++ jason atwood designated survivor

jason atwood designated survivor

[Warning: This adventure contains spoilers from Wednesday's adventure of ABC's Designated Survivor.]

It's difficult for longtime 24 admirers to appearance Designated Survivor after sparing an casual anticipation for Jack Bauer, and in that regard, the latest adventure of the ABC political abstruseness absolutely conjured up the apparition of Kiefer Sutherland's old gig as a counter-terrorist operative.

At the end of the episode, alleged "The Traitor," FBI abettor administrator Jason Atwood (Malik Yoba) finds himself at the benevolence of terrorists who accept kidnapped his son. They affiance to acknowledgment Jason's son unharmed, but alone if he arranges a contiguous affair with Admiral Kirkman (Kiefer Sutherland) and does absolutely as instructed. The adventure carefully mirrors an arc in the aboriginal division of 24, as terrorists force Bauer to arise a presidential primary assemblage or abroad accident his family's lives. Will the Designated Survivor book accept a happier aftereffect than Bauer's absolute bad day? For the account of Atwood's family, he'd bigger achievement so.

As for Admiral Kirkman, he's active ambidextrous with a claimed crisis of his own — namely, the ancestors of his son Leo (Tanner Buchanan). Alike worse, Kirkman has to face off adjoin Russia aback an American hero is accused of actuality a traitor. Kirkman arranges an busy three-way agreement with Russia and Saudi Arabia in barter for the American, alone to apprentice that the man was a bifold abettor all along. In ablaze of the reveal, Kirkman decides it's adamantine to anytime absolutely apperceive someone, which is why he wants the FBI to thoroughly vet his acceptable carnality presidential aces Peter MacLeish (Ashley Zukerman) — a man that Atwood (and adolescent federal abettor Hannah Wells) already apperceive played a role in the advance on Washington.

Showrunner Jon Harmon Feldman batten with The Hollywood Reporter for added capacity on these storylines, additional how Designated Survivor is reacting to the 2016 election, and what to apprehend from the series' accessible election-themed episode.

This was a big adventure for Malik Yoba as FBI administrator Jason Atwood. Jason's son has been taken hostage, and he's actuality affected to align a contiguous affair with Kirkman for as-yet alien reasons. Can you allocution through the alpha of this story?

The adventure came from the abstraction that acutely addition orchestrated the advance on the Capitol from the pilot episode. As our heroes — embodied by Hannah and Abettor Administrator Jason Atwood — get closer, the armament abaft this advance alpha to feel threatened that they will be exposed, and their plan will be scuttled. As Atwood and Hannah abutting in on putting this together, the armament abaft the cabal apprehend they accept to do article to anticipate this from happening. And Atwood finds himself in the crosshairs.

I'm analytical about Jason as a character. Was he consistently this circuitous in the story, or did his captivation access due to what you were seeing from Malik Yoba? 

I anticipate Malik is so acute as a attendance and so relatable and so human, that it makes him fun to address for. Hannah's relentlessness pulls a guy who is a career ambassador into this conspiracy. It's compelling. He's not a guy who was congenital for that. Hannah's congenital for this. Hannah's the being who's cerebration three moves advanced and cerebration unconventionally and authoritative choices that fly in the face of bureaucracy at the bureau. But he's affectionate of a career ambassador who has steadily risen in the FBI by arena by the book. It's acute aback a guy who plays by the book gets pulled into this added access that will accept above ramifications not alone for him, but for his family.

Which leads accurately into my abutting question. Is Jason added of a ancestors man or added of a aggregation man?

Whether it's argument or subtext, and I anticipate it's both at times. The characters on our appearance — namely Tom Kirkman and, in this respect, Abettor Administrator Jason Atwood, they're apprenticed by family, and what's the amount of their able activity on their claimed life? In this instance, what's the amount to their family? For as apprenticed and accomplished as these bodies are professionally, at the end of the day it's all about the personal. So he has a dilemma. What's he activity to do? What comes first? That's what's acute for him, those blurred curve and those questions he's activity to ask him. How will he proceed? Will he achieve a best that is in aegis of his family, or is he activity to go abounding bore to try to anticipate article from accident that can't be good?

There's a fun alongside amid Jason's accepted adventure and Jack Bauer's adventure in the aboriginal division of 24, aback he was affected by bodies captivation his ancestors earnest to get abutting to the admiral of the United States. Were you and the writers at all acquainted of that mirror, accustomed Kiefer's captivation in both shows? 

There's consistently activity to be those comparisons, but carefully we're aggravating to pale out altered territory. Obviously, these things are discussed. But we feel like the characters are altered abundant and the bearings of this guy both alone and professionally are different. We achievement it stands on its own, but as you accompany up, there will be bodies who allure comparisons.

Another abundant arena in the adventure is amid Jason and MacLeish at the FBI office, the two of them dancing about the albatross in the room: "The aftermost affair either of us wants is the amiss being in office," MacLeish says. What does this arena achieve for these characters?

In these shows, you never appetite characters to appearance too abounding of their cards. At the aforementioned time, accepting characters who are in action and are ambit anniversary added in the aforementioned allowance generally makes for acute scenes. The claiming was how to accompany these two bodies together, yet at the aforementioned time accept them both acute abundant not to appearance their hands, but absolute abundant to let the added being apperceive that they're assimilate them. The fun was in the limitations of what we could say, but befitting our characters able in the process. It was a arduous scene, but it was absolute absorbing to get them in the aforementioned allowance together. It's not the aboriginal arena with them, either. Previously in the episode, they acquisition themselves in [the Oval Office], and it leads the way to this. It's an ask and answer. MacLeish acutely senses that Atwood knows added than he can say, and that drives the additional scene.

Do we appetite to amend our animosity against MacLeish at all? Since we apperceive Jason's beneath duress, is it account because that if MacLeish isn't on the level, it's because he's attention his family?

One of the things we capital to try to achieve is a catechism of, is there dignity in what MacLeish is doing? Is it duress, or is he a authentic believer? We're activity to abide to comedy with those expectations. It's fair to catechism it, and at the end of the day, we'll do our best to acknowledgment it.

Turning against Kirkman, we see him apprentice the adamantine way that an American hero is absolutely a traitor. Was this adventure advised to alongside the threats about MacLeish appropriate now?

I anticipate it's the idea, thematically, that bodies ability not be who they assume to be. There should be resonance, and I anticipate we played it, for Kirkman, that aback he realizes a being he absolutely admired is absolutely absolutely altered in reality. It's his continuing accident of chastity as he inhabits the Oval Office. Things from the alfresco arise to be one thing, and as you get close, they arise to be abundant different. I anticipate it acreage in his circadian interactions with all of these people. He's starting to accretion the ability that things are not absolutely as they arise to be.

Kirkman tries to achieve a accord with the Russians to chargeless the coach. What's his plan here, and what are the ramifications of the plan not working?

He knows he needs to get this American hero aback from the Russians who don't assume absorbed in authoritative a deal. So they appear up with a three-way trade, area he takes the Saudis and Russia and caters to things they both appetite from anniversary added or from us. He's again able to cull off an busy three-way trade, alone to apprentice that all of these chicane advance to the adumbration that the guy he wants to save doesn't absolutely appetite to be brought home. He has loyalties that are about with the enemy. It's a accident in the faculty that he doesn't get the man home, but it's a achievement in the faculty that it informs his animosity about MacLeish, a greater threat. As abundant as we appetite our hero to accept as abounding victories as possible, we additionally anticipate sometimes in a loss, there's a assignment that serves an alike greater purpose. That band he says, that sometimes bodies aren't who they assume to be, informs his animosity on the man he wants to be carnality president.

Kirkman deals with the Russians for the aboriginal time in the series. This is acutely a accord that's abounding with real-life parallels. What did you appetite to achieve with bringing Russia into the apple of Designated Survivor?

The claiming of the appearance is to both account what we apperceive to be authentic in the world, yet additionally aback we can put our own circuit on it. I anticipate Russia in today's climate, we accept a circuitous relationship. I anticipate it's mainly adversarial. I anticipate we're starting to inch aback to this abode of a affectionate of Cold War relationship, admitting conceivably that will advance in alike added abrupt means in the months and years ahead. But we admired the abstraction of creating adversarial accord with a country that's a authentic antagonist in this moment in time. We acquainted that it's a country that offers those possibilities, alike in our fabulous environment.

To that point, America is at a alienated moment in its history. How accept the after-effects of the acclamation and the accepted political altitude impacted the way you appearance Designated Survivor appropriate now?

What's absorbing is that a lot of the things we accept been talking about, in agreement of things we're activity to body to in the closing bisected of the season, are beneath afflicted by the acclamation and added we appearance as validation that the way we saw the country — a country that is in abounding respects breach into two forth cultural and/or political curve — is absolutely an adverse but conceivably authentic representation of area we are as a country appropriate now. I anticipate this abstraction of America, that activity after too abundant added affront can alpha to alienation into two Americas, is abundantly acute and I anticipate borne out by the election, and apocalyptic of a administration we appetite to go with the show: to analyze the airiness that I anticipate exists in America culturally and politically appropriate now.

The abutting adventure is alleged "The Results." Safe to say this will allege to the ancestors of Kirkman's son? 

It's a appellation with bifold meaning. It's not alone the ancestors analysis Kirkman takes with commendations to the ancestors of his son, but additionally the acclamation results. It's the aldermanic elections in our abutting episode, and Kirkman encounters an obstacle in aggravating to get these elections to happen. The after-effects accept a bifold acceptation alone and nationally for Kirkman. It plays on how our hero handles a ambiguous situation, rather than the absolute analysis of candidates who are running. It's added about how our hero overcomes an obstacle and makes abiding bodies acquisition their way to the polls.

What did you anticipate of this week's Designated Survivor?

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