Hail to the chief! Farewell to the chief. Honestly I never thought Veep would end with Selena Meyer regaining the presidency. Writers specifically avoided it in the election season a few years ago, yet embraced it as an ending this time around.
While that seems a betrayal of the arcs that they created, they kept her close to her core values: selfishness, disloyalty, and general wretchedness. And I mean that in all the best ways. Rather than focus on obvious enemies (the the other party), the final season of Veep kept focused on Selena and her frenemies. By empowering, castrating, and re-empowering those in her greater orbit, the show was able to keep her, and us, on a roller coaster that we desperately didn’t want to leave.
Impeachable Offenses
The writers, producers, actors et al had myriad opportunities to avoid sending Ms. Meyer back to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. By mirroring today’s political climate and scandals, they could have easily derailed her most recent White House bid anywhere along the way. Instead, they decided to let scandal and faux pas be red herrings and let her get her ultimate goal of being the first female elected President.
It just feels like such an easy way out.
Selena was so unique in that we loved to root for her and against her simultaneously. I laughed hardest when she was flailing in futility. The show could have given us such a better, more complex but easily digestible finish to Veep.
Funerals For Some Friends
The final sequence looks at her funeral and fills us in on what happened with an allegedly dispassionate view from network anchor Mike McLintock. Dan’s still getting young girls. Selena was a one (full) termer. Richard Splett presided over the ceremonies as the sitting President.
And Gary, loyal to the end, even showed up to whisper in her ear one last time. It’s keeping in character, as they never gave him much depth or free will to begin with. So him staying blindly loyal for 25 years and through a prison stretch.. isn’t that much of a stretch.
HBO will say goodbye to Game of Thrones next Sunday with much more fanfare. And while this isn’t nearly as bad as the ending of Seinfeld, it could have, should have, been so much more.
RIP Selena Meyers.
The Critic’s Cocktail Recommendation
The classic drink of politicians: Scotch. But not the good stuff. No Blue Label here. I’m talking about Old Crofter grade hooch. Cheap. Inoffensive. Unremarkable. Much like the end of Selena’s Vice presidency.
Cheers.
Critic's Cocktail 