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It feels like forever since we've been able to go back to our favorite elementary school in Philadelphia, and it has been forever. The show was postponed due to the SAG and WGA strikes, which may have also resulted in fewer episodes this season. However, as all good things do, the show has now come back to our screens and a lot of things have changed. Almost like a reminder of the time that has gone by, we get an extended two-part opening to the season. And it's yet another promise that this show is as lively and fresh as it has ever been.

For so long, this show has lived and died on following the structure and making the best with its comedic approach. The workplace sitcom isn't a new artform, but this show has kept it fresh and genial through its humor. This season certainly continues that, although it finds a need to shake up the ideas a little bit, mixing up the characters. The changes will definitely levitate the characters a little bit, and it does help them stay in the spotlight for this episode. The changing dynamics are cool, but it's good that the episode knows how to make the most out of its premise and not significantly make the show go down a different route. The episode definitely sets up many new areas for the show to visit and that only makes me more excited for the future. The episode also makes fun of the real-life postponement by making the first episode all about the flashbacks of the previous five months and including a very funny in-universe joke that explains why the camera crew wasn't able to film during those months. The show feels like it has higher ambitions this season, and while it has always been a show that tackles the fundamental issues with the way the school system is set up, this season feels like it's trying to aim a little higher, and it'll be interesting to see whether they can stick the landing. I have all the faith in the world that Quinta Brunson knows what she's doing and will make it work.

"Career Day" is a nice start to the new season that freshens up the setting by shifting some things around, yet still keeping it simple. The characters are lovable and exquisite as always, and the writing is especially interesting this season, seeming to have set its sights on higher goals that it'll hopefully make work.

In an era defined by escalating political violence, its consequences have become disturbingly familiar. World leaders across decades have been gunned down, and with contemporary rhetoric growing ever more volatile-coupled with the rise in assassination attempts-it is difficult to escape the sense that history's lessons remain unheeded. James A. Garfield's murder transformed him into a political martyr, and this series has approached that inevitability with deliberate care, shaping its narrative around the shadow of what was to come. The final episode confronts the event at last, and its impact reverberates through every frame of a solemn yet quietly powerful concluding hour.

A defining thread of the series has been its exploration of human delusion. Through concise, disciplined storytelling, it traces how figures like Charles J. Guiteau were slowly driven into states of profound powerlessness-an erosion that ultimately shaped their undoing, despite their never having wielded real power at all. It illuminates Roscoe Conkling's political ambitions and his conviction that he could operate without consequence, only to collide with a force he had underestimated. And it follows James A. Garfield's belief in the possibility of a better world, a belief the series treats with both admiration and measured skepticism. This final chapter lingers somberly on Garfield's last days, examining the consequences of his death and the paths that might have unfolded had he lived. Through sharp writing and immaculate production design, the episode elevates the material beyond historical chronology, shaping it into a resonant act of remembrance for a leader who might have reshaped the nation had he been given the chance. That sense of solemn possibility is anchored by Michael Shannon's deeply felt portrayal of Garfield, which grounds the emotional center of the series and imbues his tragedy with genuine weight and meaning.

"Destiny of the Republic" serves as a solemn coda to Garfield's presidency, offering a reflective portrait of a leader who might have been one of the nation's most consequential. The film becomes a sharp study in the fragility of human judgment, arguing persuasively against the impulse to immortalize political figures and instead urging that we allow them the space to prove, or disprove, their promise.

There is a common assumption that anyone who enters political life is ultimately seeking higher office. History repeatedly disproves this, and several political figures of immense stature have shown little interest in leading their nations. James A. Garfield-20th President of the United States-served barely six months before his assassination, leaving generations to speculate about the legacy he might have forged. "Death by Lightning" recounts both Garfield's story and that of his assassin, Charles Guiteau, and this first episode distinguishes itself through its exceptional production values and sharply focused storytelling.

As a storytelling experiment, the episode employs a striking framing device that casts the series as an act of historical excavation-an effort to unearth narratives that have long slipped through the cracks of American political memory. This conceit signals broader themes of forgotten history, ambition, and the cost of obscurity as it seeks to reclaim the story of a figure overlooked for far too long. What follows is a gripping examination of a lesser-known moment in U. S. history, rendered with dramatic weight and contemporary resonance. The episode makes clear that political extremism is not a modern invention but a persistent thread woven through the nation's past. It also probes the machinery of power at work, culminating in one of the most vivid depictions of a Republican National Convention-capturing its spectacle, strategy, and manipulation with riveting clarity. The episode's greatest achievement lies in its deft establishment of its two central figures, whose sharply contrasted temperaments and ideological foundations generate a dynamic, propulsive dual narrative. While the structure can occasionally feel dense, it provides a multifaceted lens on how political ambitions are formed, distorted, and weaponized. The performances anchoring these perspectives-Michael Shannon's quietly magnetic Garfield and Matthew Macfadyen's desperate, delusional Guiteau-are uniformly compelling. The production design further elevates the episode, recreating its historical milieu with remarkable precision while threading a tonal balance of absurdist comedy and tragic drama. The result is a work of uncommon energy and ambition, both historically illuminating and narratively bold.

"The Man from Ohio" brings the early stages of James A. Garfield's presidential campaign to the screen with impressive detail, illuminating the corruption and ideological extremism that shaped the era's political conventions. By tracing the diverging trajectories of its two central figures, the film lays the groundwork for a richly textured and compelling story still to unfold.