TV Review: The Politician

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Plot: Payton Hobart, a wealthy student from Santa Barbara, California, has known since age seven that he's going to be President of the United States. But first he'll have to navigate the most treacherous political landscape of all: Saint Sebastian High School. To get elected Student Body President, secure a spot at Harvard, and stay on his singular path to success, Payton will have to outsmart his ruthless classmates without sacrificing his own morality and carefully crafted image. 

Review: There are few producers as recognizable as Ryan Murphy. Having hit nerves with pop culture behemoths like Glee and American Horror Story before making significant statements about society with American Crime Story and Pose, Murphy left his home with 20th Century Fox and started a massive new deal with Netflix. With documentaries and series in various stages of development, his first project for the streaming service is The Politician starring Ben Platt and Gwyneth Paltrow. With a shiny pair of trailers building buzz, the eight episode first season premiered today and the result is a show that feels like Murphy's version of indie hit ELECTION but not nearly as narratively coherent.

The Politician deals with the same themes as a lot of Ryan Murphy series but it shares most in common with Glee. Following a cast playing high school students, the focus is on Payton, a closeted gay teen who wants to be school president and get into Harvard so that he can eventually be elected President of the United States. Having studied Commander in Chiefs going back to Ronald Reagan, Payton seems ruthless and cunning like Lea Michele on Glee or Tracy Flick in ELECTION. But, as the show begins to delve deeper into the rest of the cast of characters, the series begins to lose focus and starts to enter the surrealism of shows like Riverdale or dark comedy movies like HEATHERS. While none of these are bad comparisons, The Politician doesn't stick with just one which leads it to feel unfocused and thematically inconsistent.

The Politician has moments that are quite interesting as characters like Infinity (Zoey Deutch) and her grandmother (the always excellent Jessica Lange) echo Hulu's The Act and even Gwyneth Paltrow who seems to be almost spoofing her real life company Goop. But, even as this cast plays their roles well, it is clearly obvious how they are all at least a decade older than the characters they are playing. Maybe that is a necessity as The Politician deals in very adult material and takes the concept of an election cycle and puts it into the smaller stakes of high school. But, high school elections are not nearly as sprawling as national campaigns which makes it seem almost ridiculous to hear these teens discussing polling numbers, running mates, and other concepts that are far beyong the setting of this series. While it is a satire, it starts to strain the limits of credulity before the end of the first episode.

Ryan Murphy clearly knows how to spot talent and with this series he catered the project to stat Ben Platt. Platt, best known on the big screen for a supporting role in PITCH PERFECT, broke into the zeitgeist with his award-winning turn in the Broadway musical Dear Evan Hansen. Platt is a talented performer and singer and Murphy knew he had to build some of that into this story which is why it was inevitable for at least one musical number to make it into the pilot episode. No, The Politician is not another Glee, but it is hard not to think of the FOX series whenever a character breaks into song. But, this does illustrate just how all over the place that The Politician becomes.

With such a talented cast including Lange, Deutch, January Jones, Dylan McDermott, Bob Balaban, Lucy Boynton, as well as guest stars like Judith Light, Teddy Sears, Bette Midler, and Joe Morton, The Politician is not nearly as dark as I expected nor as searing as I hoped for. Ryan Murphy has crafted a show that could have been as guttural as House of Cards or as hilarious as Veep but instead has a series that, like it's protagonist, doesn't really have much below a superficial top layer. As a fan of Murphy's oeuvre, I was hoping this show would have a bit more bite, but it is all bark. I am sure his dedicated fans will enjoy the show, but by the season finale you can already see the show is preparing to reinvent itself. Maybe that will make The Politician worth a second look.

The Politician is now streaming on Netflix.

Netflix

GOOD

7