‘Designated Survivor’ Returns on Netflix: What Happened at the End of Season 2? (2024)

The wait’s over, Survivors! The Kiefer Sutherland-led political thriller Designated Survivor is back in action after way too long of an absence. The show’s unceremonious cancellation by ABC and rescue by Netflix delayed Season 3’s release from last fall to today. But who cares about the hiatus? There’s a new season of Designated Survivor out right now and there’s not a weeklong wait between episodes!

But since so much time has passed since the Season 2 finale, and since Designated Survivor weaves a complex web of events, we figure that a quick recap is in order. If you find yourself struggling to remember just where we left President Kirkman and his staff, we are here to get you up to speed. After you get this crash course on Designated Survivor Season 2, you’ll be ready to take on the twists and turns of Season 3, now on Netflix.

What happened at the end of Designated Survivor Season 2?

It was a rough season for President Kirkman (Sutherland). Following the death of his wife Alex (Natascha McElhone, who left the show to co-star in the short-lived Hulu astronaut drama The First), Kirkman had to deal with a whole lot of intrigue and inquiries that threatened to bring him face to face with impeachment. Special prosecutor Ethan West (Michael J. Fox) found a whole lot of dirt on President Kirkman’s close associate Hannah Wells (Maggie Q) and the attorney general (Bruce Davison) was close to bringing down the hammer. This came at a horrible time (as if there’s ever a good time to be charged with crimes) because the independent Kirkman was being forced to choose between political parties in order to seek reelection.

Making a bad situation even worse, the U.S. territory of Taurasi (which is not real, don’t bother looking up hotels) voted for independence and then got slammed by a tsunami–with Kirkman’s press secretary Seth Wright (Kal Penn) and Political Director Lyor Boone (Paulo Costanzo) on the island! Kirkman pulled out all the stops to get aide sent to Taurasi, overstepping political boundaries and stepping on all the toes to save people in need. It did not win him any new fans in congress, but it saved a lot of lives.

That’s when President Kirkman made his big announcement: he’s running for reelection and remaining independent so he can act in the best interest of the American people without being pushed and pulled by either political party. And funnily enough, he reached that decision thanks to Ethan West, who admitted to the president that of everyone he’s interacted with in Washington, Kirkman’s the only guy without an agenda. The very last shot of Season 2 was of the president taking a call with the attorney general.

What’s up with the rest of the cast at the end of Designated Survivor Season 2?

Well, they’re all very surprised by Kirkman’s announcement, that’s for sure! As far as Kirkman’s staff goes, Aaron Shore (Adan Canto), Emily Rhodes (Italia Ricci), and Seth Wright are the only major ones returning for Season 3. When last we saw the three of them, Shore and Rhodes were in D.C. while Wright was still on Taurasi with Boone. Emily, recovering from a gunshot wound and also a few dicey decisions, tried to resign from her job as Special Advisor but Kirkman didn’t even let the words get out of her mouth.

Kirkman’s other operative, secret agent Hannah Wells, went on a mission to save MI6 agent Rennett’s daughter Amy from being murdered by dangerous Russian operative Valeria. Wells succeeded in her mission but did not like what she uncovered on a thumb drive: footage of Emily meeting with and taking a file from Valeria!

That’s where we left the cast before Season 3, and we already know that a few characters aren’t making the jump from ABC to Netflix. LaMonica Garrett, who played Secret Service Mike Ritter, is out. It also looks like Paulo Costanzo and Zoe McLellan didn’t make the cut either, meaning we may have seen the last of Boone and Kendra Daynes.

New characters this season include a new Chief of Staff played by Anthony Edwards; Lauren Holly plays his wife. Julie White will play Kirkman’s campaign manager, and Elena Tovar joins the cast as the White House Director of Social Innovation.

Got all that? You can binge Season 3 of Designated Survivor on Netflix right now.

StreamDesignated SurvivorSeason 3 on Netflix