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‘The Comey Rule: Night One’: Trump's voters should watch the show even if they don't believe it, says Internet

The Showtime limited series takes a look at Comey’s short tenure in the FBI, especially in 2016 and 2017

Spoilers for ‘The Comey Rule: Night One’

Billy Ray’s Showtime limited series ‘The Comey Rule’, based the book ‘A Higher Loyalty’ by former FBI director James Comey, takes a look at Comey’s short tenure in the FBI, especially in 2016 and 2017, when he oversaw the bureau’s investigations into Hillary Clinton’s emails and the possibility of Russian intrusion in the 2016 US presidential election. 

In ‘Night One’, at just over one hour and thirty-five minutes long, the episode — if one can call it an episode — sees the appointment of Comey by President Obama, and swiftly moves on to two hugely controversial cases: 'Midyear Exam,' the investigation into Hillary Clinton's emails while serving as Secretary of State, and 'Crossfire Hurricane,' an investigation into Russia's ongoing attempts to derail the presidential election of 2016.

‘The Comey Rule’ is interesting enough, especially if you’re politically savvy and were hooked on to news channels in the runup to the last elections, and after. But for a story that intends to highlight what is presumably one of the biggest political controversies since Watergate, it doesn’t tell the story well. There are some parts that are great, for example, the deliberations of the FBI chief and his staff about whether or not to make a public announcement about their findings on the Clinton emails. But there are other parts that are not explained well and would leave viewers who did not follow the news hungrily a little confused.

But does the show’s importance hinge only on its storytelling? With the show airing just a little bit before what is possibly one of the most important elections in the history of the country, does it intend to make an impact on voters? Even with no significant appearance in the first part, ‘The Comey Rule’ strikes a huge blow at the Trump administration, Republican voters, and the 2016 elections in general. So, what did the viewers think of the show?

Author Dan Winslow wrote on Twitter, “Trump had a bad day. 1. Trump's taxes out and his lies exposed. 2. The Comey Rule debuts on Showtime to millions BEFORE the election. 3. Brad Parscale has crazy meltdown and is rushed to the hospital.” Another Twitter user said of Trump and the show, “Watched The Comey Rule.. & it just sealed exactly what I think of him. He isn't even human. He cares nothing about anyone except himself. This is the only way he can have a stage.. cause he has no talent. America vote this dictator out. He is ruining what America ever stood for.” Another viewer of the show said, “So, I watched, 'The Comey Rule'. I hope trump's base watches it; not that they'll believe any of it.”

And with that in mind, many other fans of the first part urged others to watch it as well. One Twitter user wrote, “Watch The Comey Rule and then convince everyone you know who is voting to watch it.” But not everyone seemed to be a fan. One Twitter user said, “Watched pt 1 of The Comey Rule. Extremely interesting subject matter, great (type) cast.. However not sure if its the scriptwriting or the editing, it doesn't seem to flow very well — possibly has been put together in a bit of a hurry (or on a tight budget)? Still keen to see pt2.” Another person noted, “I watched The Comey Rule. The basic theme is JC is a good honest man and the Orange man is bad. The FBI has Weiner’s laptop, they reviewed over 40,000 Hillary emails in 19 days and found no criminal activity. They have the perv’s laptop and no one had been arrested!!!”

'The Comey Rule' premiered with Part I on September 27 at 9 pm only on Showtime. Part II follows suit the next day, same time, same network.