After a long wait and rescue by Netflix, Designated Survivor is back with Season 3! Last season ended with Pres. Kirkman’s surprise announcement that he would run for president as an independent. Season 3 of Netflix’s Designated Survivor opened with the aftermath of a disastrous State of the Union address.
#KirkmanListens
Kirkman suffered some political blowback from his State of the Union speech. After shouts from Congress that he was illegitimate, he shouted back about the broken system that was Washington. His new Chief of Staff, Mars Harper, had fired the communications director, and Seth unsuccessfully tried to steer the press briefing away from the incident.
Meanwhile, Kirkman arranged for a meeting with Lorraine Zimmer to ask her to be his campaign manager. Though she was enthusiastic about his running as an independent, Moss had already offered her a position that she was considering taking. Vice President Darby also resigned to run against Kirkman.
When everyone arrived in Iowa for the caucus, hardly anyone had shown up to Kirkman’s event. Moss’s campaign had robocalled his guests to tell them the event was canceled. With the help of Seth’s social media manager, Dontae, and his newest hashtag, they identified a group for Kirkman to speak with. He wanted to listen to how the people felt about the current system. Afterward, Lorraine changed her mind and would be working for Kirkman. At the end of the episode, Kirkman watched videos all night from the people about their political concerns.
Bye, FBI
Hannah confronted Emily at her home about the video of her giving information to Valeria. Emily told her that the president wanted her to establish a backchannel to Russia but couldn’t say more. Hannah had a hearing with her superiors and threatened to expose the video in her possession.
At the hearing, Hannah was fired for killing Valeria, though they wouldn’t file charges against her. Dianne Lewis, a high-ranking member of the CIA, offered Hannah a job with them. They were the ones who shot the video. She confirmed for Hannah that the information passed to Valeria had to do with weapons scientists.
Puerto Rico
While Isabel Pardo was talking to Harper about setting a meeting with the president, Aaron interrupted them for a meeting. He wanted to shore up Puerto Rico’s saline industry. He was secretly seeing Isabel and thought that she would like that he was trying to help Puerto Rico. She pointed out that, while helping the country’s industry was a good idea, the people were the ones who really needed help. Unfortunately, the bill didn’t pass, but Harper was able to find a workaround for saline. However, it didn’t include Puerto Rico.
Aaron thought that Isabel would be upset, but she pointed out that at least he tried. He asked her to move in with him, but she needed to think about it.
Cardinals
Emily was living in Florida with her mother, who had ovarian cancer. While out driving, a dead cardinal hit Emily’s windshield. Her mother convinced her to go back to working for Kirkman. At the end of the episode, we see a field in Florida littered with dead cardinals.
What did you think of this episode of Designated Survivor? Let us know in the comment section below!
