Kiefer Sutherland is back to rule as President Tom Kirkman another day.

The former “24” star hit it big on TV once again when his new series, “Designated Survivor,” premiered on ABC in 2016. In the drama he plays a lower-level cabinet member who is chosen as the designated survivor during the State of the Union. When an explosion at the event kills everyone involved, becomes president of the United States.

After learning a lot about his new role during Season 1, he’ll only continue to learn on the job as he takes on old and new problems that arise. Luckily, he has his wife, Alex Kirkman (Natascha McElhone), by his side to keep him sane.

He also has former White House Deputy Chief-of-Staff, Aaron Shore (Adan Canto), who will now be in a new position at the White House, Press Secretary Seth Wright (Kal Penn) and current White House Chief-of-Staff Emily Rhodes (Italia Ricci) to help him in his new role. He’ll need all of these people around him as Season 2 starts and new difficulties arise.

The Season 2 premiere of “Designated Survivor,” titled “One Year In,” begins when Kiefer Sutherland returns as President Tom Kirkman. “Now, one year into office, Kirkman is a Commander-in-Chief determined to rebuild the Capitol and capture the terrorists behind the catastrophic attack on the United States. When Ukrainian nationalists hijack a Russian Air flight, the president is faced with a hostage situation in which his diplomatic skills are put to the test,” according to the official synopsis from the network.

While President Kirkman is handling the new hostage situation that takes his attention away from the Capitol attack for a little while, the FBI agent he trusts most, Hannah Wells (Maggie Q), will continue her mission to look into the terrorist attack that forced Kirkman into office. She’s still hunting down Patrick Lloyd who was a major player in the attack, but who was able to escape last season when so many of his partners and underlings were apprehended. Now that Wells knows who she is looking for, it’s bound to be a bit of a cat-and-mouse game before this specific mission comes to an end.

Besides all the resuming characters, when the hit drama returns, there will be a few new faces around the White House. Paulo Costanzo, who starred on “Royal Pains” for seven years and was recently in the limited series “The Night Of,” will be joining the cast as the White House Political Director Lyor Boone. The series will also be getting another new character, White House Council Kendra Daynes, played by Zoe McLellan, who previously starred on “NCIS: New Orleans.”

Moving away from politics and a little more towards special ops, Ben Lawson joins the hit show as an MI-6 operative named Damian Rennett. Lawson recently starred in the canceled CBS series “Doubt” alongside Katherine Heigl.

This episode was written by Keith Eisner and directed by Chris Grismer.

The Season 2 premiere of “Designated Survivor” airs Wednesday on ABC at 10 p.m. EDT.

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