Back With A Bang
When it comes to stand out episodes, Designated Survivor: 60 Days certainly delivers the goods here. From start to finish, the entire episode is wrapped in a thick layer of tension, with big plot reveals, twists and turns in the tale throughout the 70 minute run time. If there’s one episode so far that matches the intensity of the first, it’s this one. We begin with an adrenaline-soaked opening flashback – Park is warned to evacuate as a bomb blast may be imminent in the area. After a fight with several shadowy figures at the subway, the informant escapes, just in time to see the distant building explode in a stream of concrete confetti. We then cut back to present day where more secrets are revealed, as it appears the computer simulation was seen by a handful of people, including the one the Blue House believe to be the accomplice. That man happens to be General Lee – the only surviving member who had clearance to access the file. Whether he’s responsible or not remains to be seen but whoever it is, they’re certainly cunning, especially given the fact they’ve managed to twist Han-Mo into a confession and pinned Na-Kyung as an accomplice to Myung’s murder. Park wastes little time and calls General Lee in, asking him about the file. As it turns out, Lee was revoked security clearance just before the top secret file was shown to the high ranking officials. If this claim is true, he almost certainly wouldn’t be the one responsible. Seizing his opportunity, he pleads with Park to reinstate him so the military can move in and work with the Blue House but Park refuses, instead placing him under house arrest until they can verify the news. From here, we cut back to Na-Kyung who learns that Kim was the one responsible for phoning and giving her the tip off about Room 119. Later that day Na-Kyung has, what appears to be, a normal meter reading but it actually happens to be the assassins back to finish the job they started. With Jun-O’s eyes on the property, he realizes the danger and phones Na ahead of time, telling her to get out. As they rush to the ground level, the flat engulfs into flames following the planned detonation with the gas pipes. As Jun-O and Na lay eyes on one another for the first time in weeks, they lovingly embrace. Unfortunately, the assassin arrives in his car at the same time and aims for Na, missing, and subsequently shooting Jun-O in the back. As the police rush to the scene, he speeds off. With Na left to deal with the aftermath of this attack, she reads an email from Jun-O; a final goodbye after his sacrifice. After some deliberation, Na decides to go after the assassin herself. After having Jun-O die in her arms, she pledges to go after the assassin personally herself. An impassioned speech follows which prompts Ji-Won to agree with her and follow along for the ride. They don’t get long to wait for a lead though as Jae-Min’s mother calls and tells her they haven’t given her son back, despite holding up her side of the agreement. Thanks to a ransom video, they track down its origin to an ice-cream shop. Na heads inside to question the owners but instead finds a stroke of luck as the kidnapper comes in through the front door, spots her and hurries out. Na chases him down and a fight ensues in the alleyway. This ends with the man being shot in the stomach and Na hurrying away. With the security level for the Minister Of Defense adjusted accordingly, Park welcomes in Assemblyman Oh to the official position. Unfortunately, he’s not alone and as Na and Ji-Won figure out, the ruins of the National Assembly building overlook an adjacent block of flats playing host to a sniper ready to take him out. Jeung also receives her call in the middle of the ceremony about earlier inquiries about data logs. It turns out Secretary Cha is responsible for revoking General Lee’s access in a shocking turn of events. Na arrives soon after and spots the sniper. She hurries to the scene and readies her gun to fire at the window in a bid to put him off, just as guards arrive to take her down. She manages to get her shot away -just enough to put off the sniper and cause him to hit someone else at the meeting. Quite who that is for definitely though, remains to be seen. Designated Survivor: 60 Days returns with a bang today, delivering an episode that focuses almost exclusively on the bomber and the issues surrounding who the accomplice may be. As others have said before, the show feels like two distinct narratives in one – the ascendancy of Park to presidency and the exciting bomber threat. The latter holds far more allure here and while Park’s characterisation and progression throughout the show has been excellent, at times the overarching narrative has taken a bit of a backseat because of it. With more urgency and a much better pacing this time around, Designated Survivor: 60 Days bows out another week with an explosive episode, one that gives us some crucial answers and some dizzying action to chew over for another week, even if the question over who has been shot remains an excruciating cliffhanger.
