Ryan Murphy’s The Politician Isn’t the Mandate Netflix Needs
Although the Election-esque series is a lot of ridiculous fun along the way
Ben Platt as Payton Hobart in The Politician. Rahne Jones, Laura Dreyfuss, and Theo Germaine co-star.
Photographer: Courtesy of Netflix
If you’ve seen the 1999 film Election, starring Matthew Broderick as an irritated civics teacher and Reese Witherspoon as the indelible striver Tracy Flick, then you’re familiar with the basic plot and some of the main themes of The Politician, Netflix’s first series from super-producer Ryan Murphy out Sept. 27. The comparisons started almost as soon as the first trailer went out: “Ryan Murphy’s New Netflix Show The Politician Is Election on Steroids” (Vice); “Ryan Murphy’s The Politician Trailer: It’s Like Election—But With Ben Platt and Possibly Murder” (The Wrap); “What if you took the movie Election but turned it into a Ryan Murphy show on Netflix? That seems to be the premise of the dark comedy The Politician” (Vulture).
Like Election, The Politician is primarily about an ambitious anti-hero (played by Ben Platt, who we’ll get to in a bit) who’s convinced their entire future hangs on winning the office of student body president. Unlike Election, which is decidedly satire, The Politician at first seems insecure in its self-identity. Is it burlesque? Is it melodrama? Is it bildungsroman? The answer is that it’s a Ryan Murphy show, i.e. all three and then some.