'Designated Survivor' Season 2, Episode 7 'Family Ties' Recap: Juggling Between Heavy Dilemmas [SPOILERS]

Tonight’s episode of “Designated Survivor” is one hell of a day for President Tom Kirkman (Kiefer Sutherland) and his staff. In “Family Ties,” some political and personal dilemmas are thrown at Kirkman. He almost loses his cool, seeing how his hands are always tied. Lucky for him, his kick-ass staff helps him navigate through each of the problems he’s facing and ends the day on a light note—until First Lady Alex Kirkman reveals a shocking development on her mother Eva Booker’s (Bonnie Bedelia) investigation by the FBI. It’s a physically and mentally stressful episode; because no matter how much you try to keep things in control—even if you’re POTUS—things happen and it makes you kneel down to your weakest. Meanwhile, we finally find out who killed Charlotte Thorne, thanks to FBI Agent Hannah Wells (Maggie Q), MI6 Agent Damian Rennett (Ben Lawson), and a surprising suspect.

The buildup

“Family Ties” opens with Turkish opposition leader Nuresh Sahin (T.J. Ramini) rousing his activists in a protest outside the Turkish embassy. They’re condemning Turkish President Fatih Turan (Troy Caylak) as he is currently in the US for the NATO Summit. Apparently, Sahin is running against Turan in the upcoming elections, and Turan is doing everything to prevent that from happening. Now the dilemma for Kirkman here is to appear as good friends with Turan, despite how ugly his administration is. The US has a nuclear arms deal with Turkey, and they need to preserve that.
Meanwhile, Hannah and Damian (Ben Lawson) interrogate Peyton Lane (Cariba Heine), former assistant to slain British Diplomat Charlotte Thorne. They ask her what she knows about the video they just found, which shows Secretary of State Cornelius Moss (Geoff Pierson) outside Thorne’s apartment door the night before her death. There, she revealed that Thorne was having an affair with Moss and that they had a huge argument the day before she died.
Later that night, Leo (Tanner Buchanan), the President’s son, tours his girlfriend Sibyl (Nikki Roumel) in the Oval Office. Kirkman comes in, and Leo introduces her to him. They exchange pleasantries, and it’s clear that Leo likes her so much. Kirkman sees it too.
The next day, White House Counsel Kendra Daynes (Zoe McLellan) orients Alex and Eva on what not to say when FBI Director John Forstell (Reed Diamond) interviews Eva about her connection to Eric Little. Kendra instructs her not to give any indication of their meeting from six months ago to convince Forstell that Icarus Astrotech had no pattern of influence that leads to the White House. In the Rose Garden, Kirkman holds a press conference together with President Turan that further emphasizes the healthy relationship of the US with Turkey. In the middle of their address, Turan goes off-script and accuses Kirkman of harboring a criminal, referring to his enemy, Sahin. Kirkman and his staff are surprised, and they call for a break. In the oval office, Kirkman angrily asks Turan what his agenda is. He remains firm in his stand and tells Kirkman to extradite Sahin for a murder trial. However, there is no legal basis of Turan’s accusation, so Kirkman refuses. Because of this, Turan threatens to rescind their nuclear arms deal and bring in Russia instead.

A day of extreme troubles

Leo and Sibyl enjoy the day strolling when they come across a group of Turkish protesters. One man happens to them and asks for their help in demonstrating. When Sibyl refuses, he goes on a litany of rants about her. Seeing how hostile the situation is, Leo pushes the man, and he stumbles to the ground.
Back in the White House, Kirkman analyzes the Situation with his Chief of Staff Emily Rhodes (Italia Ricci) and Political Advisor Lyor Boone (Paulo Constanzo). It’s clear that Sahin is the only hope for a better government for Turkey, and Turan sees him as a threat. He’s always been for a path towards war, whereas Sahin stands for a more democratic country. National Security Advisor Aaron Shore (Adan Canto) then informs Kirkman of what Hannah and Damian found out about Secretary Moss’s affair with Thorne, shocking Kirkman. As soon as they devise a plan to handle this with the NATO delegates, his Head of Security Mike Ritter (LaMonica Garrett) asks him to come with him to the Presidential residence because Leo needs his help. Apparently, someone took a video of Leo’s run-in with the protester, and it’s already being shared by millions online. Leo explains to his mom and dad that he only did it because he felt that Sibyl’s safety was in jeopardy. Kendra calls Kirkman to inform him that the man Leo pushed is now pressing charges against him.

Press Secretary Seth Wright (Kal Penn) holds a White House Press Conference, with all questions about Leo’s recent incident. Seth declines to comment, and nothing productive happens. The press badgers him more, and he leaves. Kirkman watches in his office, and it’s causing him more problems than ever. Lyor says that they have to deal with one of his dilemmas right away, which he thinks should be the civil suit against Leo. Kirkman then instructs Kendra to make it disappear.
Later, Kendra returns bearing bad news. The man is suing them for $8 million damages, which Kirkman finds ridiculous. Both Lyor and Emily think that the man is using this as a form of publicity, capitalizing on the attention that he’s getting from everyone. Kirkman tells Mike to look into it. He then proceeds to the NATO meeting with his staff. During the discussion, President Turan capitalizes the conversation with his motion to censor the US. The Nato Secretary-General refuses his proposal because none of the NATO countries agree to back Turan. He then accuses Kirkman of threatening these other countries, further irking Kirkman. Turan pisses him off more by accusing him of harboring a criminal. Kirkman urges the committee to proceed to their agenda. Defeated, Turan withdraws Turkey from NATO. The Secretary-General then asks Kirkman in the oval office to handle the situation. NATO can’t afford to lose Turkey because it could potentially open the Middle East for Russian domination. He then asks Kirkman to give Turan what he demands—for Sahin’s extradition to Turkey.
Meanwhile, a journalist from an online magazine asks Seth if she could interview Kirkman. At first, Seth refuses. But when the reporter said something about Eva Booker, Seth agrees. He brings it up to Kirkman, which Lyor also thinks an interview could potentially harm the investigation albeit helping Kirkman explain his side of things. It’s a dilemma for him, and eventually, he agrees to the meeting. The reporter comes in and asks him about Eva’s alleged involvement with Eric Little’s dealings, to which Kirkman defends expertly. Simultaneously, Kendra and Eva also handle Forstell’s deposition, merely diverting Eva’s possible connections to Little. The interview with Forstell ends with him asking Eva if she took a vacation at St. Lucia six months ago. Eva confirms it and tells him that it’s a yearly thing she does with her daughter Alex. With no further questions, they wrap up Eva’s interview. Meanwhile, Kirkman’s meeting with the reporter ends well. It appears that Kirkman has successfully put this problem to rest—or so he thinks.

Kirkman then meets with Sahin to tell him that he’s going to be sent back to Turkey for him to protect NATO’s interests with his country. However, Kirkman changes his mind in the end because of how much change Sahin could do for Turkey once he wins the presidency. After their discussion, Mike tells Kirkman that the guy Leo pushed works for Turan’s charity campaign, indicating a set-up for Leo orchestrated by Turan. And not only that, the charity’s chairman is run by Sibyl’s father, meaning she is also being used to manipulate Leo, and ultimately, Kirkman’s administration.
Later, Kirkman meets with his staff and tells them haphazardly (and angrily) that he is going to hold a press conference condemning Turan’s tactics against him. Seth says that he can’t do that in a public forum. Emily backs Seth because the reporter is about to publish the story about the investigation on Eva, and the criminal charges against Leo are only pending—which Lyor also advises. Kirkman loses his cool and shouts at his staff for always telling him that his hands are tied. Kirkman proceeds with his plans, albeit restructured to strongarm Turan himself. He later reveals to Leo that his girlfriend isn’t really what he thinks she is, which angers Leo.
Turan finally meets an angry Kirkman in the oval office. Before Turan could say anything to piss him off, he proceeds to threaten him by saying he’d publicly support Sahin’s candidacy and condemn Turan’s administration to the entire world. Kirkman then tells him to let Turkey remain a NATO ally, return the bases to the US, and drop the case filed against Leo. If he fails, Kirkman will go ahead with his plan to destroy Turan by supporting Sahin. With nothing else to say, Sahin agrees, and Kirkman tells him to leave.

Thorne’s killer finally caught

Elsewhere in the episode, Hannah and Damian investigate Moss further by asking Mike for help. He tells them that Moss went off the grid the night before Thorne’s murder and reappeared the night after. It’s a usual thing for ex-presidents to do, but this time it’s highly suspicious. Later, FBI Resident Computer Tech Chuck Russink (Jake Epstein) hacks into Moss’s credit card transactions and found that he checked into a sketchy hospital called Ravenwood Hill, a few hours after the murder. Later, they head over to Moss’s office and asks him about his alibi when Thorne died. He refuses, and Damian pushes further by asking him about Ravenwood, to which Moss also refuses to cooperate.
Aaron then informs Kirkman that Moss refused to answer the agents’ questions, so he has Emily handle the situation by talking to Moss herself. After Emily’s meetings, Moss comes in for their talk. Emily asks about his affair with Thorne an what they argued about before she died. It turns out that she broke up with Moss because he hasn’t proposed to her yet. He joked about her friendship ring, which pissed Thorne even more. He walked out that time and went back later that night to try to patch things up, which didn’t work. Emily asks about Ravenhill, which Moss again refused to answer. He swears that he didn’t kill Thorne. Because of his refusal, Emily suspends him from being the Secretary of State—at least until full cooperation. Moss takes it nobly and hopes that after his name is cleared, he can come back to serve under Kirkman.
Back in Hannah and Damian’s headquarters, they examine this ring that Thorne had. When she died, the ring wasn’t with her. If they find the ring, they find the killer. They analyze a couple of images where Thorne wears the ring. When one photo pulls up, Hannah instantly recognizes it. It’s the same ring that’s now in Peyton Lane’s possession. It turns out that Peyton killed Thorne because she wouldn’t love her back. When Thorne ended up being with Moss, Peyton was furious and thought that she was only being used. Finally, Thorne’s killer is caught.
That night, Kirkman meets with Moss so he could ask about why he checked himself into Ravenwood and his affair with Thorne. Kirkman is greatly affected by it, especially since Moss is his mentor. It’s then revealed that after Thorne broke up with Moss, he went back to his drinking addiction, causing him to check himself into the treatment facility. Kirkman is surprised that Moss wasn’t able to trust him with that information. Moss then hands over his resignation letter to Kirkman, but he refused to accept it, provided that Moss to do everything he needs to do to get clean and come back once he’s okay and to not keep these kinds of information from Kirkman.
Meanwhile, Damian goes back to Hannah’s apartment seemingly to say goodbye, but actually to continue the covert romantic relationship they started. He also tells her that he’s been assigned to the British Embassy, meaning they’d be working together for the time being.

The episode ends with Kirkman apologizing to Leo, which didn’t work at first, but Alex tells him that it’s going to be okay since he’s been there for them ever since. She then segues to a new problem for Kirkman to handle—a subpoena on Alex, aimed to ask her about her trip with her mom in St. Lucia. It turns out that Little made a bank account in St. Lucia six months ago under Alex’s name, without her knowledge. It was done right before Icarus Astrotech got it’s latest government contract for a billion dollars.
It’s clear that the Kirkman family is being set-up.

‘Designated Survivor: Family Ties’ Overall Verdict

With the closure of one problem comes another in the latest episode of “Designated Survivor.” The conspiracy that started in the Capitol bombing seems to go deeper and deeper down the walls of the White House. Someone is still obviously calling the shots here, and there’s more to be uncovered. It’s been a stressful episode to watch, mainly because of the many problems that Kirkman had to fend off, with an even bigger challenge posed towards the end. That being said, the show never fails to deliver straight political action and drama, and it’s good to finally see things escalate—especially with the conspiracy against the Kirkmans.
“Designated Survivor” continues Wednesday, November 29th, with “Home,” 10/9c on ABC.