Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Designated Survivor returns without the first lady
Season 2 of ABC’s Designated Survivor continues at 9 p.m. Wednesday and we’ll finally find out how President Tom Kirkman (Kiefer Sutherland) is dealing with the sudden and shocking death of his wife, Alex (Natascha McElhone).
Fans of the show were blindsided at the end of the midseason finale when Alex’s car was slammed by a large truck. We don’t actually see what happens, but Tom gets a call that sends him to his knees crying.
Was this a simple accident? Given the history of the show so far, I would doubt it. It’ll be interesting to see where Tom goes from here.
In the real world, it’s been known for some time that the underutilized McElhone was leaving the series for a new show on Hulu. McElhone will star opposite Sean Penn in The First, which comes from
House of Cards creator Beau Willimon and follows the first human mission to Mars. The series, which deals with the astronauts, their families and the support team on Earth, will premiere later this year. Meanwhile, back on Designated Survivor, there’s also drama surrounding FBI agent Hannah Wells (Maggie Q), who began to suspect her new lover, MI-6 operative Damian Rennett (Ben Lawson), had gone rogue. She confronts him and when he reaches into his pocket, she shoots him in the chest, sending him plunging into the river below.
Hannah leaves, but we witness Damian, saved by his bullet proof vest, wash up on shore.
In Wednesday’s episode, “Grief,” it has been 10 weeks since Alex was killed and the president’s senior staff insists he seek professional help in dealing with his loss.
He reluctantly agrees to see therapist Dr. Adam Louden (Timothy Busfield).
Meanwhile, Hannah and National Security Adviser Aaron Shore (Adan Canto) travel to Cuba as part of a trade delegation, but the trip does not go as planned.
■ Survivor: Ghost Island returns to CBS for Season 36 at 7 p.m. Wednesday. It’ll be a two-hour episode.
Can there be anything new in the series that debuted May 31, 2000? Over the years, host Jeff Probst has guided us through Battle of the Sexes, The Outcasts, Exile Island, Redemption Island, Brawn vs. Brains vs. Beauty, Old vs. Young, Double Tribal Council and two dozen other “twists” to keep things interesting.
The gimmick this season will feature “the mistakes of castaways past, the talismans of which are scattered on an actual island dubbed Ghost Island.”
There will be 82 hidden immunity idols, fake idols, and advantages “that were either misplayed or led to someone’s ouster over Survivor’s first 35 seasons.” The new cast will have a chance to “reverse the curse,” learn from the mistakes of past contestants, and use the items for a positive effect this time around.
Survivor: Ghost Island was filmed last summer in Fiji. It was the fifth to take place in Fiji, the most of any location.
■ American Creed premieres at 8 p.m. today on AETN and PBS. In the documentary, “former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, historian David Kennedy (both Stanford University professors) and a diverse group of Americans explore whether a unifying set of beliefs — an American creed — can prove more powerful than the issues that divide us.”
“I hear more and more people say, ‘We’re coming apart, we’re not civil to one another, our institutions are falling apart’,” Rice says in the special.
“In times like this,” Kennedy adds, “we need stories that remind us of the ideals that hold us together.”
The stories, including one from Arkansas, are:
Major League Baseball manager Joe Maddon brings together residents of his hometown of Hazleton, Pa., after a controversial immigration ordinance divided the town.
Elementary school principal Deidre Prevett, a member of the Muskogee (Creek) Nation in Oklahoma, is “living my American dream,” serving children from low-income families.
Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America leader Tegan Griffith and novelist Junot Diaz work toward “the dream of an America where we can be on each other’s sides.”
Based in Seattle, Citizen University founder Eric Liu brings people together across cultural and political differences “to reaffirm American democracy and solve problems.”
In California, Joan Blades, co-founder of the progressive advocacy group MoveOn.org, and Mark Meckler, co-founder of the Tea Party Patriots, find common ground.
In the Arkansas Delta town of Dumas, entrepreneurs Leila Janah and Terrence Davenport launch an innovative technology startup based on what they see as “America’s ideal of equal opportunity for all.”
Find out more at americancreed.org.