This September, Netflix released a new tv show called The Politician. The show circulates the life of a teenage boy with one goal in life: to become the President of the United States. To accomplish this, main character Payton Hobart must check off two things, become president of his school and get into Harvard. The show features a large ensemble cast from superstars (Gwyneth Paltrow) to Broadway stars (Ben Platt) to hollywood newbies (Julia Schlaepfer). 

The Politician discusses the inner workings of political agendas in a way that has never been done before. It’s shown not only in the school politics, but the same kind of drama that occurs in politics can been seen in the life of Payton Hobart. They especially focused on shedding light on the current cultural issues such as racism, homophobia, sexism, and more within the powerful movements and speeches in the show.

“I thought the relationships between the characters were really interesting. You never knew if someone was really telling the truth, or if a really big lie was about to come out” said junior Danielle Guillemain.

The show features a strong rivalry against Payton and Astrid Sloane, his competition for the presidency. The two have feuded for their entire lives, so Astrid jumps at the opportunity to rob him of the one thing he wants most in life. With a plethora of emotions and fire encompassed within the show, Payton Hobart (Platt) seems to be the shell of a person, doing everything with the motive to gain supporters and win.

“The show really shows politics in a more teen-friendly way that makes it much more fun to watch. It’s very dramatized for a high school election but shows a lot of similarities to what politics are really like” said junior Siera Boffa.

The Politician has a focus on dramatizing issues ranging from high school love to crippling mental illness to murder, but contrary to how it sounds, creator Ryan Murphy gracefully merges serious topics with comedy and satire in a subtle tone worth noting. The show also features many references to true crime, compelling speeches, and interestingly enough, musical numbers, managing to encompass nearly every aspect of the popular tv shows adored by the world. 

Each season of the show is meant to be about a different character’s campaign to winning the presidency. The release date and topic of the next season is unknown at the moment because the first season just recently came out, but many fans already can’t wait to hear when they’ll get to explore the next piece of this story.