![]() In fact, the Veep writers may have painted the most insightful portrait of American voters that there’s ever been on television. There were some razor-sharp lines mocking “us,” too. When we realize it’s “us” we’re laughing at, well, we only laugh harder. Through cutting, observant dialogue, the show has managed to convince us, the viewers, that we’re smarter than “us,” the American voters it’s mocking so mercilessly. Us: the clueless, easily manipulated, boneheaded, voting Americans who don’t know what's good for us, don’t know when we’re been played, and embarrassingly susceptible to machinations of politicians. ![]() Over the course of this past season, Veep’s writers have created an off-camera character, and he routinely steals the show. (In the first of a two-part finale, a disastrous incident with a journalist’s tape recorder and the tone-deaf use of the aforementioned $1,200 crate all but lost her the primary.) And her journey there has been unbelievably hilarious. So the way that Selina becomes president-the First Lady tries to commit suicide and, stricken with grief and a determination to help her in her tough time, the President resigns-is, really, the only way to make her entry to the Oval Office believable. But Selina loses, and then what? How far down can we see this woman fall? And is there even a show if she’s not president? Having her run for president has been an interesting choice because of the creative dilemma it presented: Selina wins the vote, and it rings as false and cheesy on a show that has never been either of those things. Three seasons in, though, the show’s made that joke. Or at least that’s the punchline the show is getting across. Meyer was a smart woman who was powerless because, it turns out, the office of the vice presidency holds no real power, outside of waiting for a phone call from the president. Before Veep premiered, people assumed that the series was going to be about a hapless, unqualified politician (because of the timing, the ghost of Sarah Palin’s political career was evoked), and that the story would revolve around her screw-ups.īut the show turned that expectation on its head. She’s so callous that you actually appreciate her more for being so unfiltered and authentic.īy and large, you don’t see any noble motivation behind her yearning for the nation’s top office other than the fact that she wants it and thinks she’ll be damned good at it. There's something comforting about the way Veep portrays Selina and her quest for power in the disingenuous world of politics. You’re happy that a person like that is the most powerful person in the world.Īnd then it hits you: That despicable, out-of-touch, and otherwise horrible person may be the most relatable politician we’ve seen take office in years. And then when Meyer, played to perfection by Louis-Dreyfus to be so despicable, out-of-touch, patronizing, self-entitled, disrespectful, and selfish, actually gets officially sworn in you’re actually happy for her. So the fact that Selina Meyer’s team of Stooges, so inept that communications chief Mike McClintock even knocks a crystal lamp and bungles Selina’s Oath of Office, against their best efforts and worst mistakes manages to get Meyer to the West Wing is a thought so frightening you can’t help but chuckle at it.
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