The First Lady Ep 1 Review: Viola Davis and Gillian Anderson elevate this elusive political drama

The First Lady 

The First Lady Cast: Viola Davis, Gillian Anderson, Michelle Pfeiffer

The First Lady Director: Aaron Cooley

The First Lady Streaming Platform: Voot

When you think of the First Ladies, you usually imagine beautiful women who spend their time beautifying the White House and working on social projects with children. Safe, “womanly” subjects, you know. However, The First Lady, a new series, delves deeper into three well-known, politically driven ladies who happen to be married to the US President. Michelle Obama is played by Oscar winner and living acting great Viola Davis, Betty Ford is played by legendary movie actor Michelle Pfeiffer, and Eleanor Roosevelt is played by Emmy-winning, adored TV actress Gillian Anderson.

Each woman has her own concerns about being a first lady, as well as her own visions of what she may do. Michelle is well aware of the pressures she faces as the first Black first lady, and she is dedicated to continuing her efforts to ensure that underserved populations have access to healthcare. Betty would prefer not to be the first lady – her husband was elected president following Nixon’s resignation — but she became a staunch supporter of the Equal Rights Amendment. Eleanor is eager to contribute to Franklin’s administration, but, like the other characters in this series, she is often ignored by her husband’s staff. 

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However, any one of these storylines, with the same actors, may have made for a compelling miniseries, but the decision to mash them all together into a drama that hops about in time more than Tenet is perplexing. As a consequence, the programme seems continually superficial, focusing on highlights from its guests’ lives rather than illustrating how one occurrence influenced another or how these individuals evolved or changed after they became public figures. Even if the consistently strong performances keep it watchable, it’s too content to tell us mostly what we already know about three of history’s most well-known first ladies—a better version would have tried to bring some less-recounted stories to life—a better version would have tried to bring some less-recounted stories to life.

Moreover, in the first episode, the obligatory sequence of Franklin D. Roosevelt (Kiefer Sutherland) being diagnosed with polio goes into way too much detail about how it’s uncommon but not impossible in adults and how a dip in polluted water lost the budding political star his legs. Before the programme swings to a visual of a child version of herself at her mother’s burial, Roosevelt’s political strategist Louis Howe (Jackie Earle Haley) reassures Eleanor, “If anybody can rise beyond sadness, it’s Franklin.” It’s direct proof that she, too, can overcome adversity, and it also reminds us — for the second time in the show – that Teddy Roosevelt was her cousin. After a bit of flat political intrigue with Ford’s new chief-of-staff, Donald Rumsfeld, Betty, then second lady, attends the funeral of Martin Luther King Jr.’s mother, Alberta King, after a bit of flat political intrigue with Ford’s new chief-of-staff, Donald Rumsfeld, the transitions are similarly obvious (Derek Cecil). After some vintage video of the funeral is spliced in, the programme switches to a massive dossier of white supremacist threats against Barack Obama (Julian De Niro) in 2007, which led to him receiving the first-ever protection detail.

To sum up, The First Lady’s admirable purpose is to shine a light on three extraordinary women who accomplished so much more than marrying extraordinary men. Unfortunately, beyond repeating historical facts and digging into the most apparent conflicts, the first episode accomplishes nothing to really achieve that purpose.