DESIGNATED SURVIVOR “Lazarus” Recap

By Kirsty Pearce

Designated Survivor S1E18 “Lazarus”

Things are set to blow up this week as we finally find out exactly who the treacherous mole is, a story-line that’s been dragging for many episodes.

Drumroll please … the mole is revealed to be … some random Homeland Security agent I don’t remember ever seeing before this episode.

That reveal aside, Let’s dig in to the good, nail-biting, kick-butt moments of ‘Lazarus’.

Picking up right where last week’s episode left off, we see Catalan shaking hands and greeting people at the secret Pax Americana meeting when Hannah and Jason are spotted and have to run, but not before Jason gets shot, which kind of doesn’t say much for their spying skills. Hannah later goes on a mission to find out who it was that was shot in the FBI take-down if Catalan is still alive. Hannah, John, and Mike learn that whoever this group is, they were able to get into the fingerprint database and switched out Catalan’s dental records and fingerprints for the dead man’s. The person who did this had to have considerable security clearance, bringing them to the conclusion that whoever it was that made sure Kirkman was appointed Designated Survivor is still active.

Hannah benches Jason for a little while because of his wound, asking him to trust her, which he does. She is later going through footage of Catalan’s supposed movements after the shooting given to her by a Homeland Security agent, and works out that the real Catalan left the building he was shooting from the day after the event. From there, they receive information the decoy is an employee of Browning Reed, whose CEO co-signed his mother’s mortgage. When Hannah gets a look at CEO Patrick Lloyd’s picture, she rushes out of the room on a hunch. Meeting up with her CIA contact, he gives her the low-down on Patrick, a long-serving solider and patriot who turned after he felt betrayed by the government when his contracting firm went under. He has since become a major political player hiding in plain sight. When Hannah and John go to question him, he is prepared and gives them the standard entitled arrogant ‘talk to my lawyer’ line, though not before letting them know his views on how he thinks the government has failed veterans and America’s ancestors, beliefs directly in accordance with the Pax Americana philosophy.

In Abe’s story-line this week, he is about to give up on waiting for the mysterious caller when his phone rings, and the mole tells him to check into Jason Atwood. A car drives off immediately afterwards, and while Abe gets the license plate, all the info on it a contact can give him is that it’s from the White House carpool. Abe attempts to talk to Jason, who refuses to comment, although he flies off the handle the second time Abe mentions his son and hits him in the stomach. In a meeting with his tipster later on, Abe is directed to look at the logs for the day after the terrorist who initially accepted responsibility for the Capital bombing, before his source is shown to be the Homeland Security agent who gave Hannah the recordings. In another twist, after calling Jason to help investigate Patrick, Hannah heads home where she notices her door has been rigged. On her way out of there, she is stuck with a needle in the back and kidnapped by Catalan himself, who is then contacted by Abe’s source.

On the actual political front, the gun bill has officially passed, and is signed by Tom and Hookstraten. Seth, Emily, and Aaron engage in light-hearted banter concerning whether or not Tom should appoint Kimble as VP. Emily is cagey, saying Hookstraten is a politician, while Tom is not. In a conversation between Kimble and Tom however, he reveals he has made up his mind already, telling her she is his choice for VP, based on the way their partnership has managed to bring about an actual working bipartisan platform for running the country. He also punctuates this with the statement that he would like his daughter to witness a female becoming VP. Hookstraten agrees with predictable and genuine pleasure.

Senator Bowman however is again up to no good as we watch him receive a mysterious letter. A news story then breaks which details information implicating Hookstraten in taking bribes during a trip to Turkey in return for military favors. Aaron confronts Bowman, who denies any involvement, and the journalist who wrote the story backs this up. Tom later meets with Hookstraten, who explains there was no quid pro quo on her Turkey trip, and that while she has the support of the Senate, the House is full of new, young up-starts who don’t appreciate her conservative leanings. Emily then enters with the news that the House Ethics Committee has opened an investigation. Despite this, Tom refuses to back down on his decision. Emily and Seth therefore attempt to swing support back in her favor with a press conference and op-ed piece, which no-one wants to put their name on because of fear of aligning themselves with a political dead duck.

Hookstraten figures out who is attempting to sabotage her — an ex-employee of hers to whom she gave the option to resign 12 years ago due to his taking bribes from lobbyist, for which she still has the proof, poof she has also sent to Bowman, who it turns out was aware of and participated in this smear campaign. This brilliantly awesome take-down was not only empowering to watch, but it also lends support to all the pack-rats of the world; keep everything!

While the reveal of the mole this week was somewhat underwhelming, Hookstraten’s strong, bad-ass confrontation with the man who was trying to ruin her was the highlight of the hour. Word to the wise; never take her on, and don’t count her out.