A quick review of the “Political Animals” finale coming up just as soon as I unzip this cushion…
I was mostly positive towards “Political Animals” when it debuted early in the summer, while acknowledging that I only had two episodes to judge, and that the second one seemed to be trending away from the discussion of politics, journalistic ethics, etc., that I found most compelling and towards the soapier stuff that’s the hallmark of a Greg Berlanti show.
I would say in the end, Berlanti and company managed about a 60/40 soap/serious split (maybe 65/35). If I’d rather the ratio went the other way, “Political Animals” was still an entertaining summer diversion with a terrific cast largely at the top of its game (Sigourney Weaver and Carla Gugino in particular, and even Ciaran Hinds was able to tone down the hamminess a bit by the end.) I liked seeing so many threads come together in the finale, including Susan’s ex falling on the grenade for her and Elaine coming to recognize that Garcetti was a better man/President than she had assumed.
Though USA dubbed this a miniseries, it was clearly designed as something meant to continue if the ratings were good enough. The show had a soft premiere, though, and the numbers didn’t get better as it went along. I’ll be curious to see if USA likes being in business with this cast and creative team enough to try a sequel, or if they use the ratings as an excuse to cut bait on a project that was a noble experiment but wildly off-brand (and had the viewership to prove it).
What did everybody think of both the finale and the season as a whole? Do you want to see the show return, or were these six episodes enough?