Designated Survivor Review: In the Dark (Season 2 Episode 14)

Unfortunately, it looks like we’re back to mediocre episodes because there’s nothing exciting about Designated Survivor Season 2 Episode 14, “In the Dark.” It’s rather boring, honestly.

There’s potential for the blackout to be full of suspense and intrigue, but then Damian has to become the focal point.

We’re back to the “oh no Damian’s a bad guy! Look he escaped!” only to learn as the hour progresses that he is actually a good guy who is only trying to stop the person that was planning on killing Hannah.

Make the back and forth stop! Let’s just have Damian be bad or be good.

Yes, the ambiguity can be exciting if done right, but it’s not being done right with Damian. It honestly would have been better if we spent an episode or two believing that Damian has turned on us or is doing something evil or something.

The fact that we go back and forth during one episode is exhausting.

It’s impossible to be excited about this big bad hacker when Damian is such a big part of it. Can we just give him to the Russians already? I want to be done with the annoying guessing game.

Also, the hit on Hannah comes out of nowhere. We should focus on finding the hacker and the threat he poses instead of making it even more personal for Hannah. The whole thing is getting messy.

There’s nothing wrong, per se, with Kirkman’s storyline involving the blackout. It’s just boring.

Seth: Excuse me, Mr. President, the press pool wants to know what’s going on.

Kirkman: Tell them the lights went out.

There’s chaos in the streets! Oh no!

We only see this from a distance, never directly getting our feet on the ground while all of this is going on. This makes it hard to be invested or interested in it.

While Designated Survivor Season 2 Episode 13 did PR work on Kirkman’s image and reminded us of why we liked him in the first place, Kirkman is just sort of there this hour.

He’s not portrayed in a negative light, nor is he making terrible decisions. He’s there, doing his job. There’s no real reaction to Kirkman during this crisis. You aren’t cheering him on nor are you admonishing his decisions.

It is painfully obvious that Miranda from Quantico aka Mayor Ellenor Darby is going to be Kirkman’s pick for Vice President.

We spend the beginning of “In the Dark” hearing Kirkman describe what he wants from this potentially impossible to locate candidate, and then we are introduced to Mayor Darby who checks off all the boxes.

Hmmmm…I wonder what’s going to happen?

Look, the predictability isn’t a terrible thing. It is what it is. Here’s hoping Ellenor can shake things up in the White House in an entertaining and exciting way.

Lyor and Emily being trapped in that elevator add levity to the hour. They can by no means save it from its boring and meh fate, but it is amusing watching the two of them in such a confined space.

It’s really sweet to see Lyor recognize Emily’s potential and make sure that Emily doesn’t dismiss it. Emily’s instinct is to shake off Lyor’s comments (which is honestly what I would’ve done), but Lyor persists, making sure Emily is aware of her amazingness.

Lyor: You’d have to avoid scandal, of course, which shouldn’t be a problem for you, you’re fundamentally boring.

That moment along with Lyor opening up about his relationship with his father is an excellent character moment, and it’s nice to see Designated Survivor focus on the White House supporting staff again.

There’s still so much we don’t know about each of them, and we’re learning about them in intimate situations. Lyor doesn’t announce why he is so specific at a staff meeting in front of a large group of people. No, he tells Emily, as they sit on the floor of an elevator, discussing the color of a mento.

The focus is on Emily and Lyor getting closer, not on revealing something about Lyor solely to expand our knowledge of him.

How did no one think that maybe Lyor and Emily got stuck in an elevator? Their driver says they never came out of the building, so wouldn’t the next logical step be to assume that they’re still in the building? People getting trapped in elevators isn’t unheard of or anything.

Do I wish it was Aaron and Emily trapped in that elevator? Of course I do. I will go down with this ship.

Okay, who here ships Emily and Seth? I need to know if I’m alone in my lack of investment here. I still feel like they came out of left field.

Seth finding that gift takes us down a cringe-y path. There’s this impending sense of doom because you think he might get Emily a gift, only to have her awkwardly remind him that they aren’t together.

Thankfully, that doesn’t happen, but Emily also never discusses nor gives Seth his gift. So, we still don’t know why Emily had that gift on her desk and if she actually thought they were still together or was hoping to get back together.

It’s left up in the air for no reason. Emily’s assistant (I’m guessing) is super upset that Seth is in Emily’s office and sees the gift, so there’s an expectation that something is going to happen once Emily returns. Yet, it never does. Does this bother anyone else?

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

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

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