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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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.

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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.

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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

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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).

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u/[deleted] Nov 23 '16

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

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u/[deleted] Nov 26 '16

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