good sub-plot with him.
FUN FACT: Kal Penn, who plays the new President's speech writer, is not just an actor — he worked for President Obama in the actual Whitehouse as an advisor.
The show touches on very timely issues. Terrorism, Islamaphobia, refugees, the paranoia about illegal immigration (and even legal immigration) and it feels pretty current, referencing real-life events including terrorist attacks in Paris, Brussels and Nice.
The cast is nicely diverse. Props for casting people of different skin colours. If I could have a wish it would be that there was more diversity in size for the women because that still seems to be a big obstacle for commercial TV shows.
Catch it on Netflix.
Top Comments
Wasn't this done in The Last Ship?
Obviously a different emphasis.
I'm watching it at the moment. I loved the first 3-4 eps but I'm up to Ep 9 now and it's becoming a little predictable.