S07.E4: South Carolina

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

Selina and team head to South Carolina, where she seeks an endorsement from a key leader. Gary gets a long-awaited promotion, while Marjorie excels in her new role.

Promo:

Original air date: 4/21/19

[revbfc]

President Splett?

Sweet, male Jesus, how did they (sort of) predict Buttigieg?

[nilyank]

55 minutes ago, revbfc said:

President Splett?

If that happens, you know he would probably name Jonah as his Veep.

[biakbiak]

I think they did too good a job being a head of trends in American politics and now are relying on just mimicry which feels off.

[zibnchy]

Why is Rhea Seahorn on this show in such a tiny forgotten part? I suppose she'll play a role later but seems criminally underused.

Why is Amy supporting Jonah. I don't understand.

[biakbiak]

Just now, zibnchy said:

Why is Amy supporting Jonah. I don't understand.

Based on her makeup at the end of the episode I am pretty certain she is supposed to be the equivalent of Kelly Anne Conway.

[CatWarmer]

Amy just wants to be a winning campaign manager, a position she couldn’t get on Selina’s campaign.  She doesn’t care who it’s for as long as she thinks she can make her reputation.

Everyone in the room is smarter than Mike!  So the Chinese not only anonymously donated $25 million through the faith website, they also hacked voter rolls and emergency alarms to give Selina the win. And this was all written before the report came out. 

[Dots And Stripes]

1 hour ago, CatWarmer said:

Amy just wants to be a winning campaign manager, a position she couldn’t get on Selina’s campaign.  She doesn’t care who it’s for as long as she thinks she can make her reputation.

Except she’s been fairly loyal to Selena over a long span of time. She also jumped to a campaign that was irrelevant for a candidate she despises. It wasn’t until 3/4 of the way through tonight’s episode (after trying and failing to make a deal to drop out and endorse someone else) that Amy saw some promise in Jonah’s campaign. 

Tonight reinforced my feeling that Amy’s choice was wholly contrived. They wanted her to jump campaigns, so they had her jump campaigns. They didn’t bother to set it up in a way that made sense. Last week I wondered if I missed a scene where Amy was fired. I still wouldn’t be surprised if a firing scene was cut. Speaking of firings, last week Dan sounded like he was following Amy only to see him with the Meyers campaign most of this week. 

I will kind of give the show credit for that Chinese infiltration storyline the week of the Mueller report. Andy Daly just so happening to have extensive ties to the Chinese and finding his way into the campaign is very Paul Manafort. Selena making public overatures to the Chinese felt timely again after the report.

I agree Amy has gone full Kellyanne. It was a nice dig at CNN to have the anchor (rightfully) criticize Jonah as frightening then immediately promote the live airing of Jonah’s rally the next day.

[bijoux]

Even more hilarious than vapid Barbie Amy was Dan getting unceremoniously fired at the end. 

[revbfc]

4 hours ago, CaliCheeseSucks said:

(On a sidenote: Have they worked in an appearance from Sufe Bradshaw this season and I missed it? I know there were issues with her off-screen that kept her out of the past couple seasons but she was included in THR's oral history which gave me hope we'd at least get a final check-in with Sue.)

I hope she shows up again, but Sue was always the most disciplined and self aware character of the bunch.  Her being part of Selina’s campaign as it is now would not make sense (especially with the Chinese meddling storyline).

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I was cracking up as soon as the episode started because of the New Hampshire primary results:

Meyer 43.2%
Talbot 26.3%
James 14.6%
Devito 8.9%
Calhoun 4%
Ryan 3%

[teddysmom]

8 hours ago, biakbiak said:

Based on her makeup at the end of the episode I am pretty certain she is supposed to be the equivalent of Kelly Anne Conway.

I got that too. WTF

I think Richard was supposed to be a Cory Booker spoof. When he was Mayor of Newark he would go on police and fire runs, save kittens, etc. 

[taragel]

This is the first episode where it seems like they're taking cues (somewhat randomly, esp re: Amy as KellyAnne) from the Trump Admin rather than being prescient/ahead of real world politics.  

I still enjoy the show on a surface level and it can still make me laugh (the whole Marjorie v. Gary bag thing was great) so I don't usually get too worked up about Mandel being inferior to Iannucci but as we close in on the homestretch, I'd really prefer to see these characters go in directions that actually make some consistent sense.

[Corgi-ears]

10 hours ago, biakbiak said:

...now are relying on just mimicry which feels off.

Like Mike being Robert Kelly. The show now feels like a series of SNL skits, and not even particularly timely ones. 

[Joimiaroxeu]

Why was Selena wearing her church hat like that? She looked deranged. I don't think Americans really carry off the fascinator thing like the Brits do.

No! More! Math! 😑

Wait, what? Did Chinese hack the SC power grid for Selena?

Wait, what? Did Selena deliberately screw Dan to screw Dan?

Man, this season is brutal. They are scorched earthing everybody. Everybody.

[Caseysgirl]

I realize that this season is just copying what is going on in the real world & it’s pretty depressing how it’s not even satire anymore, but this show still makes me laugh.

[bijoux]

48 minutes ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

Why was Selena wearing her church hat like that? She looked deranged. I don't think Americans really carry off the fascinator thing like the Brits do.

😑

Wait, what? Did Selena deliberately screw Dan to screw Dan?

I thought that particular hat was meant to be worn that way. 

I think she screwed him after screwing him. You know Dan would have gotten too big for his britches during the campaign trail after they screwed. So I imagine Selina just curtailed that promptly. 

[iMonrey]

One thing I'll say for this show is that I haven't the slightest idea where all this is headed. At first I thought it would lead to an eventual win by Jonah but then not, but now maybe? Again? Yet now it's Selina's campaign that's starting to mimic the Trump campaign with the interference from China. Maybe there aren't any real clues here and it's just one giant amalgamation of satire.

[teddysmom]

3 hours ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

No! More! Math! 😑

I'm assuming I'm the only person who doesn't understand how 4% is 33% more than 3%?  Or was 4% 33 more votes?  Or should I not try to do math at 6 am? 

13 hours ago, zibnchy said:

Why is Rhea Seahorn on this show in such a tiny forgotten part? I suppose she'll play a role later but seems criminally underused.

ITA. This episode she just stood on camera behind Tom James for like 2 seconds. Maybe she'll come to work for Selena? 

[Totale]

While you watch Selina climb in the polls, just remember the show's original title sequence.

[Joimiaroxeu]

Quote

I thought that particular hat was meant to be worn that way. 

In the UK maybe. I think that's why the pastor made the passing comment about how the church would really take notice of it. The look was I think a tad avant-garde for a small, southern, Black church. Selena probably shouldn't have worn a hat at all.

Quote

Or was 4% 33 more votes?

That's the way I took it but I don't think that's what he said. His math was wrong unless Jonah actually only got 100 votes and the guy above him got 133.  And that doesn't work unless there was a total of only about 3300 votes. There'd have to be more votes than that in the whole state.

[Roaster]

Y'all are overthinking this.  4 is 33% more than 3.  It's not complicated.

re Rhea Seahorn: Maybe she won't have a bigger part going forward.  Many good performers have appeared in this series in small roles.  They have a surfeit of riches when it comes to actors.

[peeayebee]

15 hours ago, zibnchy said:

Why is Rhea Seahorn on this show in such a tiny forgotten part? I suppose she'll play a role later but seems criminally underused.

Maybe she's a big fan of the show and just wanted to be on it in some capacity. 

12 hours ago, Dots And Stripes said:

Except she’s been fairly loyal to Selena over a long span of time.

Selena treats her like shit. Amy has been standing up for herself though, like last season when she gave that big speech, and this season premiere when she had the binder with all the jabs at Selena. So can I certainly see her jumping ship when another office comes along, esp when she can have a higher position.

14 hours ago, CatWarmer said:

Everyone in the room is smarter than Mike!  So the Chinese not only anonymously donated $25 million through the faith website, they also hacked voter rolls and emergency alarms to give Selina the win. And this was all written before the report came out. 

One didn't need to wait for the report in order to know about the Russia stuff. 

Love that Richard became a hero as mayor.

Oh, and I loved the bit when Mike was doing his webcast and his adopted daughter then toddler and wife came in, just like that hilarious BBC interview several months back.

Marjorie is a fantastic bagman. Loved all the stuff with her and Gary.

I should have taken notes. There was a little line that Kent said that I loved. 

[teddysmom]

25 minutes ago, peeayebee said:

Oh, and I loved the bit when Mike was doing his webcast and his adopted daughter then toddler and wife came in, just like that hilarious BBC interview several months back.

Yes that was hilarious. I love how his oldest daughter is so mean to him.  

[bijoux]

1 hour ago, peeayebee said:

Marjorie is a fantastic bagman. Loved all the stuff with her and Gary.

I am truly and deeply disappointed that Gary didn’t think to put the tampons vertically in 18 years. Tsk, Gary. Tsk.

[Destiny74]

3 hours ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

In the UK maybe. I think that's why the pastor made the passing comment about how the church would really take notice of it. The look was I think a tad avant-garde for a small, southern, Black church. Selena probably shouldn't have worn a hat at all.

Not that I disagree with you but that was not a small church by any means.

[iMonrey]

Quote

re Rhea Seahorn: Maybe she won't have a bigger part going forward.  Many good performers have appeared in this series in small roles.  They have a surfeit of riches when it comes to actors.

Yeah, D'Arcy Carden had a bit part last season and she's a regular on a network sitcom (The Good Place). Both she and Rhea Seahorn have gigs on shows that have 13 episodes a year. That's probably not enough to keep the lights on if they turn down work elsewhere.

[ganesh]

There were a lot of barbs in this episode, and that's saying something. I knew Tom James was going to pull that. Selina should have known too, especially after the debate. 

I don't really know why she slept with Dan though. That seemed out of left field to me. 

Ben and Kent have incredible comic timing. Just about all the cast does, but they don't have a lot of lines and they let it zip - We're a nation of laws. -ish. -esque.

I assume Selina is going to fall flat at some point. I'm still going with her ending up VP to close out the series. 

Funny thing from Kent that might have got lost - What do the non educated white men want? Education. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

9 hours ago, ganesh said:

Funny thing from Kent that might have got lost - What do the non educated white men want? Education. 

To be denied to African-Americans. 

The full quote:

Selina: If we're not getting the black vote then we have to take a hard turn to the white. Kent, how are we doing with non-college educated whites?
Kent: Underwater, ma'am.
Selina: Then how about college educated whites?
Kent: In South Carolina, that is not a significant slice of the pie.
Selina: Then we're going to have to find a way with non-college educated whites. Like what appeals to them? What do they want?
Kent: Well, my polling shows their main wants are jobs, education, and an adequate safety net-
Selina: Okay, I can speak to that.
Kent: I'm not finished, ma'am. To be denied to African-Americans.

Edited April 23, 2019 by ElectricBoogaloo

[meowmommy]

6 hours ago, teddysmom said:

I'm assuming I'm the only person who doesn't understand how 4% is 33% more than 3%?  Or was 4% 33 more votes?  Or should I not try to do math at 6 am? 

One is one third (33%) of three.  When you add one to three to get four, you've added 33% of the previous number (three).

[Chloesmom]

I always have to watch the episodes a couple of times to catch everything but that last 30 seconds of Anna Chulmsky morphing into KAC was perfection.  At first I was like "hey what's up with her hair?" but her tone, snark and mannerisms were spot on. 

[Rose Haze]

Well, I almost laughed once.  

[teddysmom]

11 hours ago, meowmommy said:

One is one third (33%) of three.  When you add one to three to get four, you've added 33% of the previous number (three).

Thanks! I did figure it out after a couple cups of coffee and remembering how percentages are determined.   

[patty1h]

At the beginning of the new season, I thought that Gary looked a little... different.  It took me a minute to figure out what the change was, then I realized that his hair looked darker - he was coloring his hair.  After watching an episode from S2 last night, I figured it out - he's actually wearing a hairpiece now.  S2 Gary was bald in the front and very thin on the top, and now, it's all filled in.  Wonder if this is a 'Gary' thing or a Tony Hale life decision.

[Ottis]

23 hours ago, Caseysgirl said:

I realize that this season is just copying what is going on in the real world & it’s pretty depressing how it’s not even satire anymore, but this show still makes me laugh.

I have been laughing my ass off. The Muslim math thing with Jonah was pure genius, showing how an innocuous historical fact becomes politicized by a not particularly bright voter base. "What about college educated white voters?" "That's not a big slice of the pie in South Carolina." All so true, and "sharia math" is damn funny.

The Amy stuff is weird. It feels like it's there just to mock Trump. Like others, I don't know what Amy's motivation is. She has mostly seemed like a reasonable person caught up in the political rush. I guess the latter part could have taken over.

Selina demoting the almost perfect Marjorie because Marjorie tells the truth was perfect. And the fact Marjorie knew how to play that was even better.

Edited April 23, 2019 by Ottis

[EdnasEdibles]

The motivation I can imagine for Amy is that the girl needs a win. She needs a win badly. She's been the abused hard worker for Selena's campaigns and short-lived presidency. She had to deal with Dan's flakiness with her pregnancy. She had to confront the "career or children" question and decided to go with career - but what kind of career is it really? To me she had a "come to Jesus" moment with her abortion and was like "I am deciding to go full hog into my career but it has to matter and I'm going to be a winner dammit." and she's going full force to win at any costs. She's not going to lose again, dammit. And if she has to hitch her ride to Jonah and the American Idiots, by God she's going to do it. 

[ganesh]

Yeah, I don't think there needs to be much of a deeper reason beyond that. And it's true these political operatives bounce around. I just hope this all comes to a hilarious catastrophic conclusion.

I like how Quinn has been in the background until now and then busts out his Chinese connection to Selina's horror. And then in a later scene he catches her eye from across the room and bows. 

[Roaster]

The Muslims-invented-algebra-so-math-teachers-are-traitors thing was indeed brilliant satire.

The quip about not many college-educated people in South Carolina: probably is the kind of dismissive comment smarty-pants Washington insiders would say, but I doubt the demographics of SC are that much different from other states.  This is the type of attitude among Washington insiders that drives and red-blue divide.

[ganesh]

The state is rated 48th in education so there might be merit to the claim. 

[tennisgurl]

I lived in South Carolina for a bit, so this was quite hilarious to me. There are lots of very smart people there, and a lot of...not so smart people there, like in most places. It has a lot of poverty in the rural areas where schools are awful, but also a lot of colleges and urban areas with lots of culture and wealth, its a real mixed bag. 

Awww Richard was a hero in his first day as mayor. He really is an awesome sperm donor. 

Mike might be the dumbest person on this whole show, and that is REALLY saying something.

[peeayebee]

6 hours ago, patty1h said:

At the beginning of the new season, I thought that Gary looked a little... different.  It took me a minute to figure out what the change was, then I realized that his hair looked darker - he was coloring his hair.  After watching an episode from S2 last night, I figured it out - he's actually wearing a hairpiece now.  S2 Gary was bald in the front and very thin on the top, and now, it's all filled in.  Wonder if this is a 'Gary' thing or a Tony Hale life decision.

Uh, I was also thinking he had dyed his hair. It never occurred to me that the difference was a hairpiece. For some reason, I think it must be a Gary thing, not a Tony thing. Yet you'd think that another character on the show would mention it.

[gorgy]

2 hours ago, peeayebee said:

For some reason, I think it must be a Gary thing, not a Tony thing.

It’s a Tony thing. I watched the last season of Arrested Development like a week before Veep premiered and he had hair, so I think it’s implanted maybe. 

[PrincessPurrsALot]

Constituents, There are parallels between the current storylines and things happening currently in US politics. Comparing characters to some current politicos is okay in a general way.  However, let's keep the actual politics being discussed to those on the show. Otherwise we'll have to send you all to a reeducation camp where you will be forced to learn toxic sharia math while eating school lunches that include green vegetables.

[iMonrey]

I caught two great lines on rewatch, the first when Richard was on TV after the crop duster crashed into the 7-11 and he told the reporter that they were working with FEMA to bring in emergency cigarettes.

The other was when they were all watching Tom James on TV expecting him to endorse Selina and he didn't, and Selina said "He fucked me right in the ass" and then Ben said "The son of a bitch didn't even endorse you" and Selina said "That too!"

[ganesh]

Oh, I caught the ass line on the first viewing. I can't imagine why she's so weak with Andrew.

[rejnel]

I haven't liked the jokes about Amy's appearance over the seasons, but as she's gotten more eccentric looking, they've started to (almost) make sense. And if the endgame is that Anna Chlumsky will be doing a Kellyanne impression from now on, I'm all in! Those few seconds were hilarious.