'Designated Survivor' Season 2 Spoilers: Showrunner Previews 'Nice Friendship' Between Tom Kirman and Kim Raver's Character
The second half of "Designated Survivor" season 2 will introduce Andrea Frost, an engineer and entrepreneur played by Kim Raver. However, fans should not expect a love story to bloom between Andrea and Tom (Kiefer Sutherland) — at least, not immediately.
Raver's casting was announced in early November prior to the exit of Natascha McElhone, who played First Lady Alex Kirkman. It can be recalled that the midseason finale saw the death of Alex in a car crash. And, when the back half of the second season premieres, Tom will still be in grief despite the 10-week time jump.
Tom will have to learn to live without Alex and be a widowed President of the United States. Although Raver's introduction will open doors to new possibilities, showrunner Keith Eisner is quick to set fan expectations of her role in Tom's life.
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"A nice friendship will be struck up there," Eisner told TVLine. "Here's what I will say: We don't have an interest in throwing this president into bed with someone else, immediately. We don't feel that's real, and Kiefer doesn't either. Kiefer feels like [Alex] is his life companion who has been taken from him, and he's not going to just start running around with other people."
But, just because Tom is not yet ready to jump into a new relationship right now, Eisner reveals, "doesn't mean we won't see chemistry with perhaps a person or two, that we won't see the prospect of something on the horizon. We're just not going to be doing that immediately — nor should we."
As for Alex's death, it remains to be seen whether the car crash was purely coincidental or if it was premeditated. There is some reason to believe that the crash was no accident, especially since Alex had just foiled Forstell's (Reed Diamond) investigation.
"Designated Survivor" season 2 will return on Feb. 28 on ABC.
