Political Animals Reviews

Political Animals wants to act like a distaff West Wing, a thinly veiled account of Hillary Clinton’s failed 2008 presidential bid. A great foundation for a juicy story about politics, journalism, and family legacies in the public sector is laid, but then it veers off course. Wildly off course, in fact, dipping into Dynasty-style soap opera gimmicks.

Thankfully, Sigourney Weaver, Carla Gugino, Ellen Burstyn, and Sebastian Stan are involved to keep things moving and (generally) working. Weaver and Gugino in particular tear into their monologues and scenes together, beginning as adversaries and slowly coming to begrudgingly respect and support each other. These actresses deserve a script as smart and tough as their work.

Unfortunately, the creative team decided that the beautifully broken angst of Stan and the drunken, no-filter sass of Burstyn’s respective characters was a more fertile territory. We quickly swerve off into long buried secrets, ridiculous in-fighting, and a series of subplots that take away from the central political discourse and behind-the-scenes expose. It doesn’t add up to much in the end, but it gives some strong actors a chance to spin gold from straw.

Lowered expectations will be your friend if you decide to watch the small handful of episodes comprising Political Animals. Part satire, part deep dive, part kitsch – Political Animals wants to be all of these things, and any individual strain followed through to a logical conclusion would have produced a better, more consistent and engaging show. Who knows, perhaps someone will take a look at the disparate parts and try to assemble them again to something better. Lord knows, Weaver deserves a better showcase.