The Girls on the Bus: Full Season
April 11, 2024 6:47 PM - Season 1 (Full Season) - Subscribe
Follow along as a bunch of reporters follow political candidates along the primary trail and wait for the drama to unfold.
The Girls on the Bus is supposed to be based on a book written by a journalist who covered Hillary Clinton’s campaign, but this isn’t about that political ride. This is all fictional, except when it’s not.
And when isn’t it?
Well, for starters some of the candidates look awfully familiar. There are stand-ins for a small-town mayor making his first entrance onto the national stage (à la Pete Buttigieg—albeit a straight one) portrayed by Scott Foley, a lefty-socialist firebrand reminiscent of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez played by Tala Ashe, a very, very elder politician who has been around since the dinosaurs roamed, an action hero actor (Mark Consuelos) who has jumped into politics, etc.
The titular “girls” are reporters for a variety of media outlets. Melissa Benoist is Sadie McCarthy (are the viewers supposed to ponder about her last name—who knows?) the main character, a reporter with lefty sympathies who wears here heart on her sleeve and who “sees” and “talks” to the ghost/idea of Hunter S. Thompson. (Sadie, you need better role models.) Melissa plays Sadie with pretty much exactly the same energy and approach she did Kara/Supergirl in the Arrowverse.
Carla Gugino is the very put-together, very professional, been-there-done that long-time pro (and nepo baby) Grace, who isn’t quite as good a mother as she is a reporter. Christina Elmore is Kimberly, the Black conservative reporter working for the show’s Fox News counterpart while trying to juggle wedding planning. Natasha Behnam’s Lola is the very-sponsored TikToker and Instagrammer who is trying to change the world by reaching directly to Gen Z, ignoring the old white men and looking down her nose at the corporate hacks.
Greg Berlanti (master of the Arrowverse) is the top executive producer, which is why I really wanted my summary to be something like the following (although knowing it would show up on the main FanFare page, I figured I had better save it for the “more inside”):
Kara (Supergirl) Danvers decides to get serious about her career as a journalist at CatCo and gets assigned to cover a contender for the Democratic Primary. But there is something evil lurking behind the political scenes (is it Lex Luthor pulling the strings?) that is going to threaten American democracy itself. Cue a team up when Kara bands together with a bunch of misfit heroes (fingers crossed Zari feels like participating in the crossover and doesn’t sit it out as Legends sometimes do) to join hands and pray that Beebo’s love and friendship can save the country. (Guest starring one of Aquaman’s distant relatives.)
And no, I had no idea about the Arrowverse connections until I started watching it, despite having watched almost all of the Arrowverse episodes, I don't go seeking out people associated with that universe.
The Girls on the Bus is supposed to be based on a book written by a journalist who covered Hillary Clinton’s campaign, but this isn’t about that political ride. This is all fictional, except when it’s not.
And when isn’t it?
Well, for starters some of the candidates look awfully familiar. There are stand-ins for a small-town mayor making his first entrance onto the national stage (à la Pete Buttigieg—albeit a straight one) portrayed by Scott Foley, a lefty-socialist firebrand reminiscent of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez played by Tala Ashe, a very, very elder politician who has been around since the dinosaurs roamed, an action hero actor (Mark Consuelos) who has jumped into politics, etc.
The titular “girls” are reporters for a variety of media outlets. Melissa Benoist is Sadie McCarthy (are the viewers supposed to ponder about her last name—who knows?) the main character, a reporter with lefty sympathies who wears here heart on her sleeve and who “sees” and “talks” to the ghost/idea of Hunter S. Thompson. (Sadie, you need better role models.) Melissa plays Sadie with pretty much exactly the same energy and approach she did Kara/Supergirl in the Arrowverse.
Carla Gugino is the very put-together, very professional, been-there-done that long-time pro (and nepo baby) Grace, who isn’t quite as good a mother as she is a reporter. Christina Elmore is Kimberly, the Black conservative reporter working for the show’s Fox News counterpart while trying to juggle wedding planning. Natasha Behnam’s Lola is the very-sponsored TikToker and Instagrammer who is trying to change the world by reaching directly to Gen Z, ignoring the old white men and looking down her nose at the corporate hacks.
Greg Berlanti (master of the Arrowverse) is the top executive producer, which is why I really wanted my summary to be something like the following (although knowing it would show up on the main FanFare page, I figured I had better save it for the “more inside”):
Kara (Supergirl) Danvers decides to get serious about her career as a journalist at CatCo and gets assigned to cover a contender for the Democratic Primary. But there is something evil lurking behind the political scenes (is it Lex Luthor pulling the strings?) that is going to threaten American democracy itself. Cue a team up when Kara bands together with a bunch of misfit heroes (fingers crossed Zari feels like participating in the crossover and doesn’t sit it out as Legends sometimes do) to join hands and pray that Beebo’s love and friendship can save the country. (Guest starring one of Aquaman’s distant relatives.)
And no, I had no idea about the Arrowverse connections until I started watching it, despite having watched almost all of the Arrowverse episodes, I don't go seeking out people associated with that universe.
If you're curious about the book it's based on, it's Amy Chozick's Chasing Hillary: Ten Years, Two Presidential Campaigns, and One Intact Glass Ceiling, which the NYT describes as 'The Devil Wears Prada meets The Boys on the Bus' (this is intended as a compliment).
posted by box at 9:18 AM on April 12 [1 favorite]
posted by box at 9:18 AM on April 12 [1 favorite]
I have gotten inexplicably invested in this stupid show. The soap opera and political optimism has balanced out the huge plot holes (like WHY IS Lola on the bus? Who is paying and why?). Who do we think is behind the scandal!?!?!
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 11:46 AM on May 1 [2 favorites]
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 11:46 AM on May 1 [2 favorites]
I'm all caught up on episodes and I am bewildered by the plot. Have I been in politics too long, that a candidate being ambitious and fake doesn't seem like a bombshell?
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 6:50 AM on May 3
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 6:50 AM on May 3
I just watched the tenth episode. I guess it's the wrap-up (I can't tell by IMDB if there are more episodes to come) but it feels a bit unresolved. Maybe they were trying to keep things open in case they got a second season.
Overall, I liked the character development. I enjoyed the journalism aspects (although I still craved more). It still feels a bit too Kumbaya that the core-four group of women could really become such close friends and co-operate to such a degree. I'm sure their respective media outlets would have plenty to say to that. I also have a hard time believing that Sadie's editor (even if she's not Sadie's biggest fan) would send a reporter off to be interviewed by the FBI (or whatever federal agency it was) without insisting that the paper's lawyer be present.
I'm not sure what to say about Sadie's political idealism or naïveté, especially after that scene on the pink bus. Maybe it's because her character is the least well developed of all of the leads. I suspect that scene is supposed to be scathing critique of all that is wrong with journalism, but it doesn't really land for me.
Overall, I don't regret watching the show. I found myself looking forward to the release of each episode. And it was something a bit different from everything else that is on right now, which I really appreciated.
posted by sardonyx at 8:42 AM on May 11
Overall, I liked the character development. I enjoyed the journalism aspects (although I still craved more). It still feels a bit too Kumbaya that the core-four group of women could really become such close friends and co-operate to such a degree. I'm sure their respective media outlets would have plenty to say to that. I also have a hard time believing that Sadie's editor (even if she's not Sadie's biggest fan) would send a reporter off to be interviewed by the FBI (or whatever federal agency it was) without insisting that the paper's lawyer be present.
I'm not sure what to say about Sadie's political idealism or naïveté, especially after that scene on the pink bus. Maybe it's because her character is the least well developed of all of the leads. I suspect that scene is supposed to be scathing critique of all that is wrong with journalism, but it doesn't really land for me.
Overall, I don't regret watching the show. I found myself looking forward to the release of each episode. And it was something a bit different from everything else that is on right now, which I really appreciated.
posted by sardonyx at 8:42 AM on May 11
I was underwhelmed by the finale. The urgency and the danger both felt fake. Curious to see if this gets a Season 2!
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 6:26 AM on May 15 [1 favorite]
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 6:26 AM on May 15 [1 favorite]
Fake is exactly the right word. There as so much initial build up and then poof. Nothing here to see. But I'd be willing to forgive that if there is a second season and if they do follow up on all the hanging threads.
posted by sardonyx at 9:08 AM on May 15
posted by sardonyx at 9:08 AM on May 15
My problem with political shows is that I always want them to be West Wing, but nothing ever is!
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 6:36 AM on May 16
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 6:36 AM on May 16
That's all, folks- ‘The Girls On The Bus’ Canceled By Max After One Season
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 7:45 PM on May 26
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 7:45 PM on May 26
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It’s not genius, prestige peak TV. It leans pretty heavily on soap-opera elements. Everybody has dramatic back stories that keep revealing themselves episode after episode. Scandals pop up like dandelions in a green lawn after a summer rain. There is political intrigue. There are cliched bits that I guess are supposed to be played for jokes such as Sadie’s editor being shown eating pretty much every time she calls him.
There are also some really odd fantasy/dream sequences that are doing their absolute best to single-handedly balance Hollywood's objectifying women : objectifying men ratio. (Seriously, these feel really jarring and out of place when they crop up.)
But there is a pretty honest (as these modern TV things go—I mean, it’s no Lou Grant) discussion about journalism, how it works today, what it means to be a journalist, journalism ethics and related topics. This is the show I’m here to watch (including the anonymous source plot that leaves the characters to joke about Deep Throat and following the money).
I’m really not interested in the big, secret, threatening politics as we know it conspiracy (and I’m not letting the cat out of the bag with this detail, the show pretty much starts there and flashes back, thanks to a voice-over-narrative).
So far, I'm along for the ride and I have no intentions of calling for an early bus stop.
posted by sardonyx at 6:52 PM on April 11