What I’m Watching: The Politician

The Politician: Season 2, Episode 3 “Cancel Culture” (B+)

This season really has taken on an increased relevance since its release, surely not something that could have been predicted when it was filmed. The way in which Payton and his campaign team so flippantly discuss cultural appropriation and all that feels so trivial given what’s currently going on in the country, and the uproar over a Halloween costume Payton wore as a six-year-old was clearly meant to parody the way in which people are so eager to cancel things that seem mildly offensive. There are evidently bigger things to worry about today, though Payton took advantage of the fact that a cultural slight would attract the attention of his opponent and encourage them to think that he really was flailing. It’s a bit exhausting to follow the many threads of duplicity that exist on this show, and it’s hard to believe that, after everything, McAfee is still willing to do whatever Payton tells her, which now means embedding herself in Dede’s campaign, outing Andrew as the mole while she’s actually acting as a double agent. We saw more of Infinity in this episode, telling Andrew off when she finally met with him and standing by her environmental attitude by forcing Payton and Skye to abide by rather stringent and restrictive guidelines that they couldn’t hope to achieve. Alice revealed her thruple arrangement with Astrid rather bluntly, and I suppose there can only be so many secrets hidden at one time. Georgina is so far ahead in the polls that she’s ready to retreat from society, and it’s exactly that kind of overconfidence that will likely make her Tino’s top choice for his running mate.