‘The Politician’ Season 1 Recap: What to Remember Before Season 2

The Politician takes the old adage that all politics is theater to a whole new level, and this week it’s back for its second season.

Created by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Ian Brennan, the gorgeously shot comedy follows the life of one aspiring politician, Payton Hobart (Ben Platt). Each season revolves around a different election in Payton’s life. And each election is filled with enough shocking moments to make your jaw drop. From creative poisonings and throuples to secret affairs and ghosts of kinda-boyfriends past, here’s everything you need to remember from The Politician Season 1.

How Did The Politician End?

So dramatically, and with so many musical numbers. Remember how Infinity Jackson (Zoey Deutch) didn’t actually have cancer and was instead a victim of Munchausen by proxy? And Payton (Ben Platt) knew about that little lie? That scandal, along with the dozens of of others the Payton Hobart campaign was hiding, forced Payton to resign in disgrace  from being the president of St. Sebastian High School. To make matters worse this resignation cost him the long-suffering Alice (Julia Schlaepfer), who was no longer interested in supporting this morally compromised man.

That’s how Payton entered New York University: with his political career in shambles, his dreams dead, his parents divorced, cut off from his father’s vast fortune, and without a girlfriend. The first half of “Vienna” followed Payton as he moped around New York, drinking heavily and singing songs about his lost love River (David Corenswet) at a piano bar. But there was a silver lining to all of this self-hatred. While he was at his lowest Payton learned to feel again.

Meanwhile, Payton’s meltdown didn’t stop McAfee’s (Laura Dreyfuss) ambitions. She went to work for the campaign of one of the most beloved state senators in the nation, New York’s Dede Standish (Judith Light) only to learn a shocking truth: there was no campaign. Since Dede had consistently won for years, her Chief of Staff Hadassah Gold (Bette Midler) long ago decided it wasn’t worth the time, effort, or resources to campaign for her re-election.

McAfee knew a weakness when she saw it and recruited James (Theo Germaine) to get Payton back into the world of politics. Initially Payton refused, and with good reason. Dede Standish was too strong of an opponent, he was too new and unknown, and he was done with politics. If Dede had a guaranteed Achille’s heel that would be one thing, but she didn’t.

Enter Astrid (Lucy Boynton) with the dirt. As Astrid learned while catering a charity event, Dede Standish is part of a throuple, better known as a three-way relationship. McAfee and James rounded up their old friends and enemies Astrid, Skye (Rahne Jones), and Alice to try and convince Payton one last time to run. Alice even left her wedding for this meeting in a scene taken straight from The Graduate. At their urging and with Astrid’s dirt, Payton agreed. The final moments of Season 1 saw this young politician giving his first speech against Dede Standish.

But the Standish campaign has another secret up its sleeve. Unbeknownst to anyone from Team Hobart, Dede Standish was approached by Junior Senator-Elect from Texas, Tino (Sam Jaeger). Tino wants to make a run for president and he wants Dede as his Vice President. Can Payton take down a state senator and a possible future Vice President while still in college?

Wait, When Did Payton Become Friends with Infinity and Skye?

Yeah, that one is a little tricky. The last time we saw Infinity and Skye before the time jump in “Vienna” they certainly weren’t Payton’s friends. McAfee had Skye arrested for poisoning Payton, and Infinity learned that Payton knew about her fake cancer diagnosis all along. But time heals all wounds.

After completing her community service, Skye apologized to Payton, and the new and compassionate Hobart golden child forgave her. And though Infinity was unquestionably mad at Payton, she always had a forgiving heart. She was the one who told the doctors that Payton was dying of sepsis from a BB gun shot covered in dead opossum guts. Though their reunion was never shown, it makes sense that the sweet Infinity would forgive Payton for using her.

Are Payton and Alice Back Together?

That’s complicated. Yes, Alice did leave her engagement and wedding to a perfectly nice man to run back to Payton’s side. Though it seems certain the two will be back together soon, by the end of Season 1 they’re still broken up.

What’s Going on with Gwyneth Paltrow’s Georgina?

After cheating yet again on her husband and falling in love with her latest affair, Keaton Hobart (Bob Balaban) set an ultimatum. Either Georgina (Gwyneth Paltrow) would break things off with her other woman or Keaton would write Payton out of his will. After much debate, Georgina was about to choose her new lover when the unthinkable happened: Payton became gravely ill. Twice.

Though Georgina ultimately stayed, her husband knew she wasn’t going to. He divorced her and wrote Payton out of his will. But don’t worry about Georgina. After selling most of her fabulous jewels and dresses, she donated the proceeds to charities that help victims of Munchausen by proxy, all in Payton’s name. Season 1 ended with Georgina going to India to start on her own spiritual journey.

Watch The Politician on Netflix