Tonight on ABC their new conspiracy thriller Designated Survivor airs with an all-new Wednesday, October 25, 2016, episode and we have your Designated Survivor recap below. On tonight’s Designated Survivor episode 5, more secrets than answers are uncovered as Hannah (Maggie Q) continues her investigation into the Capitol bombing.
Did you watch last week’s Designated Survivor where President Kirkman (Kiefer Sutherland) learned who was behind the attack and needed to grapple not only with the prospect of war but brewing domestic troubles as well? If you missed the episode we have a full and detailed Designated Survivor recap, right here.
On tonight’s Designated Survivor as per the ABC synopsis, “Realizing his attempts at diplomacy with Algeria have failed, President Kirkman makes the difficult decision of sending Navy SEALs on a mission that will define his presidency. Meanwhile, as the investigation into the Capitol bombing continues, Agent Hannah Wells discovers more secrets than answers.”
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#DesignatedSurvivor starts with President Kirkman lying awake in bed. He checks the clock and then his phone buzzes. He answers and Aaron tells him it’s time. Chernow meets with Aaron and Kirkman to give them the update on the attack to take out Nassar.
Seth comes in as Chernow leaves for the ops center. He reminds Kirkman about an awards ceremony later. He tells Emily to take point on Congress and keeps her out of the loop on the coming attack. Chernow says they’ll be in and out before Algeria knows.
Chernow gives them the timeline for him to decide if the mission is a go. POTUS says it’s a go. Chernow makes a call. One of the advisors says they need to abort because Nassar has moved and is not at the target they’re about to hit.
Hannah on the case
He says Nassar left two minutes ago. They tell Kirkman that Nassar was warned by the Algerian foreign ministry. Aaron says they tipped their hand. Kirkman says find Nassar then curses and walks out. Atwood finds Hannah in her office working on the bomb case.
She says she needs to find Capitol Room 105 and says it’s not on the building map. She says she’ll let him know if the lead pans out. Atwood says McLeish is being honored today and Hannah asks to tag along. Atwood says she’s a horrible liar but takes him along.
Kirkman honors the first responder that found the only survivor. He says his code name is Phoenix but McLeish truly rose from the ashes. POTUS reads off facts about McLeish’s past and calls him an inspiration to them all. Hannah glares.
A different angle
Aaron pulls Kirkman aside and Seth takes over the room. Kimble intercepts Seth and asks when will the IS respond to the bombing. She asks to talk to the president and he says he’s busy then walks off. Atwood recommends Hannah check with the architect of the capitol.
McLeish speaks to Hannah on his way out. Kirkman gets an update and Chernow says he’s hiding in a hospital so we can’t do an airstrike. He recommends a Navy SEALS strike team.
Kirkman considers and Chernow shows him satellite footage. They tell him about the danger of Al-Sakar future attacks. They tell him they want to take Nassar alive if they can but Kirkman worries about the risk of the attack and he asks to speak to the man in charge.
Architect of suspicion
Kirkman says he’ll go see the man who’s putting his life on the line. Aaron talks to Emily about the awkwardness this morning and she gets short about it. He asks if he she knows Jeffrey Myers and she says no. He says he heard the name with the Kirkmans.
Hannah goes to see the architect and asks about room 105 – he calls it a hideaway office and says they are assigned by seniority. He says Teddy Kennedy’s was like a clubhouse. He says the blueprints were lost in the bomb but he gave digital files to the men working the case.
Kimble gets facetime with Kirkman and she asks about him firing the Joint Chiefs chairman and arresting a governor. She says she knows something military is happening. Kimble asks if they’re going to war and says this is not a dictatorship.
Kirkman meets a SEAL
Aaron says the helicopter is here. Kirkman says he’ll notify her as soon as it’s appropriate. He thanks her for her continued vigilance and leaves. The SEAL team is running a simulation as Kirkman watches. The commander walks Kirkman through the operation they’ll carry out.
He says his men train for missions like this all day every day and says the SEALS are impressive. Kirkman asks about the individual team members and their families. Kirkman asks the odds of success. The commander says we’ll get it done. Kirkman presses.
The commander says 50/50 because of what we don’t know. He says we do know Nassar is there so we have to do it now. He says God may have mercy on Nassar but the Navy SEALS will not.
Room 105
Hannah goes to see Hector and he says he’s working on his McLeish’s location at the time of the bombing. He was in room 105 and then mentions there were renovations. He says they don’t know what was being done and Hannah says try and find out.
Kirkman greets two of the SEAL team members and says your country thanks you for your service and I do too. He says get home safely. They head out. Kirkman asks the Commander how he feels and the guy says no SEAL has been captured or a body left behind.
Kirkman says Nassar alive is optimal but if it’s too risky, take him out and get your men out safely. The commander salutes him then heads off. Hannah goes to see Kimble who says she’s a fan of the FBI. Hannah asks her for access to the renovation plans.
Attack time
Kimble asks what she’s looking for. Hannah says they think the construction entrance may have been used to get the bombs into the building. She lied. Hannah thanks her and goes. Kirkman sits watching video of the men progressing. Alex comes to sit with him.
He says they won’t land for almost three hours and says he put 20 men in harm’s way. Next morning, Kirkman meets with McLeish in the Oval Office and is told Kimble is running late. McLeish says he’s never been in the Oval Office before.
Kimble shows and is surprised to see McLeish there. He says since they are Congress, he wanted to notify them that Commander Max Clarkson is leading a team of SEALS to try and obtain or kill Nassar. McLeish says he approves. Kimble says he doesn’t need their approval.
Kimble makes threats
Kimble says the legitimacy of his presidency depends on this. She says he’ll be Reagan or Carter. Aaron asks if Kimble is threatening to deny her support if it doesn’t work out. She tells Peter to come along but he wishes him luck. Aaron recommends putting in McLeish as speaker instead of Kimble.
Aaron gets a call and says they’re on the way. Aaron says a SEALS chopper went down. They head to the command center. Chernow tells Kirkman that one of the Blackhawks hit a sandstorm and they had to do a combat landing but had one injury.
Clarkson says they can move forward and tells Chernow to let him do the job. Kirkman nods and Chernow says do it. Aaron tells Seth to deny any military action. Seth gives a press briefing and says Michigan is good. He denies any action in Algeria.
McLeish makes an unexpected move
They ask him about the Lexington and Seth moves the conversation. Emily and Aaron talk to McLeish about being Speaker of the House. He says he doesn’t want the job. McLeish says he came to serve and the speaker position is about power for power’s sake.
McLeish says there is no higher calling than to serve your country and he did it in uniform and now in Congress. McLeish says he’ll support the President but not as Speaker. Kimble meets with Hannah and says there were upgrades to offices on the first floor.
She says Margrove was a new contractor that worked on the renovation but they never worked there before and now the company is defunct. Kimble says she’ll give her the information if she’ll keep her updated. Kimble hands her an envelope.
Alex’s secret life
Alex talks with Emily who says she’s not there on a social visits and mentions Jeffrey Myers and that Aaron asked about him. She says he’s in Federal prison and they dated once. She says Aaron is just doing his job to check out possible opposition research.
She says her husband knows everything and Alex says she’ll talk to Aaron herself. Aaron updates Kirkman on the SEALS mission. Kirkman says he’ll come down to operations. The SEALS move in on the hospital. Kirkman gets an update. They head to the building.
Atwood comes to see Hannah for an update. She says McLeish and she has proof. She tells him to listen. The SEAL team is inside the hospital. People are screaming. They head for the basement. Hannah tells Atwood the men who renovated it are all dead.
Nassar in the crosshairs
The SEAL team heads down. They see a kid and check a room. The camera feeds get spotty. Chernow says that happens underground. The team finds signs that Nassar is on the move. They engage with some men that have guns on children.
Hannah says all eight men that worked on room 105 are dead within the last two months. Hannah says Hector recreated the room from debris. It’s reinforced steel girders. McLeish was basically in a bomb shelter inside the Capitol building.
Hannah says this is not her imagination. She says only one man survived. Hannah says McLeish survived by design. She says he’s in on it. Nassar is there and says put down your guns and holds a gun on a little girl. The SEALS don’t.
SEAL team down
There is an explosion and McLeish says it could be a flash bang. They lose contact with the SEAL team. McLeish was in on the bombing and now he’s in the room when the SEAL team operations goes South. Chernow says they have Nassar in custody.
Kirkman is thrilled. He and Aaron hug it out. Kirkman thanks Chernow who says there was one casualty. He says SEAL team leader Clarkson was shot and killed. Kirkman sits down stunned. Later, he tells Alex that Clarkson shielded two of the children with his body.
He says they caught Nassar with no civilian casualties and the kids he shielded survived. He says Clarkson died on his orders. Alex says he made the right call and says casualties are inevitable. Emily and Aaron talk with Seth about McLeish turning down the speaker job.
Kirkman wonders what to do
Kirkman comes in and Emily says McLeish turned down the speaker job. Aaron repeats McLeish’s statements. Kirkman suggests offering McLeish the open VP job. Aaron finds Alex in his office. She mentions Jeffrey Myers.
She says Tom knows every detail of her past with Myers and asks why it’s a political issue. Aaron says Jeffrey has been telling everyone in prison that he’s the father of her son. Alex looks stunned. He asks if Leo knows the President might not be his father.
She shakes her head no. Hannah and Atwood are out for a walk and she asks if he believes her. He says he does but doesn’t want to. She says she’s told no one else and he says these people killed so many and tied up the loose ends.
POTUS pays respects
He says we don’t know who to trust so you can’t tell anyone. Dawn crests in DC and Clarkson’s body is brought off the military transport. Kirkman is there to pay his respects. Marino is there and greets him. Kirkman says he came to pay respect and thanks Marino for his bravery.
Marino says he’s just doing his job. He says Clarkson wasn’t supposed to be in the raid but took the injured man’s place. He says he saved the mission and us. Kirkman says he should have waited. Marino says don’t say that and says Clarkson deserves their honor and respect.
He says don’t ever question your decision and says none of them did, not even Clarkson. Kirkman walks out of the hangar where the coffin is draped with a flag.
THE END!
