Designated Survivor Review: Warriors (Season 1 Episode 11)

Tom Kirkman is not dead. Not that anyone really expected him to be.

My heart is beating out of my chest. I didn’t really expect anything else, either.

Designated Survivor Season 1 Episode 11 “Warriors” ups the stakes to almost sky high levels, makes paranoia seem like the correct life-choice, hits you straight in the feels, and finally, finally focuses the conspiracy on one man: Peter MacLeish.

Well, Peter MacLeish and Beth MacLeish. Because the couple that conspires together, stays together.

Or something.

The mid-season finale was so long ago that time had somehow dulled the sense of urgency, and common sense had intruded in our worries. The President of the United States couldn’t really get killed in the middle of Season 1, right?

Right – but boy, do they make us suffer.

Not because we ever truly bought that he was going to die, no, but because his absence, though momentary, gives us our first glimpse at the real villain of this tale. And no, it isn’t the mysterious Catalan.

Designated Survivor was never a show that took long to get off the ground, or one that you had to ease into. It sunk its teeth into us right away. And yet, if there  is one thing that it needed to kick off a back end of the season that promises to be just as brilliant as the first half was to give us someone to hate.

We hate Peter MacLeish. We really, really do.

And we also love President Kirkman.

That’s about all we know for sure. The rest is just – suspect. Who can we trust?

Can we trust anyone?

Is Alex Kirkman really the love of the President’s life or is there something behind her convincing to take the job as HUD Secretary? Is Seth really as nice as he seems or does he have a hidden agenda? Is Emily really on Kirkman’s side or is she conspiring to make Aaron look like the bad guy?

And what about Mike? Isn’t he just …too good to be true?

Why am I questioning every character I love?

Because that’s the level of paranoia we operate on now. I’m at DEFCON level X-Files. Trust no one is my motto.

Except the writers. I trust the writers. I’m completely in their hands, and I’ve never felt safer.

When you start watching a TV show, you sort of enter into a relationship – not just with the characters, but with the writers. You promise to give them the benefit of the doubt, to allow them to show you their vision and to let them take you on a crazy adventure.

In return, they promise to never gaslight you, to apply common sense to every plot point, to respect characterization, and most importantly, to entertain you.

Check all the boxes for Designated Survivor – and check one I didn’t mention –  they kind of make us want to crawl into our TV screens and become part of the world where Tom Kirkman is President.

But since that’s impossible, we’ll have to settle for watching him try to unravel this crazy conspiracy. And when I say settle, I really mean we’ll enjoy it. We’ll be worried, we might suffer a bit, but we’ll enjoy it.

And that’s the mark of a good, no; strike that, a great TV show.

Keep on entertaining us, Designated Survivor. We’ll be right here.

Other things to note:

• Aaron looked like a sure traitor last time we saw him. He looks less like one now. He was always too obvious in my book, and I’m glad I’m correct.
• Problem is, if it’s not Aaron, who?
• Because it has to be someone, right?
• At this point even Penny is suspect. Where is she? Is she off in Storybrooke? Doing movies with Chris Evans?
• The Emily and Aaron thing is not going to have a happy ending. It’s not. It’s not. If I repeat this to myself, maybe I’ll stop wishing that it would.
• I’m glad Seth’s girlfriend is gone. I did not like her.
• Hannah Wells is the ultimate bad-ass.
• A traitor in the White House sort of makes all the other political stories they can tell seem unimportant, right?
• The ending of this episode is everything I’d been hoping/waiting and I can’t believe it ended like that/I knew it was going to end like that/I loved it.

What did you think of this episode of Designated Survivor? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Designated Survivor airs Wednesdays at 10/9c on ABC.

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