'Designated Survivor' news: Series to resume in 2018 with the first lady dead and Kirkman left in the dark

Screenshot from the promo video of "Designated Survivor's" season 2's episode 11YouTube/ TV Promos

The midseason finale of ABC's political drama series "Designated Survivor" ended with the death of the First Lady. Season 2 will resume in February 2018 with President Tom Kirkman (Kiefer Sutherland) all alone in the White House.

Alex Kirkman (Natascha McElhone) died after suffering a horrific car accident in season 2 episode 10 "Line of Fire." However, during an interview with TV Guide, showrunner Keith Eisner hinted that McElhone will still be part of the series despite the death of her character.

Eisner also said that the series becomes more exciting with the death of the First Lady as it throws Kirkman into utter despair and isolation. "A president who is essentially by himself, and the isolation of being a single parent and of having to figure out what to do professionally and personally without his partner. And that is very interesting and exciting dramatic areas for us to go into to," he explained.

Episode 11 of the second season will air on Feb. 28, 2018 at 10 p.m. EST on ABC. The promo video for the next episode shows a broken and vulnerable President who tries to keep things together in the White House and explains the death of her wife to his children. In the teaser trailer, Kirkman utters, "I grieve for my wife every day."

Eisner also said that the final voice mail left by the First Lady for her husband was somehow similar to the 9/11 messages from the victims to their loved ones. "It's one of the things that I know interested Kiefer, which is there were all these phone messages during 9/11," Eisner said.

Episode 10 ended with a cliffhanger with the main antagonist or antagonists of the show yet to be revealed. Although it was revealed that Damian Rennett (Ben Lawson) is not who he really says he is, The promo video shows new bad guys who will be holding Agent Wells (Maggie Q) and Aaron Shore (Adan Canto) as hostages.