'Designated Survivor' Episode 07x01 'The Traitor' Recap: Traitors All Around; Atwood Gets Blackmailed

The "Designated Survivor" TV series takes a unique view of an accidental President of the most powerful country in the world struggling to run the country while investigating the Capitol bombing that wiped out the entire congress except for one.

(Spoiler Alert! The following contains details of "Designated Survivor" episode 7.01 entitled "The Traitor.")

The "Designated Survivor" episode "The Traitor" starts with The President and his wife having dinner with the Macleish but is interrupted by a call from his Chief Of Staff informing him that Nassar is found dead in his jail cell. Kirkman calls for a meeting with the FBI to inquire about the death of Nassar. But, upon arriving at the oval office, FBI Deputy Director Atwood is met with the upcoming Vice President MacLeish. Atwood can't reveal details about the investigation of the Capitol bombing seeing that MacLeish was one of the major suspects. President Kirkman being a "Designated Survivor" feels that there is something off with the Director's way of telling of the investigation.

The controversy of Leo's paternity in "Designated Survivor" is confirmed when Aaron tells the President the truth that Alex's ex-boyfriend Tanner is his biological father. Before they could decide whether to tell Leo the truth, Kirkman is met with another crisis. A track-and-field coach is joining a tournament in Russia. The President even bade him goodbye, sending well-wishers as he boards the plane. But, when the coach reached Russia, he was arrested for possession of performance-enhancing medications. To make matters worse, it was revealed that he was a CIA spy. As it turns out, he was a double agent working for Russia while spying for them. Fortunately, Kirkman becomes aware that nothing is as it seems in the oval office and holds off pronouncing MacLeish as the Vice President.

The smart FBI Agent Wells is till looking into the traitor Catalan named by Nassar as the man who framed him. The disappearance of Atwood's son makes her even more desperate, and later on finally meets a contact informing her that Catalan is, indeed, an American traitor that is also a mercenary. When she obtains Catalan's file, she realizes that he was there in Nassar's murder.

Before Atwood's child goes missing, MacLeish handed over his files to Atwood, dropping hints that he suspects MacLeish of something even without saying anything.

The "Designated Survivor" episode "The Traitor" ended with Atwood getting blackmailed by an unknown female that told him to do everything she says otherwise his son will be killed. The woman then commanded him to schedule a meeting with Kirkman the following day and to tell him exactly what she wants.

Catch new episodes of "Designated Survivor" every Wednesday at 10PM ET on ABC.