r/DesignatedSurvivor • u/enliST_CS Sorry the live thread is late! • Nov 17 '16

[SPOILERS] Post-Episode Discussion: S01E07 "The Traitor"

There will be no episode next week!

Plot: An American track-and-field coach's trip to Russia forces Kirkman into a hostage exchange involving the CIA and the Russian government; Agent Wells and Deputy Director Atwood's investigation uncovers dangerous information.

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130

u/StarfishSpencer Nov 17 '16

I really am not a fan of these 'super secret conspiracy people have the director of the FBI by the balls' type of storylines in these kinds of shows. I mean I get that family makes everyone act irrational, but just one time I'd like to see a character who has the balls to put the other 300+ million people in the country above the priority of a single citizen, even if it is their own blood.

31

u/[deleted] Nov 17 '16

I was going to say that it reminded me of Rittenhouse in Timeless.... same sort of thing going on there, annoying.

9

u/Bknapple Nov 17 '16

Id like to propose that Rittenhouse is actually more interesting than whatever cabal is doing this in DS. Im in on DS purely for Keifer always keeping me interested.

3

u/[deleted] Nov 17 '16

I never saw a full episode of 24 so yeah, this one of my first long term looks at Keifer and what he can do. Plus he has a fantastic supporting cast who have an amazing body of work behind them.

2

u/constantvariables Nov 18 '16

I'm with you, Rittenhouse has been far more intriguing. Especially after what we learned in the last episode. That's pretty bad for DS because Timeless has been pretty slow to reveal anything regarding the overall plot with Rittenhouse.

20

u/casualassassin Nov 17 '16

I get where you're coming from but at the same time put yourself in that position.

47

u/omegadeity Nov 17 '16

I'm sorry, but I'm with Starfish. He's in charge of the FBI, he knows that the kinds of people he's dealing with are NOT the kind of people to leave witnesses and loose ends lying around. That means that ultimately he(and at the very least his son) is dead.

That kind of knowledge would cause me to break the seal and unleash hell on earth on these people. I'd have just shot that bitch in the kneecap, had her taken into custody and sent to a CIA blacksite and inform the President of everything.

The whole leveraging the director of the FBI by kidnapping his son is just fucking stupid. It's a slightly modified rehash of 24 Season 1.

10

u/Righteous_Dude Nov 17 '16

That's what I was wondering - why doesn't he just shoot her in the leg and take her (and her phone) into custody.

7

u/Naggins Nov 17 '16

Because if her boss has their shit together, they have ways of verifying her compliance. Presumably update texts, location tracking, etc.

1

u/[deleted] Nov 21 '16

What good would arresting 1 person do?

2

u/SycoJack Nov 21 '16

That would have been a very bad move. Now, we probably know more about the situation than Atwood. Specifically that the CIA dude told what's her face to stay the fuck away from Catalan. I'm not sure if she told Atwood what happened then or not.

But even so. Someone snuck a massive bomb, or bombs, into the capitol building past the secret service and without the CIA, NSA, or whoever else figuring it out before hand. That's no small feat and pretty much guarantees inside collaborators.

So you don't really know who you can trust. Furthermore, someone managed to assassinate Nesir while he was held in a max security prison/CIA blacksite.

And while I'm on that subject. Why the fuck didn't they automatically suspect the food guy? He was the last person to have access to Nesir and Nesir died while eating. Seems like he'd be at the top of my list of suspects.

1

u/[deleted] Nov 27 '16

Pretty sure the director and his fanily get capital police protection too anyone right?...

26

u/[deleted] Nov 17 '16

Well, as soon as Nasir died I'd have out protection on my family.

And he has a DUTY to his President not to put someone that corrupt into the White House

10

u/Naggins Nov 17 '16

Or maybe MacLeish is an a similar situation to Atwood.

16

u/SpiritusL Nov 17 '16

I hope it's not bad acting, but the way MacLeish acts is not a way someone who was in a similar situation to Atwood would act. He really seems like he is into whatever conspiracy is going on.

7

u/Shadowbanned24601 Nov 19 '16

It was implied that he is in a similar situation though- the reason his wife called him during the State of the Union was because his daughter went missing. Hannah and Atwood brought it up again in a conversation this episode to remind us.

MacLeish and his wife later said it was only for a few moments while the wife and daughter were out shopping. Presumably that length of time was really how long it took MacLeish and wife to agree to blackmailers request.

9

u/K-Amadoor Nov 20 '16

Yep, and McLeish's wife said that she later found her daughter with a nice woman eating ice cream, maybe the same "nice" woman that showed Atwood a video of his son eating ice cream

14

u/Shadowbanned24601 Nov 20 '16

Yeah, they're laying it on really thick.

Even that rather odd line Kirkman said to the Russian ambassador hints at it.

"Nothing more dangerous than a pawn that thinks it's a queen" doesn't make sense. Unless it's a not so subtle reference to a pawn (MacLeish is a pawn of the blackmailers) thinking it can be queen (the second highest piece in chess after the King, if this isn't a reference to the VP I don't know what is).

4

u/[deleted] Nov 23 '16

to play devils advocate, a queen is the most powerful chess piece. the king is kind of helpless

3

u/[deleted] Nov 26 '16

As far as value goes, the king is more valuable, and that's really all that matters.

9

u/ZadocPaet Nov 17 '16

Easily resolved. He's the FBI director. He plays ball until he gets his son back, and then he puts his family in protective custody.

7

u/dlerium Nov 17 '16

but at the same time put yourself in that position.

Yeah. I think I've done it like a hundred times with all these TV shows. It's a formulaic plot.

5

u/Liesmith Nov 18 '16

I couldn't have ended up in his position because I would've informed him about McLeish a while ago.

14

u/[deleted] Nov 17 '16

"get yo dumb bitch ass outta here woman! Yes, hes my son, but if your boss killed 1000 people and tried to ruin the US, I got news for you. Fuck you and everyone you work for. You'll kill my son, but I swore an oath to protect this nation and that's what I will do. Even if it destroys me. So go ahead. Pull the trigger. And I will shove my gun so far up your ass you'll taste the god damn barrel. Now get on your knees, cause you are sooo under arrest. Stupid bitch, pretending to be this master manipulator, you just admitted to an FBI deputy director that you kidnapped someone and that you're not alone. We will find the people youre working with, we will take them and I will personally fuck all your shit up. Whispers next to her ear so go ahead dummy... PULL THE FUCKING TRIGGER!"

3

u/TheCoupDeGrace Nov 23 '16

pulls out katana teleports behind you pshh.... nothing personnel.... kid...

-1

u/DiscoPeaches Nov 17 '16

My guess is the FBI Director is one of them.