History Series / DesignatedSurvivor

* ContinuitySnarl: The goals of the conspiracy. [[spoiler:In the first half of the season, Beth [=MacLeish=] mentions that she and her husband are going to make the United States an empire again. But later, when their ostensible boss Patrick Lloyd is introduced, his ideology is revealed as a radical populist and isolationist stance that eschews foreign wars fought for the rich and powerful, which hardly goes with being an empire. Finally, in the finale, the show resolves to just take potshots at Donald Trump and his policy of 'making America great again'.]] The fact that the show went through three different showrunners over the course of the first season neatly explains this snarl.

On May 17, 2018, [=eOne=] announced that they [[RayOfHopeEnding were in discussions]] with other networks to have it air on another TV channel or over a streaming service. {{Creator/Netflix}} picked up the show, with the show becoming a true "Netflix Original" in June 2019 (series one and two were also on Netflix, but were only considered Netflix Originals outside of North America). The entirety of the show's third season was released onto {{Creator/Netflix}} worldwide on June 7th, 2019.

A [[ForeignRemake South Korean version]] of the show titled ''Designated Survivor: 60 Days'' is set to air in that country starting July 2019.

* NoPeriodPeriod: {{Averted}}. Penny gets her first one in season three, by discovering blood on her sheet, making viewers realize this show is scared of nothing.

* ClusterFStrike: Made possible in season 3 onward thanks to Netflix's more relaxed standards regarding its content. The standout is Seth's reaction to a conservative TV commentator's transphobic, racist rant:

** In probably the most extreme example, Penny Kirkman, Tom's eight(?)-year-old daughter, becomes the youngest First Lady in American history when Alex, her mother and Tom's wife, is [[spoiler:killed in a car accident]] in the middle of Season 2.

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: In season 3, Seth ''goes off'' on the entire press corp when they insist on pressing a story about [[spoiler: Kirkman having Alex killed]] as he rants on how they put tabloid journalism ahead of actual reporting.

It also stars Creator/KalPenn and Creator/MalikYoba in supporting roles. The series is considered a Creator/{{Netflix}} original outside of North America.

As of May 17, 2018, [=eOne=] announced that they [[RayOfHopeEnding are in discussions]] with other networks to have it aired on another TV channel, or over a streaming service such as {{Creator/Netflix}}. It was announced that Netflix will air the 3rd season in 2019.

** Initially, there is none, until a new Congress is elected and Kimble Hookstraten, the Republicans' [[CounterpartComparison designated survivor]], ascends to the position of Speaker.

-->-- ''Definition according to Wikipedia''.

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/designated_survivor.png]]

* WarRoom: The Presidential Emergency Operations Center (PEOC), the bunker beneath the White House where Kirkman is taken to meet with the military establishment, members of his Cabinet, and directors of government agencies.

-->'''Seth''': Look, I know it doesn't look like I'm begging, but this is me begging.

--> '''Kirkman:''' [[spoiler:How safe is Danny Fayed feeling tonight?]]

-->'''Wells''': Well, the man is a hero and a patriot. I would love to see [=MacLeish=] get a medal.\\
'''Atwood''': Oh, yeah? That's exactly why I never gave you an undercover assignment... because you are a horrible liar.

--> '''Seth.''' Yeah. I lost everyone.

* {{Blackmail}}: [[spoiler:Alex's ex in prison threatens to tell the world that he's Leo's biological father if the President doesn't secure his release.]] Kirkman's [[spoiler: bluff to the governor of Michigan about three of the Muslims arrested in Dearborn being undercover Homeland Security agents]] counts as well.

-->'''Mike Ritter:''' Eagle is down.

-->'''MPDC Officer:''' Seth Wright? That your ''real'' name?
-->'''Seth Wright:''' According to my mother, yeah.

-->'''President Tom Kirkman:''' Sit down. You don't have to stand up whenever I enter the room, I'm not the Queen.
-->'''Seth Wright:''' No sir, not even a close resemblance.

-->'''Journalist:''' You can't keep pivoting to talking points.
-->'''Seth Wright:''' Watch me. Jordan?

--->'''Chuck''': Yeah, there was a gas leak in the building earlier. A guy from DC United checked it out, said it was fine.\\
'''Hannah''': Chuck, DC United doesn't check out gas leaks. The fire department does. ''Out, now!''\\
''(cue explosion)''

** In the season 2 episode "Fallout", [[spoiler: Kunami hires a terrorist to set off a dirty bomb in D.C. and frame East Han Chiu for it, in order to start a war they can profit from by selling black market weapons to East Han Chiu.]] Then the following episode "Overkill" ups the ante by revealing that [[spoiler: the attack, and the trail leading back to Kunami, was actually engineered by the country's ambassador to the US and a rebel leader in order to give America a reason to go to war and overthrow the emir.]]

** There is also a very hostile emirate called Kunami which has been seen to support terror against America similar to Iran, who serve as the VillainOfTheWeek in "Two Ships". They reappear later in "Fallout", [[spoiler: being responsible for a dirty bomb attack in D.C.]].

-->'''Lyor''': Sir, your enemies aren't showing scruples. Why should you?
-->'''Kirkman''': Because I'm the President. And I respect the office.

* IHaveYourWife: [[spoiler:Director Atwood's son was abducted, and the kidnappers threatened to kill him if Atwood didn't obey them. He followed their every instruction, and they killed his son anyway.]]

As of May 17, 2018, [=eOne=] announced that they [[RayOfHopeEnding are in discussions]] with other networks to have it aired on another TV channel, or over a streaming service such as {{Creator/Netflix}}. It was announced that Netflix will air the 3rd season.

As of May 17, 2018, [=eOne=] announced that they [[RayOfHopeEnding are in discussions]] with other networks to have it aired on another TV channel, or over a streaming service such as {{Creator/Netflix}}.

Forced to deal with such immense responsibility in the face of national panic, it's up to Tom -- now [[ThePresident President of the United States]] Thomas Kirkman -- to help hold the nation together. Meanwhile, FBI Agent Hannah Wells (Creator/MaggieQ) takes the lead on the investigation of the attack, discovering a conspiracy that goes much deeper than it seems.

As of May 17, 2018, [=eOne=] announced that they're in discussions with other networks to have it aired on another TV channel or put it up online like in Netflix.