I have been a fan of DESIGNATED SURVIVOR since its beginning probably because of a fatigue with politics as usual and an interest in seeing human need before indentured agendas. In this 3rd season the show has moved from broadcast network to a streaming platform (Netflix) releasing it from the stricture of the public rating system. But, the change I've appreciated most is that it seems to be determining content and story from real interviews with people about issues that affect them the most. Each episode includes portions of these interviews, as stated at the end of an episode "The interviews featured in these episodes are of real people from footage provided from documentary filmmakers. Their comments are unscripted and represent their own thought. Clips are edited for content and time." I find this a fascinating way of taking this series closer to their audience.
Review by DeletedBlockedParentSpoilers2019-07-23T06:37:24Z
Loved this episode, mainly for Kirkman's speech at the end, but the episode started with a delicate issue, played a cringy moment off of it with Kirkman and Harper, and then sort of pushed it under the rug in favour of Kirkman's sister-in-law's issue. It was probably for the best to handle it that way, but it seemed to shy away from what it started as. I didn't want it to stay cringy, but I wanted Kirkman to have to deal with that more direct.
It would be an awkward question for a teenage girl, or preteen girl, whether she'd want to discuss her menstrual cycle with her father, or a trans woman. Honestly, with respect to trans rights, this shouldn't even be a question. She should be able to talk to her father about this. Ideally she would go to her mother first, but that's not an option here. A grown, mature man will have known several women, and how a woman's body works is not a mystery or taboo subject to a progressive person in a western country. No girl is going to be 100% comfortable talking to her father about her period, but if he's a good father, she should be somewhat okay about it, and he should be 100% understanding. Hearing about it for the first time, it should take him 2 seconds or less to process, "okay, this is a thing now." Let's be real, he knew it was going to happen more or less in a 1-3 year window of age that she was in and he's probably thought about how best to approach it. I'm not sure the aunt was the wrong call, but I think there should have been a scene with Kirkman and Penny, even if it just started with, "I want you to know that I'm here for you," or something like that, and then a pan out or fade out.
I'm glad they used an actual transgendered actress, but not surprised. The way this season has interwoven interviews with real people has made this show appealing not only for Kiefer Sutherland fans looking for a more mature 24, but also for fans of Aaron Sorkin — who I almost have a hard time believing isn't involved in some way — looking for that intellectual dialogue-heavy political show after The West Wing and The Newsroom. Designated Survivor may have started as a spiritual successor to 24 with the twists and turns of the first season, but it's grown into the spiritual successor of The West Wing, and that's a good thing. This is way better than House of Cards, and that's not even considering the off-camera controversy following the lead actor. That show just took a nosedive in the first episode of the second season, and I don't know how I made myself finish that season. The first season was so promising, and Designated Survivor is just so much better, across the board. I hope Netflix gives it the love it deserves.
I do have to say that this episode turned up the excessive swearing, and when a guest character brings it up, I really wanted Isabel to name-drop Netflix. It would have been terrible for an otherwise serious scene, but at least they could address the elephant in the room. ABC wouldn't have allowed the swearing, but because Netflix does, let's just go hog wild with no respect whatsoever to the canon of the first two seasons, which were perfectly effective without the profanity. I don't mind profanity and didn't deduct points for its use, but much more would have dropped this episode to a 7. That being said, it would have been a solid 9 with a solid father/daughter moment. Kirkman may be the everyman president, but he had a chance to shine as a great father and the writers let the opportunity slip. It isn't like they have time constraints; they could make a 90 minute episode, if they so desired. And we the fans would probably not complain.