Designated Survivor (TV Series)

Grief (2018)

Italia Ricci: Emily Rhodes

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Quotes 

• Seth Wright : So, I'm still getting questions about the First Lady's memorial.

  Emily Rhodes : Like what?

  Seth Wright : Why doesn't the First Lady have a memorial?

  Emily Rhodes : Well, you can't have a memorial before you have a headstone.

  Seth Wright : Other question is why she doesn't have a headstone.

• Emily Rhodes : Seth, it's only been ten weeks.

  Lyor Boone : [joining them]  Hey, you know what else has happened in the past ten weeks? Absolutely nothing.

  Emily Rhodes : Lyor...

  Lyor Boone : He came right back to work after the First Lady's death, and now he's President Hamlet.

  Seth Wright : He's right, Em. I mean, the military spending bill is stuck on the president's desk, judicial nominations are piling up, and he's put the brakes on every major policy initiative.

  Aaron Shore : [joining them, as well]  Including foreign ones. Canceled trips to Beijing, Jerusalem. Bailed on the IMF meeting.

  Seth Wright : This is turning into the ghost presidency.

  Emily Rhodes : Okay, you all need to relax. The man just lost his wife, the mother of his children. It takes a while to recover from that.

  Lyor Boone : Understood, but the world keeps moving. And the White House is getting left behind.

  Emily Rhodes : Not today. It's the Cuban intiative. It'll jump-start us.

  Lyor Boone : Good, 'cause we're flatlining.

• Emily Rhodes : Hey. Talking points for the Cuba trip. The president's been getting a lot of criticism for giving Ortega oxygen.

  Seth Wright : Okay, so we make the trip about the Cuban people.

  Emily Rhodes : Yearning for freedom.

  Seth Wright : Reaching out to an America that they hope reaches back.

  Emily Rhodes : You might have a future in this.

• Seth Wright : Hey, uh, Turks and Caicos.

  Emily Rhodes : I haven't looked at the brochure yet.

  Seth Wright : Okay, deposit on the villa's due at midnight.

  Emily Rhodes : Come here.

  [leading him into an empty room] 

  Emily Rhodes : I don't know if I can swing this right now.

  Seth Wright : Oh, come on, we've been talking about taking a trip for months.

  Emily Rhodes : I know.

  Seth Wright : And no offense, but the last time you went on vacation, it involved a horse and buggy.

  Emily Rhodes : [insulted]  Oh!

  Seth Wright : I'm just saying you deserve a break. We both do. Plus, I'm even more charming on vacation. You're not gonna be able to handle it.

• 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 : 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.

• Emily Rhodes : He wants assurances. Guarantees. You know what that sounds like?

  Lyor Boone : Yeah, a president who's gun-shy, which is exactly what he's been since the First Lady's death.

  Emily Rhodes : The problem is, you don't risk anyone...

  Lyor Boone : You risk everyone.

• Emily Rhodes : When Corwin asked you if the Blackhawk meant the president wasn't battle-tested, you said "No, because it wasn't a battle."

  Seth Wright : Which was accurate.

  Emily Rhodes : But a bit flip. The Chronicle's coverage of the administration has been unfriendly. We need to court them a bit more.

  Seth Wright : Okay.

  Emily Rhodes : And when Devereaux asked if the president was accepting counsel from the Secretary of Defense...

  Seth Wright : I said that the way president makes decisions...

  Emily Rhodes : Was not a matter for public debate, which, yes, is true, but it's so combative, Seth.

  Seth Wright : Emily, I was taking fire in there.

  Emily Rhodes : That doesn't mean you can fire back.

  Seth Wright : My options are limited. I'm defending an administration that hasn't taken decisive action on anything in the last ten weeks.

  Emily Rhodes : You can't defend us if you're taking the bait.

  Seth Wright : Okay. Less flip. Don't take the bait. Don't fire back. Duly noted.

• Emily Rhodes : So you told the president there's no legal bar to ransom.

  Kendra Daynes : Correct. The executive branch has absolute discretion.

  Emily Rhodes : Which would set a dangerous precedent by exercising.

  Lyor Boone : [joining them]  Yeah, which is exactly what I just told him.

  Emily Rhodes : Well, what did he say?

  Lyor Boone : That America has never faced the possible execution of hostages, including six Senators and five Congressmen, that he'd rather be criticized for how he kept them alive than how he let them die.

  Kendra Daynes : And what did you say?

  Lyor Boone : That the old Tom Kirkman would have advocated military action, that his tentative behavior could wind up getting more people killed.

  Emily Rhodes : You did not tell him that.

  Lyor Boone : Of course not. I like my job.

• Emily Rhodes : Okay, so if it's ransom, we need Congressional support. Senator Sanchez is our power broker here.

  Lyor Boone : Yeah, she's on her way.

  Kendra Daynes : [Emily glances at Aaron's empty office]  We're getting Aaron back.

  Lyor Boone : Yeah, safe and sound.

  Emily Rhodes : Let's make it happen.

• 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.

• Emily Rhodes : Hey, the president needs us in Command Ops.

  Lyor Boone : Emily, this is Tricia Sims. She was just down in the annex.

  Emily Rhodes : [reaching out to shake hands, she pulls it back]  Oh! Uh, my god, I'm so sorry. I hope you were wearing a hazmat suit.

  Lyor Boone : [to Tricia, as he follows Emily out]  It was nice meeting 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.

• Seth Wright : So, Turks and Caicos.

  Emily Rhodes : I don't think it's a good idea.

  Seth Wright : I figured you didn't. That's why you have problems with my press briefing. That's why you're trying to give me notes on things you never note. And you're trying to tell me that something's wrong without actually telling me.

• Emily Rhodes : What are we doing here, Seth?

  Seth Wright : We're dating.

  Emily Rhodes : I know, and it used to be two days a week. And then the First Lady died, and it became five days a week.

  Seth Wright : So if it's too fast too soon...

  Emily Rhodes : No, I... I like it. I just don't know what it is.

  Seth Wright : All right, your use of indefinite pronouns isn't really helping here.

  Emily Rhodes : It's like we flipped a switch. And I am not a switch flipper.

  Seth Wright : Okay. If you're saying that things are moving too fast and you want to roll it back to once a week, that's fine. I mean, that day will be the best day of my week.

  Emily Rhodes : Seth.

  Seth Wright : But if you're trying to tell me that you're not sure about it, about us, then I need you to just say that.

  Emily Rhodes : I'm saying I don't know.

  Seth Wright : Well, I do. And when you do, give me a call.