‘Designated Survivor’ Season 2 Finale ‘Run’ Recap: A Shocking Decision [SPOILERS]

It’s been one hell of an administration for President Tom Kirkman (Kiefer Sutherland) and his staff. Following the events of the Capitol bombing in Season 1, along with the various conspiracies that plagued the political state of the United States of America, the series has finally come to an unfortunate end. Tonight’s episode, titled “Run,” does the exact opposite of what it implies. True, we might be saying goodbye to one of ABC’s best shows, but nothing could ever change the fact that “Designated Survivor” has more to it than an end.

Tonight, as Kirkman’s presidency hangs in the balance, he’s faced with two dilemmas—a case against him for conspiracy and disaster at Taurasi, a US Protectorate.

Trouble brewing

“Run” opens with Kirkman at the hospital to visit Chief of Staff Emily Rhodes (Italia Ricci) as she was shot in the last episode. Surprisingly, the bullet only grazed her arm, and Mike Ritter (LaMonica Garret), Kirkman’s head of Secret Service, and his team were able to neutralize him.

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Kirkman returns to the White House, where Attorney Ethan West (Michael J. Fox) is with Attorney General Ray Beckett (Bruce Davison) and Senator Cameron Feller (Zachary Bennet) and Senator Crowl (Jessica Tuck) the leaders of the Republican and Democratic Parties, respectively. They’re to discuss the charges against Kirkman that West forwarded to the Attorney General. They are all minor crimes, but West and the Attorney General are committed to single him out as White House Legal Counsel Kendra Daynes (Zoe McLellan) defends the President. West also pinpoint former FBI Agent Hannah Wells (Maggie Q) as Kirkman’s co-conspirator, who West alleges acted on the President’s behest. Of course, this isn’t the case as Kirkman didn’t give her any direct orders to carry out her past missions. The leaders of both parties then offer Kirkman a way out—announce that he won’t be running for President and the charges won’t push through. The Attorney General gives Kirkman the end of the day to decide.

In the Oval Office, National Security Advisor Aaron Shore (Adan Canto) briefs Kirkman for the day’s agenda, with him having to cancel a memorial for a late judge as they have many fires to put out for the day. One of the most pressing of these predicaments is Taurasi’s motion to file for independence from being a protectorate of the US for 80 years.

Political Advisor Lyor Boone (Paulo Constanzo) and Press Secretary Seth Wright (Kal Penn) were tasked to handle the situation at Taurasi. They meet with the Governor, who, despite all reminders of how the US helped Taurasi over the years, is determined to break free from being a protectorate. After the meeting, Seth and Lyor split up for their free time.

Meanwhile, Aaron asks Kendra about Kirkman’s case with Hannah in the centerfold. Kendra believes that they can win this by asking Hannah to file a written affidavit that Kirkman did not give her any direct orders to carry out her mission. But there’s one problem though, Hannah went off the grid, and Aaron couldn’t get ahold of her.

Fulfilling her promise to Damian’s request, Hannah flew to London to protect Damian’s daughter, Amy (Taylor Blackwell). Hannah finds her in her dorm, preparing to leave. When she sees Hannah, Amy tackles her and runs.

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Later that day Leo (Tanner Buchanan), Kirkman’s son, shows his father that he got into Georgetown. Kirkman is very proud, but their moment is cut short when Mike called Kirkman to the command ops center. An Earthquake hit a place near Taurasi, and a tsunami is apparent. Back in Taurasi, Lyor looks out from a patio and sees the tsunami hit the area. Kirkman gapes in horror as the satellite imaging shows the waves engulfing a massive part of Taurasi’s shores.

A political compromise

Kirkman meets with Senators Feller and Crowl to help work up an aid budget for Taurasi. But it seems as if both Senators aren’t willing to help, and instead only offered $3 million. Senator Feller tells Kirkman, Aaron, and Emily (who surprisingly arrived straight from the hospital) that the best he could do was to talk to the appropriations committee to see what they can do about the budget.

Aaron believes that the Senators are hesitant to help Taurasi because of their “renegade” status. It’s also a pressure on Kirkman to take the deal that the Senators offered to him about the charges. Kirkman has none of it and tries asking draft an Executive Order for an aid package. Emily asks about Seth and Lyor, but they couldn’t reach them.

Later, Kendra and Emily plan a way to help Kirkman come up with an aid package. Kendra thinks that the President’s access to primary funds for the FEMA and DoD budget can be temporarily reallocated for Taurasi.

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Thankfully, Lyor contacts the President about the situation in Taurasi. In the command ops, Kirkman tells Lyor about the complications of asking the Congress for an aid package. Emily thinks that they have to go public about it and asks for Seth’s advice, who, unfortunately, hasn’t been found yet. Lyor comes back on with the Governor. He tells Kirkman about the death toll and the number of persons missing. Kirkman promises to do everything he can to send help. Emily asks again about Seth, but Lyor still hasn’t found him—at least, not yet. Aaron then informs Kirkman and Emily that Congress just got an injunction to stop the President’s executive order, and Kendra is filing an appeal at the Supreme Court.

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Later, Leo asks Emily for college advice. He reveals that he also applied and got into Stanford. Leo doesn’t know how to tell his father, but Emily tells him to give him the unvarnished truth since she knows that it’s what Kirkman would want. Kendra returns to Emily and tells her that the Supreme Court is not likely to hear the appeal. With their hands tied, Emily takes matters into her own hands.

Kirkman’s Secretary then informs him that Chief Justice Peter Koeman (Keith Dinicol) is in his office, a very rare instance. He angrily stomps in to scold Kirkman about what Emily. It turns out that Emily, without Kirkman’s knowledge, tried to influence the lower court’s calendar to hear their appeal for the executive order. Koeman leaves and tells Kirkman to fire Emily. Kirkman then confronts Emily about it, who breaks down because the walls are closing in on them. Just when they thought that things would be a bit easier, Kendra and Aaron come in bearing bad news—the Supreme Court also denied their appeal. The only option? A unilateral exercise of Presidential Authority and defiance of the Congress and the Judiciary. But if Kirkman chooses this route, he’s risking impeachment.

Meanwhile, Former Secretary of State and now a Presidential candidate Cornelius Moss (Geoff Pierson) invites Ethan West over for lunch to offer him a job—Senior Adviser for Moss’ Presidential Campaign. Moss was impressed at how easy it was for West to find everything wrong with Kirkman despite signing on for an investigation against Moss. Puzzled, West humors him, although it’s evident that the offer doesn’t sit well with him.

In Taurasi, Lyor finally locates Seth. Lyor thought that Seth got washed up, but seeing how he looked clean, Seth explained that he was on a roof when it happened. A pilot friend of his informed Seth about the incoming tsunami. After it hit, the pilot offered to give Seth and air inspection of the damage. Seth, Lyor, and the Taurasi Governor then come back online to talk to Kirkman about their plan. Seth informs the President that there are massive chaos and looting in many parts of Taurasi, and the Governor couldn’t handle it well with what little police force he has. Kirkman tells the Governor that the only way for the US to be able to send aid is for him to sign a document that declares Taurasi in a state of potential conflict, so the President can work around that loophole to send help, and possibly, some troops.

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Later, Kirkman presents the signed document to Senators Feller and Crowl. Upon examining, it looked a bit desperate for Kirkman, according to Crowl. But that’s precisely what Kirkman wanted the AUMF (Authorization for Use of Military Force) was meant to authorize Kirkman to send out whatever help he can to a State or Protectorate that declares itself in conflict and need of help. Feller then tells Kirkman that although this brand Kirkman as the savior of Taurasi, it doesn’t save him from the charges of the Attorney General. Despite this, Kirkman doesn’t care. He only wants to help.

That night, Leo is surprised by Kirkman who was reading his application to Stanford. It turns out that Kirkman knew all along, he was waiting for Leo to tell him. Leo, however, wanted to stay with his father and not move far away from him. But Kirkman doesn’t want that for Leo. Instead, Kirkman encouraged his son to follow his dreams in Stanford.

Emily leaves and hands Kirkman her resignation over to him. She’s been a bit haphazard the past few weeks, starting with the issue with FBI Intelligence Analyst Chuck Russink (Jake Epstein) hacking into Moss’ phone records to the one that she just did earlier that day. However, despite her flaws, Kirkman still values her as a great Chief of Staff. He puts the letter down and assures Emily that she will always have a place by his side. West then meets Kirkman in the Oval Office to tell him about Moss’s offer to him (which he doesn’t want to take). Kirkman thinks West is there to gloat, but instead, the Attorney hands Kirkman back the blank piece of paper that Kirkman gave West the night before the 25th Amendment hearing. West realized that Moss is working with Congress after all. He also adds that of all the people working in Washington, it’s only Kirkman who’s not working for an angle or a personal agenda. “You don’t scheme,” West said. “You serve.”

Later, Lyor, Seth, and the Taurasi Governor come back online as the Governor thanks Kirkman for the aid that finally arrived. That said, the Governor also withdrew his desire to break away from being a United States Protectorate. It’s another job well done for Kirkman and his staff, but there’s still one more thing left on his plate. Kirkman scheduled a public address too, and all roads lead to the end of his administration.

In Taurasi, Lyor finally acknowledges Seth as his friend when an old woman asked about his name from Lyor. According to the woman, Seth saved her family and brought them to the roof when the tsunami hit.

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Back in the White House, Kirkman and Mike have an emotional exchange of thank yous. Mike has had the President’s back since the Capital bombing, and it’s been a huge honor for Mike to have served Tom Kirkman. Kirkman leaves to go on the Presidential podium to address the People. As Kirkman speaks, he couldn’t help but remember the paper that he gave to West about having no terms in his Presidency, just the desire to serve the people. ANd in a surprising turn of events, Kirkman goes off-script and announces that he’s running for a second term as an independent.

Hannah’s Promise

Elsewhere in the episode, Hannah chases after Amy. When she has her back up in a corner, Hannah tells Amy about her father, Damian, to gain her trust and to show that she means no harm. Hannah tells her that she wants to protect her as Amy’s life is in grave danger. Amy then brings Hannah to a secluded place where Damian had a safe. They arrive but see the door unlocked and the safe opened. However, it turns out that this was Amy’s final test to know that Hannah really wasn’t there to harm her. Amy then tells Hannah that the safe contained a list of British spies and where they were embedded. This was what Valeria Poreskova (Nora Zehetner), Damian’s former Russian handler, was after. The list is gone, so Hannah thinks that Valeria might have already got it. But Amy memorized the entire thing and disposed of the list herself.

Hannah and Amy hide in a restaurant as Chuck analyzes the list in the FBI Headquarters. Based on Chuck’s analysis, the list indeed has the names of various British assets all over the world. Damian had it even when he was working for the Russians. Valeria wanted the list because it could be her redemption for moonlighting for Dax Minter. And since Amy knows about the list, Valeria wants to kill her too. As they leave the restaurants, Valeria sees them and follows.

That night, Hannah and Amy return to her dorm to trap Valeria. Hannah sets up the room to indicate that Amy is there. Valeria arrives with a gun, but Hannah incapacitates her. They engage in a brawl, but Valeria runs away. Finally, Hannah catches up on her in the bridge and shoots her. She then retrieves a flash drive from Valeria’s dead body. With things with Valeria now settled, Hannah prepares to go back to the States. However, Amy pleads to come with her since she doesn’t have anyone else in London. Reluctantly, Hannah takes Amy with her.

The episode ends with Hannah and Amy on a plane back to America. Hannah plugs in the flash drive into her laptop and watches a video of a woman handing a folder over to Valeria. When the woman turns to face the screen, it’s revealed to be Emily. Meanwhile, back in the Oval Office, Kirkman pensively stares out the window. He then answers the phone, with the Attorney General waiting on the line.

‘Designated Survivor: Run’ Overall Verdict

ABC’s “Designated Survivor” had a good run. The first season offered a promising story of political conspiracy and a new spin to the US Presidency. However, as the showrunners changed before Season 2 premiered, it suffered a dip—both in ratings and in quality. The show did have a compelling storyline for Season 2, but it mostly featured political crises every week. While this worked for some, it didn’t bank on the success of the first season, leading to its cancellation. Nonetheless, I think “Run” is an adequate send-off to all our characters, despite ending in another irritating cliffhanger. It’s been a good run, but not enough to keep fans longing for more.

Hopefully, with rumors of Netflix stepping in to save “Designated Survivor,” the show would move to a more serious tone and return to the quality and writing of Season 1. But as for me who learned to love political shows like this, I will definitely miss Tom Kirkman.