Ben Platt Sings An Original Song In 'The Politician' Season 2 & It's Magical

Whether you know Ben Platt for his commendable acting skills or his angelic singing voice, you get the best of both sides of him in Netflix's The Politician. In Season 1, he blessed fans with a number of voice and piano performances while playing the ambitious and cunning Payton Hobart. Season 2 has fewer musical numbers, but the ones that *are* included are super-meaningful. Payton's song "Run Away" in The Politician Season 2, for example, is actually an original from Platt's album, and also serves as a callback to Season 1.

Warning: Light spoilers for The Politician Season 2 follow. Platt sang several times throughout Season 1. He did an emotional performance of "River" in the first episode, and performed a duet with Zoey Deutch's Infinity in Episode 6. In the eighth and final episode of the season, which took place three years after high school, he also sang a moving cover of "Vienna" in a piano bar.

Of course, Payton didn't stay away from politics for long. His political advisors and pals convinced him to run against the incumbent Dede Standish (Judith Light) for a New York State Senate seat in Season 2. After the political battle between Payton and Dede results in a tied vote, he returned to the dive piano bar scene to perform two songs: "Corner of the Sky" and "Run Away." It turned out, Standish and her chief of staff Hadassah Gold (Bette Midler) ended up at the same piano bar on accident ,and saw Payton perform, which contributed to the softening of their political duel.

On top of being a heart-wrenching performance, Payton's singing of "Run Away" is extra-special because it's actually an original by Platt. It was released to the public and posted to YouTube on March 28, 2019. It's just one song on Platt's debut album Sing To Me Instead, which you can listen to on a variety of platforms including Spotify and YouTube.

It also may sound familiar to fans of the show because he actually played the piano parts of it during Season 1. Devoted fans noticed at various points when Payton was playing the piano during Season 1, he was playing the same tune each time — and it turns out, that tune was the music to "Run Away." After seeing him practice the song as a high schooler throughout Season 1, it was extremely satisfying for him to finally perform it for an audience as an adult in Season 2.

The Politician Season 2 is on Netflix now.