The Politician Season 2 Review: A Disappointing Second Term

(Warning: This review contains spoilers for Season 2 of The Politician.)

In preparing to review the second season of The Politician, I revisited my review of Season 1. Truthfully, I could write similar reflections for its second season.

The Politician leans into similar mistakes and achievements as before, which honestly might be the most consistent thing about this wildly inconsistent, uneven show.

Here’s what remains unchanged: the series is still visually stunning and with the show’s universe expanding beyond California, there’s no shortage of gorgeous cinematography or immaculately dressed sets.

Even the costuming is a sight to behold: while many will cite Payton’s (Ben Platt) bevy of suits as a highlight, my vote for best dressed goes to McAfee (Laura Dreyfuss) and Georgina (Gwyneth Paltrow) who both give new meaning to pow(d)er suits.

The cast, particularly new series regulars Judith Light and Bette Midler, are almost uniformly exceptional which is part of what makes The Politician so frustrating. During my viewing, I often found my mind wandering, considering what it would be like if all of these great talents were on a less mediocre show.

That’s not to say that there aren’t moments where the cast is able to rise above the material.

Midler and Light do this most consistently, though their tactics are different. Midler runs away with the bulk of the best lines of the season and milks them for all they’re worth. A terribly stupid and overly long gag about spicy lube on The Politician Season 2 Episode 4 “Hail Mary” is only tolerable because of how well she commits to it. It’s a credit to her comedic instincts that she knows what beats to play there.

Light, on the other hand, plays her storylines like Shakespeare, lending far more gravitas and meaning to all of her line delivery than the script or story probably deserves.

Together, these two are the glue of the season, even whilst being stuck in so-so storylines like the throuple plot that loses steam quickly and limps along for several episodes too many.

Lucy Boynton’s Astrid and Julia Schlaepfer’s Alice also steal focus in the best possible ways. For the most part, these two are treated as extensions of Payton, with Astrid often serving as his foil and Alice boxed into her identity as his self-sacrificing, codependent partner.

Much like Light and Midler though, Boynton and Schlaepfer stretch their material to the limit. Their scenes on Episode 6 “What’s In the Box?” and Episode 7 “Election Day” are season highlights.

Both women wrestle with revelations about the people they’re developing into and while there are many stories happening concurrently on The Politician, it’s their journey and performances that make the most impact. (Though, as is the case with the show, both stories seem abruptly cut short in favor of less interesting plot points).

This is especially impressive in Boynton’s case, as she logs so little screen time compared to other series regulars; her performance is just that good. If you’re going to insist on her presence next season then at least take advantage of her tremendous talent, The Politician!

That Alice and and Astrid are coming into their own and better understanding themselves only draws more attention to The Politician‘s main problem: Payton.

Make no mistake: I am a living, breathing human, and as such, I possess a significant amount of adoration for Ben Platt. His charisma is undeniable but the show doesn’t always seem to know what to make of Payton, which makes Platt’s job nearly impossible.

It also doesn’t help that when the show doesn’t know what else to do with Payton, it gives him a musical number. Platt’s vocal ability and musicality is hard to match, but narratively, the songs this season are a total cheat. While they may be a beautiful distraction, they are nevertheless still a distraction.

The Politician has always hesitated to label Payton an antihero; even while showing him do many morally questionable things, it’s tried to have its-cake-and-eat-it-too, showing his pained introspection or hints of sincerity and kindness.

This season, it flirts with the idea often, especially when Payton weighs whether he’s going to turn in a stolen ballot-box. After finding out he won the election fair and square on Episode 7 “Election Day,” Payton is inspired and recommits to his constituents, seemingly purified from his win.

When the series checks in on him two years after his triumph, he seems unaffected by his previous ambitious inclinations. He’s happy to merely focus on doing good work in the state senate, even as his mother rises to the highest elected office in the land.

But it doesn’t really make sense, and the time jump robs us from seeing most of the development that would make this change in perspective feel plausible or earned.

As such, the Payton of the first six episodes of the season doesn’t quite line up with the one we get on the seventh and it’s hard to know what to make of the closing revelation that Payton and Dede will team up for a White House run.

Is Payton truly a changed man, willing to fall in line and play second fiddle to his old foe so he can have a chance at serving the greater good? Or, has his old self just been lying dormant playing a long game and he’ll be back to his conniving, power-hungry ways in no time? 

Past evidence suggests this could go either way, though personally, I’d love to see Platt and Light act out a major fall-out between Dede and Payton next season. More than anything though, I’d just love to have some coherence to the Payton character. 

Understandably, the issue with Payton’s character is a byproduct of The Politician‘s biggest weakness. It has many ideas — actually too many ideas — but can’t quite figure out how to tie them all together.

As a result, its overall plotting feels disjointed, its character development is all over the place, and it feels as though its scripts’ biggest priorities are how to showcase specific vignettes or one-liners rather than how to drive all the characters towards a clear end. (That the episode lengths are also wildly different certainly doesn’t telegraph clear, intentional plotting either).

The one time all season where the show’s plotting, character development, and ambition coalesce are on Episode 5, “The Voters.”

Similar to Season 1’s strongest episode, “The Voters” is a bottle episode, following a mother-daughter pair who fall on opposite sides of the political spectrum and see their candidates of choice in a new light by the end of Election Day.

Anchored by strong performances by Robin Weigert and Susannah Perkins, the episode is pitch-perfect, funny, and rife with commentary on politics, the generational divide, and how to cut through noise and disillusionment to fight for real change.

It’s also proof that The Politician is capable of excellence.

The Politician, much like the politicians we see in real life, knows how to whet our appetites, leaving us with hope and anticipation for the future and a belief that things really will be different. Despite numerous flaws, the strength of “The Voters” along with the seeds planted on the season’s final episode “Election Day” set forth a compelling premise for what’s next.

Will the show be able to rise to the occasion and achieve a record with more hits than misses during a third season/run? So far, exit polls suggest no, but I’d love to see this turn around and foolishly, despite my better instincts, I believe it will. I guess that’s politics for you…

Lingering thoughts:

• I’d like to applaud the clever title of the second episode, “Conscious Unthroupling” and tip my hat to the senses of humor of show runner Ian Falchuk and his wife, Gwyneth Paltrow. Paltrow’s really never going to live “conscious uncoupling” down, is she?
• While brief, it’s wonderful to see Heather Burns, of Miss Congeniality fame, back on screen.
• River is referenced throughout this season. The show essentially retcons his relationship with Payton and in doing so, denies both his and Payton’s bisexuality. It’s a baffling choice and the erasure diminishes some of Payton’s complexity.
• Assuming the series gets a season three order, it’s safe to say there will be another bottle episode focused on voting. What will be the angle this time?

What did you think of this season of The Politician? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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The Politician is now available to stream on Netflix. 

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