The Politician is an American comedy-drama TV series made by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Ian Brennan and released on Netflix. The three members also serve as executive producers with Alexis Martin Woodall, Ben Platt, and Gwyneth Paltrow. The series is based on the story of Payton Hobart, a wealthy Santa Barbaran, and each season shows around a different political race his character is involved in.
What is the story of The Politician?
The first season is set at the fictional Saint Sebastian High School in Santa Barbara, California. Payton Hobart, who has dreamt of being elected President of the United States since childhood, is standing up for student body president against the popular and athletic River Barkley. Payton, under the direction of his ambitious friends McAfee Westbrook, James Sullivan, and Alice Charles, chooses Infinity Jackson, a cancer patient and victim of Munchausen by Proxy disorder, to be his vice-president. Meanwhile, River, under the direction of his girlfriend Astrid Sloan, chooses Skye Leighton, a gender-nonconforming black classmate, to be his vice-president.
The second season is set in New York City and Albany, New York. Payton, now a student at New York University, is running for a seat in the New York State Senate against incumbent Majority Leader Dede Standish. Payton, under the direction of his former classmates and climate change activist Infinity Jackson, runs an ecocentric campaign. Standish, under the direction of her conniving campaign manager Hadassah Gold, runs a more conservative campaign. Meanwhile, Payton’s mother, Georgina Hobart, is running to be Governor of California.
What are the characters in The Politician?
- Ben Platt as Payton Hobart
- Zoey Deutch as Infinity Jackson
- Lucy Boynton as Astrid Sloan
- Bob Balaban as Keaton Hobart
- David Corenswet as River Barkley
- Julia Schlaepfer as Alice Charles
- Laura Dreyfuss as McAfee Westbrook
- Theo Germaine as James Sullivan
- Rahne Jones as Skye Leighton
- Benjamin Barrett as Ricardo
- Jessica Lange as Dusty Jackson
- Gwyneth Paltrow as Georgina Hobart
- Judith Light as Dede Standish
- Bette Midler as Hadassah Gold
