Original Sin

## Line of Fire

**Original Sin** is the thirteenth episode of the second season of *Designated Survivor* and the thirty-fourth episode overall. It aired on March 14, 2018.

## Summary

The team must minimize the fallout of the President visiting a prison. A surprise White House demonstration has a closer tie to the President than anyone first realizes.

## Synopsis

A video of Kirkman confronting Alex's killer in prison is circulating in the media and he's gaining a lot of controversy over it.

A group of Native Americans arrange a sit-down in the White House in order to gain an audience with the president. Lyor stops security from arresting the protestors because of the optics.

As it turns out, the Ocheole tribe had been pushed off their land the first time because of a project that Kirkman worked on before he was president. Kirkman proposes a land swap, but Ms. Cousins refuses to move her people from her ancestral lands.

Kirkman's brother, Trey, makes an appearance as a member of the board of trustees for Alex's foundation. He refuses to vote yes on the topics that the rest of the board members have agreed to, dragging the meeting out.

Ms. Cousins speaks to the media and this brings more protesters to the outside of the White House. Kirkman asks the Commissioner to leave the protestors alone even though they don't have a permit. He starts the process of issuing an executive order to formally recognize the Ocheole.

Lyor makes note of a protestor who has been on his laptop throughout the duration of the sit-in. He finally asks him what he's working on. The boy answers that he's working on a college application to Wesleyan. Lyor says that he's an alumni and does application interviews for the school, and even offers to help him with the essay.

Leo asks Trey to stay and see a baseball game with him, but Trey says no.

Hannah sets Damian up in a safehouse. Damian tells Hannah that it was real for him. Hannah says that no, he played her, and the worst part is that he's still doing it.

One of Kendra's staffers uncovers a letter from Ms. Cousins' father begging Kirkman to hold on the project. Kirkman brings it to his old co-worker Billy and asks if he withheld it from him. Billy confirms that he did because Kirkman was always turning down jobs for moral reasons, and he would have gone under if he didn't accept the commission.

Kirkman finds a way to save the Ocheole land by way of a treaty the United States took over when Spain ceded Florida. Kirman tells Ms. Cousins that the land is hers, because the treaty is binding no matter what. He tells her that she can tell the protestors to go home now.

The student ends up writing his college admissions essay about Lyor. Lyor says that he thinks he just punched his ticket into Wesleyan.

Damian comes downstairs to find that the lights are out. Hannah shoots an intruder who was wearing night-vision goggles and attempting to kill Damian. Chuck confirms that the laptop from the man's trunk indicates that he had the same programming signature as the previous hacks. Chuck throws out the laptop as it begins to spark. Someone had hacked the battery and caused it to explode.

Leo confronts Kirkman and asks if he asked Trey to leave. Leo says that they need Trey in their lives because their mom is gone and Grandma moved back to Paris.

Lyor is upset that the Ocheole resolution isn't getting more attention because of the prison video. Kirkman apologizes for his actions to his staffers. Kirkman addresses the nation and apologizes for how he had behaved. He vows to try to be a better man tomorrow than he was the previous day.

Kirkman apologizes to Trey. Trey tells him that Alex called him when he was sworn in and said that Kirkman had the loneliest job in the world. Trey promises not to run again. The two of them visit Alex's grave.

## Cast

### Main Cast

* Kiefer Sutherland as Tom Kirkman
* Natascha McElhone as Alex Kirkman
* Paulo Costanzo as Lyor Boone
* Adan Canto as Aaron Shore
* Italia Ricci as Emily Rhodes
* LaMonica Garrett as Mike Ritter
* Zoe McLellan as Kendra Daynes
* Ben Larson as Damian Rennett
* Kal Penn as Seth Wright
* Maggie Q as Hannah Wells

## References

It is said that their old client Alton will outlive Methuselah, which is a reference to the oldest person in the Bible.