Cariba Heine | Designated Survivor

• Genre: Political thriller, Political drama, Conspiracy thriller
• Created by: David Guggenheim
• Starring: Kiefer Sutherland, Natascha McElhone, Adan Canto, Italia Ricci, Tanner Buchanan, LaMonica Garrett, Kal Penn, Maggie Q, Jake Epstein, Paulo Costanzo, Zoe McLellan, Ben Lawson
• Theme music composer: Sean Callery, Paul Leonard-Morgan
• Composers: Sean Callery, Robert Lydecker, Paul Leonard-Morgan
• No. of seasons: 3
• No. of episodes: 53
• Executive producers: Mark Gordon, Nicholas Pepper, Jeff Melvoin, Jon Harmon Feldman, Kiefer Sutherland, Suzan Bymel, Paul McGuigan, Amy Harris, Aditya Sood, David Guggenheim, Simon Kinberg, Neal Baer
• Producers: Richard Klein, Ann Kindberg, Tommy Burns
• Production locations: Hamilton, Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, Washington, D.C.
• Cinematography: M. David Mullen, David A. Harp
• Editor: Michael Schweitzer
• Running time: 42 minutes (seasons 1–2), 46–53 minutes (season 3)
• Production companies: Kinberg Genre, The Mark Gordon Company, Baer Bones, ABC Studios (seasons 1–2)
• Network: ABC
• Release: September 21, 2016 – May 16, 2018
• Network: Netflix
• Release: June 7, 2019

On the night of the State of the Union, an explosion destroys the Capitol Building, killing the president and everyone in the line of succession except for Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Thomas Kirkman, who had been named the designated survivor.

"Suckers"

Kirkman lobbies for a bill to help victims of a massive financial scam, but is forced to regain the public's trust after Senator Rouse takes a private conversation out of context on national television to make Kirkman look like an elitist. Lyor pushes Kirkman to use a damaging piece of opposition research to damage Rouse’s reputation, but Kirkman manages to regain the public’s confidence without resorting to it. When a visiting British MP Charlotte Thorne is gunned down, Damian returns to work with Wells to investigate the murder, and the two identify an arms trafficker as a suspect and arrest him. Believing the case solved, they share an intimate moment, but later learn that not only is the trafficker innocent of Thorne’s murder, but that his wife has been using him as a flunky to smuggle weapons herself. Alex, reluctant to trust Kendra with the investigation into her mother, becomes emotionally involved in the proceedings, but Kendra manages to quash the subpoena issued to Eva.

"Two Ships"

Kirkman sets out to prevent a potential national security threat after a US Navy ship with state-of-the-art weapons and surveillance systems collides with a civilian barge in hostile waters. With the senior command killed in the collision, Kirkman promotes lieutenant Will Griffin to the rank of captain and negotiates a deal with the Kunami government to rescue the crew in exchange for Kunami taking ownership of the vessel, but Captain Griffin refuses to abandon ship and sacrifices his life to scuttle the ship. Wells and Damian continue investigating Charlotte Thorne's death and rescue Thorne’s aide after she is abducted, but are surprised to learn that Cornelius Moss, former President and current Secretary of State, visited Thorne hours before her death. Kendra discovers that Eva had a brief meeting with Eric Little shortly before his death, contradicting a statement Alex made in court and creating the appearance of obstruction of justice. Emily reunites with her absentee father, but the outcome leaves her saddened, and when Seth comforts her, the two share a kiss.

"Family Ties"

Turkish President Turan visits DC for a NATO summit to renegotiate leases for U.S. Air Force bases in Turkey and attempts to leverage Kirkman into extraditing his biggest political opponent. Leo makes headlines after a scuffle with a Turkish protestor goes viral, but the incident is revealed to have been staged by Turan to put pressure on Kirkman, who forces Turan to stand down by threatening to give a platform to his rival. Eva agrees to be questioned by Foerstel to put an end to the investigation, but the interview leads to a subpoena being issued to Alex after Foerstel finds an offshore bank account set up in her name by Eric Little prior to his death. Secretary Moss stonewalls Wells and Damian as they investigate his relationship with Charlotte Thorne, but the two eventually discover that her aide killed her and Moss is cleared.