Directed by Stephen Surjik
Written by Paul Redford & Carol Flint
President Kirkman fights for his life after being shot during MacLeish's inauguration as Vice-President. Meanwhile, Agent Wells faces interrogation by the FBI after she is arrested trying to avert the assassination attempt.
Tropes in this episode:
- As the Good Book Says...: Mac Leish's accomplice argues against lying by referencing John 8:32 ("And the truth shall set you free").
- Death Faked for You: As a later episode reveals, the "Catalan" that the agents track to an abandoned building is a willing decoy, and the real Lozano survives.
- Everyone Has Standards: Despite their differences and disagreements, Speaker Hookstraten pledges to Kirkman to keep close watch on Peter MacLeish while Kirkman is undergoing surgery, and to obstruct the acting President if it becomes necessary.
- He Knows Too Much: MacLeish's ulterior motive for having Lozano (seemingly) killed instead of captured alive by federal agents.
- Near-Villain Victory: The conspirators finally get one of their own into the Oval Office; unfortunately for them, the situation is only temporary before Kirkman is able to recover and retake active leadership of the government.
- Just a Flesh Wound: Averted – the gunshot wound itself isn't so bad per se (a Through-and-Through between left axilla and clavicle, missing the scapula by millimetres), but the bullet left fragments behind on its way out, one of them dangerously close to Kirkman's aorta, resulting in the need for surgery.
- Later, his recovery is also going at a realistic pace, as he spends several episodes requiring to use a cane.
- The Starscream: The MacLeishes spend the entire episode hoping that Kirkman will die of surgical complications so that they can ascend to power. Thankfully, Kirkman survives and starts to recover quickly.
- 25th Amendment: Invoked as Kirkman must go under anaesthesia for emergency surgery, making Peter MacLeish temporarily the acting President of the United States.
- Tyrant Takes the Helm: The thoroughly shady and untrustworthy Peter MacLeish is, at least temporarily, the acting President of the United States of America — and he does not hesitate to use that power to further his own ends and those of The Conspiracy.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: MacLeish orders the agents pursuing Lozano to Shoot To Kill, knowing that Lozano has information about The Conspiracy that he might give up if he is apprehended and interrogated. Depending on how integrated The Conspiracy is, he may have known that Lozano was always planned to survive and escape.
