Veep

Year of release : 2012

Run time :  7 seasons

Genre : Sitcom / Comedy / Tv Series / Political Satire

Cast : Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Reid Scott, Tony Hale, Anna Chlumsky

Season 1

 

Run time :  30min / 8 episodes

Selina Meyer is the vice president of the USA. This means she is the president's scapegoat,which leaves her most times without a speech and humiliated.

In the first episode she is into corn stars and clean jobs but that goes nowhere,as that upset the plastics industry,and for that reason the president k!lls her speech.

She decides to hire Dan ( who was dating a senator's daughter to advance his career),whom her trusty chief of staff, Amy, tells her not to.

 

 

In episode 2, Gary blocks a man who has the worst case of the cold, from sneezing on Selina, and catches his germs, and still,couldn't protect Selina from catching the virus.

In episode 3, Selina wants to get the dog her daughter,growing up,always wanted. After she finds one, she is told she can't have it,because the president wants to get one!

She also brought her daughter to the office,for some special mother-daughter time,but she doesn't have time for her, so her poor daughter waits for her ,all day,and still can't talk to her!

In episode 4, Selina has to deal with a new rising star,senator Chung, who is a war veteran, also wrote a book,and seems to be the public's ( and not only) favorite.

Senator Doyle also backs down from their Clean Jobs project, as it has two oil guys on it.

In episode 5, Selina finds out from Dan, that there is a briefing on the fiscal responsibility bill,to which she was not invited by the POTUS. She starts to believe the president is avoiding her, and wanting to see what's going on, she finds out from her staff, while trying to 'self google' the nicknames people gave her.

 

 

She notices one of the secret agents in charge of keeping her safe, always reacts to their conversations, and wants him replaced.

In episode 6, Selina is given the fight on obesity which she hates, after the president k!lled all of her projects.

There's a photographer who is always in her face,touching her, who can also read lips. This is bad, as Selina thinks she might be pregnant.

Amy is in charge with getting her pregnancy tests, and Dan thinks Amy is the pregnant one.

Gary is trying to get a picture with him and Selina on the baseball stadium for his father.

In episode 7, Selina has to deal with rumors in the press she fired her secret service man because he smiled,which is not true (he was reassigned because he kept on chuckling at what they were talking about). So,she has to fire Amy (as the press point to her) or someone in her team for it.

They decide to release all their records to show they have nothing to hide.

Realizing he is the one to blame, Gary signs his resignation, but Selina refuses it, saying she won't let go the only person who cares for her.

 

 

In episode 8, Selina is supposed to endorse senator Furlong for governor, but he doesn't want to anymore due to her 66% disapproval rate.

Her chief of staff,Mike, is trying to make her sympathetic, so he tells the interviewers to ask her things which would make her cry.

 

Season 2

Year of release : 2013

Run time : 28min / 10 episodes

New Cast Members: Gary Cole, Kevin Dunn

The season opens with a mid-term election campaign, where Selina seems to be the favorite. She is told she is ahead of the president ,but when she hears it's only 0.9 she has a fit. She seems uninterested in anyone else but herself.

Amy's father is in the hospital, but Selina needs her at the office.

Mike is trying to sell a boat he bought.

 

 

In episode 2, Selina is sent to a hog roast in North Carolina, where she joggles between her job, political faux pas, and her daughter's new boyfriend whom the girl wants to spend the holidays with, but most importantly, the review her daughter made for a movie. On the plane to there,she finds out her secret signals were leaked to the public,so they need new ones.

Amy's father is still in the hospital.

Dan is stalking the White House strategist, Kent.

 

In episode 3 Selina has problems with the Secretary of Defense during a joint appearance at a Marine Corps Base .

Sue testifies at a Congressional hearing, stealing the word Selina wanted to use, 'robust', becoming an instant celebrity.

Her replacement is very bad at his job, and puts the date of the rescue mission to free some hostages when Selina has to swear in the new senators.

 

 

In episode 4 Selina approves a photo for release,but Potus chooses another,to flatter him, so Selina ends up a joke on the internet,because Kent chooses one very unflattering to Selina,in which she's checking her phone.

Selina has a missing leg phobia,after she finds out the veteran lost his leg in his last mission.

Amy tells Selina she is pushing Gary away with the remarks she keeps on making,offending him.

Kent and Mike bond over sailing boats.

Sue has an interview for another job.

 

 

In episode 5 Selina and her team,minus Mike, go on a trip to Finland. The Finnish media hate them ,as Selina sang a song demeaning Europe,calling her Europhobic.

Mike is stuck at the office,on what he calls a 'math prison' ,working with Kent and his team.Mike is calling Jonah to explain to him what to do, as math is not his forte.

Jonah was supposed to be in Europe with Selina, but she kicked him off the plane when she found out he filmed her during her song, and that's how the press found out about it.

In Finland,Selina gets groped by the prime minister's husband.

 

 

In episode 6 Mike finds out the press found out one of the hostages was a spy,putting the life of the hostages at risk.Mike and Selina's team didn't know about it,only the president did.

Due to the woman she works with, having an allergic reaction, she can't finish the budget negotiations,so she invites Mary to her daughter's birthday party.

At the birthday party, because they can't hear each other, she turns the music off,so the guests leave.

Selina wants to make up to her daughter by inviting her to dinner the next day. She has a love-hate relationship with her ex husband,and her team is afraid she is gonna end up dating him again,due to how she is acting.

 

In episode 7 the government is in shutdown mode, and no one takes the garbage from the streets. Gary arranges for someone to take Selina's garbage,so she sends him to get it back because she doesn't want people to hate her for it.

Selina also has to retire some of her staff, so she retires them in groups, bringing them back, and retiring others only to bring them back.

She is back with her ex husband, with whom she has a love-hate relationship,and she keeps on hearing damaging stories about him, but that doesn't bother her.

 

In episode 8 Selina is spending a whole day with a reporter,who wants to see how she spends her day with her family,while asking questions about the campaign,and her family life. Selina's ex did another damaging thing to her career, but she's not sick of him yet!

 

In episode 9 Selina is preparing for a meeting with her campaign donors. And walks through a glass door.

Dan is working in secret with Danny Chung, Selina's opponent . Turns out Chung who seemed the only nice guy, is just as bad as the rest.

 

In episode 10 Selina feels tired of being in the government, and announces to her team she is out,and won't be running the next election. She then hears Potus won't be running the next election, and changes her mind.

The characters are never nice to each other, they are always at each other's throat,like bullies,and it's exhausting. It's soul crushing,and it feels soulless.

Most of the characters are unlikeable, like Dan, who dates women so he could rise in his career, or Johan,who doesn't know how to socialize.

Mike seems to be nice, and Gary.

Gary is Selina's bag man,who is also her biggest fan and Yes man,who runs to tell her everything,the moment he hears about it ( I like Gary). The feeling is mutual,so far.

In this season I feel for Selina, as she came with all these hopes and dreams as VP, and I see them crushed one by one, as she can't realize any of them due to the president's agenda.

Season 2 seemed better than the 1st, I laughed more.

 

I watched more seasons in the past, and stopped because she slowly becomes the villain. I didn't like the person she was becoming, and I hear she turns into the villain of the story by the end of the series.

The series are filmed as if a reality show or a documentary, and most times Selina ends up in embarrassing situations. Most times she has to pick up after the president, or has to deal with what he's giving her, destroying all she builds up to, and everything she's trying to achieve.

Viewer discretion is advised as the series contain vulgar language ,these politicians talk like redn3cks and are real j3rks. They aren't afraid to use the vulgar vernacular even in front of the VP, or at her!

Speaking of which, I don't think this movie would have been made today, considering the insults they spit at each other, and the things they say to Jonah (I feel bad for Jonah,no one likes him!). I was surprised to see it streams today, considering how precious people have become.

The actors were flawless.

When it comes to costumes,I liked Selina's outfits.

Veep is on Max and Max on Prime Video Channels with subscription, and is for sale on Amazon, AppleTv, Fandango at Home .

Rating : Worth a watch !