User reviews

I don't mean that in a good way. The Politician starts out smart, dark and addictive, then rapidly descended into a s**t tornado, minus the gold.

His tendency to rely on histrionics and maudlin song performances and ghostly apparitions in attempts to manipulate his audience into feeling all the feels pushes you past saturation point (he did the same to Pose, which also started out amazing before morphing into Glee) and ironically, it loses all its potency.

There is some lazy writing by way of information dumps and less than subtle exposition (especially in the last episode), but the cast are generally great. And visually it's great. And it really does start out great. Shame about the last half of the season.

It's got beautiful, quirky, flawed, interesting characters. I instantly got a Wes Anderson vibe. Pulled me right in.

I hate rating anything artistic. Taste is subjective. So don't go by my Stars. If you like things that are a little off center, give it a try.

I have just seen the first episode and this show is so fresh with never a dull moment.

First of all, the acting in this series is phenomenal and the cast is amazing. Ben Platt's character Payton is truly layered as are most of the characters.

Secondly, the visuals of most scenery is beautiful and makes The Politician an even bigger delight to watch.

At last I want to say that Ryan Murphy and his team did it again and better than ever. I'm trying to think of something negative but I truly cannot find it at this moment.

I hope you all enjoy The Politician as much as I am doing.

How Come All the High School Students Look 30 Years Old?????

Ryan Murphy does not stop. "The Politician" is a black comedy with some heavy psychological scenes that bring us to the political reality of the United States through an insight into teens. Starring Daytime Emmy winner, Ben Platt brings us a political figure that we are used to seeing in front of the audience, but never what's behind it. And this is the reality that Ryan wants to show it. With performances that deserve an Emmy Award from Jessica Lange to Gwyneth Paltrow and, perhaps for Best Guest Actress - Bette Midler, who is back in the television world. A brilliantly written argument, with a praise achievement and a very diverse and talented cast. It will probably take a few nominations for the Emmys. Well done!

Watched it all in one sitting I need season 2 now.

...maybe you're quarantined at home and you've run out of other shows on Netflix. Maybe you have seen the trailor and want to enjoy some form of escapism from the current presidential election by watching a series about a fictional election. I don't know. I will give you some advice. If you have nothing better to do, then watch this show.

That sounds harsh. Why do I say that?

The Politician never found its identity and, as a result, it's a chaotic wild ride of a show. It's not so bad that it's not enjoyable, but it's not coherent enough to be really good.

It can't decide whether it is a drama, a teen soap. a musical, a comedy, or parody. This show incorporates so many different elements that I got whiplash watching it. If it had just stuck with theme, it could have been excellent. The central premise of the show is solid and engaging and the cast did a good job. But I never understood what this show was trying to tell me. Was it trying to mock the political process? Was it trying to hyperobolize (is that a word?) human experience to show just how strange we humans are? Was it trying to depict the human struggle with loss and grief? Was it trying to mock similar shows? Was it trying to be a romance? I have no idea. Maybe that's my problem and I'm just not smart enough to understand but I've never been this confused about the underlying theme, central message, or aim of a show before. (Or maybe the confusion is itself the goal of the show?)

TLDR: It's a confusing, funny, sad, weird little show. It could be good in the second season if the writers try to pull together some coherent themes so I'll probably watch it just to see what they do. It's not a complete waste of time and it does have its moments, but there are so many better, similarly-themed shows that it's hard not to be critical of this one. Check it out if you have nothing else to do and see what you think. Maybe you can make better sense out of it than me.

Great acting, roller coaster of some fun, some depth and some good old fashioned drama. A nice production and it follows a Murphy-style.

Side note: I'm sure I'm not the only one tired of people lately reviewing shows as they were political news. Leave politics out of IMDb, please. Rate shows and film on their story telling, not any political themes. What's great about entertainment is that we get to see all kinds of stories!

I was really excited about this series. How can you go wrong with Ryan Murphy and team but it was a mishmash of plot lines with inconsistent story telling. It was glee, a bit American Horror and other stuff just thrown in. The story had so many subplots that it drowned out the core theme of a young man's obsession with being the President. If not for the great cast, this would be a bomb.

Loving Ryan Murphy new show, fast paced, dark humoured, not what you think, great acting by everyine in it so far, even gwyneth paltrow is fascinating. Jessica lange as usual brings her scene stealing characters, multi layeyed and complex.. Ryan Murphy and Netflix is a rip roaring hit. Nearly finished season one and wanting more. Bring it on

I only watched two episodes of The Politician and I don't think I can suffer through anymore. These "kids" are supposed to be in high school yet every single one of them looks at least thirty. What high school student wears a suit to school or a sweater set with a pencil skirt ? I love Bette Midler but I couldn't continue watching it.

***EDIT - I watched the rest of season one and all of season two. While I still argue that ALL of the actors look way older than they're supposed to be and that high schoolers don't dress or talk like that it did get better.

I definitely enjoyed the second season a lot more than the first although I can't stand Infinity (Zoey Deutch) has got to be one of the most annoying characters I've ever seen especially her "baby" voice.

No, I don't think this Show deserves a 10/10 but it's certainly not a 2 or a 4, that's just ridiculous. It's an 8.5 at its best and a 7 at its worst.

Netflix describes it as a quirky comedy series and honestly, that's what it is! It's a fun ride for everyone who enjoys over the top / cheesy / cliche movies and tv shows like Mean Girls, Scream Queens, Heathers and so on.

You're not supposed to take this show too seriously since it's basically a parody about high school politics.

+ The acting is fantastic. So go and watch it and judge for yourself.

After watching season 2, I feel dissapointed, let's drop moments that are unrealistic (adult schoolchilds in first season, election campaign in a single school that looks more expensive than some state elections). Without that, first season was new and fresh, with interesting twists and themes, sometimes twists were too steep and unjustified, but, in general first season left a positive impact. The season two is worse, a lot of moments you saw in first season are repeating, sometimes characters act illogicaly that make viewer unable to sympathize them,Payton's mother achievements looks too bloated,Astrid lost her spark, Infinity isn't disclosed, from my point of view, showrunners could write a better script and take more time, because the only problem is a script, actors game - good, costumes and style - nice, locations and images - pleasant for eyes. End of the season clearly reveals that it will be third season, and ,maybe fourth. And for the end, I have a feeling that I know the ending of this story

I binged 5 of the 8 episodes (only stopped to get some sleep). I think it's a clever show with constant twists and turns and it hooked me quickly. Love Jessica Lange"s performance as well as the rest of the outstanding cast.

So much potential. Such a great Cast. It Started well, but as it happens in every Ryan Murphy shows, the writers loose interest throughout the middle of the series. So by the end of the first Season you dont know what the show was about. That last episode was confusing and exhausting. all thrown to the garbage. I only give it a 6 for the first 6 episodes and for Gwyneth Paltrow.

It's a miss so don't worry skipping this tv show.

Another great show by Ryan Murphy has seen the daylight. This is a great series, with a great storyline. The acting is fantastic. You will laugh through the series because the lines are so well written. Overall a great show!!!

Loved it. I binged watched the entire show in 3 days and i have to say it was an absolute joy. While i will admit the characters are a bit dull at times, the story and dialogue is good enough that you can forget about it. This is a must see!

How can a student running for student body president be receiving college admissions letters, which happens in spring of senior year? Did the writers graduate high school?

Ben platt. period. the singing, the drama, it's amazing.

This started off well enough, but Ryan Murphy gave into every one of his worst traits as a writer and director, and collected them all here in one glossy, ridiculous package. By E04, we were just hate-watching. I guess it's worth it to stick with the entire 8-episode season if for no other reason than E08 with Bette Midler and Judith Light, giving it their all. But setting up what could be a fun second season with two of the most brilliant actresses ever seems a high price to pay for the previous seven episodes which veered wildly in tone and were too often over-burdened with increasingly convoluted plot points. I will say, though, this is the first time Gwyneth hasn't annoyed me in a role in years, and Jessica Lange was great, as always. While several songs were nonsensically shoehorned in just so Ben Platt could sing, it's worth it since his voice is amazing. I wish I had seen "Dear Evan Hansen" with him in it. I'd say give this one a try if you want an twisted, amped-up, cotton candy-colored version of "Election" (which still ranks as one of my favorite movies ever).

The opening screen has a little warning on it proclaiming this to be satire.

Here's the thing, Satire uses humor to ridicule and criticize. The keyword here is humor. If you get 30+ years old to play highschoolers and just have them blurt out the message it's no longer funny.

I also keep waiting from them to burst into song, this thing has such a strong Glee vibe to it.

Poorly scripted, nobody is likable or interesting and a few episodes in ends up loosing itself in subplots. Skip it.

After watching the first episode I had to continue watching all the episodes. It's edgy, sexy and with a bit of dark humor. The show has a lot of it, not just because it's a Ryan Murphy production, but because it also asks you to believe actors in their mid-twenties can convincingly portray teenage students. With only a minor amount of policy discussed, it is easy to follow for the non political enthusiasts. Congrats Netflix and I hope there's more like this to come.