I went into The Politican thinking that it would be a comedy, because of the way the trailer is set up. However what I got wasn’t exactly the opposite, it was just more than I thought it would be. It was mainly about politics, of course, there were some things about family matters. I guess you would call those family politics. The Politician focuses on Payton Hobar (Ben Platt’s character); his life and goals as he runs and becomes student body president.

Now I will be sharing spoilers after this but I recommend to go and watch it before reading this. Besides wanting to see this show because I thought it would be a comedy, Ben Platt was the other reason. Aside from being a recognizable face, I like his music. However he isn’t the only face that’s recognizable; Zoey Deutch, Lucy Boynton, Gwyneth Paltrow and Jessica Lange who are recognizable as well. Though we have this known talent in there, I would say that everyone did a great job in investing the audience into the characters and the story as well. 

Character:

Payton is a character the intrigues me a lot. Throughout the show, with who he is and his morals. I appreciated this character a lot as I relate to some of his struggles. He would question whether or not he was a good person, and whether or not it mattered because he was doing good things. I think when you have the ambition that he had it often gets in the way of your morals but he wasn’t heartless. If he truly was then Infinity (Zoey Deutch) would probably never have gotten out of the toxic environment she was in and very well could have died. I think that throughout the show we got to watch his character grow and by the end, he learned a lot of lessons.

Since I brought her up, Infinity has some problems but I honestly loved her. Played by Zoe Deutch, Infinity is a character that has clearly been made based on Gypsy Rose Blanchard (A girl who was held captive by her mother, making her appear as though she was ill). Okay, they don’t outright say anything about it, the case in near-identical except it’s her grandmother and not her mother. Now I could be wrong but I just think that there are too many parallels for her not to be. From the beginning, I thought that Infinity was faking her illness but I ended up being wrong, as it was really her grandma poisoning her causing her to become ill. This is the same thing that Infinity’s grandma did to Infinity’s mother. It was nice to watch the case unravel and play out. Throughout the show, I got to liking Infinity more and more. She grew on me, especially once I saw that she wasn’t faking it. In fact, I would love to actually read the book Counting Backwards From Infinity if it were real. I ended being happy with the last episode of the season showing where she was after three years and how she had grown. 

Infinity’s grandmother (Jessica Lange) on the other hand ended up being one of my least favorite characters. Well, I think that she was a well-played character, I didn’t like her based on her actions. It was obvious by the end of her and Infinity’s story that she had something mentally wrong with her. That she wasn’t an evil person per se, but nonetheless killing people to keep them close to her. I don’t have any sympathy for her going to jail.

Georgina, Payton’s mother is played by Gwyneth Paltrow. She has to be one of my other favorite characters because she reminds me of my mother in a few ways. She also happens to be a great mother and one of the most selfless characters throughout the season. I was sad that I didn’t get to see her in the season finale, possibly the finale for the show. She was willing to do almost anything for Payton, including staying in a relationship that she didn’t want to be in. She also loved her older children who were probably some of the worst human beings on the planet. She loved them even though they tried to hurt her too. Her main drive was the love she has for Peyton and in the 7th episode, she left him to go find her love. I don’t think that she did that just for herself because I think she knew that Peyton would learn from her leaving. That he would get taught some lessons. In the airports, she tells him to cry at her departure and that that he does. Showing his growth as a character and the strength of the love Georgina has for her son, willing to hurt him in order to make him a good person. 

Let me complain about who in my opinion is the bad guys. Payton’s brothers are some of the worst human beings on the planet or next to at least. They were willing to kill their father so that way their brother didn’t get into the power of the family and inherit his money. Even though their mother gave them money in their time of need they still worked against her because they wanted to spite Payton. By the end of the season, we didn’t see them get what they deserved, which is why I am hoping to see them next season. As for the father, I think that he is a very foolish man. He was looking to keep the illusion of a perfect family, even if that meant putting his two biological sons who attempted to kill him, in his house again. It was stated by Georgina that they would never have gone through with it but still, it was foolish to keep them in the house.

Now as for Ricardo, he wasn’t a bad guy so much so as he was an idiot and almost killed Payton as well. This was to make so Infinity was happy in the end, but taking someone’s life…really? He was stupid and I felt bad for him because he loved Infinity but regardless I’m glad that he went to jail.

Skye didn’t end up being the villain so much so she ended up being in the grey area. Her poisoning Payton wasn’t an okay move, no matter the excuse not even if it was to save her life. People make mistakes and she did pay for that, so when we caught up with her in the last episode of the season, we learned that she had anger problems. Well, I don’t think that it was ok, she still did it by mistake out of blurred vision. She recognized her actions and owned up to them so in my eyes she redeemed herself.

Plot:

Well, it wasn’t clear on whether or not we would get another season as in a way it did tie up the loose ends that it had by episode seven, it brought in the start of another story in episode eight. One that could be left now has loose ends and leaves us wanting to know what’s going to happen with this new election run. I would personally like to see how this new team works, seeing as it has enemies and friends together. All of the characters throughout the first season I grew to care about. With this ending, it makes appear as though it does want to get another season.

Final Score:

I would say that this show warrants a 9/10 from me. I found it enjoyable to the highest degree (I guess that would be 10/10 wouldn’t it, shh that doesn’t matter.) With relatable characters and interesting ones as well, an intriguing story to follow, this show ended up being more than just a comedy and I think that it deserves a lot of recognition for having many things to go for in it. Out of the many shows, Netflix produces this has to be one of the good ones. (Still waiting for more Gilmore Girls). If you come all this way and haven’t watched it, then I hope you’re happy. Now go and watch it!