Directed by Sharat Raju
Written by Jeff Melvoin, Pierluigi Cothran, Patrick Cunnane, & Tracey Rice
Damian Rennett is brought in for questioning, while cyberattacks grip the American and Russian space programs and the lives of the crew of the International Space Station hang in the balance.
Tropes in this episode:
- Brick Joke: Penny declines scrambled eggs for breakfast, saying she doesn't like scrambled eggs. Her father objects that she liked scrambled eggs last week. Kirkam offers Mike the eggs, but Mike says that he only liked scrambled eggs last week too.
- Cassandra Truth: Damian tries to convey crucial information about the coming supply launch being hacked for its destruction, but nobody believes him due to his known Double Agent status.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: The ISS is resupplied after close collaboration between the Russians and the Americans.
- Et Tu, Brute?: Kirkman calls Secretary Moss on the proverbial carpet for abusing his authority and making concessions to Russia without Kirkman's knowledge or consent. Then he fires Moss.
- Hollywood Hacking: Cyberattacks are preventing the resupply of the ISS, imperiling the lives of its crew.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Moss is right that Kirkman has indeed been less decisive as a result of Alex's death; at the same time, that's hardly a justification for leaking classified information to all and sundry.
- The Mole: Kirkman and Emily figure out that Secretary Moss is the source of all the recent leaks from the White House administration.
- Pistol-Whipping: How Hannah renders Damian unconscious for his arrest.
- The Reveal: Damian was on the trail of hackers targeting both the United States and Russia.
- Shout-Out: Considering the space-oriented plot, the title is one to Star Trek. A bit of a Genius Bonus comes into play when you realize that Designated Survivor and Star Trek: Discovery are both being filmed in Toronto, Canada.
- Spotting the Thread: Tom, Emily and the White House staff manage to piece together that Secretary Moss has been the source of the leaks from their administration, as well as the one who unilaterally brokered a deal with the Russian ambassador.
- Stuff Blowing Up: The first resupply rocket headed for the ISS does this when it veers off course due to hacked programming and must be destroyed for public safety.
- We ARE Struggling Together: The American and Russian space agencies do end up collaborating.
- You Have to Believe Me!: Damian tries to get Hannah and Aaron to listen to him, but they refuse due to him being The Mole for the Russians.
