Designated Survivor (TV Series)

Grief (2018)

Kiefer Sutherland: Tom Kirkman

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Quotes 

• Tom Kirkman : She called me, you know.

  Dr. Adam Louden : When?

  Tom Kirkman : Right before she was killed. Left me a message. Said she loved me. I never got to say it back.

  Dr. Adam Louden : How were things left between you two?

  Tom Kirkman : It was a tough time. We weren't in the best place.

  Dr. Adam Louden : What place do you think you're in now?

  Tom Kirkman : I don't know.

  Dr. Adam Louden : I do. You're standing still. You console your children, not yourself. You can't read about your wife's killer. You can't pick her headstone. You hold yourself responsible. You're angry.

  Tom Kirkman : I'm not dealing with any of it.

  Dr. Adam Louden : No, you're not. You need to find a concrete way to acknowledge your grief. To move on. If you don't, you'll just be treading water. And you know what happens to someone who treads water for too long?

  Tom Kirkman : They drown.

• Tom Kirkman : Mr. Beeman, given the circumstances, would you say your treatment here has been fair?

  Evan Beeman : Yes, sir.

  Tom Kirkman : Food sufficient?

  Evan Beeman : Yes, sir.

  Tom Kirkman : And they've protected you from the other inmates?

  Evan Beeman : Yes, sir.

  Tom Kirkman : Good. Because your well-being is of paramount importance to me. Do you know why?

  Evan Beeman : No, sir.

  Tom Kirkman : Because I want you to remember every single day for the rest of your life what you took from me. The one person I lived for: my wife. Mother of my children. My best friend. The best part of me, and you did it for nothing. For absolutely no reason. And I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure that you think about that every day for the rest of your life.

• Dr. Adam Louden : Wonder if you had any reaction to the front-page profile in today's "Times" on Evan Beeman.

  Tom Kirkman : Didn't read it.

  Dr. Adam Louden : But you read the "Times", right?

  Tom Kirkman : Articles that I'm interested in. But an article on the man who killed my wife because he ran a red light while texting isn't one of them.

  Dr. Adam Louden : And you didn't attend his sentencing hearing, either, right?

  Tom Kirkman : No.

  Dr. Adam Louden : Why not?

  Tom Kirkman : Because I'm President of the United States. It wouldn't have brought my wife back.

• Janet : Sorry to interrupt, Mr. President. The delegation is here.

  Tom Kirkman : Thank you.

  [to Adam] 

  Tom Kirkman : We're going to have to reschedule. My office will be in touch.

  Dr. Adam Louden : Good, I can suggest another therapist.

  Tom Kirkman : Excuse me?

  Dr. Adam Louden : You wanted to see me after your wife died, but every time I raise her death, you change the subject. Cut the conversation short. Reschedule the session.

  Tom Kirkman : Just so we're clear, I didn't want to see you. My senior staff demanded it. And in case you haven't noticed, I have a rather busy job.

  Dr. Adam Louden : And if you're too busy for our sessions, then let's discontinue them. But if you want to continue seeing me, we're going to finish this one today. And we're going to talk about what happened to you when your wife died. Because that matters.

• Tom Kirkman : Senator Sanchez, congratulations. This trip would not be happening without your tenacity.

  Senator Sanchez : And your willingness to listen, sir. I hope investments can do what fifty years of failed U.S. policy couldn't.

  Tom Kirkman : So do I.

• Dr. Adam Louden : Do you have a strategy?

  Tom Kirkman : A strategy for what?

  Dr. Adam Louden : For processing everything. The story you tell yourself about what happened to Alex.

  Tom Kirkman : I know exactly what happened.

  Dr. Adam Louden : Well, there's what happened, and your consciousness of it. For example, who do you blame for Alex's death?

  Tom Kirkman : Evan Beeman killed my wife.

  Dr. Adam Louden : That's who's responsible. My question is who do you blame?

• Dr. Adam Louden : You wanted to be president.

  Tom Kirkman : Given the circumstances, it was my duty, so yes.

  Dr. Adam Louden : Do you think Alex would still be alive if you turned the job down?

  Tom Kirkman : Yes.

• Dr. Adam Louden : So Alex was the reason you took the HUD job. Meaning you wouldn't have been the designated survivor...

  Tom Kirkman : You're not going to get me to blame my wife for her own death.

  Dr. Adam Louden : That's not what I'm trying to do.

  Tom Kirkman : Then what the hell are you trying to do?

  Dr. Adam Louden : Get you to accept that causation is complicated. That every decision has an antecedent.

  Tom Kirkman : She... she... she was my wife. She supported me. She had my back. But the choice was mine. I'm the reason we stayed here. And that's the only antecedent that matters.

• Tom Kirkman : Who are these people?

  General : Trying to get a handle on that, sir. The Army for the Liberation of the People, it's a guerilla movement; 30,000 soldiers.

  Tom Kirkman : Rebels?

  General : Yes, sir. Forty years of skirmishes, but they haven't made much headway.

  Tom Kirkman : Looks to me like they've upped their game.

• Tom Kirkman : Mr. President, how did this happen?

  President Ortega : I don't know, sir. This delegation was a closely held secret.

  Emily Rhodes : Maybe the ELP has a spy in your administration.

  President Ortega : Oh, maybe someone on your delegation publicized the trip.

  Tom Kirkman : I'm not interested in assigning blame right now. I'm interested in getting our people back.

• Tom Kirkman : Kendra, what's the legality of military action against rebels in another country?

  Kendra Daynes : If American lives are at stake, the rules of war will allow it, sir, especially if the foreign sovereign is unwilling or unable to act.

  Tom Kirkman : And with President Ortega, am I correct in assuming the latter?

  Lyor Boone : No, it's both. I mean, he doesn't have the firepower, but even if he did, he can't be seen as actively helping America to attack Cuban citizens, even those that oppose him. His grip on power's loose enough as it is.

  Senator Sanchez : But he won't stand in our way. I've interfaced with his top advisors. Ortega has given us access to his ports.

  Tom Kirkman : General, is it your opinion that military action will secure the safe release of the hostages?

  General : Sir, our consensus is that the show of overwhelming force will bring the rebels to heel.

  Tom Kirkman : But you can't guarantee it.

• Tom Kirkman : What other options do I have, aside from military?

  Emily Rhodes : Ransom, sir.

  Lyor Boone : Which is a non-starter.

  Tom Kirkman : No, Lyor. The killing of Americans is a non-starter. We've got Congressmen, Senators, business leaders. My National Security Advisor. This is a mess. We're running out of time. I want options. Come on, people.

  Emily Rhodes : What about recon mission?

  Lyor Boone : That's good, that's good. We can buttress our data. Then we'll know exactly what we're getting into if you deploy military assets.

  Tom Kirkman : Could still be mistaken as aggression. What about a camera-equipped drone?

  General : It won't work because of the canopy, sir, but a single Blackhawk infrared camera is low altitude.

  Tom Kirkman : A single one?

  General : Yes, sir.

  Tom Kirkman : Okay. Let's find out what we're really dealing with. Try it.

• Dr. Adam Louden : So, your kids. How are they handling things?

  Tom Kirkman : We're not here to talk about my kids.

  Dr. Adam Louden : No, we're here to talk about you, but your kids are a big part of your life, right?

• Penny Kirkman : Dad, what's wrong?

  Tom Kirkman : There, um... there has been a terrible accident. Mommy was in a terrible accident. And sometimes, accidents are so bad that the people who are in them... they can't come home.

  Penny Kirkman : Mommy's not coming home?

  Tom Kirkman : No, sweetheart. She's in heaven now with the angels.

• Tom Kirkman : Penny reacted like you'd expect any little girl to react who'd just been told her mother was killed.

  Dr. Adam Louden : How did Leo react?

  [flashback sequence] 

  Tom Kirkman : I watched his youth vanish before my eyes in a second.

  Dr. Adam Louden : That must have been difficult.

  Tom Kirkman : Yeah, it was.

• Dr. Adam Louden : You know, Tom, there's no one way for a person in Leo's position to react, or a little girl. It's different for everybody. But what I find interesting is ten weeks in, you're finally opening up about your kids.

  Tom Kirkman : What are you getting at?

  Dr. Adam Louden : Why were you so reluctant to talk about your children?

  Tom Kirkman : Because they're not the ones in therapy.

  Dr. Adam Louden : No, you are. And you are protecting them. Which is a way of protecting yourself.

  Tom Kirkman : From what?

  Dr. Adam Louden : If you don't share their reactions, you don't have to share yours. And the one thing you don't want to confront.

  Tom Kirkman : Which is?

  Dr. Adam Louden : Grief.

• Tom Kirkman : I grieve for my wife every day.

  Dr. Adam Louden : Do you grieve in public?

  Tom Kirkman : No.

  Dr. Adam Louden : So you grieve in private.

  Tom Kirkman : Yes.

  Dr. Adam Louden : Have you cried?

  Tom Kirkman : What the hell does that matter?

  Dr. Adam Louden : Because grief is a ritual. And if you don't engage in the ritual, either in public or in private...

  Tom Kirkman : What the hell do you expect of me?

  Dr. Adam Louden : It's what you expect of yourself, Tom. And if you think your behavior is adaptive, I'm not sure why you want to see me. And don't tell me it's because your staff made you.

• Senator Sanchez : I've reached out to Congressional leadership. We feel ransom is ill-advised.

  Tom Kirkman : And you made my case to them.

  Senator Sanchez : I promised my colleagues I'd make my case to you. Military action...

  Tom Kirkman : We've already discussed this.

  Senator Sanchez : Mr. President...

  Tom Kirkman : My goal is to save lives, not cost them. Military action will result in casualties. Writing a check that we can afford won't.

  Senator Sanchez : You don't know that, sir.

  Tom Kirkman : Tell the leadership if this goes south, I will take full responsibility, but this *is* what we are doing. Emily, reach out to Treasury. Put this in motion.

• Dr. Adam Louden : Do you think your wife's death traumatized you?

  Tom Kirkman : I think you know the answer to that.

  Dr. Adam Louden : But do you?

• Tom Kirkman : Of course my wife's death traumatized me. Why is it so important that I acknowledge that to you?

  Dr. Adam Louden : Do you think it's important?

  Tom Kirkman : I think for $800 an hour, you should stop asking me such obvious questions.

  Dr. Adam Louden : You're right. You should be asking yourself. But I will make an observation. You're the president. And to do your job, you need a clear head. If you bring unresolved emotion into the decisional process...

  Tom Kirkman : I don't.

  Dr. Adam Louden : Unintentionally, Tom. But that's the problem. It's what you're doing unintentionally.

• Emily Rhodes : Secretary Braden said the funds have been made available.

  General : Sir, all that remains is for you to okay the wire transfer.

  Tom Kirkman : Where do we stand on the release of the hostages?

  General : We have Ramon Bravo's promise that he'll put them on a bus to Marti International Airport as soon as he can confirm receipt of the funds.

  Tom Kirkman : Can we corroborate that there's a bus at the site?

  General : No, sir, we cannot.

  Senator Sanchez : Mr. President, we're not going to be able to corroborate anything.

  Lyor Boone : Sir, the essence of ransom is blind faith. Bravo will either keep his word or he won't.

• Tom Kirkman : General, cancel the wire transfer.

  General : Sir?

  Tom Kirkman : How long will it take you to get your men ashore?

  General : 45 minutes, sir.

  Tom Kirkman : Bring the fleet in as close to land as possible. If a show of force doesn't get the insurgents to back down, send in the Marines.

  General : Yes, sir.

  Senator Sanchez : I'll have a Congressional statement of support ready to issue.

  Tom Kirkman : Good.

  [Sanchez leaves, and Kirkman follows her out] 

  Emily Rhodes : What the hell just happened?

  Lyor Boone : He made the hard decision, but the right one. I think the president's back.

  Emily Rhodes : Hallelujah.

• Ramon Bravo : The payment has not been made. I see you moved your fleet into place. You doubt my resolve, so I will begin killing the hostages. And I'll start with the spy, Hannah Wells.

  Tom Kirkman : Mr. Bravo, I'm prepared to keep one of two promises, the first being that I would act as an arbiter between you and President Ortega so you could air your grievances.

  Ramon Bravo : Wire the money now, or I will kill her.

  Tom Kirkman : The second is if you hurt a single hostage, we will hunt you down. We will find you, and we will kill you.

• Emily Rhodes : Mr. President, Hannah's signaling us.

  Tom Kirkman : How do you figure?

  Emily Rhodes : She's not Catholic, but she just did the sign of the cross.

  Lyor Boone : The hostage who just offered to pay the ransom is Phillip Cross of Cross International Development.

  Tom Kirkman : Look into it.

• Tom Kirkman : We were looking for connections between Ortega and Cross. We found something very different.

  Senator Sanchez : [looking at the paper he hands her]  I don't believe it.

  Tom Kirkman : Those phone records prove that President Ortega and Mr. Bravo were working together to frame the rebels for the kidnapping.

  Senator Sanchez : That doesn't make any sense.

  Emily Rhodes : It does if you put yourself in Bravo's shoes.

  Lyor Boone : He's 75. He's lived a life of struggle that has gotten him nothing.

  Emily Rhodes : So he kidnaps our delegation. He has to know that there will be a military response, one that will destroy the rebels.

  Lyor Boone : Ortega is paying him off. So Bravo gets money, a financial legacy for his family. Cross' price for delivering the delegation is development rights worth billions. And Ortega gets to hold on to power, just as soon as we destroy the ELP.

  Senator Sanchez : But I know President Ortega. He wouldn't put American lives in danger this way.

  Tom Kirkman : Senator Sanchez, if you do this long enough, you'll realize you don't really know anyone.

• President Ortega : I am pleased to announce the delegation's plane has left Marti Airport.

  Tom Kirkman : I'm very glad to hear it, Mr. President.

  President Ortega : But the ELP must be destroyed for this treachery. And we need America's help.

  Tom Kirkman : You're not going to get it, sir.

  President Ortega : I don't understand.

  Tom Kirkman : Phillip Cross has already been debriefed. He confessed.

  President Ortega : Confessed to what?

  Tom Kirkman : To your collusion with Ramon Bravo. The evidence has already been uploaded to the official Cuban news agency website. Phone records. Bank payments. All for the Cuban people to see. We're not even going to have to bring you both to justice. We're going to let your people do it for us. Good luck, Mr. President.