'Designated Survivor' season 2 episode 4 spoilers: President Kirkman faces growing tension between U.S. and Mexico

Promotional photo for ABC's 'Designated Survivor'facebook.com/DesignatedSurvivor

In the next episode of "Designated Survivor," President Tom Kirkman (Kiefer Sutherland) is faced with a scandal at the southern border where a Mexican citizen is shot and killed. This was brought about by a border dispute regarding a shipment of Mexican trade imports.

It is likely that the Mexican was shot by a U.S. border agent who sensed danger from him. A truck is shown crashing into the gate at the border which caused the surrounding people to take cover. It seems this is the catalyst of the tension. Nevertheless, the president has to try and appease the situation with Mexico. "We can't treat our neighbors as enemies," he says with conviction.

Meanwhile, a conspiracy is brewing where investigators find out that the president's mother-in-law may have been involved in a crime. FBI agent Hannah Wells (Maggie Q) tells First Lady Alex Kirkman (Natascha McElhone) that they have circumstantial evidence that her mother is a criminal. Another investigator tells the president, "Whatever you're mixed up in, your hands better be clean because even this place can't protect you."

In the last episode, Tom raced against the clock to help several people who got infected with a deadly flu virus. A pharmaceutical company had the potential cure for the virus but the head executive wanted to sell the life-saving drugs to another distributor. This would cause a delay and many lives could be lost. The president decided to play hardball and asked Rev. Tramer Dale (Ron Canada) to publicly ridicule the drug company in order to force them to hand the drugs over to the government.

In the end, the people were able to get the medicine and started to recover from the deadly flu. The drug company was commended for their cooperation and patriotism.

"Designated Survivor" season 2 episode 4 will air on Wednesday, Oct. 18 at 10 p.m. EDT on ABC.