I don’t think there has ever been a season of American Politics quite like 2020-present. The writers of this series usually are pretty consistent in their character's beliefs and actions, but they have to be high on something while creating the layout of how these last few episodes would go. If you aren’t caught up on the latest episode then I’ll fill you in.
First, a typical story arch was brought back for the democrats although just a few years back they were defending the filibuster as an important part of maintaining the senate's long-standing view on bipartisanship, they have now gone for full-on crazy by calling for the total elimination of it to push legislation that would put the local election systems under federal control. In effect, this would pretty much allow whoever the current majority party is to be able to change the rules on voting if they are so pleased. Sounds like a well-thought-out and pro-democracy plan right? The writers of this plot arch need to try to be consistent, especially if democrats still believe Republicans are a threat to democracy then they shouldn’t create the power for a republican majority congress or senate to change the rules of voting which has been the war cry of democrats since 2020.
Another crazy plot the creators added in, was when the current president Joe Biden wandered his way down to Atlanta to scream, shout, and cough at an audience about how if anyone disagreed with his policies then they are as racist as George Wallace (you know, the segregationist that had was great friends with Biden while he was still alive) and also Bull Connor who was known for unleashing dogs onto civil rights advocates. So yeah, not sure if the president meant to call a large group of Americans racists and segregationists, especially if he was best friends with people like that just a short number of years ago. Who knows, maybe his quirky press Secretary will have an episode dedicated to “circling back” on all the issues he continues to either ignore or just flat out doesn’t know is happening. The one thing I have liked about this storyline is the two very likable and sane senators on the Democratic side. Manchin and Sinema do a good job presenting their characters as actual bipartisan and principled people and I hope they get a good ending in all this.
On the other side, we have an equally weird story arc featuring the orange menace as he is known by his enemies, Donald Trump. Now Mr. Trump has had a long and grueling time on the show since 2016 and it seems to be taking a toll on the actor's health and also the writer's ability to explain why his story arc is so complicated. First of all, he continues to act like the 2020 election was somehow stolen from him by an evil cabal of liberals, who had previously been in the same spot when they lost the 2016 election. I guess maybe it’s to show that they all use the same excuses for losing and to show how broken our politics is but who knows.
The more interesting side story is that of his relationship with the vaccine he helped to develop. Obviously, he has a right to flaunt his success in creating it, but a chunk of his supporters don’t seem to be reading from the same script. Instead, they have been advocating that the vaccine will place microchips into someone or that they will set off a kill switch. Crazy stuff I know but it’s equally crazy to watch how they listened to his every command just a year or two ago (and still do to some extent) but on this topic, they haven’t needed to focus on his views on the vaccine. Trump has even gone as far as to call governors who haven’t stated if they got the booster yet, as “gutless.” A pretty heavy-handed attack but one I’m sure he will continue to use.
Anyways this show is getting crazier and crazier by the episode. Who knows maybe we will get an episode featuring a disgraced congresswoman who hates vaccines but is invested in them! Oh wait, you're telling me that already happened? Oh well then maybe we will get another disgraced congressman who is anti-sex trafficking but is currently under investigation for it! Oh, crap that already happened too. Ok ok, how about a young leftwing congresswoman who showed up at an event (let’s say the met gala) that cost thousands of dollars and wore an expensive dress that also cost thousands of dollars and said “tax the rich” and was friends with a socialist Senator who owned more houses than the average American and was a millionaire who paid very little in taxes compared to what he advocates for (despite being allowed to pay more) and after taxes, still would remain in the bracket for the top 1% in America and the .02% worldwide! Man, the irony if this were all in the show…. Wait… oh come on!