The Box
Episode 6 of The Politician Season 2 starts as we learn that the original tally showed that Dede was up by 23 votes. This triggers a hand re-count which reveals that both candidates have tied. Both sides get given two choices; they can either do a re-vote in 10 days or decide things on a coin toss. Payton and his team go for the coin toss but Dede opposes it. Hadassah quickly researches if you can cheat at rock paper scissors and suggests to use that instead next Friday. Both side agree and leave. Payton reconvenes with his team and plans to study the game to ensure victory. They decide to seek the help of Ricardo who is in prison. The latter tells them the game is very present in jail and that he has become an expert while Hadassah relays her finding on the games to Dede; she has found a paper from researchers who have studied how humans make decision in these kind of games. Both sides realize that there is a pattern to follow. In his campaign office, Skye brings James for an emergency meeting. Infinity arrives with a ballot box she has stolen as she didn’t want Dede to win the election. She made sure it was a box from a place where a lot of old people would vote for Dede. Payton starts to panic as this is very illegal and they could all face prison time. Infinity tries to defend herself as she did it to save the planet. The team tries to come up with a solution, which falls to James who suggests he look after it for now as he would like to gain his trust back. Alice meets Astrid in a baby shop and apologises for the way her and Payton treated her when they found out about her pregnancy. She then starts crying as she doesn’t like what they have become and tells her she has always put Payton ahead of her needs. Astrid suggests breaking up with him and leaving town to get the lives they have always wanted. At home, Dede discusses Marcus with Hadassah as he has now lost everything. She tells her friend she is tired and that she may like governing but not the campaigning. Hadassah however, refuses to let her give up. Dede explains to Hadassah that a new candidate will be a fresh start for her and reveals that it is the last race she will run. In the evening, Alice arrives to see Payton in his office and tells him that they have created an environment of moral ambiguity that made Infinity think that stealing the box was okay. She then reveals that she is leaving the campaign as she thinks she has become a bad person. She explains that he is not bad but indifferent to morality and ethics. After giving him some examples, she explains that he is always rationalizing everything which is why Infinity thought what she did was acceptable. She knows he has been acting that way for his dream but she needs to find hers. He promises to do anything he can to help her realize hers even if it interferes with his. However, it is not enough for her and she walks away. The next day, Payton discusses his dilemma with his mum. He can’t decide whether he should follow ethics or morality. His mother tells him that being ethical would mean telling the truth about the voting box but also consequently cause Infinity to end up in prison and tainting his reputation. After remembering what he was like as child, she explains that his struggle isn’t deciding what he is going to do but accepting who he is. The episode ends with Payton congratulating his mum about winning her election and telling his team that they are not going to do anything about the ballot box. Since Alice left him, he has only his career and dreams so he is determined to get to the White House no matter what. In another twist, the latest episode shows that both candidates have tied in the voting polls which brings more controversy when they both decide to settle it by a game of rock, paper scissors. This is another satirical moment which keeps with the tone of the series so far. It also tackles the important debates or morality and ethics which sees Payton finally embracing who he really is. Our main characters have had quite the journey so far and while some of the secondary ones have taken a back seat, they have also engaged in some interesting arcs which has helped the story move forward. The finale is up next and whether it ends on a cliffhanger ready for a third season or not remains to be seen, but for now the second season of The Politician has definitely been as entertaining as the first one.
