Battleground

Campaign manager Tak Davis and his staff must figure out how to get their opponents to show up to a crucial debate. Intern Ben Werner starts his first day volunteering for the campaign. Media manager KJ Jamison and speechwriter Cole Graner share an intimate moment after winning the debate.

As candidate Deirdre Samuels climbs in the polls, rumors about an alleged relationship with a former assistant begin to hurt the campaign. While Tak, KJ, and Cole prep Samuels for a speech at the straw poll, Ben, fellow intern Lindsey Cutter, and Samuels’ stepson Jordan Mosley sneak into the opponent’s rally to “procure” a handful of tickets.

The Samuels campaign holds a flash drive to raise enough money to continue in the race. Tak’s wife and kids drive up from Chicago to visit, but Tak decides to attend Jordan’s stand-up comedy debut rather than spend time with his family. KJ receives a job offer from another campaign but ultimately chooses to stay with the team.

Tak clashes with his staff over his decision to attend a nurses’ union rally. The current frontrunner, Jack Makers, faints during a morning jog and drops out of the race. After his wife tells him that she called a divorce lawyer, Tak kisses KJ in a moment of passion.

The team faces blowback from Tak’s decision to attend the rally, but when racy text messages from the opposing candidate fall into the team’s hands, Tak must decide whether or not to use them to his advantage. While hanging out with the camera crew, Cole accidentally sees footages of Tak and KJ’s kiss. Jordan interviews candidates for a new assistant position.

Tak turns down a last minute bribe from a local reverend to suppress voters, but Samuels’s husband George can’t resist the offer. Ben and Lindsey hatch a plan to raise awareness among student voters. Cole confronts KJ about the footage and quits the campaign.