Watching the series while the war is raging in Ukraine and its lead is playing a larger than life role in tectonic real-world events is surreal. But the series is pretty good in its own right.
By now, everyone knows the premise: an honest high-school history teacher Vasyl Holoborodko becomes a president through a series of improbable events (at least, back then it would be deemed improbable...). He tries to get things done in a ridiculously corrupt system, despite the odds.
There are several aspects that set Servant of the People apart from numerous "outsider fixes the system" movies though. The makers are brave enough to avoid the usual "simple folks are saints" or "power corrupts" tropes. Many of these simple folk, when given a chance, steal as much (or more) than their predecessors. At one point, Holoborodko makes an impassionate speech about how the innocent and well-meaning children step by step turn into corrupt and indifferent "khokhols" littering and corrupting and sending their own children abroad because everything is already littered and corrupted.
(Speaking of which: the Netflix translation is, put it this way, sanitised. There are homophobic and nationalistic slurs used, even though in a context that is not necessarily homophobic or nationalistic.)
Holoborodko himself does not always win, and makes silly gaffes, sometimes with disastrous consequences. His decisions are not always wise, like assigning his less than bright childhood friend to become a foreign minister.
The rest of the presidential team is played by other members of Kvartal 95, the Monty Python-esque Ukrainian comedy troupe that was headed by Zelenskyy before his ascent to politics in real life. They are okayish but aren't that interesting except Yevhen Koshovy cast as a bumbling foreign minister.
Among the supporting cast, Stanislav Boklan as Yuriy Chuyko is a standout. He is very much a Ukrainian version of Sir Humphrey Appleby from Yes Minister / Yes Prime Minister, an experienced, cynical, and corrupt veteran of Ukrainian politics playing by corrupt rules.
The nameless three oligarchs are the weakest part. It's like Kvartal 95 spent 3 seconds thinking them through. They either eat super-high-fibre food, drink champagne, or play Monopoly. When they talk to their fixers and henchmen, it's always either while eating or playing Monopoly. It's like the super-rich are stuck in a weird Groundhog Day.
Interestingly enough, Russia is looming in the background but does not prominently feature in the series, even though it was already after Crimea and Donbas. (Apart from the famous "Putin Hublot" joke, the part when he yells "Putin got overthrown!" to gain attention, and the hilarious conversation with Ivan the Terrible.) The main beef of Holoborodko is with the corruption and the mentality perpetuating it, not with anyone else.
Common comedic tropes are there but executed well. There's a pretty good "Hangover"-inspired chapter, the mismatched couples like the minister of foreign affairs and his aide, and Holoborodko's own dysfunctional family.
The lack of knowledge about overseas kinda weirded me out (folks, masala chai is delicious, Indians comfortably deal with foreigners in their foreign terms, and not everyone is transgender in the Netherlands!), but these are very minor bits.
The underlying message is that the change is hard but not impossible. That there are, after all, principled and honest people who know what they're doing and try to get things done. And if Ukraine and Zelenskyy manage to pull through the hellish ordeal Ukraine is going through now, Sluga narodu will be one of the greatest stories ever told.
Slava Ukraini!
