Directed by Leslie Libman
Written by Pierluigi Cothran, Patrick Cunnane, & Tracey Rice
Recorded session notes from Kirkman's therapist continue to leak to the press, while his administration faces a new threat from the Vice-President and the Cabinet.
Tropes in this episode:
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Ethan West is rather irreverent, sarcastic and unpredictable, but is good at his job.
- Character Death: Damian Rennett.
- Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Most of the Cabinet, apparently. Rather jarringly, mere episodes (or weeks in-universe) after being confirmed to the job, Vice-President Darby is quite ready to kick President Kirkman out of the Oval Office.
- Cliffhanger/Sequel Hook: By the end of the episode, Kirkman is still facing an inquiry at the hands of Ethan West, Damian Rennett is in dire straits (if not dead) after a drive-by shooting, and Andrea Frost has some kind of connection to the "Gamine" hacker.
- Diabolus ex Machina: Hannah and Damian are on their way back to the White House when a drive-by shooting, targeted at one or both of them, puts Damian in critical condition with multiple gunshot wounds.
- Et Tu, Brute?: Not without reason, Kirkman feels this way towards Darby as soon as the 25th Amendment invocation is made known.
- Five-Second Foreshadowing: Early in the episode, all of the Cabinet members are conspicuously unavailable — because they're meeting with Vice-President Darby to discuss removing Kirkman from office on grounds of unfitness via the 25th Amendment.
- Instant Death Bullet: Averted. Damian gets at least three bullets in the chest, and still survives to be brought to the hospital.
- Nothing Personal: Kirkman and Darby settle down to this understanding by the end of the episode.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Most of Kirkman's Cabinet wanted to get him kicked out of office over his therapist's session notes. Vice-President Darby discussed the matter with them but refused to sign any official document until President Kirkman had a chance to respond and state his case.
- The Reveal:
- Chuck Russink didn't hack Simon Day's phone records after all; it turns out that he talked an office assistant into letting him have access to Day's schedule, which revealed a meeting between Day and two other reporters with then-Secretary Moss, who Chuck concluded was the leak. It doesn't fix the fact that Emily ordered him to hack the phone records, as Kendra points out.
- Chuck also finds out that Andrea Frost had something to do with a trail that leads to the mysterious "Gamine" hacker, who is responsible for the leaks of Kirkman's therapist's session notes.
- Shaming the Mob: Seth is about to walk out of another fruitless press conference when he turns around, goes back in, and berates the collective Press Corps for hounding Kirkman over seeking therapy after his Trauma Conga Line.
- Special Guest: Michael J. Fox is introduced as attorney Ethan West.
- The Starscream: Most of Kirkman's Cabinet, as it turns out. Aaron, Lyor and Emily present the option of firing several of the Cabinet members and appointing loyalists in their place, but Kirkman won't have it.
- 25th Amendment: The Cabinet "coup" revolves around invoking this over Kirkman's mental fitness for the office of President.
- With Friends Like These...: Apparently most of Kirkman's Cabinet wants him gone.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Damian meets with his former Russian handler, who spells out that he's only still alive because he carries valuable knowledge of America that the Russians can use, if or when he returns to them. She even goes to far as to claim that the FBI will make him "disappear" as soon as he has served their purpose.
