Episode 5

Summary
Episode Five introduces Jasmine Cortez, a New York Senator nicknamed “the female Robin Hood” — a fierce, unapologetic progressive who makes it her mission to drag billionaires and tax evaders into the light. She is young, bold, and not interested in playing by party rules. Her arrival sends shockwaves through the race.

We immediately cut to Jill Lunden, who is furious that Jasmine has entered the race at all. Jill believes Cortez will siphon away progressive votes she needs to defeat Daniel Thompson — effectively splitting the anti-Daniel base.

Tracy, however, sees Jasmine differently. She wonders if Cortez is exactly what America needs — a voice uncorrupted by strategy. Jill snaps back, arguing that Cortez has no path to victory beyond the progressive wing.

The Democratic establishment agrees — and is terrified. Stacy is dispatched to confront Jasmine directly. But Jasmine refuses to bend. She declares she doesn’t need the Democratic Party’s blessing to win at all — a declaration that makes her both inspiring… and dangerous.

Relation to the Books / Saga Continuity
Jasmine Cortez is new to this series, created specifically to serve as Jill’s ideological foil. She is not present in Election or Conspiracy, though she is briefly referenced in Insurrection (currently in progress), where Melissa mentions her in a private conversation.

The fact that Jasmine is not present in the books strongly implies her campaign will fail — or be forcibly neutralized — but her role in shaping the landscape before that happens will matter deeply. Episode 5 is not her end — it is her ignition.

Based on Modern Times
Jasmine Cortez draws heavily from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Jasmine Crockett — two politicians who are fierce, unapologetic, and unafraid to confront power from inside the institution, even when that means clashing with their own party.

They are a political paradox:

• Despised by the right for being too radical

• Feared by the left for being too uncontrollable

And Daniel Thompson’s ever-present “Make America Pure” rhetoric has both parties rattled — but Cortez refuses to answer fear with moderation.

Critical Thinking

1. Jasmine Cortez rejects moderation and openly threatens to “force the powerful into the light.”
→ Is she a necessary moral corrective — or a spark that could burn the system down entirely?
Is truth-telling the cure… or the accelerant?

2. Cain doesn’t attack Cortez outright — he lets the system label her “insane.”
→ What does that reveal about how power maintains itself?
Does moral purity make Cortez spiritually strong — but politically disposable?