Sunday, March 4, 2018

Designated Survivor

"Designated Survivor" is back after a ten-week hiatus, with an impressive and moving show from showrunner Keith Eisner and director Timothy Busfield, who also plays President Kirkman's (Kiefer Sutherland) shrink, helping him to deal with his wife's death.  Busfield handled the flashbacks of Kirkpatrick telling his kids their mother would not be coming home with intelligence and sensitivity, showing how deep Kirkpatrick's grief was by the intensity of his expressions and, in the same way, showing how deep his anger was when he talked to the driver who killed his wife.

I like Eisner's tendency to concentrate on the President's foreign policy, avoiding the difficulties of domestic problems in a turbulent era by focusing on what is happening internationally.  In this week's episode the focus was on Cuba, as some rebels there kidnapped a Congressional delegation that included Maggie Q, one of the strongest female characters in a series with several of them. The question was whether President Kirkman is too grief-stricken to make forceful decisions.

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