Political Pause: What to Watch When You’re Not Watching the News
or instead of the news, since you can just read Smartt Takes ;)
There’s so much good TV on right now—shows that provide a brief respite from our reality. While I’m not a proponent of escapism as a way to suppress emotions, there’s something deeply comforting about a show that’s either mindless or thought-provoking.
With that in mind, I want to highlight two great shows currently in their third season. Both offer insight into exaggerated human behavior—fictional and non-fictional alike. And, frankly, the parallels between them are rather striking. When your back is against the wall, how do you react or respond?
The Traitors (Bravo/Peacock)
Before you dismiss it as just a Bravo show, hear me out. The Traitors is a high-stakes psychological game set in a castle nestled in the Scottish Highlands. Think Mafia, but with Fear Factor-esque challenges (more gross than scary).
Each week, a group of contestants—primarily reality TV stars from Survivor, Big Brother, and Bravo franchises—compete in challenges to earn money for a collective prize pool of up to $250,000. But there’s a twist: at the start of the season, host Alan Cumming (an absolute icon) secretly designates a few players as Traitors, while the rest are Faithfuls.
Here’s how the game unfolds:
Each night, the Traitors secretly “murder” a Faithful—unless that player has won a shield in a challenge, protecting them from elimination.
Each day, all players gather at the roundtable, where the Faithfuls attempt to identify and banish a Traitor.
The eliminated player then reveals whether they were a Faithful or a Traitor.
The goal? For the Faithfuls to root out every Traitor before the game ends. If all Traitors are eliminated, the Faithfuls split the winnings. If even one Traitor remains, they take home the entire prize pot.
It’s a fascinating study in real-time of how morality and power dynamics can affect a person's behavior. How do people react under pressure? How easily do they slip into deception? Do they justify their actions for the sake of the game, or does their conscience get the better of them? It feels like a modern-day Stanford Prison Experiment, testing how assigned roles can influence behavior in unpredictable ways.
Beyond the psychological intrigue, The Traitors is just plain fun. The challenges are ridiculous, the one-liners are golden, and Alan Cumming’s outfits alone make it worth watching.
If you get hooked, check out international versions—the UK and Australian versions feature all regular contestants instead of reality stars. (The U.S. Season 1 had a mix, but opinions are split on whether that worked.)
📺 Airs: Thursdays at 9 PM ET on Peacock/Bravo
The White Lotus (HBO)
If The Traitors is the Stanford Prison Experiment, The White Lotus is a Rorschach test. The show presents heightened personalities and social dynamics, encouraging viewers to project their own interpretations onto the characters. While there is a “whodunnit” element, the show is much more about character development—plotlines exist mainly as devices to reveal how complex (or one-dimensional) the characters really are.
The White Lotus is the show that captures the cultural zeitgeist. If you haven’t watched it, you’ve still probably heard of it. Mike White’s HBO hit is a sharp social satire disguised as a murder mystery, and it’s now in its third season with no signs of slowing down.
One of the things that makes it work is its anthology format—each season features a new cast (give or take a couple of returning characters), a different luxurious White Lotus resort, and a fresh overarching theme that dissects human nature, privilege, and power. The only constants? The fact that the guests and staff are all, in some way, morally compromised—and that every season opens with a dead body.
While it’s thought-provoking, The White Lotus also offers stunning cinematography and dreamlike scenery, allowing you to stay grounded in reality while being absorbed in the exaggerated drama unfolding on screen. It’s funny, biting, and self-aware, making it an easy but engaging watch.
You can start with Season 3, but I’d recommend watching Seasons 1 and 2 for additional context. That said, each season stands on its own, and the first two are relatively short—Season 1 is only six episodes, Season 2 is seven, and Season 3 is eight.
📺 Airs: Sundays at 9 PM ET on HBO
Both The Traitors and The White Lotus exist in a semi-heightened reality—close enough to feel familiar, but far enough removed to allow for that escapist detachment. And part of the fun isn’t just watching, but engaging in each show’s ecosystem—Reddit threads, fan theories, deep-dive analysis, and thoughtful group chats.
Of course, these are just two of many great shows right now. I’ve heard fantastic things about Severance, for example. (Fun fact: my stepbrother’s dog is a jumping bean, but when Severance is on, she sits completely still, rapt with attention. A review in itself.)
Ollie watching Severance
I’m also a big fan of the Bravo-verse—a universe I was staunchly against for a decade but now can’t fathom why. And of course, Jeopardy! will always have my heart.
The point is: find your escape routes—whether it’s TV, reading, or something else entirely. Just a little bright spot in your week can make all the difference.
Hope you’ve enjoyed this political pause. See you next time!
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