A high school world in the eye of wealth and poise is the focus of Netflix’s new show, The Politician. Payton Hobart, portrayed by broadway star Ben Platt, is a driven student at Saint Sebastian High School. Aiming for the position of President of the United States in his upcoming adulthood, Hobart announces his campaign for class council president, stirring a series of events that he would eventually come to regret. 

Following the suicide of his close friend and companion, River, Payton embarks on a competitive political campaign against River’s girlfriend, Astrid. In making the tough decision for running mate and vice president, he chooses a young classmate of his, named Infinity, that’s fighting cancer, or so he thinks.

Being the first season of the series, the writers focused most of the script on setting up the plot and creating dynamics between characters for upcoming seasons. The originality of the show, however, is where the majority of my criticisms are based. With the topics of suicide, murder, and false accusations in the themes of many of the episodes, I found striking similarities to Thirteen Reasons Why, docking points for individuality.

Not only are these similarities found between the plots of other shows, but they’re also seen in the stories of real life. Take the Gypsy Rose Blanchard case of 2015, for example. Gypsy Rose and her boyfriend were charged with the murder of Gypsy’s mom, Dee Dee Blanchard, after Gypsy had been the victim of Munchausen by proxy, a mental disorder in which a guardian fakes illnesses for attention gain. In The Politician, Infinity and her relationship with her boyfriend, Ricardo, and her grandmother share many resemblances with Gypsy Rose Blanchard and this popular true crime case of the 2010s.

Starting off slow, the show took a couple of episodes to pick up speed and really catch my attention. It’s clear to audiences that this first season is more of a set-up for season two than it is an actual plotline. After finishing the last episode, I’m very eager for season two, and what it has in store.

Despite these issues, the show was overall entertaining and ultimately worth the time spent watching the eight episodes, each averaging around forty-seven minutes. Ben Platt, who plays Payton Hobart, did a masterful job playing a high schooler, with the emotions and behaviorisms portrayed exquisitely. Alongside Platt was actress, Zoey Deutch, playing Infinity Jackson. As a young vice president candidate, being the victim of Munchausen by proxy, Deutch had a very different role to take on than any of the other cast members. I found her performance to be excellent and admirable, despite the difficult role she plays.

With all of these factors in mind, I’d give The Politician a three-star rating. It’s an unoriginal plotline with wonderful execution and a talented cast. I do, however, have high hopes for the future of the show and cannot wait to see what creators Ryan Murphy, Ian Brennan, and Brad Falchuk come up with next.