It's hard to pinpoint exactly what made this season of Veep feel a little...off. Was it the choice to have Selina become president, meaning that all of her bad choices felt like they had more weight, instead of simply enjoying her empty and futile existence as a vice-president? Was it the idea to have the team gradually splinter, pushing cast members away from the central crew into other stories? Was it Patton Oswalt's odd storyline, which felt a bit out of place, even for this wonderfully misanthropic show? Or was it just showrunner Armando Ianucci's fatigue with the show, leading to this being his last season? Maybe it was all of them, but the result was a season that often felt like a weaker version of the show I've come to love over the last three seasons. That's not to say that Veep still isn't hilariously funny, nor that I quit enjoying it; even if there was nothing else good this season (and there was plenty), the team of Jonah and Richard single-handedly made me laugh uncontrollably in just about every scene they had together. Add to that the always reliable supporting cast - Kevin Dunn and Gary Cole stole the show this season, really, if you ignore Jonah and Richard - and you've still got a pretty great show, even if it's not quite as rapid-fire and unstoppable as it was in earlier seasons. But by the end, Veep was coming back together, bringing in Hugh Laurie seamlessly into the cast and pulling all of its various threads together to give us a pair of final episodes that were as good as the show ever was. Maybe better - I know a lot of people would argue that "Testimony" is one of the best episodes the show ever did, and I wouldn't entirely disagree. And look, even with the missteps, Veep is still riotously funny, mixing its profane wordsmithery with intelligent, scathing looks at politics and delighting me with its misanthropy every week. I can't ignore my apprehension about Ianucci leaving the show; it seems so in line with his comic sensibilities that the idea of someone else taking over seems absurd. But I'm going to keep watching, no matter what; Veep has become my favorite comedy on television in its four seasons so far, and I'm hoping they can keep that together even in new hands next year.
- Josh Mauthe
- Josh Mauthe
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