Designated Survivor season 2: Virginia Madsen may still return

Is Virginia Madsen really done with Designated Survivor, after all? While it may have appeared that way at one point, there is some evidence otherwise.

For a little more in the way of information on that, you just have to turn to the new person responsible of running the ship behind the scenes. Speaking to TV Guide, new showrunner Keith Eisner said that the talk of her departure may be a little premature:

“That’s not technically correct, we just haven’t found anything for her in the moment. But she’s not being written off the show, so the hope is we’ll find a place or a moment for her as well. It’s a long season, 22 episodes is a lot of episodes, it’s just with the expansion of our cast, she doesn’t necessarily feature prominently at the front of the season. But she’s not been written out and we’re hoping to find a space for her.”

Hopefully this means that she will return in some capacity, but there is no guarantee of that very thing at present. The biggest thing that we can absolutely hope for with her is that maybe there will be an arc for her in the back nine, or at least a prominent episode or two that features her prominently, provided that the writers do want to move forward in the story without her at that point. When you consider what she brought to the first season, the last thing you want is for the character to be forgotten … even if we’re already very much aware that this is a season that is going to feel super-different than the one that came before it. There are new cast members, and with a different creative team they could try to shake things up structurally from what there was the first go-around.

We have said this before with Designated Survivor, but it does bear some repeating: The thing that this show really needs to do is take a step back when it comes to trying to shock us, and take a step forward when it comes to trying to move us. Make this more about the characters, especially since the more that you try to continually one-up yourself, the more likely it’s going to be that the drama starts to feel less dramatic and the surprises don’t actually feel surprising anymore. We do think that the cast is in place to make this one of the best shows in network TV; during the first season, there were some flashes in which it really was.

What do you want to see coming up on Designated Survivor season 2, and how much of Virginia Madsen do you want? Share in some of the attached comments right now!

Meanwhile, head over to this link in the event you’re interested in some more news pertaining to the show. (Photo: ABC.)