Designated Survivor Episode 4: Enemies Everywhere For President Kirkman


In Designated Survivor Season 1 Episode 4, President and Commander-in-Chief Tom Kirkman surprises but also gets surprised. Once known for his diplomatic personality as HUD Secretary, becoming the President of the United States has remarkably changed Kirkman’s manners, or so it seems.

On the matter of the bombing of the Capitol, Kirkman declined to authorize an attack on Al-Sakar until he sees concrete proof that the terror group was behind the bombing.

In Designated Survivor Episode 4, the president is growing impatient with those who don’t seem to toe the line. He presses for treason charges on an errant governor and fires a general for sending American forces to a suspected enemy’s location without his consent. But he later learns that the general may have been right in making the move, yet the damage is already done, and Kirkman can only attempt to save face.

[Image by ABC]

Designated Survivor Episode 4: Governor Royce continues to be a thorn in the flesh

Governor Royce of Michigan is giving Kirkman a serious headache. First, he has flatly refused to support the new president, even going on national television to broadcast his defiance of Kirkman. Second, Royce continues to arrest Muslims in Dearborn, and the Muslim community is protesting the governor’s actions. Kirkman isn’t happy at all with the developments.

Kirkman, the designated survivor, sends his adviser Emily to Michigan. The mission is to try to talk to Royce so he can change his mind about his view of the president and stop the attack on Muslims. But drama ensues immediately as Emily lands at the airport in Michigan. Policemen surround Emily as soon as she arrives at the airport, and then Royce arrives. Royce takes the opportunity to give Emily a piece of his mind: he will neither back down nor talk to Kirkman. As if that is not enough, Royce bars Emily from leaving the airport.

Emily went to Michigan to try and convince Royce to come to Washington, D.C. But the governor would hear none of it, and the National Guard does not arrest him. To deal with Royce, who has refused to heed virtually every message from the President, Emily develops a plan. She encourages the protesting Muslims to go ahead with their protests at the airport. Because of the protests, Royce can’t leave the airport, and the police can’t hit the protestors in front of the cameras.

Royce arrested

The plan works. Royce agrees to accompany Emily to the capital. Once in D.C., the furious Kirkman arrests Royce [a Designated Survivor spoiler] and prefers treason charges against him.

Unauthorized military deployment costs the general his job

General Cochrane, who since the premiere of Designated Survivor Season 1 has preferred taking America to war against its enemies, is fired by the president in Designated Survivor Episode 4. But it is the president who is almost left with egg on his face after sending the decorated general home.

[Image by ABC]

After confirming intelligence from an American agent taken captive by Al-Sakar’s group, the general pleads with Kirkman to declare war on Algeria because terrorist Majid Nassar lives in the country. But the president is reluctant to do that for fear of killing the American agent held by the terrorist group. The general goes ahead and deploys American forces into the airspace of Algeria without the approval of Kirkman. That move costs the general his job.

But Kirkman later learns that General Cochrane may have been right in recommending an attack on Algeria. After dismissing the general, the president discovers that the American agent he wanted to protect had already been killed by Al-Sakar. The frustrated president appoints a replacement for General Cochrane and gives him the express mandate to prepare the country for war.

The First Lady has her own issues

Designated Survivor Episode 4 shows the First Lady, Alex Kirkman, having her own share of problems. An immigrant she once represented in court as an attorney is being deported on flimsy grounds. But there is little the First Lady can do to save the former client, as the attack on Capitol means attorneys cannot file cases.

[Featured Image by Rich Fury /AP Images]

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