Political Dramas Worth Your Time
Political television usually fails in one of two ways: it is either naive (the good people win) or nihilistic (everyone is corrupt). The best political dramas do neither, they treat power as a system with its own logic, and trace what that logic does to the people who enter it. These six shows span the full range from idealism to corrosion.
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The six titles span the ideological and tonal range of what serious political drama can do. The West Wing and Yes Minister represent the optimistic and satirical versions of democratic governance. House of Cards (UK) and The Crown examine power at the executive and monarchical level. The Americans and Mr. Robot take political conviction into the private and systemic spheres. Together they form a complete map of how power actually circulates.
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