Like with all political shows, Veep returned to television in the early days of Trump being president, meaning that all interviews or media about the show mentioned this. The writers always pointed out that they did not know this of course when the show was being made, but it is interesting how much Meyer's situation has overlap with what one imagines Clinton's might be. A life-long politician, looking for legacy, cast adrift from the only game she knows, and now hawking around with her foundation, an awkward daughter she is not close to, and a husband chasing everything in a skirt. That is not to say that the show goes after Clinton or even just makes it about them, but it is interesting that the cynical, inept, selfish caricature of a politician comes out looking a lot like Clinton (and I say that as someone who would have voted Democrat were I an American).
The lack of a White House setting for this season is a change, and it does throw the various characters and story lines into an odd place that took me a minute to adjust to. However despite some unease in this, the season mostly has a strong core of cynicism and commentary to drive it forward. The pessimism with which it views all its characters is grounding and convincing – from the money- chasing deals through to the closed loop of politics. With that though, the characters are given great dialogue and interactions which carry as much comedy as they do darkness – it is a well crafted script from start to finish, with plenty of great lines that always give me a bigger laugh by virtue of how suddenly and quickly some great word-play comes out.
Performances remain good throughout, everyone is just as good at the dialogue as they are at moments of physical comedy or other demands of the writing. Veep continues to be a very funny ensemble comedy, with writing, performances, pacing, cynicism, and laughs.
