Designated Survivor (ABC)

I guess... Did we hear the first 'dammit'? The female FBI agent isn't a very good actor and I cringed when they started playing the awful end-scene musical montage number - is that still a thing?? This show is mediocre at best, though still watchable (even if they're poaching The Last Ship's theme of state succession due to government turmoil).

 

I read the original script a while back and it was pretty good.

The actual show? Too slick. Too heavy handed.

Not hideous but not great.

 

I was half-expecting Kiefer to call his wife 'Audrey' by mistake.
This show is a bit of a stinker but it's quite good fun. Definitely shades of '24'. When they flashed back 15 hours earlier in episode one, I thought 'here we go'.

 

I'm enjoying it and find it to be very plausible so far but Kiefer's habit of whispering a lot of the time is very annoying. Your character is wimpy (on the surface at least), we get that, now speak up!

 

Kiefer also has a few acting "tells" that bother me, particularly his squints and his head shakes. He did this in 24 as well, and once you're aware of it, it'll drive you crazy.

I like the show, though I agree with Quadguy that it's heavy-handed, but the ratings are not as big as ABC had hoped. ABC has picked it up for the entire 22-episode season, so we'll see where it goes.

 

Watched the 2nd one. Again, thought it was ok. Interesting to see how it will develop.

 

Hard to watch his wife without her irish accent from Ronin.

 

Agree; his single-gear acting is grating; and I loved 24. This is no 24, but it's "good enough," for now.

 

No, I agree with you; it's pretty boilerplate otherwise. As others here have mentioned, the 'whodunit' is really the driver to this series. Having a foreign entity (State or not) would be all too predictable; I'm leaning toward a domestic or inside government actor. I'm rooting for the show, but would not be surprised if it lasted just 1 season.

 

Just another case of ABC and their "instant gratification ratings" scenario, if it doesn't deliver the goods, something else will be in it's place this time next year. I can just hear them in their "war room" meetings: "We'll we're paying Keifer a bazillion bucks, he should deliver....maybe it's the supporting cast we need to change..."

 

I'm on the cusp of bailing from this one. It's cheesy and cliched. The FBI lady irritates me immensely. She seems to wander round looking at everything and not actually do anything or have an kind of interactive role. The whole false flag attack is so blindingly obvious too that I almost hope it really is al-Whatsit, the Iranians, or maybe even Russians, just to make it a bit different.

 

But that wouldn't be politically correct. Therefore it has to be an inside job.

 

Yeah, sometimes watching him I can't help but be reminded of his terrible acting in Dark City. Still, this has me engaged for the moment, and I'm willing to give it a few more episodes.

John K.

 

My prediction is that it is an inside job and that Kimble Hookstraten (Virginia Madsen), the other designated survivor, is behind it.

 

I'll be watching the next episode.

I'd also bet on an inside 5th column type big bad.

 

The show is not bad. Of course, I always find things. If the POTUS and most of Congress were actually blown up, the designated Survivor would not be allowed to be walking on the White House porch chatting with his wife. In fact, I bet he would be taken away to an undisclosed military bunker. A sitting president dropping dead is one thing. The whole freaking congress and President is a whole other level.

 

I thought that too. They would likely get him into Air Force One and whisk him away to somewhere parts unknown. But then that would be a boring show with the President giving orders over phones, video, etc.

 

If were the Designated Survivor or sworn in at President, the first thing I would do would be demand all access to the Kennedy, Roswell files, etc.

 

I haven't watched ep. 2 yet, but is that a real character name? Kimble Hookstraten? Sounds like a ridiculous name from a sitcom.

 

I did enjoy hearing the Apprentice get told that retinal scans were only used in the movies.

 

Who are you going to request that from. Everyone in a command role supposedly got wiped.out.

 

I'm really liking it.

Love the idea of a second designated survivor and Virginia is solid actress.

 

Then I'll go digging myself

 

I think it's a more interesting idea if it is an inside terrorist job, and they're blaming it on another country for political reasons. It's not so much politically correct -- it's more challenging from a story point of view.

Jimmy Carter -- who (famously) once said he would never lie to the American people -- has said that on his first day of office, he turned to his top advisers and said, "so, where's all the secret information on the aliens, Area 51, and all that stuff?" And they all shook their heads and said there was nothing -- there were no aliens, no Roswell secrets, and nothing going on at Area 51 except military plane testing.