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The Realism Of ‘Designated Survivor’ Is What Makes The Show So Compelling

By Jon Mark
Published on: 09:59 PST, Sep 25, 2016

Last week’s debut of the new ABC series Designated Survivor delivered to audiences one of the few new shows on prime-time television to really grab viewers for its night time middle of the week slot, showing that a well-teased premise pays off pretty well.

The Daily Beast claims this is because the terrorism reality in Designated Survivor comes across as too real and therefore, makes the premiere a little hard to watch even though it’s fictionalized, which of course only makes us want to watch it even more.

This isn’t far from the truth. The Inquisitr recently took a look at the Kiefer Sutherland’s return to television, putting Designated Survivor as the show that’s going to make him a better actor and from what one can gather from the pilot alone, that also isn’t too far from the truth.

The tragic scenario of “wiping the slate clean” — as some reviewers put it, “taking out” all of congress along with a democratically elected president and all, is a bit hard to take. Especially when we have news outlets appropriately wondering how Donald Trump’s call to assassinate his rival candidate — as the Inquisitr reported on, isn’t causing him to fall in the polls.

Keifer Sutherland’s 24 series, for the most part, was controversial because of how it represented Muslim characters as terrorist, and aired during a time when many felt it was too close to the events of 9/11 and profiling of Islamic communities. [Image by Tim Larsen/AP Images]

The Daily Beast also talks about this, where they make the comparison on Designated Survivor with Kiefer Sutherland’s previous series, 24, recalling when FOX greenlit the series when it may have been a little too close to the events of 9/11. That was a series which never hesitated in development and was always on schedule and dramatizing terrorism through its nine seasons, unlike other shows that might be considered too sensitive to audiences and are often delayed in their production.

Let’s face it, Kiefer Sutherland is never going to shake the roll of Jack Bauer off of his resume even if he wanted to. But as the Inquisitr article about the acting challenges that Designated Survivor presents to him, it’s quite possible he’s going to erase all of the previous mannerisms and ticks his former character put into him because his new role in Designated Survivor as President Thomas Kirkman is certainly no Jack Bauer.

Prepare for spoilers. At least some mild ones because they have a lot to do with the challenges his character faces. In the scene where he’s told that he is now the President of the United States, you can see the impact the statement makes through his facial expression. There is every reason for him to suddenly become ill in another scene, while trying to stay in control of his emotions through the first half of Designated Survivor, which adds more realism to the fact that he has been given the biggest responsibility in the world.

Kiefer Sutherland (left) plays the Designated Survivor turned President Thomas Kirkman and Natascha McElhone (right) is wife and first lady Alex. [Image by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP Images]

And he’s already feeling the pressure with staffers talking “noise” about him behind his back, or out in the open when he accidentally finds out.

Yes, there are people who don’t want the Designated Survivor to be president and so the set-ups begin where we see the warmongers and those among his cabinet of high-level staffers begin to plot against him.

At times, it seems a little too ridiculous. A little too absurd that someone would be willing to put everything at stake so soon in the show. But it is also quite convincing in order to show that the Designated Survivor was already on the “chopping block” before he became the leader of the free world.

Right now during this election year, we have the “warmonger” kind of figure on full display during the presidential race as well as the idea that going to war with another country, or mass surveillance, stop and frisk programs, etc, is an option and a normal reaction. But this isn’t Thomas Kirkman’s first option after the Capital has suffered such a devastating attack.

But he seems to be considering it, saber rattling in the Oval Office where there’s no corner to hide in, with Iranian Ambassador Ahmed Fayad telling him that his country has three hours to move their Destroyers in the seas, or else.

We feel the tension in that moment and we’re hooked from here on. As to what kind of president our Designated Survivor is going to turn out to be is something America clearly can’t wait to see.

[Featured Image by Ben Mark Holzberg/ABC]

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