‘Designated Survivor’ Season 2, Episode 17 ‘Overkill’ Recap: The President Retaliates [SPOILERS]

Seriously, ABC’s “Designated Survivor” keeps on throwing punches at us every end of the episode. Tonight’s season 2, episode 17 entry, titled “Overkill” shows us even more action and drama following last week’s breathtaking episode, “Fallout.” In tonight’s episode, President Tom Kirkman (Kiefer Sutherland) uses the full strength of the U.S. Military to strike back against Kunami’s bomb attack. His emotions are heightened, and we even see him making questionable decisions along the way. Meanwhile, the hack on the White House and the government continues to bring damages to the Kirkman administration. Hard at work as Chuck Russink (Jake Epstein) may be, the FBI still couldn’t pinpoint a suspect for the massive data breach.

Call this one overkill, but tonight is where we see “Designated Survivor” at its peak.

The Retaliation

“Overkill” opens with Kirkman addressing the nation about their attacks against Kunami, and how he wants to avenge the death of the FBI agents that got caught up with the explosion at the DC metro area. After Kirkman’s live address, Political Advisor Lyor Boone (Paulo Constanzo), National Security Advisor Aaron Shore (Adan Canto), and the President’s Chief of Staff Emily Rhodes (Italia Ricci) try to persuade Kirkman to take things a bit slower. But despite their encouragements, the President is hellbent on making Kunami’s Emir pay.

Meanwhile, Chuck, Detective Blakey (Dillon Casey), and FBI Agent Hannah Wells (Maggie Q) figure out who was working with Arturo Roxas, the DC metro bomber. They see a video of Roxas entering the restroom in a hotel. Hannah and Blakey find this suspicious, and its all the more made mysterious as Roxas was inside the bathroom for 14 minutes. Finally, Roxas leaves, and a man follows soon after. Chuck ran facial recognition and found out that it’s Gregory Bowen, the East Hanchu Political Advisor.

Hannah and Blakey have Gregory in custody, and Hannah interrogates him despite his retaliation and threats to sue. At first, he refuses to cooperate, but when Hannah told him about bringing him up to lethal injection due to his ties with East Hanchu, he eventually gives out what he knows. It turns out that Greg is working with the Emir of Kunami. He then offers to give them the location of the Kunami rebel leader Amal Hamzi. Hannah agrees, but only after threatening to shoot him if Greg didn’t say FBI Director John Forstell’s name out loud.

One Week Later

A week has passed, and Kirkman is still throwing bombs at Kunami. Press Secretary Seth Wright (Kal Penn) holds a Press Conference and assures them that the strikes will continue until the Emir surrenders. Meanwhile, Lyor’s assistant, Tricia Sims (Chelsea Harris) comes across Mike Ritter (LaMonica Garrett), Kirkman’s head of Secret Service. Tricia tries to get the vending machine dispense her order. Mike, seeing her struggling, helps her out. She then shares with him that her brother is in the Special Forces, just like Mike before. Tricia is worried because ever since the war with Kunami started, she hasn’t heard from him since. Mike then assures Tricia that her brother is okay.

Kirkman deploys the SEAL Team

In the situation room, Kirkman and his cabinet deliberate on the ways they can extract Amal Hamzi in exchange for what he knows about the Emir. It’s a risky move, but Kirkman is adamant in sending out the Special Forces for the mission. Vice President Eleanor Darby (Aunjannue Ellis) and the new Secretary of State (including Lyor) warns him about the possible public outrage, but Kirkman is confident that Hannah and the Seal Team can execute the mission. After the meeting, Lyor and Aaron argue about the President’s decision, but Emily reminds them that they’re all in it together. Meanwhile, in the snowy mountains of Kunami, Hannah arrives with the Seal Team. But as they advance, the Kunami rebels stage a surprise attack on their squad.

Ian Watson/ABC

Back in the White House, Trey (Breckin Meyer), Tom’s brother, shows up to check up on the President. He knows that it’s a difficult time for Kirkman, but he wants to offer his emotional support, especially with his therapy sessions after losing Alex. Later, Kirkman is alerted about the surprise attack on the Seal Team. The captain informs Kirkman that he lost two people, with Hannah one of the two missing.

But Hannah and Sgt. Royce Sims (Cle Bennett)—who turns out to be Tricia’s brother—are alive and well, meeting up with a Kunami informant, who’s going to take them to Amal Hamzi. The next day, another rebel ambushes them, but Hannah was able to take him out.

Ben Mark Holzberg/ABC

Back in the White House, Kunami Ambassador Salimi (Ali Hassan) tries to strike up a deal with Kirkman, but the President has none of it. Kirkman wants the Emir’s full responsibility for the DC metro bombing, something that Salimi didn’t have in the deal. The Emir was willing to surrender, but not according to Kirman’s terms, infuriating the President even more. It’s unconditional surrender, or the war continues. As Salimi leaves, Aaron then informs Kirkman that their strike just hit a hospital in Kunami, with several civilian fatalities. In the situation room, they find out that the hospital was camouflaged as a target, misleading the strike force. As the cabinet mull over the possible ramifications of this act over the UN, White House Counsel Kendra Daynes that it’s a safe game for them since the opposing side fooled them into bombing the hospital. However, that’s not how the public would think. Kirkman then orders them to continue the strike, but this time, with caution.

Back in his office, Kirkman sees from the news that NATO is already concerned with his actions. Seth then brings him a press release aimed to blame Kunami for using civilians as a human shield. He then asks Kirkman if what they’re doing is overkill, to which Emily shuts down, stressing that Kirkman has already made his point across. The President also remains firm that they have to win the war with Kunami.

Back in Kunami, Hannah and Royce’s informant kneels down to pray. However, Hannah notices that he’s only doing this to stall them and later deduces that he’s not leading them to Amal Hamzi, but to a trap. The informant tries to fight back, but Hannah kills him with his knife. She calls up Aaron to inform them that they’ve been exposed and proceeds to get to Hamzi despite Aaron’s order for extraction.

Later, Ambassador Salimi returns with a new deal, but this time, he brings it up to Aaron since he knows that Kirkman can’t be persuaded. Salimi’s proposal: the Emir is willing to abdicate in exchange for safe passage to a country of his choice and with an assurance that he will not rule in exile. Salimi also requests to unfreeze the Emir’s $60 billion bank account. The only catch? There’s still no acceptance of responsibility for the bombing in US soil, prompting Aaron to walk out. Seeing that there’s no way to convince Kirkman or any of his staff, the Ambassador goes on TV to embellish a story about Kirkman not accepting the Emir’s surrender given the favorable circumstances. Kirkman sees this and is angered yet again. Then, Mike informs Kirkman about Tricia’s brother. Seeing how the Kunami war hits close to home for Tricia, Kirkman decides to talk to her soon.

In the Oval Office, Kirkman asks Emily what she honestly thinks about this entire dilemma. Despite Kirkman’s outrageous decisions and seemingly haphazard plans, Emily still believes in him, because Kirkman is the right man for the job. Back in Kunami, Hannah and Royce come across a group of militants scouting the area, Hannah so desperately wants to kill them all, but Royce prevents her. Royce was alarmed at Hannah’s overeager attitude because it might get them both killed. However, Hannah only wants to avenge Forstell’s death, but Royce believes that the only way to avenge him is by staying alive.

Ian Watson/ABC

Tricia meets with Kirkman in the Oval Office as he thanks her brother for his service. Tricia tells Kirkman that he was the reason why Royce re-enlisted for a fourth tour. His brother believes that Kirkman always saw a mission through. And that level of commitment inspired Royce to serve his country again. As he escorts Tricia out, Kirkman sees Seth holding another briefing in the press room. He then decides to crash the party and give the reporters a statement. Kirkman then admits that most of his people told him to end the war to avoid the loss of life. He realizes that war isn’t a noble thing, but assures them that the Emir will be defeated and surrender. Kirkman emphasizes the need to fight the Emir, but this time without compromise.

In Kunami, Hannah and Royce finally reach Hamzi’s hideout. As the rebel leader prepares to leave with them, Hannah examines a stack of papers and documents on Hamzi’s table. This is where she discovers a correspondence between Ambassador Salimi and Hamzi. It turns out that Ambassador Salimi has an agenda of his own, so Hannah calls up the White House.

Back in the White House, Kirkman puts up a show of agreeing to the terms that Ambassador Salimi presented to Aaron. At the end of their meeting, Kirkman drops the bomb—Salimi and Hamzi are working together to overthrow the Emir, using the US as some form of an ally. Kirkman also tells Salimi about Greg and the DC metro bombing, and how the Kunami government’s funds were used in various ways to orchestrate the attack. It’s all an attempt for Salimi to take over the Emir’s seat. The Secret Service then bring in Greg to the meeting, who tells Salimi that he signed a written confession. Salimi is backed into a corner, with no means of escape this time.

Later, Kirkman’s team, including Kendra, tries to assess the damages and what could be done further now that the war with Kunami is about to end. The US attacked Kunami based on faulty intelligence, and it’s a problem for Kirkman to face. If the Emir were set-up, they would need to have a justification for why they decided to attack Kunami. Lyor suggests selling to the press that it was all Kunami’s fault, starting from the incident with USS Verona. However, Kirkman decided to take responsibility for the entire thing. But Aaron has some good news (well, in the form of a more terrible discovery by Hannah).

Ben Mark Holzberg/ABC

In Kunami, Hannah and the SEAL team commander inform the cabinet about biological weapons stored in a secret government facility. The Emir planned to use it to oppose the rebels, not minding the innocent lives who would have died in the process. It’s a complete explanation of Kirkman’s decision to attack Kunami. That night, Kirkman sulks over the bad calls he did during the war with Kunami. However, Trey offers encouragement by reminding Kirkman that he’ll never know what his choices will bring, and it’s a good thing that Kirkman is calling the shots because Trey believes that his intentions are pure.

Another hack against Kirkman

Elsewhere in the episode, Chuck works with Damian to uncover who was responsible for the blackout, the space shuttle, and various data breaches that have been plaguing Kirkman’s administration. The men are then lead to the owner of a data security firm, who used to be a hacker herself. At first, Chuck and Damian thought that it was her group who’s been meddling with the White House systems, but it turns out to be someone bigger than her, by the name of Gamene. They’re now back to square one.

The episode then ends with Chuck calling for Kirkman’s entire team because another hack happened, and this time, it could be detrimental to Kirkman’s position as PotUS.

The President’s therapy recordings have been leaked online.

‘Designated Survivor: Overkill’ Overall Verdict

As previously mentioned, “Overkill” is an episode that shows ABC’s “Designated Survivor” at its peak. It’s an episode full of twists and turns, expertly-written and directed that you can’t help but glue your eyes to what you’re seeing. And of course, for maximum shock factor, the ending delivers another punch-in-the-face cliffhanger. The only question is, who could have alerted the hacker that the therapy recordings exist? As far as we know, it’s only Emily, Aaron, Lyor, Seth, and Kendra who knows about it from Kirkman’s staff. Are we dealing with another leak or Moss sympathizer? We’ll find out next week.

“Designated Survivor” continues next Wednesday, April 18th, with “Kirkman Agonistes” at 10/9c on ABC.