‘The Women on the Bus’ Overview: Max’s ‘Chasing Hillary’ Adaptation

Impressed by, however undoubtedly not carefully tailored from, Amy Chozick’s 2018 ebook Chasing Hillary, The Women on the Bus could also be on Max, but it surely’s a throwback to a sure sort of broad, big-hearted, semi-topical dramedy that TV followers used to affiliate with The WB.

As a female-forward office buddy comedy with soapy undertones, The Women on the Bus (Chozick and The Vampire Diaries mastermind Julie Plec are credited as creators) is sort of good — the casting is powerful, the character dynamics interesting. As a present about journalism, The Women on the Bus is respectable — sensible about numerous issues, dumb about others, however not disproportionately. As a political thriller, The Women on the Bus is generally a crock. 

It comes collectively as an entire that’s not likely a responsible pleasure — for the millionth time, cease being responsible concerning the stuff you like — however undoubtedly one the place it’s a must to wade via eye-rolling moments to get to the issues which can be satisfying. If the previous causes you to take a look at and miss the latter, you received’t make it previous the pilot. Me, I used to be typically amused and irritated by The Women on the Bus.

Set in an alternate model of 2024 wherein folks nonetheless obstinately discuss with “Twitter,” The Women on the Bus begins with our 4 protagonists arriving in Iowa at first of a contentious Democratic main course of. 

First amongst non-equals is Sadie (Melissa Benoist), reporter for the celebrated New York Sentinel. Sadie aspires to deeply private semi-gonzo journalism — Hunter S. Thompson (P.J. Sosko) speaks to her recurrently in a method that’s in all probability weirder than the present desires to fake — however Sadie’s editor (Griffin Dunne) urges her to be extra journalistically goal, particularly after she went viral in 2020 for crying after her favored candidate (Hettienne Park’s Felicity Walker) misplaced. Sadie has one other drawback: Her favourite hookup from the final election cycle (Brandon Scott’s “Loafers”) has turn into a press secretary for a serious candidate and due to this fact an moral no-no.

Sadie’s greatest buddy from the final election cycle was Grace (Carla Gugino), a battle-tested veteran of the political circus who has prioritized breaking scoops over her husband (Scott Cohen) and college-aged daughter (Rose Jackson-Smith). As a result of they’re “legacy” media, Sadie and Grace look down on Kimberlyn (Christina Elmore), a rising star with a repugnant fictional right-wing cable community that viewers could be inclined to match to Fox Information. And all people appears to be like down on Lola (Natasha Behnam), a social media star who makes use of her platform to cheerlead for a Socialist candidate and shill for her sponsors.

The candidates on the path largely aren’t named and so they’re offered as archetypes — The Geriatric, The Freshman, The Scorching White Man, and so on. However viewers sensible sufficient to establish the cable community as Fox-esque will discover it simple to acknowledge them as Faux AOC (Tala Ashe), Faux Mayor Pete (Scott Foley), Faux Arnold Schwarzenegger (Mark Consuelos), Faux Joe Biden (Richard Bekins) and Faux Hillary (Park).

A part of me is inclined to surprise if it might need been doable to make The Women on the Bus as extra of an easy adaptation of Chozick’s ebook. Clearly you’d fictionalize components, however you’d belief that the inherent drama of the election cycle — run-of-the-mill scandals of assorted sizes, drama with editors, inside bickering amongst comparable personalities squished right into a tour bus — was sufficient to hold a present. Would anyone make that present? 

If the manufacturing workforce behind The Women on the Bus, which additionally options Greg Berlanti amongst others, isn’t highly effective sufficient to do this no-frills model, in all probability no person is. Actually this model doesn’t have the arrogance to simply let its primary story stand by itself, as a result of opening with a seven-months-later tease — placing the “media” in “in medias res” — The Women on the Bus makes an attempt to shoehorn a ’70s-style paranoid thriller into the collection. 

I might graft six cadaver arms onto my pal Alan, however that wouldn’t make him an octopus, and telling me that by the top of the season Sadie and her buddies are going to be on the run from folks in prominently labeled “FBI” jackets doesn’t make The Women on the Bus a ’70s-style paranoid thriller. Each side of the thriller plot, which escalates a lot that by the tenth and remaining episode it’s all that’s left, is by-product and unconvincing, and there are sufficient foolish moments within the finale that I discover it laborious to imagine the writers had been discovering it convincing anymore, both.

Sadly, the finale units into movement a possible second season that might be totally conspiracy thriller-based. Equally sadly, I’m precisely curious sufficient that I might watch that second season simply to learn the way issues progress. However largely that’s due to my optimistic emotions for the remainder of the present.

All of it revolves round Benoist, who cemented her everywoman bona fides on The CW’s Supergirl and is superb at enjoying the type of character who clings to dewy innocence lengthy after struggling the slings and arrows of the true world. She’s a kind of heroines certain to make you yell, “Cease doing dumb issues!” on the display, however she spends numerous time yelling, “Cease doing dumb issues!” at herself, so she is aware of. Sadie is vulnerable to sufficient hallucinations and erratic fantasy sequences that it will be tempting to name her “Ally McHowardBeale,” besides that it’s one other character who will get the very self-conscious — every thing in The Women on the Bus could be very self-conscious — “I’m mad as hell!” second.

As people, every of the “women” is saddled with a cringe-y secondary plotline. Grace’s daughter is uncontrolled, which a minimum of pays off properly. Kimberlyn is trying to plan a marriage to hunky Eric (Kyle Vincent Terry) on the street, which by no means turns into something aside from irksome. And many others.

However once they’re collectively and in numerous permutations, the characters and actresses are all glorious. The Sadie/Grace friendship is the present’s coronary heart, and Benoist’s wide-eyed hopefulness and Gugino’s harder-edged cynicism come collectively as an ideal rapport. Gugino and Elmore each shine as Grace and Kimberlyn bicker alongside journalistic strains, whereas Gugino and Behnam get to play out an unexpectedly candy evolving bond. 

Sure, what I’m saying right here is that Benoist stands out as the top-billed star (and producer) on the present (and he or she could also be excellent), but it surely’s Gugino who’s the present’s glue, making every thing higher. I’d nonetheless give Behnam and Elmore numerous credit score for taking roles which can be nearly assured to bother you within the pilot and making them sympathetic by mid-season.

The supporting solid is superb as nicely, particularly Foley and Park as probably the most attention-grabbing of the background candidates. Dunne is caught with a personality who exists solely to bark out caring-but-gruff journalistic platitudes, however he’s totally dedicated, and as soon as I made a decision that at any time when he will get off the telephone with Sadie, he’s calling up Peter Parker to demand photos of Spider-Man, I got here to love him.

I in contrast The Women on the Bus to a classic WB/CW present and the writing and directing roster is full of veterans from these exhibits, together with Plec, Berlanti, Rina Mimoun and Marcos Siega. Episodes all run between 42 and 49 minutes and, by way of size and content material, any of them may very well be trimmed for broadcast with ease. 

The present is meant for an viewers that wants most of its journalistic terminology outlined within the dialogue. However a minimum of it takes the hassle to do this, simply because it takes the hassle to call drop numerous particular real-world journalists and politicians in a method which may lead some viewers to do extra analysis.

The Women on the Bus is ready to throw in topical discussions of abortion, sexist inequities in media and the state of electoral politics in 2024. And if references to classics like Timothy Crouse’s The Boys on the Bus, Richard Ben Cramer’s What It Takes and Theodore White’s The Making of a President 1968 get a single viewer to move to their native library or unbiased ebook retailer, that makes up for lots of tacky romance, clunky drama, and predictable twists and turns.