‘Designated Survivor’ Season 2, Episode 21 ‘Target’ Recap: Re-Election War [SPOILERS]

In the penultimate episode of ABC’s “Designated Survivor,” titled “Target,” President Tom Kirkman’s (Kiefer Sutherland’s) administration suffers a massive challenge—Kendra is in danger, and former President and Secretary of State Cornelius Moss (Geoff Pierson) begins the series of verbal attacks against him. Meanwhile, former FBI Agent Hannah Wells (Maggie Q) seeks to find closure in the light of Damian Rennett’s (Ben Lawson) death but discovers something more than his former allegiance to the Russians. But the question remains: is Tom Kirkman vying for a second term?

The Bill and the Attack

“Target” opens with Hannah conducting a private stakeout on her own. She believes the house that Hannah’s surveying belongs to Valeria Poreskova (Nora Zehetner), Damian’s former Russian intelligence handler. But Hannah’s questioning cuts short when the man—who actually lives and owns the house—engages in a brawl with Hannah, ultimately calling the cops on her for breaking into his home.

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In her apartment, White House Legal Counsel Kendra Daynes (Zoe McLellan) wakes up after an exciting night with Trey Kirkman (Breckin Meyer), the President’s brother. Trey gathers his stuff and leaves as Kendra tries to get a grasp of what’s going on around her. Later, as Kendra drinks her morning coffee, she sees that Trey left his wallet. So Kendra calls him up to ask him to pick it up.

In the White House, National Security Advisor Aaron Shore (Adan Canto) and Chief of Staff Emily Rhodes (Italia Ricci) informs Kirkman about the delay for the approval of the Department of Defense budget bill. Both parties have an agenda in mind, and they couldn’t figure out what it is. Political Advisor Lyor Boone (Paulo Constanzo) then barges in to tell them about Cornelius Moss’s attacks against Kirkman on live TV, calling him incompetent. Ever since the 25th Amendment Hearing, Moss has been very busy targeting Kirkman’s administration. Then, Press Secretary Seth Wright (Kal Penn) tells them about Attorney Ethan West (Michael J. Fox), who’s also on live TV taking the credit of last week’s negotiations with Bultan to release 17-year-old Matthew Jennings.

However, that’s when Kirkman gets a bright idea. It’s hard to prove that Moss did leak information about Kirkman, so there’s no better investigator and prosecutor that West himself. He’s unbiased, and Kirkman thinks that having him look into it would finally convict Moss for what he did. Assuming that it’s a genius plan, Lyor sets out to talk to West.

Kirkman meets with the Democratic Leadership about the delay of the DoD bill. It turns out that the Party is looking for someone to lead them for the coming elections, and they want Kirkman at the helm. Kirkman refuses, so the Party uses this to gain leverage for the bill’s approval. Either Kirkman considers their offer, or they won’t sign it. Since they are the minority, the only hope for the bill’s green light is the GOP.

Meanwhile, Trey arrives at Kendra’s apartment, only to find it thrashed. He calls nervously for Kendra, and eventually discovers her hiding in the bathroom with a baseball bat.

Who did it?

Later, in the Oval Office, Kirkman sees Kendra and Trey and asks about what happened. Agent Mike Ritter (LaMonica Garrett), Kirkman’s head of Secret Service, brought in Detective Pineda (Presilah Nunez) to help him out in the investigation. Despite the gravity of the incident, Emily is visibly intrigued by what’s going on between Kendra and Trey. As Kirkman tells Mike to get on top of things, he takes Trey aside and asks about him and Kendra. It’s a bit problematic for Trey to go out with Kirkman’s senior staff, so he tells Trey that he won’t allow it.

In the pantry, Emily asks Kendra about Trey. Kendra explains her side, saying that she’s a bit conflicted about the entire thing. When Emily tries to give her the day off, Kendra refuses, saying that she’s an advocate and not a victim.

Ian Watson/ABC

Meanwhile, Lyor meets West in a restaurant to offer him the Special Prosecutor post. At first, West declines but ultimately agrees to it when Lyor assures him about his full control over the investigation against Moss. West will answer directly to the Attorney General, not the President.

Aaron, on the other hand, bails Hannah out. Though not an agent anymore, Aaron asks her to come in for the investigation on Moss’s leaking of confidential information. Hannah was a vital part of the ordeal, and so West needs her for an inquiry. Of course, Hannah obliges, albeit hidden intention for a favor soon after. During the interview, West grills Hannah and notices that she has been greatly involved in every case that puts the President in danger—both physically and politically.

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Kirkman gets wooed

As Kirkman meets with the Republican leaders, he gets the same predicament as what the Democrats want. Either call himself a Republican and run for a second term, or the bill won’t get signed. Kirkman insists that he has no intentions of running, so the GOP Leadership leaves Kirkman with the dilemma of deciding on which party to pledge his allegiance to.

Meanwhile, Kendra gets a call from an unknown number. The person on the line tells her to look into Louis Garren’s unsolved murder case in 2008, or else he’d do more than just trash her place. Mike and Detective Pineda arrive at her office to ask about the call. It turns out that it was Kendra’s former case. A person named Gabe Hurlihy was tried for the murder in 2008. Pete Archer somehow had a connection with Garren. But the trial didn’t push through as Hurlihy cut a deal to be in witness protection program in exchange for what he knows about a drug cartel. That’s why the FBI couldn’t pin the Garren murder on Hurlihy as he was already in witness protection. Based on Pineda and Mike’s conclusion, Archer is looking for revenge against Garren’s death, with Kendra as his target. His family suffered much, and so Pete could be the one who wants Kendra dead. Mike and Pineda decide to look into the Archer family.

After FBI Intelligence Chuck Russink’s shift, Hannah breaks into his car to make him a sounding board for all of her frustrations about Valeria Poreskova. She then gets another idea after Chuck tells Hannah that Valeria wants her de-commissioned.

Later in the Oval Office, Kirkman has a press event as he congratulates the winner of the National Spelling Bee. After the ceremony, reporters ask him about his plans for a second term and about the reports that he refused overtures to join the Republican and Democratic Party. Annoyed, Kirkman drops the bomb on live TV—the DoD budget is languishing because the party leaders are playing politics with him. Lyor is worried, as this major callout makes things harder for them to pass the DoD bill.

Lyor, Seth, and Emily advise him to pick a side. Lyor firmly believes that what Kirkman just did makes the people think that he’s a lame duck. By not aligning himself to any party and giving the vague idea of running for a second term makes him useless. Seth says that it’s harder to govern when Congress thinks that Kirkman doesn’t want to run. Emily suggests Kirkman affiliate himself with one of the Parties, opening the possibility of him running. Still, Kirkman insists on being independent. The only thing that matters to the President now is passing the Defense bill.

A deeper investigation

West has Aaron brought in for a deposition. He asks Aaron about Kirkman’s past decisions over the NASA hack. That’s when Hannah’s name grabs West’s attention again. He’s building something from what’s laid in front of him. Meanwhile, Hannah arrives at her apartment and sees it trashed as well. She has Chuck on the line and tries to figure out Valeria’s motives. Hannah then asks about Damian’s personal effects, which to according to Chuck, is in a secure place in the FBI.

Aaron informs Lyor, Seth, and Emily about West’s deposition. When Aaron tells them about West’s heightened interest in Hannah’s involvement and how he managed to have Moss brought in, Lyor lights up, saying that this is a great development for the case against the former Secretary of State. But it’s odd for the team how Lyor finds delight in the indictment of a former President.

Later, West now has Moss brought in for his deposition. Moss denies every possible allegation against him, and expertly steers the conversation to Hannah. After the interview, Moss meets with Kirkman in the Oval Office—a civil meeting between warring enemies. This is when Moss advises Kirkman to stop the investigation. Having West in the fore will only worsen their feud, if not make things harder to handle. When the time comes for Moss to be held accountable, he says that Kirkman will be his defense—with all the bad decisions and inexperience that Kirkman had and did in the past. Moss also scoffs at Kirkman’s decision to go after both parties. But Kirkman won’t back down and wishes Moss good luck as he leaves.

Expert Resolutions

Mike, Detective Pineda, and Kendra go to Pete Archer’s father to ask about his other son, Mickey. The latter is the one that Mike suspects to have broken into Kendra’s house, but Mr. Archer has none of it. Even as Kendra tries to broker a deal of not pressing charges against Mickey in exchange for his location, Mr. Archer wouldn’t budge. However, Kendra and Mike notice a picture of Mr. Archer and Mickey taken at a fishing village in West Virginia. Mr. Archer orders them to leave, but they now have a possible lead on where Mickey is.

Mike and Detective Pineda arrive at the Bait & Tackle fishing station and sees Mickey chopping wood. Mickey, however, shoots them unexpectedly. A chase ensues. Mike and Pineda split up as Mickey loses his ammo. Mickey tackles Pineda, gets her gun, and aims to kill her, but Mike shoots him.

Later, Mike and Kendra inform Kirkman about the case. It turns out that Mickey was trying to make a case against Hurlihy, but run out of patience and went after Kendra, thinking she could speed things up. Lyor then comes in to tell Kirkman that both Parties won’t budge. If Kirkman doesn’t pick a side, he will be the fallback. Lyor then advises him to choose a party. Seeing no other way out, Kirkman orders to bring both parties in.

Once they arrive, Kirkman reaffirms his stand of being an independent. The Democratic leader tells him that Kirkman will have less if he goes at it alone. However, Kirkman has another plan. He drafted a new bill that reflects bipartisanship. If both Parties won’t endorse it, Kirkman will make his case to the people and will go after the GOP and Democratic Party with all the power that remains in him as President.

True enough, both parties agreed, and the media marks it as a historic move by Kirkman—an unprecedented bipartisan deal. Later, Trey goes to Kirkman to congratulate him and to tell his brother that he genuinely loves Kendra and wants to get to know her more. Seeing Trey’s determination, Kirkman finally allows him to see Kendra, despite the possible bad publicity that it could get.

That night, Emily checks in on Kendra and offers her to crash at her place in the meantime. Emily insists on getting Kendra’s things herself, so Kendra gives her the keys. Then, Trey comes in to formally ask Kendra out for a date that coming weekend.

Meanwhile, Hannah asks Aaron for a favor. She wants to see Damian’s personal effects for closure. Hesitantly, Aaron agrees. Back in the FBI, Hannah discovers a card addressed to her, telling Hannah to meet Damian at their usual spot in the park. As Hannah arrives, she notices something wedged in the bench. Hannah discovers a memory card, takes it home, and plays it. There she finds a video recording of Damian asking her to protect his daughter whom Valeria is after in London. Damian thinks that Valeria is out to kill his daughter to get information about him. In the video, Damian pleads for his daughter’s protection. Hannah cries and books a flight to London.

A shocking discovery

Later that night, Seth and Lyor run to Kirkman to tell him that they have finally figured out who the mystery Republican candidate is—Cornelius Moss. When Kirkman snubbed both parties, interest for Moss rose. It’s a difficult situation, as Moss will use his platforms to attack Kirkman’s administration.

Kirkman then meets with West in the Oval Office. West conducts an impromptu deposition. He asks about the Kunami war and NASA hacks and how it all points to Hannah Wells. West also reveals that he found evidence of bad judgment and other petty negatives, but it’s not enough to be considered as a crime. Kirkman then reveals that Moss leaked confidential information to undermine his potential candidacy. This piques West’s interest and concludes that Kirkman used Hannah as his chess piece to go after Moss, a political opponent. It could be a possible act of criminal conspiracy. Kirkman then orders him out.

Later, as Kirkman and his team watch the news, Moss publicly announces his candidacy for the Republican Party. He then orders them to go home, because tomorrow, they will come back to continue doing their jobs.

The episode ends with Mike informing Kendra that Gabe Hurlihy died as he was being brought into the FBI for questioning. A sniper got him, and it’s revealed to be Mr. Archer. Apparently, the Archers weren’t bringing Hurlihy to justice; they wanted to kill him. Mike orders Kendra to stay in the White House for her protection. This reminds Kendra of Emily, who went to her place to gather her stuff. As Kendra dials her number, Emily is shot by the sniper just as she answers the call.

‘Designated Survivor’ continues next Wednesday, May 16th, with the Season Finale titled “Run,” at 10/9c on ABC.