"Cancel Culture" is the third episode of the second season of The Politician.
Summary[]
Payton scrambles to salvage his campaign when he suffers a credibility crisis over a compromising photo and his commitment to fixing climate change.
Plot[]
Hadassah receives an anonymously sent photo of a six-year-old Payton dressed up as a Native American and sees an opening for attack. Polling 35 points ahead, Dede doesn’t think there's any need to run the photo, but Hadassah wants to send him a message. With the photo splashed across the New York Post, the Hobart campaign spins into damage control.
Payton makes an impassioned apology, stabilizing his polling numbers, but the idea that he might lose begins to set in. Infinity, whose worldwide book tour opened her eyes to the horrors of climate change, has become Payton’s most valuable surrogate. However, she has a few major reservations, including Payton selling her off to Andrew in exchange for campaign information. But more importantly, she is worried about his — and his campaign’s — commitment to the environment after repeatedly witnessing their wastefulness. She demands Payton and Skye move to a zero-waste lifestyle and reduce their carbon footprint under the threat of exposing them as frauds on their key issue.
But Infinity's support isn’t the only major hurdle Payton's campaign is facing. Hadassah comes into possession of another, more recent photo of a speedo-clad Payton wearing a Native American headdress. Dede and Hadassah present the photo to Payton with a deal: his campaign stops digging into Dede and they will keep the photo private with the added promise of supporting his next campaign.
Looking to get to the bottom of the photo scandals, Payton turns to Andrew, who confirms that Martin and Luther Hobart, Payton’s brothers, sent the childhood photo to the Standish campaign — just for fun. But the second leak came from within. Payton confronts his inner circle, and Alice, James, Skye, and McAfee all admit to having come into contact with the photo. McAfee admits to sending it to Hadassah and Dede to put the crumbling Hobart campaign out of its misery and prevent the photo from causing a future scandal.
Fired from the campaign, McAfee goes to work for Standish. But it’s all a ruse set up by Payton and McAfee, a last shot at getting a real mole inside Dede’s campaign.
Cast[]
Main[]
- Ben Platt as Payton Hobart
- Judith Light as Dede Standish
- Lucy Boynton as Astrid Sloan
- Zoey Deutch as Infinity Jackson
- Julia Schlaepfer as Alice Charles
- Laura Dreyfuss as McAfee Westbrook
- Theo Germaine as James Sullivan
- Rahne Jones as Skye Leighton
- Bette Midler as Hadassah Gold
- Gwyneth Paltrow as Georgina Hobart
Guest[]
- Ryan J. Haddad as Andrew Cashman
- Jackie Hoffman as Sherry Dougal
- Sam Jaeger as Tino McCutcheon
- Trevor Eason as Martin Hobart
- Trey Eason as Luther Hobart
Gallery[]
See also[]
| The Politician Episodes |
|---|
| Season 1 Episodes |
| Pilot • The Harrington Commode • October Surprise • Gone Girl • The Voter • The Assassination of Payton Hobart • The Assassination of Payton Hobart: Part 2 • Vienna |
| Season 2 Episodes |
| New York State of Mind • Conscious Unthroupling • Cancel Culture • Hail Mary • The Voters • What's in the Box? • Election Day |