A new television show is making waves with its terrifying plot and tense scenes and I’m not talking about the series of presidential debates.

ABC’s “Designated Survivor” takes the world and tears it apart one state at a time. A terrorist attacks on the night of the State of the Union, destroying the U.S. capital, killing everyone inside including the president, vice president, and cabinet members.

Tom Kirkland, former housing and urban development secretary, played by Kiefer Sutherland, is forced to step up as President of the United States. Struggling to understand what has just happened, Kirkland must convince the country and his political allies that he has what it takes to be the President.

With the U.S. capital ripped to shreds the new president struggles to maintain order, create a new cabinet, and start an investigation into where the terrorists came from. Meanwhile, the violence moves to Michigan where the governor has ordered the police to round up members of the Muslim community because he fears that Muslims had something to do with the terrorist attacks.

Eventually the violence comes to a head hours after the bombing of the capital, when Michigan police officers beat a 17 year-old Muslim boy to death in the street.

The new show is only in its infancy but, these first two episodes are hitting close to home for viewers after recent police violence in many states around the nation. Although the plot of “Designated Survivor” is purely fiction it is hard not to find comparisons in the very real world around us today.