'The Politician' Season 2 Ending Explained: Will Payton contest the presidential election in Season 3?
Spoilers for ‘The Politician’ Season 2
The fate of Payton Hobart (Ben Platt), the complicated and flawed protagonist of ‘The Politician’, is one full of many great things. In the just-released season 2 of the Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Ian Brennan comedy series on Netflix, the barely-experienced Payton battles with two seasoned politicians - Dede Standish (Judith Light), and her Chief of Staff, Hadassah Gold (Bette Midler). The season revolves around the fight for the New York State Senate, with an opponent who is a long-time incumbent. The fight quickly gets dirty with mudslinging from both fronts. From scandalous throuple gossip to leaked photos of cultural appropriation, both Team Payton and Team Dede dirtied themselves.
In the end, however, things took a delightful turn. Both Payton and Dede were in a tie. And the decider would be a game of Rock-Paper-Scissors. But Dede, realizing that Payton signified a new era of politics, and tired from the campaign, hands over the victory to Payton. And Payton, in two years as the state senator, works wonders for his constituency. He ushers in a new era of eco-conscious politics, making sure that New York is a better place for its people. Payton, in two years, becomes a different man. He is no longer driven by mere ambition. He isn’t planning his next race. Instead, he doubles down on good governance.
Without the demons of his own ambition to trip him, Payton also becomes a better person. He marries Alice Charles (Julia Schlaepfer), and together they have a son, who they both dearly love. Of course, things don’t always stay the same now, do they?
During a jog in Central Park, Payton meets Dede, who is now vice-president-elect for Payton’s mother Georgina Hobart (Gwyneth Paltrow), the president-elect to the United States. Dede tells Payton that his mother would fulfill her promise of being a single-term president. Following that, Dede would run for the job. And in that regard, Dede wanted Payton to be her running mate. Payton is overwhelmed by the proposal. But we all know he cannot resist the offer. The season ends with Payton giving a confident smile. Even though we don’t really see him accepting her offer, it’s fairly likely that he will.
So, what lies next for Payton then in season 3 of ‘The Politician’?
In an April interview with Collider, show creator Ryan Murphy said, “I think for me, for that show, I would like to do, and I think all of us involved in it, would probably like to do three seasons total." Murphy added, "And I think, where season 2 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. I’m going to wait. Ben is young, so I want to wait a couple of years to figure out how we age him up a little bit. But that’s always been my plan.”
So, one can then assume that by the time we have a Season 3, Payton will have already become vice-president of the US, with Dede as the President. In which case, that story is likely to take place eight years after the events of Season 2. Obviously, viewers can expect to see a much more mature politician in the shape of Payton. Despite the fact that we have seen Payton grow a lot this season, one can still expect the eccentricities typical of him. There is also the fact that Payton is not always great under pressure. And with a race as high-stakes as the presidential election, one can be certain that he will mess up every now and then. What will, however, be interesting to see, is if he keeps his promise to McAfee Westbrook (Laura Dreyfuss) and James Sullivan (Theo Germaine). All three of them shared the dream of being in the White House someday.
Season 3 of ‘The Politician’ is far away. No one knows when we’ll get to see it. All we can be sure of is one thing: The possible final chapter of the Payton Hobart saga will undoubtedly be the wildest one yet.
‘The Politician’ Season 2 is available for viewing on Netflix.