Workaholic Mike Flaherty is the Deputy Mayor of New York City, serving as Mayor Randall Winston's key strategist and much-needed handler. Mike runs the city with the help of his oddball staff: an anxious and insecure press secretary; a sexist, boorish chief of staff; an impeccably groomed gay activist running minority affairs; a sharp and efficient, man-crazy accountant; and an idealistic young speechwriter. Like Mike, they are all professionally capable but personally challenged.
The peaks and the valleys. Find the essential episodes — and the ones to skip.
When Sheridan goes public about the Winston administration's links to organized crime, Mike decides to take the fall and save everyone else. He submits his resignation, leading everyone to drown their sorrows and say their goodbyes.
Mike's political mentor comes to City Hall to help on the Millennium project, and displays a literal Messianic complex. Things heat up between Randall and Janelle. A mishap occurs when Paul dog-sits Rags as a favor to Carter.
Muckraking reporter Wayne Sheridan wants to connect Randall's administration to organized crime. Several staffers make this easy, including Randall and Nikki. Randall gives a sanitation contract to a mobster, whom Nikki is dating.
Charlie fulfills a dream of playing minor league baseball, but Caitlin bribes the pitcher into going easy on him so he'll return to work. Randall receives a death threat and beefs up security, which Paul exploits to get revenge on Stuart.
Each point is an episode, plotted in order. Colored bands mark season boundaries. Look for the rise, the plateau, or the decline.
High votes + high rating = beloved classic. High votes + low rating = notorious stinker. Low votes + high rating = hidden gem.
One point per season. Smooths out the episode-to-episode noise to reveal the bigger arc.
Did each season build or fizzle? Green means the finale outscored the premiere. Red means the opposite. Longer arrows, bigger swings.
How steady is each season? Tightly clustered dots mean reliable quality. Scattered dots mean a wild ride.
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