Emily, Kendra, and Lyor are the most powerful members of the White House Staff at the moment, and they always have Kirkman's best interest at heart. The problem is sometimes they don't all agree on how to troubleshoot problems.
Although it has been ten weeks since Alex's death, the White House Staff feel that Kirkman should seek professional help from a therapist to guide him through is grief. If they confront him about it, how will he react?
Just when it appeared as though they had overcome the debacle with Alex and her mother, Alex is t-boned in a freak accident. Alex and Tom were disputing a great deal leading up to her death, but their love was boundless, and they were true partners. How will he carry on without her?
The Kirkman children say their goodbyes to their slain mother for the last time. Leo has notoriously been protective of his younger sister, and now, more than ever, he'll likely take her under his wing. There is no telling how the Kirkman children will be from this point forward. Everyone grieves differently.
Penny sobs uncontrollably in front of her mother's casket. Tom does what he can to soothe his daughter, but there is no way to ease the pain for her when it's regarding something so life-altering.
Will Penny be able to go to sleep after finding out about the tragic accident? Tom will have his hands full tending to his young daughter after the loss of her mother. Will he be up for the challenge?
There are plenty of hugs to go around during this difficult time. In the past, Tom has been consumed with his presidential duties and sometimes struggles with having enough time for Leo, but he's here for him now, when it counts the most.
Penny collapses into Tom's arms after finding out about her mother. How will Tom run a country and usher his children through this difficult time while also grieving himself?
Will Tom be the first one to tell Leo the news about his mother or will the news sites get to it first? The death of a such an important figure in the national political spectrum will spread like wildfire, and Leo may find out the truth on social media before his father can get to him in time.
Tom will have to deliver news no father ever wants to deliver. He's going to have to tell Penny that her mother has passed away. Penny is far too young to experience a loss as pivotal as her mother being killed.
This appears to be the moment Leo finds out about his mother's death. Will he find out from one of the secret services agents or will Tom deliver the devastating news himself? Losing a family member, especially a mother, around the holidays is beyond awful.
Kirkman and his family attend the funeral of Alex. It's a gloomy day for a melancholic event as the Kirkman family say goodbye to the matriarch of their family with all of their friends and loved ones, and the nation supporting them.
This president has survived an assassination attempt, the murder of his vice president, and an opposition, who can only seem to agree on the single proposition that he should be thrashed at every turn. And yet, the president has never wavered in his belief in the American dream, or in the fundamental belief in the goodness of the American people.
