S07.E07: Veep

[ElectricBoogaloo]

SERIES FINALE!

Quote

The nominating fight between Selina and her rivals reaches its climax, as their race comes to a historic finish.

Promo:

Original air date: 5/12/19

Edited May 11, 2019 by ElectricBoogaloo

[patty1h]

Those writers who thought up all of the excruciating lines that came out of everyone's mouth during the debate headed by Sen. Furlong... just blergh.  So much effort to be "funny" that just stunk up the room.  So long, Veep.  You had me for 5 good years and then... {weeps}

[Dots And Stripes]

Sue's return was the highlight, although it's clear Selena didn't someone that good at their job.

Richard having the happiest ending is an optimistic thought. The nice guy got to win in the end. I liked that they waited to make him President rather than having him fail all the way to the top so quickly. 

Amy jumping to Jonah's campaign still makes no sense, even more so now that we know she didn't go completely insane. She knows Jonah should not be President. What was she doing? I feel like Amy and Kent both retained some sense of right and wrong. Too bad we didn't get more hints of that this season. I was also disappointed that Selena's reliance on Ben seemed to re-write her history with Amy. I've been re-watching early seasons and Amy was a better staffer than Selena would ever give her credit for, particularly in early seasons. So basically, the writers did not do Amy justice this season.

I know having her funeral interrupted is supposed to be the ultimate insult for Selena. I don't think it was enough of an insult for all of her dirty deals this season. 

[SHD]

What she did to Gary and his final scene broke my heart.

[TwoBitUsherette]

So long, Veep! You had four/five great seasons, which is more than a lot of shows can say.

Gary was hardly my fave, but it still broke my heart when Selina turned on him.

I actually felt the whole funeral epilogue was a little unnecessary, but it did provide us with the amazing payoff to the joke in the pilot about Tom Hanks dying.

[driver18]

I thought we were going to find out what happened on Labor Day this season? Did I miss that?

Honestly, I was dissatisfied with the finale and I'm someone who's been fairly happy with the show overall even the last couple of seasons.

[revbfc]

In the end, Selina got everything she wanted.  She was a power player firing on all cylinders, people feared her, she got a full term, a library, and a vagina-shaped entry to her tomb (that was too difficult for a single soldier to open by himself).  What did it cost?  To quote Thanos: “Everything.”

[driver18]

True. Execution wise, it just didn't work for me for some reason. Too rushed, maybe? I don't know.

[Joimiaroxeu]

The way Selena went in on Michelle was BRU. TAL. I think smoke starting coming out of my TV. But then Michelle ended up working for Selena in the WH. Stockholm Syndrome?

Oh Selena, no. Not Gary. Why of all people would she turn on the person who'd been the most loyal to her?

Sue!

I have mixed feelings about this as a series finale. I guess JLD wanted Selena to go out a winner but Selena really turned out to be the worst person, I think.

Wonder if JLD will do another series?

[Amethyst]

15 minutes ago, revbfc said:

In the end, Selina got everything she wanted.  She was a power player firing on all cylinders, people feared her, she got a full term, a library, and a vagina-shaped entry to her tomb (that was too difficult for a single soldier to open by himself).  What did it cost?  To quote Thanos: “Everything.”

Bingo.  It was a hollow victory, because she alienated/backstabbed everyone to get there.  After Ben’s exit, the team fell like dominos, and she ended up in that office all alone.  And she only had herself to blame.

Decent funeral, but you could tell it was perfunctory and people weren’t emotionally invested.  Poor Gary, holding onto that lipstick for all those years.  Dude was a real one.

I thought something else was going to happen with the congressman when Tom James confronted Selena?  The congressman didn’t look pleased with what he was hearing.  Like he was going to pull funding at the last minute.

Richard being President was icing on the cake.  And a Nobel Prize?  Go Richard!

[RealReality]

1 hour ago, Amethyst said:

Bingo.  It was a hollow victory, because she alienated/backstabbed everyone to get there.  After Ben’s exit, the team fell like dominos, and she ended up in that office all alone.  And she only had herself to blame.

Decent funeral, but you could tell it was perfunctory and people weren’t emotionally invested.  Poor Gary, holding onto that lipstick for all those years.  Dude was a real one.

I thought something else was going to happen with the congressman when Tom James confronted Selena?  The congressman didn’t look pleased with what he was hearing.  Like he was going to pull funding at the last minute.

Richard being President was icing on the cake.  And a Nobel Prize?  Go Richard!

The more I think about it, the more I like the finale.

Yes, Selina finally got to be president....but, it was only one term....and she overturned same sex marriage, which probably made a lot of people hate her, including her daughter and her grandson.....her presidency was called "underrated" which means that generally her presidency was a shitshow.

It's not like she lost all her friends and her family and had this amazing two term presidency with people calling for her face to be put on mt Rushmore.  She gave up all the good things in her life to have a shitty presidency. 

It's exactly what her character deserved.

And it was great to see Richard as a successful POTUS, with a presidency diametrically opposed to Selina's because he was a good and honest person unlike selina.

[Tdoc72]

Was that the supposedly dead Andrew that walked between Dan, Amy & Kent at the funeral?

[sugarbaker design]

3 hours ago, Tdoc72 said:

Was that the supposedly dead Andrew that walked between Dan, Amy & Kent at the funeral?

Yes!

5 hours ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

I guess JLD wanted Selena to go out a winner but Selena really turned out to be the worst person, I think.

A winner?  

[DrSpaceman]

6 hours ago, driver18 said:

True. Execution wise, it just didn't work for me for some reason. Too rushed, maybe? I don't know.

Yes, everything happened too fast this season

Really should have had at least two more episodes to do these stories. 

Poor Gary.  He was the last one loyal to her and she backstabbed even him to get what she wanted. 

I did like seeing Tom James get what he deserved

7 hours ago, TwoBitUsherette said:

So long, Veep! You had four/five great seasons, which is more than a lot of shows can say.

Gary was hardly my fave, but it still broke my heart when Selina turned on him.

I actually felt the whole funeral epilogue was a little unnecessary, but it did provide us with the amazing payoff to the joke in the pilot about Tom Hanks dying.

I liked how they had a hard time opening her funeral vault

[Roaster]

At the end she was in the Oval Office alone - I thought of Michael Corleone at the end of The Godfather, Part II, after he has his brother killed.

I know we shouldn't try to apply logic to these plots, but Selina's rejection of Kemi for running mate made no sense.  Was she so vain she couldn't stand the idea of a younger woman on the ticket with her?

[DrSpaceman]

7 minutes ago, Roaster said:

At the end she was in the Oval Office alone - I thought of Michael Corleone at the end of The Godfather, Part II, after he has his brother killed.

I know we shouldn't try to apply logic to these plots, but Selina's rejection of Kemi for running mate made no sense.  Was she so vain she couldn't stand the idea of a younger woman on the ticket with her?

I agree about the Godfather, exactly what I thought of as well with her at the end

And yes, Selina is that vain. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

1 hour ago, Roaster said:

I know we shouldn't try to apply logic to these plots, but Selina's rejection of Kemi for running mate made no sense.  Was she so vain she couldn't stand the idea of a younger woman on the ticket with her?

Selina has gone back and forth on having Kemi as her veep.  At the beginning of the season when they were at that ranch, when her team suggested it, she didn't think it would go over well with voters. When the rich guy mentioned it, she went along with it. That was when Selina herself as Kemi's mentor aka her superior.

But once Kemi decided to run for president and they started attacking each other, Selina saw her as an enemy. Between their open hostility and Kemi being younger, I can see Selina being so petty that she'd rather have Jonah on her ticket.

Then again the argument could be made that she wanted Jonah as her VP because she hates him even more and she knew she would get to torture him for her entire term.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

The most surprising thing to me about the epilogue was Amy and Bill Ericsson being married!

Poor Gary. He was the only one of Selina's staff who truly loved her and had no agenda aside from wanting to help her, take care of her, and be around her but he is the one who she sacrificed.

[Joimiaroxeu]

Quote

A winner?  

Yes, in the sense that she got to go out as the president. There had been a lot of speculation that Selena would end up being someone's VP again in the end. So Selena achieved her highest goal but at a cost that left her pretty much bereft of decency.

[Duke2801]

While I didn’t enjoy this final season to the extent that I enjoyed the earlier ones, I liked the ending. I thought it was fitting. Selena “won” but really she lost—she had nobody in the WH with her who she remotely cared about (to the extent that a person as Selena was able to care) to celebrate with her. And while they didn’t explicitly say it, I surmised she died alone. No Gary, no Katherine, no Little Richard by her side. So, in the end, she got what she deserved. 

[wendyg]

Talk about continuity. After watching the finale, I decided to replay the pilot. And there, in the middle of a discussion about a damaging story that's breaking is this:

Dan : "It's going to be in the papers tomorrow."

Mike: "Not necessarily. Let's not make it the story and panic. What if Tom Hanks dies?"

Edited May 13, 2019 by wendyg

[amazinglybored]

Veep wasn’t what it used to be but I think it had a fitting ending. I’ll take that every day of the week. It made sense, characters got tied up and it had a logical emotional payoff.

President Richard was a nice optimistic touch. Weird for Veep and its commentary but nice.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I totally laughed when they said that Richard's wife was named Annette Splett. Is that better or worse than Julia Gulia?

[PrincessPurrsALot]

5 hours ago, DrSpaceman said:

Yes, everything happened too fast this season

Really should have had at least two more episodes to do these stories. 

Poor Gary.  He was the last one loyal to her and she backstabbed even him to get what she wanted. 

I did like seeing Tom James get what he deserved

I liked how they had a hard time opening her funeral vault

I only wish the had to push a slightly hidden button above the funeral vault door to get it to open.  

I was actually happy that Selina became President.  The cost was really astronomical.  She always said how weak her team was (and Mike certainly was), but where was she without Ben, Kent and Amy who knew how to guide her while they fought against her worst instincts? 

Poor Gary, loyal to the end.  

I was happy to see that Catherine and Marjorie were still together.  Also, President Splett!  Ah, Richard, the only truly kind person in the bunch.  Also, Jonah wasn't invited to the funeral since he had been impeached.  

[teddysmom]

Catherine making margaritas for the funeral watching was hilarious. 

I think my disappointment has been that the first few seasons they were bumbling fools but seemed to want something good to happen, and as it went on and on they just became so god awful you couldn't like any one.  And the Congressman who kept making his assistant say stupid stuff, that joke got old about three seasons ago.  Even Jonah, as stupid as he was, became even a bigger idiot.

I'm not offended by swearing, I'm the proverbial cusses like a sailor person,  but even I got tired of how over the top they were, who has the time to be that creative?  It wasn't realistic,  people have two or three lines they use, but it seemed like they all sit up at night coming up with insults to use. 

That black dominatrix dress Amy had on was insane. They were really sticking it to "whoever she was supposed to be lampooning, cough cough". 

They were all on Colbert the other night and Timothy Simons said that one staffer he met told him their job was not to push his boss' agenda, but to fuck with their opponent as much as possible.  

I'm kind of disappointed, but I was glad that Rhea Seehorn finally got something to do other than stand around pretending to be on her phone.  

5 hours ago, DrSpaceman said:

I actually felt the whole funeral epilogue was a little unnecessary, but it did provide us with the amazing payoff to the joke in the pilot about Tom Hanks dying.

I have to go back and rewatch I didn't remember that.  I guess Hanks fucked with them a little, they called him and he said "I'm travelling I don't know when I'll respond", and they started freaking out and then he called and said "yeah I think it's great go ahead". 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I really want to know why Jonah was impeached. I mean, the possibilities are endless but what did he actually get caught doing?

Heh, and why am I not surprised that Kent has alpacas?

[chitowngirl]

The ”previously” showing Veep Selina asking Sue if the President called kind of spoiled that Sue was going to be there in the end.

[TV Anonymous]

So Selina Meyer Presidential Library is in Smith College in Massachusetts. I am a bit disappointed as Smith College is actually a very good school, member of the Seven Sisters. Looking back at how difficult it was for her team to secure a location for her Presidential Library, IMO it would be hilarious if it is located in some junior college or for-profit university.

[TV Anonymous]

13 hours ago, Amethyst said:

After Ben’s exit, the team fell like dominos, and she ended up in that office all alone.  

But it was all her choice, though. Jonah was her VP and Amy was his CoS, Mike already gone a long time, Dan was fired on her request and Gary was in jail by her doing. The only one who voluntarily got oneself off Team Meyer was Kent who could not bear the idea of getting involved with Jonah. And see where that took Kent, from a very rational data analyst and strategist to an alpaca farmer.

[peeayebee]

14 hours ago, Dots And Stripes said:

Amy jumping to Jonah's campaign still makes no sense, even more so now that we know she didn't go completely insane. She knows Jonah should not be President. What was she doing?

It makes sense to me. I'm sure there were people working on Trump's campaign who didn't expect him to win, but it was a high-profile job.

14 hours ago, SHD said:

What she did to Gary and his final scene broke my heart.

Mine, too. I think Selina's heart was broken as well.

11 hours ago, Tdoc72 said:

Was that the supposedly dead Andrew that walked between Dan, Amy & Kent at the funeral?

What!? I'll have to rewatch for that.

1 hour ago, teddysmom said:

Catherine making margaritas for the funeral watching was hilarious. 

I think that's the happiest she's ever been.

I knew Selina could go low, and has gone low many times, but this ep was relentless. She was awful, the worst she's ever been. It was hard to watch.

I was glad to see her unhappy in the Oval Office. She knew how horrible and immoral she had been in order to win the Presidency. She recognized that she had no one left she cared about or who cared about her.

One of the things I liked about the final funeral scenes was that we see that even when the worst things happen in this country and with this government, we survive. 

Oh, and the funniest thing to me about the Tom Hanks story is that he made Philadelphia 2.

[peeayebee]

I just found out that Sarah Sutherland (Catherine) is Donald Sutherland's daughter. I didn't realize that. Heck, I didn't even know the actress's name. Maybe that would have been a clue. 😛

[scarynikki12]

28 minutes ago, peeayebee said:

I just found out that Sarah Sutherland (Catherine) is Donald Sutherland's daughter. I didn't realize that. Heck, I didn't even know the actress's name. Maybe that would have been a clue. 😛

Granddaughter.  Kiefer's her dad.

[qtpye]

10 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

The most surprising thing to me about the epilogue was Amy and Bill Ericsson being married!

Poor Gary. He was the only one of Selina's staff who truly loved her and had no agenda aside from wanting to help her, take care of her, and be around her but he is the one who she sacrificed.

6 hours ago, PrincessPurrsALot said:

I only wish the had to push a slightly hidden button above the funeral vault door to get it to open.  

I was actually happy that Selina became President.  The cost was really astronomical.  She always said how weak her team was (and Mike certainly was), but where was she without Ben, Kent and Amy who knew how to guide her while they fought against her worst instincts? 

Poor Gary, loyal to the end.  

I was happy to see that Catherine and Marjorie were still together.  Also, President Splett!  Ah, Richard, the only truly kind person in the bunch.  Also, Jonah wasn't invited to the funeral since he had been impeached.  

I love Tony Hale as Gary. He was hilarious but unpopular opinion, I felt he sorta got what was coming to him because he always enabled and justified Selena’s horrible behavior. He did not do this just because she was his boss but also because he was creepily obsessed with her. In his eyes she could do no wrong.

Edited May 13, 2019 by qtpye

[amazinglybored]

8 minutes ago, qtpye said:

I love Tony Hale as Gary. He was hilarious but unpopular opinion, O felt he sorta got what was coming to him because he always enabled and justified Selena’s horrible behavior. He did not do this just because she was his boss but also because he was creepily obsessed with her. In his eyes she could do no wrong.

I kind of agree. Gary definitely had his own mean streak and had an unhealthy relationship with Selina. Obsession, enabling. He didn’t deserve what he got but he deserved something. He didn’t have that much influence on her behaviour, though. If she wanted an enabler who worshipped her she was always going to find one. They just wouldn’t have been as good at it as him.

[Ottis]

20 hours ago, revbfc said:

In the end, Selina got everything she wanted.  She was a power player firing on all cylinders, people feared her, she got a full term, a library, and a vagina-shaped entry to her tomb (that was too difficult for a single soldier to open by himself).  What did it cost?  To quote Thanos: “Everything.”

The key was that the male soldiers couldn’t open her tomb. The female one did it by herself. 

[Ms Blue Jay]

10 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I totally laughed when they said that Richard's wife was named Annette Splett. Is that better or worse than Julia Gulia?

Bette Splett would have been cute too, but I can't believe women in 2047 would still take their husbands' names.  And no way would Richard care.

Edited May 14, 2019 by Ms Blue Jay

[Enigma X]

 I was very glad to see Sue, but I bit disappointed that she wound up working for Selina again. And I pretty much agree that most everybody this season was an extra level of awful except Richard. But I don’t think Kent was necessarily awful ever but very analytical, and I am glad that they showed that he had some integrity in the end. All in all, there were funny parts but I was a little disappointed in the whole season.

[LilaFowler]

Pinning the Meyer Fund stuff on Gary was the least surprising move she made. Anyone else would have fought the charges and used their knowledge of Selina's other dirty laundry against her. She knew Gary wouldn't. She also probably could have predicted that he'd be her loyal servant right to the end, and there he was with her treasured lipstick. He was really a pitiful figure.

[ganesh]

21 hours ago, revbfc said:

In the end, Selina got everything she wanted.

I think we did too. Richard got to be president which a lot of people wanted. I wanted a final Sue scene. Selina was effective as an assassin taking out Tom James and conniving herself to the nomination. 

I was stunned she sold out Gary, even though Andrew floated the idea before. She at least looked a little sad about it. 

The scene of her alone in the oval office was fantastic. I think a lot of tv is overwritten, and for such a wordy show to have a good solid scene with no lines was great for me. 

19 hours ago, RealReality said:

She gave up all the good things in her life to have a shitty presidency.

Given how she described being VP, I don't think she regretted it though. And the other lady got to be a two term president too. 

I would love to know why Jonah was impeached. 

I know the show is meant to be over the top, but it wouldn't surprise me at all if this is how it mostly is. I don't think I've ever been around for a brokered convention, but if there is ever going to be one, it could easily be 2020. 

[Aulty]

4 hours ago, Ottis said:

The key was that the male soldiers couldn’t open her tomb. The female one did it by herself. 

And that the door looked somewhat like a vagina.

[Ottis]

5 hours ago, Aulty said:

And that the door looked somewhat like a vagina.

Well, yeah... it was part of her library which the show had established looked like a vagina, on a campus that was a school for women. 

I hadn’t realized presidents were actually buried at their libraries. Is that a real thing?

[Mr. Sparkle]

47 minutes ago, Ottis said:

I hadn’t realized presidents were actually buried at their libraries. Is that a real thing?

Looks like it, for the last handful of presidents at least. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

18 hours ago, TV Anonymous said:

So Selina Meyer Presidential Library is in Smith College in Massachusetts. I am a bit disappointed as Smith College is actually a very good school, member of the Seven Sisters. Looking back at how difficult it was for her team to secure a location for her Presidential Library, IMO it would be hilarious if it is located in some junior college or for-profit university.

Selina spent most of S6 trying to find a school where she could have her presidential library. She initially approached Smith because she's an alumnae but that fell through because Andrew had an affair with the woman who was painting Selina's presidential portrait and Selina fired her which caused the Smith students to protest.

7 hours ago, Aulty said:

And that the door looked somewhat like a vagina.

They tried several other locations throughout the season (including American University and somewhere in Maryland). In the last episode of S6, they finalized the design of the library which was supposed to be at Yale. Selina referred to it as her vagibrary, so the library we saw in the finale was a great callback (the Yale location fell through because someone discovered that the site was where the school's former slave quarters had been located).

Selina: Marjorie, what do you think?
Marjorie: Looks like a vagina, ma'am.
Selina: That's from an expert.
Gary: I'm not seeing that.
Selina: Well you don't have any frame of reference.
Gary; What if you trim the topiary around the edge? That could help.
Selina: Nobody's going to trim the topiary. I'm not a porn star.
Gary: You could be! But you chose politics.
Selina: What is this? The clitoris? You know what would be funny? We should put the men's bathroom there. They'll never find it.
Marjorie: Actually, ma'am, the female pleasure center is quite extensive.
Selina: Uh, no, it's not.

Amy: Now, ma'am, there is a problem.
Selina: What?
Amy: As they were prepping for the groundbreaking, they discovered the library might be situated on the site of Yale's former slave quarters.
Mike: What if we put up a very sensitive exhibit that talks about slavery and honors the men and women who suffered there?
Selina: That's an excellent idea, Mike,  but I'm not going to have my vagibrary underground railroaded by this.

2 hours ago, Ottis said:

I hadn’t realized presidents were actually buried at their libraries. Is that a real thing?

Amy: That's the crypt, ma'am. 
Selina: Right, that's what I just said.
Amy: No, the crypt.
Selina: What? I'm gonna be buried there? 
Amy: Yeah, most of the formers are buried at their libraries.

[junemeatcleaver]

2 hours ago, Ottis said:

I hadn’t realized presidents were actually buried at their libraries. Is that a real thing?

Truman is buried at his which I only know because I've been to his library.  It looks like every president from the past 70 years, except Johnson and Kennedy, are buried at their libraries.

Edited May 14, 2019 by junemeatcleaver

[Ottis]

11 minutes ago, junemeatcleaver said:

Truman is buried at his which I only know because I've been to his library.  It looks like every president from the past 70 years, except Johnson and Kennedy, are buried at their libraries.

Thanks, all. That seems garish to me. I've never associated libraries and dead bodies, and always assumed former presidents were laid to rest at Arlington Cemetery or, more likely, the equivalent in their home states. Or at worst a family plot. It seems odd that when you visit a library, the president's remains are nearby.

Was reading some interviews with the show execs and they acknowledge that one plan was to have Jonah win and Selena become his VP. That scrapped it because it was too obvious and also because it was common internet speculation. So it's our faults. I hope you all can live with it!

Also, though, they said that Richard's two-time election as president was the one note of hope in the finale. I guess so, though while Richard seems to be a better person that Selena and others, I don't know if he would make a good president based on what we have seen.

I think it's sad that Ben died. And I still don't know what happened to Amy that she went all Jonah Ryan.

[TV Anonymous]

3 hours ago, Ottis said:

I hadn’t realized presidents were actually buried at their libraries. Is that a real thing?

Since Truman, the only presidents not buried at their libraries are:

• Kennedy, buried at Arlington National Cemetery following the assassination.
• Johnson, buried at his family private cemetery close to his childhood home.
• Ford, his library and museum are separate. He is buried at the museum.

Edited May 14, 2019 by TV Anonymous

[patty1h]

Frankly, I was ready for the show to end, as it went to the dark side with awful characters. My dislike for many characters just built as S6 and S7 went on, which hurt as I enjoyed the show up to the end of S5.

I never liked Jonah or Richard Splett; Jonah was too crude from S1 and Richard was too OTT dim and nice. Marjorie seemed to just sucked the life out her scenes, and who decided to put Katherine in that bad wig this season?   Despicable Sen Furlong and his minion made me cringe with every line that came out of their mouths.  Jonah's uncle (Peter MacNicol) was a loud fool who just popped in every couple of episodes to berate and laugh at Jonah. Patton Oswalt's character just showed up a couple of season ago and his weirdness was grabbing Jonah's balls. What?  This season someone had the bright idea to make Amy and Dan potential parents - who thought that shit up?  Add to that... abortion jokes? Laugh riot. Amy turned into a kicked dog chasing Dan the hound, then a witch out to ruin Selina. Yeesh.

Selina is on another level - she's always been a horrible pill. I hated Selina being dickmatized by her husband, and her various other male partners. It's fine that she has human needs but the writers made her frat boy gross. She just made poor Gary her unappreciated lackey. Goodbye, Veep. I will rewatch favorite eps and remember the good times.

[amazinglybored]

2 hours ago, Ottis said:

Also, though, they said that Richard's two-time election as president was the one note of hope in the finale. I guess so, though while Richard seems to be a better person that Selena and others, I don't know if he would make a good president based on what we have seen.

I’m pretty sure he was supposed to be great. Landslide re-election, brought peace to the Middle East and won a Nobel peace prize. I’m not sure they ever showed him being that guy but he was good, had his moments and 24 years passed. He basically becomes what Selina would have killed to be but could never be.

[peeayebee]

18 hours ago, scarynikki12 said:

Granddaughter.  Kiefer's her dad.

Thanks for the clarification. I thought she was pretty young to be Donald's daughter.

[scrb]

Worthy of a rewatch to compare the episodes with and without Ianucci's direction.