SEEN: Designated Survivor, Season 1

I resisted watching this. I did not want to watch a show about how the terrorists are out to get us, and the president is some Action Man, and “Kaboom Kablooey Ergo No Habeas Corpus”.

In other words, I have made a point of never seeing 24, and I did not want to watch 24 #2.

I came around through the trailer and the interviews: this was a series that was as much about how someone grows into the responsibilities thrust upon them.

Verdict:

• So well done and tight, it deserves a place in the annals of the Golden Age of Television (which is now). So well done, in fact, I was astonished that it came from Network TV and not Cable.
• Episodes 1–5 were what I hoped for. It was about the growth of new president and those around him. With some annoying sideplot about finding the terrorists, but even that was being handled well.
• The showdowns in Michigan started straining credulity.
• Episodes 6–10 ended up being what I feared: terrorist scare of the week, gradually crowding out the stuff I preferred to see. By the final episode, the president is just some annoying dullard, getting in the way of the thrills and spills cliffhangers.
• I’m not giving up on this at all: it is very good; but I feel let down by where it chose to go. But I guess West Wing #2: The Reboot of Washington D.C. (kaboom) was not fit material for our Age.