'Designated Survivor' Midseason Premiere: President Kirkman Spirals Down In 'Grief' [SPOILERS]

The explosive fall finale episode of “Designated Survivor,” titled “Line of Fire,” sure left more impediments for Tom Kirkman (Kiefer Sutherland) to handle.
After the hearing with FBI Director John Forstell (Reed Diamond) regarding First Lady Alex Kirkman’s (Natascha McElhone) alleged ties to Eric Little and Patrick Lloyd (Terry Serpico), Alex’s Secret Service transport was rammed by a truck, causing her death. After the untimely terrible loss of his wife, how will the President of the United States deal with his grief?
Now, fans are feeling as though something big and exciting stories are coming within “Grief.” Some are expecting that the next episode is going to be a tearjerker and will revolve around how President Kirkman confronts the tragedy he faces right now, amidst crucial decisions to make as commander in chief—an outstanding task especially for someone who had survived an assassination conspiracy.

Designated Survivor: ‘Grief’ will have ‘personal and professional repercussions’

In the episode “Grief,” President Kirkman sees a therapist, Dr. Adan Louden (Timothy Busfield), to help in dealing with his loss. In the trailer for the upcoming episode, President Kirkman tells his daughter Penny (McKenna Grace), the shocking news about her mom. It also poses the question, can a country in crisis depend on a broken president?
Showrunner Keith Eisner has promised that there are going to be a lot to watch out for about the president. In an interview, he told TV Guide the kind of reverberation of ‘being a widower in the White House and being a bachelor’ would have.

“That will have personal and professional repercussions for the remainder of the season,” Eisner said. “And it’s also terra nova dramatically – we haven’t seen this in a television show.”
“A president who is essentially by himself, and the isolation of being a single parent and of having to figure out what to do professionally and personally without his partner. That is a very interesting and exciting dramatic area for us to go into to.”
Eisner also teased that Alex’s death might not have been an accident, “that’s something I won’t reveal. It certainly has the earmarks of that, but we’ll wait ’til we get back before figuring out exactly what happened and why, but that’s something we’re going to tease a little bit.”
“Designated Survivor” returns Wednesday, February 28th, with “Grief” at 10/9c on ABC.