'Designated Survivor' Season 2, Episode 5 'Suckers' Recap: The President Has More Lives than a Cat [SPOILERS]

Tonight’s episode of “Designated Survivor,” titled “Suckers,” is one to surely amaze and arguably one of the best episodes of the show to date. In the past four episodes of season 2, President Tom Kirkman (Kiefer Sutherland) enjoyed victory laps after the tremendous pressures and problems he faced together with his kick-ass team. Tonight, however, was almost the tipping point that would have made Kirkman suffer its long-term effects.
After his words were taken out of context by a Senator, public perception of the Kirkman administration dropped to an all-time low. A financial scam wiped out the pensions of state-employed individuals, Kirkman plans to patch things up by coming up with the Pension Bailout Bill. In order to get the ball across the playing field, he would need the support of both parties. And once he asks for help from Republican Senator Allen Rouse to back the bill, Rouse takes a word Kirkman uttered out of its meaning and causes the storm.
On the other side of things, Charlotte Thorne, a member of the British Parliament who’s against illegal arms dealers, is shot in American soil while on a morning run. She’s a delegate for the G20 conference and her death endangers the delegates’ safety as well. FBI Agent Hannah Wells (Maggie Q) and MI 6 Agent Damian Rennet (Ben Lawson) are sent to investigate. Meanwhile, First Lady Alex Kirkman (Natascha McElhone) files a motion to quash the subpoena made by the FBI for her mother after she accepted a bribe 30 years ago. She enlists the help of White House Counsel Kendra Danes (Zoe McLellan).

“Suckergate”

After a friendly hockey game with a couple of senators, Kirkman meets with Rouse in the locker room to ask for his support for the Pension Bailout bill. Rouse is hesitant, thinking that the Democratic Party’s support is enough to get it passed. Kirkman pleads by saying that the government exists to help those who can’t help themselves, to which Rouse calls bull. This is when Kirkman drops the word that might ruin his entire plan to help them. He sarcastically calls the American people ‘suckers’ because Rouse implies it by branding Kirkman’s bill as ‘an act of charity alone.’
Back in the White House, Kirkman meets with Victim’s Advocate Alice Rowland to make sure that the people who suffered from the pension hit would get their money back. Kirkman insists that there will be progress and that Rowland wouldn’t have to worry. Kirman seems to be right here—until he turns on his TV only to find out that he was screwed big time.

Political Advisor Lyor Boone (Paulo Constanzo) tells Kirkman and his Chief of Staff Emily Rhodes (Italia Ricci) and White House Press Secretary Seth Wright (Kal Penn) about the recent news item that was about to hit Kirkman. Apparently, Rouse went live on the Carson Kramer show to speak against Kirkman’s bill, calling it a government handout and says that Kirkman called the American people ‘suckers’. Lyor is furious and Kirkman’s entire staff is driven to put the fire out. That’s when the hoo-ha starts and Kirkman loses support from every member of his cabinet. Later, Lyor finds out a way to ease the tension by bringing Kirkman a ‘silver bullet’ that can be used against Rouse and to divert the attention from his words to the senator. Kirkman refuses to use it. In a press conference, the media brands this incident as “suckergate.”
In an effort to maintain the democratic party’s support for the Pension Bailout Bill, Emily and Lyor meet with another Senator for the list of judges to go through the bill. Kirkman’s camp already selected people for the job, but the senator changed it to people without Kirkman’s endorsement because she fears that calling the people ‘suckers’ would jeopardize the decision to get the ball rolling. Kirkman then meets with Rouse in the Oval Office to ask him to clarify his words. Rouse refused, saying that he will not be coerced into changing something that he believes is true.

In the last eight hours, Kirman lost congressional support and the judicial slate for the bill. Lyor then urges Kirman to consider firing the ‘silver bullet’. Kirkman is hesitant and demands them to find another way before he can finally decide to use it. Meanwhile, Seth meets with Clean Air lobbyists and tries to hold their support for the president, to which Kirkman is on the brink of losing.
The next day, Lyor and Emily organize an ‘On-the-Road’ campaign to maximize support for the bill. Kirkman meets with pensioners in a diner. He performs well and assures everyone that the bill will pass. After the meeting, Rowland meets him outside and publicly asks Kirkman why the Pension Bailout Bill died. This results in more questions from the media, making the OTR a disastrous decision, to begin with.

As they assess the damage back in the White House, Kirkman finally agrees to use the ‘silver bullet’ against Rouse. That night, he calls for a live interview on the Carson Kramer show and prepares to use it. But as the interview went on, Kirkman hesitates to drop the bomb and instead goes on to say that he did call the American people “suckers”—because they believe in the hope of the American dream. And if this is the case, then Kirkman is also a part of the ‘suckers’ too. He then uses this as leverage to urge people that the Pension Bailout Bill needs to be passed in order for people to have the security that they need. Well, as it turns out, Kirkman only needed to be honest for him to save himself in the end.
After the broadcast, Rouse meets Kirkman and apologizes for what he did. It turns out that his wife is suffering from ovarian cancer, and it made him engage in an affair to comfort himself. Wanting to have some kind of victory in his life, Rouse decided to use Kirkman’s words to attain it. It also turns out that the ‘silver bullet’ that Lyor gave Kirkman was all about the affair, and had Kirkman used it, Rouse would have been destroyed completely. Kirkman forgives him and urges him to take care of the affair. Rowland also meets with Kirkman that night and somewhat apologizes to him. But all that she had to do, according to Kirkman, was to pay it forward in terms of what she is advocating for the victims of the financial fraud. Once again, Kirkman uses hope to inspire everyone around him, and of course, to prove to everyone that he is indeed a good President despite being just a Designated Survivor.

Finding the culprit

Meanwhile, as the episode opened with the death of MP Charlotte Thorne, Kirkman enlists Hannah and Damian to work on the case. This was of utmost importance seeing how it could jeopardize the safety of the G20 delegates. Emily and National Security Adviser Aaron Shore (Adan Canto) are alerted and says that they can’t afford to have the delegates pull out as Kirkman is also trying to prove the US’ capability to have a bigger role on the international stage—especially when it comes to the IMF and arms control.

Hannah is then reunited with MI6’s Damian Rennet to investigate. They head over to the British embassy and asks the Ambassador about Thorne. There they find out that she was going after arms dealers aside from the illegal ones and that she upset Darius Cray, a British import/exporter involved in the munitions business. And so it was possible that Cray had Thorne killed. Hannah and Damian then went after him, seeing how he is also in town for the G20 summit, probably broker some deals with the delegates too.
They ambush him in a restaurant and asks him questions about Thorne. They ask for his alibi and he tells them that he never met Thorne and that if they ever ambush him with questions again, he will have both of them sued for harassment. That night, they go undercover and investigate a shipment of weapons that arrived, thinking that they might get some answers on why Cray killed Thorne. As they sweep the area for more clues, they find nothing of value—until Damian shoots someone who appeared to terminate Hannah behind her back. Turns out, it was actually Cray who’s overseeing the transfer of the weapons that arrived. But with all roads leading to Cray as the killer, new evidence surfaces.

Chuck Russink (Jake Epstein) tracked an activity on Cray’s bank account after he was shot. This means that it’s not Cray who’s calling the shots. The only person with access to his account is Cray’s wife. He was also overseeing another shipment at the time of Thorne’s murder, suggesting that it wasn’t him but his wife who ordered Thorne to be killed.

Motion to Quash

Last week’s episode showed how the First Lady’s mother was issued a subpoena by the FBI. Because of that, Alex Kirkman now seeks the help of White House Counsel Kendra Danes for a motion to quash. At first, Alex is doubtful that Kendra understands the full scope of the problem, to which she assures the First Lady that she is good at her job and that she can do it. She asks Alex to set her personal investments aside for the court to see it objectively and not see Alex as on the defensive.
During the hearing, Alex couldn’t help but attend. Kendra reluctantly lets her sit beside her as she goes on the defense. As the argument escalates, Alex stands up and almost blows the entire legal plan that Kendra laid out. She then asks for a 10-minute recess and takes Alex aside, respectfully asking her to back off so she wouldn’t mess up the hearing. The court resumes and Kendra was able to quash the subpoena. The FBI issued the subpoena because they think that the bribe that Alex’s mother accepted 30 years ago had a distinct connection to Patrick Lloyd’s plans of bombing the Capitol. The judge saw no point in subpoenaing Alex’s mom given how she never even knew who Lloyd was.

‘Designated Survivor: Sucker’ Overall Verdict

As mentioned earlier, “Sucker” is arguably the best “Designated Survivor” episode for this season. It not only made things seem like a sinking boat for Kirkman, but this is where we saw him uphold the values of honesty over dirty political games. It also provides a commentary of how the simplest of words can be used against anyone in real-life politics, something that’s already happening in current affairs. And if there’s anything that this episode had to offer aside from an effective way out of it, it’s the principle of integrity that ideally makes the American people regain trust and confidence towards their elected leader.
“Designated Survivor” continues next Wednesday, November 1st, with “Two Ships” at 10 PM on ABC.