Designated Survivor season 2 spoilers: More on show’s new approach

When Designated Survivor season 2 premieres on ABC this fall, there will be many new elements to the story. At the center of it is going to be the show opting for a spin that may feel a little more like The West Wing or some other political shows.

Before analyzing this more, let’s start off by sharing what new showrunner Keith Eisner had to say to TV Guide on the subject:

“The show is going in a new direction this year … We’re keeping what people loved last year and just adding to it. It’s much more West Wing-focused, with a lot more characters, with standalone White House A-stories every week.”

What we could see in turn is a show that is a little more grounded, and hopefully as a result of that, a little less reliant on some of the crazy twists. Hannah Wells and some of the other non-White House characters are still there, but this is a show that needed a little bit more stability and we’re glad to see that it’s getting it. There will obviously still be twists, but they should be grounded in more of what the show’s new reality is. Without that structure, how would the show move forward at this point?

One other thing that Eisner noted that is important for those of you who do want some resolution to season 1 is that there are plans to wrap up the Patrick Lloyd story. Therefore, there’s not too much to worry about there in the event you thought that the show was going to end without proper closure:

“We will bring the whole Patrick Lloyd story to a thrilling conclusion in the second episode of the season … But there will be a hangover, and there will be a thread we’re drawing through from the whole Patrick Lloyd story as well.” 

Obviously, the struggle for Eisner and any writer on this show is to make sure that everything connects in one form or another. By that, we mean that what happens here is going to be linked in some way to what happens the rest of season 2. From there, they need to make the larger mythology connected to anything that happens in a potential season 3. While it may seem in some regards that the show is getting ahead of itself thinking that far into the future, it never hurts — if you want a show that lasts, you need to pay things off and respect viewers who watch for many years. That’s absolutely something that Designated Survivor especially needs to do, given that they did lose a lot of viewers during the first season. They absolutely need to ensure that they keep some of the ones that they have right now.

Want some other Designated Survivor news?

Rest assured, this is a show that we’ll be covering extensively in the weeks to come! Be sure to head over here in the event you want some additional updates on everything we have to date. (Photo: ABC.)