The first season of Netflix’s The Politician ended with an episode that was more like the premiere of its second season than a finale. Repeating and exacerbating the first season’s most aggravating sin, “The Politician” is nothing but talking points that sound important but never lead anywhere. She made her way on Georgina’s ticket, of course, and President Paltrow is already “bored” enough to promise she’ll only be there one term. 1d ago. The second season of the series took place in New York and Albany, New York. The logline for the series is constructed around the idea of discovering, through the political ascent of Payton Hobart (Ben Platt), what it takes to be a politician today. Even if you can see Georgina as the liberal Trump — a candidate can say and do whatever nutty thing she wants without losing support — the race between Dede and Payton pivots on everything, be it as trivial or critical as the plot requires. Of primary concern is how the public will react to Dede being in a throuple with Marcus (Joe Morton) and William (Teddy Sears), though of course Payton is no innocent on his end. And worst of all: Is the fact that he’s worrying about these things in the first place hurting his campaign? Created by Ian Brennan, Brad Falchuk, Ryan Murphy. But first he'll have to navigate the most treacherous political landscape of all: Saint Sebastian High School. “I’m a politician. [This story contains spoilers from the first season finale of Netflix's The Politician.]. Right now is the perfect time to try to understand the mind of a politician — not to demonize him, but to understand him, and even see in him the potential for hope. Read Common Sense Media's The Politician review, age rating, and parents guide. 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'The Mandalorian': Unpacking the Critical Secrets of Boba Fett, Dark Troopers, and More The drama is outrageous, the clothes are colourful, the world is gloomy but the future is bright and promising. When Netflix greenlit the dramedy by creators Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Ian Brennan for two seasons back in 2018, of course no one had no idea that the second season would be launching during an era of pandemic and civil unrest; it's not The Politician's fault that it's launching during a time when climate change has (unfortunately) become a less pressing concern for the world. Payton Hobart, a student from Santa Barbara, has known since age seven that he's going to be President of the United States. All rights reserved. They do however tend to fall into a few predominant buckets: Wild Ryan shows like American Horror Story and Nip/Tuck delight in pushing things to extremes, while Woke Ryan shows like Pose and Hollywood feature a strong message of inclusion and social justice, and Wise Ryan shows like American Crime Story aim for education and enlightenment. S2, Ep7 19 Jun. Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Follow her on Twitter at @lizlet. They’re designed to keep you from thinking too hard about anything that happens. (What bucket a show falls into, as well as its quality, is often directly connected to his collaborators — the American Crime Story limited series he's produced are perhaps his strongest critical achievements, and it's telling that both Versace and O.J. I have no self,” he tells his mom in the premiere. The Politician’s second season is snappier than season one, avoiding the midseason doldrums that really plagued that first run of episodes. Setting aside the destructive, self-serving logic of asking a popular liberal to forgo her governor’s seat so an NYU junior can maybe win a state senate race, this early choice exemplifies the problem with Payton. The go-to source for comic book and superhero movie fans. 'WandaVision': All of the Marvel Easter Eggs and and Sitcom References So Far, Clocking in at seven episodes that average less than 40 minutes each, Season 2 can’t end fast enough, and it kindly starts at breakneck speed by launching into its actual A-plot: the New York State Senate campaign between challenger Payton Hobart (Ben Platt, who sings less this year, but still gets told he “should be on Broadway”), and long-time incumbent Dede Standish (Judith Light, whose three Tonys go unacknowledged). The Politician season 2 spoilers follow. These episodes are so short and move so rapidly it’s clear they’ve beed edited down to the bare minimum to constitute a story. There are no alarmist articles flooding the internet, nor are the cable news talking heads going apeshit over the race’s frontrunner outlining a plan to form a new country. 'Bridgerton's' Portrayal of Female Sexuality Coddles Viewers “People don’t believe you because you don’t believe you,” Georgina counters. Just when you think “The Politician” has stumbled into a purpose, those hopes are quickly and soundly dashed, reminding you that the speed at which these seven episodes fly by isn’t a credit to efficiency; it’s a signal that even those making the show have stopped caring about it. The politician season 2 has a total of seven episodes which are premiered on Netflix. In fact, perhaps the most impactful episode is the one that focuses the least on the main characters: "The Voters," Episode 5, instead introduces a mother-daughter pair played by Robin Weigert and Susannah Perkins, whose fights over their individual preferred candidates essentially boil down to a battle that contrasts millennial frustrations with the older generation's fear that they've failed their children by leaving them to deal with a broken world. There’s no real follow-up at all; only a boost in the polls for Georgina, in a race she was already dominating. A shocking ballot-box twist positions Payton at a moral and ethical crossroads that could define the rest of his political career and life. Done in the middle of a gubernatorial debate airing live on CNN, the pronouncement is exactly the kind of over-the-top bedlam that could shape an intriguing season-long arc of a melodramatic political satire. — looks all the more ill-informed given the current crises dominating headlines.). In practice, it's just one of the elements of the season that clearly someone thought would be fun, and ends up being a massive distraction from the show actually saying anything meaningful about the world. Just looking at the runtimes of episodes in Season 2 and the show's lack of focus becomes clear: I will never complain about a streaming show which refuses to pad out episodes to meet an arbitrary length. I can’t say it’s about soapy drama, because that would require emotional investment and/or earned attachment. This also makes it arguably the most Ryan Murphy show to ever Ryan Murphy, deeply interested in the psychology of what it means to be a politician in modern-day America and rich with inclusive casting, but also prone to things like an extended sequence where Bette Midler is desperate to get her hands on some "spicy lube.". TV Reviews The Politician 9/29/19. https://www.nme.com/reviews/the-politician-season-2-review-2691928 I can’t say it’s about politics, because the politics shown here have no bearing on reality. No, that's not a metaphor for anything. Unlike Paltrow, the idea is still grounded in reality. Share Share Tweet Email Comment 'Servant' Season 2 Review: A Nerve-Wracking Mystery Gets More Unhinged & Frustrating “The Politician” still doesn’t care about ideas, their practicality, or the modern state of politics. Oh, I’m sorry, you just want to know who wins? Across nine chaotic seasons, American Horror Story has freaked us out with a ghoulish mix of witches, demons and the untimely death of Kajagoogoo. She is also a produced playwright, a host of podcasts, and a repository of "X-Files" trivia. Secession is scarcely mentioned after the premiere. Interviews with leading film and TV creators about their process and craft. (Spoilers for The Politician’s first season follow.) Related With months to go before election day, Dede has a huge lead in the polls. Conceptually, the fact that Season 2 features not just Midler, but Light and Gwenyth Paltrow as women whose relative ages does not impede them from being thriving sexual beings is to be applauded. If you did, you’d undoubtedly realize that Season 2 circles around four different threesomes, without ever cracking a joke about the proliferation of polyamory (or, God forbid, saying something meaningful about multiple partnerships). It's an interesting premise for an episode, but bogged down with heavy, at times overly simplistic speeches — its heart is in the right place, though, and Weigert in particular shines. Patrick A. Nov 03, 2020. The Politician's first campaign might have ended, but there's another race to be run. The lack of acknowledgement points to lazy writing — as if writers Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Ian Brennan didn’t realize they had written the exact same idea four different ways — which would be bad enough given this cast, but it’s not the only red flag. Except it’s not a pitch. News, Reviews, Television. June 19, 2020 1:37 pm. Is he passionate about issues or just about winning? “The Politician” thus moves along briskly enough over the course of eight serialized episodes but spends most of that time in the shallow end of … I can’t say it’s about the characters, because none of them change or develop in any believable way. 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(Pretty sure the election comes down to Payton signing up 500 new voters and Dede being exposed for not being part of a throuple.). The Politician Season 2 is bold, campier, and somehow wilder than before. Here's everything we know about The Politician season 2. Ryan Murphy created an excellent storyline in this season. The second season of The Politician on Netflix was somehow even crazier than the first, presenting yet another wild election campaign packed with shocking scandals and betrayals. The first season of Ryan Murphy’s The Politician had laid bare the idea of a dramatic comedy aimed at Gen Z, who react to mental Zen and facial zits with equal fervour. After a tie (that’s later disproven), Dede concedes to her opponent (rather than play rock-paper-scissors for the Senate seat), and Payton wins. It’s barely interested in anything, as writers Brad Falchuk, Ian Brennan, and Murphy lean on predictable twists, bloodless backstabbing, and redundant schemes to make up for having nothing to say about the character shells we’re meant to care about, let alone the actual country we supposedly share. She’s also too bored, it turns out, to follow through on her secession plans for California — just one more false promise from a politician, and one more empty tease from a show built on air. “It’s about authenticity, Payton.”, Apply that advice to the series, and it’s easy to see “The Politician” as a hollow, superficial, con job. Sign up for our Email Newsletters here. Some characters from Season 1 continue to play a prominent role, while others are dramatically scaled back; beyond Bette Midler as Dede's campaign manager, perhaps the season's biggest jolt of electricity is the reappearance of Infinity (Zoey Deutch), whose life has changed dramatically since her high school days. Each three-way is only there to look woke while creating love triangles, quadrangles, and, most of all, campaign controversy. Audience Reviews for The Politician: Season 1. Covering the hottest movie and TV topics that fans want. From the episode runtimes to the multiple throuples to the wild tangents, the second season is all over the place. While The Politician can't be blamed for the timing, perhaps it might have been wiser to wait on releasing the season. Gwyneth Paltrow — who once argued water has feelings — take us to the promised land, oh great leader! Still haunted by his dead friend (played by David Corenswet) and constantly unsure of his moral compass, he’s supposed to be searching for his true self (same as Season 1): Does he really believe in a greater good, or does he only believe in himself? Episode 5, which frames its story from a mother and daughter campaigning for Dede and Payton, respectively, comes closest to having something to say about candidates built on talking points and liberals working together for a better future — but, again, any potential for substance is thrown out the door in favor of a neat and tidy resolution (one that’s surprisingly agist, much like the rest of Season 2). Netflix Acquires Phil Lord and Chris Miller-Produced 'Connected' from Sony, Film Gets New Title What matters here is speed. With Ben Platt, Zoey Deutch, Lucy Boynton, Julia Schlaepfer. Simpson were driven by other writers. In the first episode of “The Politician” Season 2, Gwyneth Paltrow’s divorcée-turned-activist-turned-politician, Georgina Hobart, announces her plan for California to secede from the union. The Politician ends its first season by finally setting up a race worth running. close(x) Help kids deal with news coverage of the attack on the U.S. Capitol. 'WandaVision': Who's the Voice on the Radio? Rather than focusing on conservatives dreaming of independence from gays, minorities, and more people who only want to save their lives, the second season of Ryan Murphy’s Netflix series pitches a perspective tailor-made for its audience of liberal drama-hounds. Shallow and messy, but not in a fun way, The Politician's second term expands its political horizons but doesn't seem to know what to do with them. Ben Travers The Politician Season 2 is streaming now on Netflix. Netflix's political satire The Politician is back for another season, and the race to the top is wilder than ever. 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Season 2 The Politician Critics Consensus. But while at times the second season is quite watchable — 90 percent of the time thanks to its cast — the show doesn't really know what it wants to say about, well, anything. [Editor's note: The following contains spoilers through the Season 2 finale of The Politician, "Election Day."]. Read Common Sense Media's The Politician review, age rating, and parents guide. Season 2 ends with Payton poised to make his next big career leap, but he still feels like a hollow character, a construct rather than a human, because The Politician simply can't settle down and live up to its title. B. TV Reviews The Politician 9/29/19. 2020 Get The Latest IndieWire Alerts And Newsletters Delivered Directly To Your Inbox. But how did Dede get to the White House? Sign up for our Email Newsletters here. Facebook Twitter. “The Politician” Season 2 is streaming now on Netflix. 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