Ryan Murphy drops intense The Politician season 2 trailer and the agenda is spicy lube, throuples and Judith Light
Ben Platt in Netflix show The Politician
The Politician’s full length season two trailer has finally dropped — and we cannot wait.
The second season of Ryan Murphy’s camp political Netflix show is set to pick up exactly where the first left off — with Ben Platt’s Payton Hobart plotting to take on long-standing New York state senator Dede Standish, who is played by none other than Judith Light.
A time jump at the end of season one left the world of high school politics behind and set up a looming scandal on the horizon, revealing the senator to be in a secret polyamorous relationship.
The Politician’s season two trailer hints at just how dirty the election could get, with Standish vowing: “I am not giving up just because of some 22-year-old f**king rich kid! I intend to quid pro quo Payton’s tiny little heinie.”
Judith Light as Dede Standish and Bette Midler as Hadassah Gold in The Politician (Courtesy of Netflix)
Bette Midler is also along for the ride as Standish’s chief of staff, launching counter-operations to destroy Payton using a compromising photo — and, for some reason, discovering spicy lube in the process.
Payton might not be the only person in his family with political ambitions, either — with a shot of his mother, played by Gwyneth Paltrow, dancing on stage while apparently running for governor of California.
The Politician season two release date confirmed.
The official synopsis teases: “Payton Hobart (Ben Platt) fights to unseat Dede Standish (Judith Light) in the New York State Senate race.
“As a long-time incumbent and greatly admired Senate majority leader with no-nonsense chief of staff, Hadassah Gold (Bette Midler) at her side, Dede’s re-election was supposed to be easy, but Payton – who sees this as the next step on his path to the presidency – must decide what kind of politician he ultimately wants to be in order to succeed, even if that means exposing secrets, lies, and a throuple.
“Meanwhile, his mother, Georgina Hobart (Gwyneth Paltrow), makes a momentous decision that threatens to upstage him and everything he’s hoping to accomplish. But if Payton wants to rise above petty politics and succeed without compromising his character, he must find his voice and strengthen his political message to inspire and excite the voters.”
The show is set to land on Netflix on June 19.
Watch The Politician season two trailer.
Ryan Murphy reveals plans to end hit Netflix show.
Ryan Murphy initially suggested that the show would continue to follow Payton throughout his political career as he takes on bigger and bigger races — but the prolific TV creator revealed in April that he is now planning to draw it to a close after just three seasons.
He also indicated that the third season might not be on the cards for quite a while.
Murphy told Collider: “I would like to do, and I think all of us involved in it would probably like to do three seasons total, and I think where season two ends, what I would love to do is take a couple of years off and have Ben Platt get a little bit older for his final race.
“That would obviously be a presidential race, right? That’s always what we had designed, and I think that’s what our plan is.”
The Politician stars Ben Platt as Payton Hobart (Courtesy of Netflix)
Of the second season, he said: “I love how Payton has grown up. He’s now in college, and the best thing about the season is the Ben Platt versus Bette Midler and Judith Light aspect.
“It feels very adult, it feels very topical. It’s sort of a story about baby boomers asking themselves, ‘Is it time for us to pass the power that we have onto the next generation or are they too dumb to figure it out yet?’ And I think you can see that battle playing out daily in our political landscape.
“And it’s what it’s about, and it’s a very cutthroat race that they run. It feels much more adult, much more sexualised. It’s really great. And Ben, but particularly Judith and Bette Midler really, I think, their performances are extraordinary.”
