Beth MacLeish (Lara Jean Chorostecki) was a hidden recurring villainess from Season One of Designated Survivor. She was the wife of Peter MacLeish, who survived the bombing of the U.S. Capitol, which killed President Robert Richman along with over 1,000 others and resulted in Thomas "Tom" Kirkman (the titular designated survivor and the series' main protagonist) ascending to the presidency. Beth and her husband also had two children: Blake and Lexi.
The season's progression slowly revealed that the attack was part of a conspiracy which was to culminate in Peter seizing power over the United States as its new president. His "heroic survival" played right into their plot, as Kirkman offered the vice presidency to the former, who accepted. Beth exposed her true colors in the midseason finale, "The Oath," when she reassured her unscrupulous lover that he could "restore [the country] to the empire it once was" just like their "friends" wanted him to do. With Peter officially becoming VP during the episode's climax, the evil Beth became the Second Lady of the United States. She then temporarily became First Lady in the following episode, "Warriors," when Peter became president after Tom was shot at the end of said midseason finale by a sharpshooter who was identified as Nestor Lozano/Catalan (a former U.S. Army major and ex-CIA operative who was also involved in the conspiracy).
In episode 1.12, "The End of the Beginning," the fanatical villainess was informed by her husband about FBI Agent Hannah Wells questioning Alvin Joyner, who once was in the Army alongside Peter. Worried he had become a loose end, Beth insisted that Joyner was murdered, only for him to instead decide to offer reassurance to his old comrade, which she reluctantly agreed to. Later on, she was contacted by another conspirator who notified her that Wells was at Arlington Cemetery. Deducing that she was there to arrest her spouse, Beth stated to her Secret Service detail that she was leaving in order to read to Blake and Lexi. After that, she armed herself with a gun and drove to the aforementioned cemetery, where she saw Peter being held at gunpoint by Hannah. In a shocking twist, the malicious criminal shot and killed him right before committing suicide by turning the gun against herself as a last-ditch effort to keep the scheme hidden. Even so, by the end of the season, the murder-suicide she committed was proven to be in vain.
Trivia[]
- Lara Jean Chorostecki also played Lisa Knight on Republic of Doyle.
- Initially, Beth was built up as being a supportive wife, but after her reveal, she unveiled herself as a power-hungry and murderous woman—even hoping for Tom to die while he was hospitalized. In a play on her name, she was nicknamed "Lady MacBeth" by several viewers due to her personality being similar to that of a famous Shakespearean villainess.