Photo illustration by Mike Lemieux
Unlikeable characters and unbelievable plotlines make this the worst season yet
By Greg Waldock, Staff Writer
The final episode of the hit new political thriller, Presidential Election, perfectly encapsulated all the flaws of the season in its entirety.
The new leads, Donald Trump (Alec Baldwin) and Hillary Clinton (Kate McKinnon), topped off a lackluster show with canned performances, poor dialogue, glaring contradictions from previous episodes, and some cringe-worthy hacking scenes. The rest of the cast was an odd assortment of past characters such as the last season’s leads Barack Obama (Kevin Hart) and Mitt Romney (Jason Alexander), as well as a host of unwelcome and forced cameos from Newt Gingrich, Sarah Palin, Anne Coulter, Vladimir Putin, and Mitt Romney. The only redeeming additions to the cast this season were ridiculous and entertaining newcomers Bernie Sanders, Ted Cruz, Chris Christie, and Ben Carson (all played by Doug Jones).
The episode’s greatest failing was, of course, the comedy. Presidential Election has always straddled the line between comedy and drama, but this entire last season has been falling too heavily into slapstick and Simpsons-like plot contrivances. Donald Trump, the wacky eccentric reality show host, was fun to watch at first, but quickly dominated the spotlight as fans latched on to his zany bigotry and snappy one-liners. His ascent into the White House was about as believable as Homer getting aboard the International Space Station. Hillary Clinton, the austere career politician, was a more realistic character, but totally dull and unlikeable especially when compared to Bernie Sanders, the charismatic and energetic old man who was mysteriously written out of the show halfway through.
The show hit its high note with the famed 2008 season, which featured the legendary lineup of Barack Obama, John McCain, Hillary Clinton, Joe “Diamond” Biden, and Ron Paul. The writing was sharp, the characters were intelligent, and the outcome was emotionally satisfying. It took a sharp decline in the 2012 season as the Tea Party, a rogue Republican faction with a love for nationalism and bibles, took control of the GOP and forced in its own candidates. This latest season took that previous trend and amped it up to eleven, completely jumping the shark. Ben Carson openly rejected global warming, Chris Christie shut down a bridge project out of spite, and in an insane plot twist, Ted Cruz turned out to be the Zodiac killer. Donald Trump also represented all these bad qualities, combined and amplified by his Twitter account, and still somehow edged out all competition with little effort. It’s just lazy writing.
We’re all hoping the next season will be a return to true form. TMZ has outlined the upcoming cast: The Democrats get Jon Stewart, Tulsi Gabbard, and Kanye West, while the Republicans get Clint Eastwood, Alex Jones, and a man who looks suspiciously like George W. Bush in a fake moustache.
