Round Two: The Politician

The Politician: Season 1, Episode 2 “The Harrington Commode” (B+)

This second installment was a superb follow-up to the first, demonstrating that this show has a whole lot to offer on many different fronts. As tends to be the case with Ryan Murphy shows, the music is terrific, and helps to set the tone for all of the events portrayed on screen. In addition to multiple Murphy shows like “Pose” and “Scream Queens,” Mac Quayle also composes the music for “Mr. Robot.” Opening the episode with presidential election trivia was also a nice treat, and I hope that’s a regular move that continues as the series does. We met Bob Balaban as Georgina’s much older husband, and after he jumped off the roof because she told him she was in love with someone else, Payton’s plan to show his adoptive father that he was much more loyal to him than his elder brothers played out in a very entertaining manner. There is certainly a lot of direct communication in this show’s universe where people say what they mean in an explicit manner, like Payton responding to Dusty’s “What’s in it for us?” with a confirmation that she wanted to know if he’d pay for a Disney cruise. Similarly, Payton’s acceptance to Harvard was contingent on a generous donation, something he didn’t want to do since it felt wrong and inauthentic to him. Determining whether Infinity is in fact faking her cancer continues to be a complicated matter, and Payton is going to have to figure out how to confront her with what he believes is proof that she’s lying. One of the best aspects of the pilot was actor David Corenswet, who played River and looks like a cross between Tom Welling and Matt Bomer, and I’m glad that he’s still going to be appearing in a limited capacity in flashbacks. I’m excited to continue to watch this show one episode at a time!