Directed by Mike Listo
Written by Jenna Richman
President Kirkman and his White House administration struggle to assemble enough bipartisan support in the Senate to pass a controversial gun-control bill onwards to a vote in the House. Meanwhile, Wells and Atwood uncover evidence that suggests that the conspirators are planning further attacks in the United States.
Tropes in this episode:
- Didn't See That Coming: Senator Bowman, along with Kirkman's entire administration, did not expect his fellow Senator from Tennessee to break the deadlock and vote in favour of the bill.
- Everyone Has Standards: Speaker Hookstraten pledges to amend the gun-control bill in the House to fix its flaws, if it can pass the Senate vote, since she is just as disgusted by Senator Bowman's antics as President Kirkman is. Of course, however, she isn't going out on this limb for free.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Senator Bowman tries to use an existing gun-control bill already before the Senate to paint Kirkman's administration into a corner. The President and his allies manage to pass the bill anyways to amend it in the House, embarrassing Bowman on his first major legislative showdown.
- Near-Villain Victory: Kirkman and his staff are seemingly unable to get the votes together to get the gun-control bill over the majority threshold for passage, even with the Democratic caucus
- Spanner in the Works:
- Alex Kirkman ends up being this, when a casual comment in response to a question at a charity dinner gets the media buzzing over President Kirkman's policy intentions around gun control, which he and his staff didn't want as a pressing issue.
- The Republican Senator from Tennessee, who differs from her late husband on the issue of gun control. She took over for her late husband, who died in the Capitol attack, but everybody just assumed she would follow the same pattern, until Alex Kirkman got her to take a stand at a critical moment.
- Smug Snake: Senator Bowman is this throughout the episode — until his plan fails when another Republican senator discovers the resolve to defy him and vote for the gun-control bill. Then the confident smirk finally slips.
