So this is how Designated Survivor ends: Not with a whimper, but with a "... what?"

Designated Survivor started out like this: the HUD Secretary was about to be fired. Before that firing actually took effect, he was selected to be the Designated Survivor for the President during the State of the Union. During that State of the Union, someone blew up the Capitol, and Tom Kirkman assumed the Presidency. He cobbled together a staff and began trying to piece the country back together. Along for the ride: Hannah Wells, a grief-stricken FBI agent with a hunch that the sole survivor of the bombing, a Congressman, might be involved in the attack; the Republican’s designated survivor, Kimble Hookstraten, who is politically wily but essentially honest; a team that includes two potential chiefs-of-staff and a press secretary with doubts about Kirkman’s abilities; his wife and kids.

Does any of that seem to have anything to do with what you saw in this, what may be the last episode of Designated Survivor we’ll ever see?

Well, there are kids, anyway. One of them, at least. Of the roughly four dozen plots and subplots that fill “Run,” there’s exactly one that makes perfect sense. The story Leo (Tanner Buchanan) getting into a college his father didn’t know he applied to isn’t particularly thrilling or engrossing, but for all its simplicity, it’s refreshingly human. He doesn’t know how to tell his dad that he got into a school that’s far away—very Lady Bird of him—and he’s worried about leaving his little sister and father behind, so soon after the death of his mother. He gets his letter, hides his feelings, asks for advice, has a heart to heart with dad. Not earth-shattering, soul-shaking art, perhaps, but a story, centered on characters, based in their shared history. Given how often this show forgets about both Leo and Penny, it’s time well-spent.

There’s nothing else remotely like it in “Run,” or, to be frank, in most of the back half of the second season of Designated Survivor. The first season has its moments, and the first half of this season has a few as well. Peter MacLeish and Lady MacLeish were nuts, and the episode in which they both meet their end is easily the best of the series. Kimble was an entertaining figure, even when her machinations became comically inconsistent, because Virginia Madsen is such an engaging presence. Hannah and Jason Atwood’s (remember him?) search for the truth had a few great twists and turns, despite (and sometimes because of) its utter implausibility. Italia Ricci, Kal Penn, LaMonica Garrett, Adan Canto, and Natascha McElhone were all good, when given decent material. Sometimes they were even good without it.

And there was always Kiefer Sutherland, trying to make good old Tom Kirkman more Jed Bartlet than Jack Bauer, but ready to lose the mild-mannered thing when steely-eyed determination and some forceful shouting was needed. That Leo storyline, brief though it is, works in no small part because Sutherland approaches it with some subtlety. There’s an undercurrent of pride and happiness, largely unseen since the midseason break, in Kirkman when Leo gets his first admission; their second scene is quiet and gentle, a father reconnecting the son who, not so long ago, blamed him for his mother’s death.

If you don’t remember that, never fear, because neither does Designated Survivor. Oh, also, there was that whole subplot where maybe Leo wasn’t actually the President’s kid? Remember that one? Or remember how the whole case against the late Alex Kirman was linked to her mother, who lives in D.C., despite the fact that the show went out of its way in the last few months to tell us that Trey Kirkman (Breckin Meyer) was the family’s only relative? Moving on.

Elsewhere in this episode, Lyor and Seth are trying to coax a fictional American protectorate from leaving the fold, Brexit-style, when a massive tidal wave hits the island. The point of this storyline seems to be to put Kirkman in a position where the right thing to do is also unconstitutional, to further piss off the only two congresspeople we ever see anymore. I’m not sure why that’s necessary, as they’re already pissed at Kirkman for not joining either the Democrats or the Republicans, not to mention the charges that Special Prosecutor Ethan West (Michael J. Fox) handed over to the Attorney General after investigating Former President Cornelius Moss (Geoff Pierson). Anyway, back to the tidal wive: Lyor is fine, but Seth is missing. Then it turns out that Seth was just on the roof, and it’s all a bunch of weakly humorous twaddle shot in the Valencia filter until the very end, when it’s revealed that Seth was on the roof because he carried a bunch of this nice lady’s grandkids up there. This is played absolutely straight.

The business at the White House is so jumbled together, so filled with legal jargon and hand-waving, that it’s not easy to capture in brief. That’s probably for the best. There’s a glimmer of something that could be compelling in Emily’s storyline, which results in her resigning after harassing the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. That’s mostly due to Italia Ricci, who underplays her resignation scene in particular, to good effect. The whole mess ultimately resolves in Emily sitting at home in sweats while Kirkman announces his decision to run as an Independent, a decision made after Michael J. Fox handed him a piece of paper.

There are little things here and there we’ve skipped, some fine (a nice farewell between Kirkman and Mike, Kirkman’s scene with Fox’s Ethan West, some ludicrous metaphorical mustache-twirling from Cornelious Moss) and some just perplexing (the cliffhanger in which Emily got shot is resolved almost immediately, save for the fact that she uses it to justify her resignation). But the last sucker on the agenda is the Hannah Wells storyline.

… What?

Even when Designated Survivor was very bad, Maggie Q was pretty good. She’s so well cast as the steely operative type that even the most ridiculous storylines—and poor Hannah Wells got almost all the really ridiculous storylines—were at least watchable, if not sensible. Consider the streak broken. This shit is bonkers. There’s not much to say beyond that. Hannah Wells behaves in a way that makes no sense, the kid behaves in a way that makes no sense, the bad spy (Nora Zehetner, sorely wasted) behaves in a way that makes no sense. It ends with a terrible hallway fight, an anticlimactic shootout, and Hannah accidentally adopting the teenage kid of the guy who she thought was MI-6 but was actually a Russian spy who betrayed her but who she also used to sleep with who is now dead. Oh, and bad spy was working for Emily?

It’s looking like this might be the end of Designated Survivor. (Then again, maybe not.) If it is, at least we can all sleep easy knowing we never have to see what the hell this show would do with Hannah’s British teenaged orphan while ignoring the fact that she murdered an evil Russian spy who maybe worked for the former White House Chief of Staff.

I’ve got nothing else. What a dumb, empty hour of television. At least those scenes with Leo were good.

Stray observations

This is normally the part of the review where I’d note which episodes of The West Wing feel, shall we say, oddly similar to the storylines in this particular hour. But good news on two fronts: 1) This was really more Scandal than The West Wing; 2) There was never a tidal wave on the West Wing.

Someone hire these people, Kal Penn and Italia Ricci in particular, immediately please.

It’s always nice to see Michael J. Fox again, and while I liked the manipulative-lawyer-with-a-soul role better when he played it on The Good Wife, he’s still a welcome presence.

That “he saved my family” moment reminded me, in abruptness, of that brilliant moment from “Sting of the Tail” when Damian told Hannah he ran track at Oxford and she sprinted out of the creepy bunker. Good old Designated Survivor, always good for a laugh.

Warning! Spoilers for the season two finale of Designated Survivor lie ahead.

It's a bit of a hit-and-miss time to be a fan of US television at the moment, not least if you're a Designated Survivor viewer, as the series just aired (what could be) its final episode.

Shortly after it was announced that ABC was cancelling the political drama, Designated Survivor concluded its second season with one hell of a cliffhanger.

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Typical, right?

Related: Kiefer Sutherland's Designated Survivor is coming to Channel 5 in the UK

As well as hinting at Emily Rhodes' (Italia Ricci) potential betrayal in last night's (May 16) episode, Designated Survivor shocked fans as it ended with Kiefer Sutherland's President Tom Kirkman announcing that he was going to run for re-election as an independent.

Understandably, fans of the show were aghast at the series' open-ended conclusion and wasted no time in calling for it to be picked up for a third season. (By Netflix, perhaps?)

"You end on that cliffhanger?" one fan declared on Twitter, before demanding: "Season 3! Please!" Others were in agreement, arguing that the show "truly deserves to be saved".

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Incredulous at Designated Survivor's ending, one viewer shouted: "LIKE THERE IS ANOTHER EPISODE? IT'S A DOUBLE ISN'T?"

So Kirkman is running again and there isn’t another season? ABC, explain @ABCDesignated #DesignatedSurvivor — Emily Rhodes (@RealEmilyRhodes) May 17, 2018

When Designated Survivor landed in 2016, it came with a brilliant high concept: Jack Bauer as the President.

The ABC series has charted the highs and lows of President Tom Kirkman (Kiefer Sutherland)'s early days as Commander-in-Chief, with year two's midseason finale dropping a game-changing death that guaranteed more high drama.

While the second half of season two saw the show settle into its groove, ABC cancelled Designated Survivor on May 11, but there has since been reports that distribution company eOne is trying to get another network to pick it up and Netflix – which airs the show internationally – is interested too.

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Will it be enough to secure Kiefer for a third term? Here's everything we know so far.

Designated Survivor season 3 renewal: Can we expect it back?

Season two averaged four million weekly viewers, down on the first season's average audience, but it's not because of the ratings that ABC dropped the axe.

"Creatively, we've had a lot of behind-the-scenes churn on the show in terms of the number of showrunners involved. We were less confident with the creative path forward than the other shows we brought back," explained ABC president Channing Dungey (via TVLine).

So it remains to be seen if another network can be convinced that the show deserves a third season and Netflix would at least know how popular the show is outside of the US.

For his part, Sutherland had seemed pretty confident that a third season is pretty much in the bag before ABC cancelled it. "I do believe it is [coming back], but nothing is ever written in stone," he told Digital Spy in April.

Designated Survivor season 3 release date: When will it arrive?

Season two aired its final episode 'Run' on May 16 on ABC in the US, with the rest of the world being able to watch via Netflix one day later.

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Should Designated Survivor get a third season, we'd usually expect it to premiere towards the end of September 2018 as the previous seasons started on September 21, 2016 and September 27, 2017, respectively, but the show's current situation means that there could be a delay IF any network decides to continue it.

The UK will still continue to get the new episodes on Netflix the day after their US airing. (If you don't have Netflix, Channel 5 has also begun airing the show in the UK, so the third season will turn up there too... eventually.)

Designated Survivor season 3 cast: Who's coming back?

There wouldn't be a show without Kiefer Sutherland as President Tom Kirkman, but he'll have to deal without his First Lady from now on, following Alex Kirkman (Natascha McElhone) being killed off in the season two midseason finale.

Providing they don't follow her in the rest of season two, Adan Canto as Aaron Shore, Italia Ricci as Emily Rhodes, LaMonica Garrett as Mike Ritter, Kal Penn as Seth Wright and Maggie Q as Hannah Wells will all be back.

Notable season two additions Paulo Constanzo and Zoe McLellan should also return as Lyor Boone and Kendra Daynes, respectively.

The second half of season two also saw Michael J Fox join the cast for a five-episode arc as Washington attorney Ethan West and there was also a 24 reunion as Kim Raver will be playing entrepreneur Andrea Frost, but we don't yet know if they'll continue into any possible third season.

Designated Survivor season 3 plot: How does season 2 set it up?

Despite resolving another international crisis, President Kirkman seemed set to step down as President, before a last-minute gesture from Ethan West about his integrity saw him announce his bid for re-election in an address to the nation.

As the episode ended, President Kirkman picked up the phone to talk to the Attorney General, but we've no idea what was said.

The other tantalising strand left open by the season two finale involved Emily Rhodes who handed in her resignation as Chief of Staff, which was grudgingly accepted by President Kirkman. However, was Emily actually working against the President all this time?

After Hannah Wells managed to track down Damien's daughter Amy, she helped her to draw out Russian intelligence agent Valeria (Nora Zehetner), killing her and retrieving a flash drive that contained a video of Valeria making a secret exchange with none other than Emily.

Whether we'll find out what that was remains to be seen...

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