Great ‘Veep’ Debate: Has Season 6 Been Unimpeachable Or A Lame Duck?

In the wake of the 2016 presidential election, plenty of people wondered if politics could ever be shocking or funny ever again. After all, we’d all just lived through an election cycle that was way more preposterous and upsetting than anything you’d binge on Netflix. Political dramas and comedies were suddenly faced with a challenge: would they still be relevant in 2017? And 2018? And 2019? Or ever again? On the drama front, Netflix’s House of Cards came back swinging with it’s most bonkers season yet. And on the comedy side of things, HBO’s Veep returned in April and faced a possibly tougher challenge: prove that politics can still be funny.

Veep’s sixth season ventured into uncharted territory following Season Five’s game-changing finale. Selina Meyer (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) left the White House after losing a hotly contested election and her team of snarky sycophants were scattered to the wind. Season Six, which just wrapped up last night, saw Veep essentially become three different shows: one focused on Selina’s post-presidency floundering, another centered on Jonah Ryan’s (Timothy Simons) appalling (but probably accurate) career in congress, and a third starred Dan Egan (Reid Scott) and his sexual escapades as a morning news host. In this crowded season, did Veep sidestep the elephant in the room and bring the laughs? Or is it still too soon when it comes to political humor? Decider’s Joe Reid and Brett White are split on this issue and are going to duke it out in a Decider Debate!

Brett: After November 8, 2016, I never thought I could laugh about politics again. I cut out all the late night comedy news shows from my life and I wasn’t sure I’d even want to watch Veep when it inevitably came back. I had no idea what the show would look like with Selina out of office and with, well, everything going on in 2017. Fast-forward to right here, right now, and I think Veep more than rose to the occasion. While the show had to shake up its structure considerably, it kept the jokes coming fast and furious. There is still no other show on TV right now that makes me laugh out loud as much as Veep.

Joe: Well, first of all, let me say that I am happy that you were able to find something to help you laugh again after the election. Laughter is more important now than ever! I just wish I was finding as much laughter from Veep as I used to. I don’t chalk it up to the new showrunning regime after Armando Iannucci left. I thought David Mandel’s work on Season 5 was some of the strongest the show has ever had. But to my eye, Veep has been in a funk all season, and I’m trying to work out why. The show that used to be hilariously nasty about the absurdities of the way Washington worked has become instead a dully mean half-hour about … well, what is the show about this season? With the White House permanently in Selina Meyer’s rearview mirror, she and her staff have been wandering in the vague wilderness of her legacy, and without the narrative thrust of forward political ambition, it’s a stalled car full of mean people. I’m not sure where this show is going anymore, and I don’t think the show does either.

Brett: We can definitely agree about Season 5. I’d go so far as to say that it was the absolute best season of the series, and I love the Iannucci run. So yeah, following it with a season that shoved everything we knew about the show (the show is called Veep, and she isn’t even an elected official anymore!) under a bus. I can see where you’re coming from; this show is definitely not laser-focused like it used to be. I do think that’s intentional, though.

For instance, in the season premiere, Selina’s big idea is to run for president again (Catherine’s total meltdown after hearing this was perfect BTW). When Selina floated that idea, I cackled because it was so dumb and over-the-top. Like, dear god, we just spent two seasons dealing with this election–is the show desperately clinging to the structure the election cycle provides? Instead, no, that doesn’t happen. Selina and the show both enter into a (I’m saying intentionally) vague post-presidency period. The show feels scattered because Selina feels scattered; one week she wants to be on the Supreme Court, the next she’s failing women’s rights on an international level, and throughout she’s half-heartedly working on a book and establishing a library. And that’s just the Selina portion! Jonah and Dan (and their shows-within-a-show, complete with their own supporting casts) have had just as much murk to wade through.

So I think the meandering quality of Season 6 was a bit of meta commentary, and (for me) the performances and writing sold week-after-week a premise that would have been toxic for any lesser comedy. But should a show end before its mission statement becomes “let’s meander”? That’s worth debating.

Joe: I think your point about Jonah and Dan seeming to exist in their own separate TV shows is more of the stuff I’m finding frustrating. Jonah has always been peripheral to the team, so that’s actually not so much of a problem. Jonah rallying together a bunch of disaffected Congresspeople in order to better obstruct Washington has given him plenty of chances to be a braggadocios moron. No complaints. Meanwhile, though, while I appreciate that the show wants to tackle the newsmedia in addition to Washington politics, I don’t love keeping Dan separate all season, even if it has given the great Margaret Colin some of her best material in years. It may be that I’m too nostalgic for the show’s golden years, but I miss seeing the old gang all together. I miss Dan and Ben (Kevin Dunn) and Kent (Gary Cole) and Sue (Sue! Whither Sue????) struggling to keep Team Meyer afloat. Failing that, can they at least give Amy (Anna Chlumsky) something interesting to do? The show hasn’t found solid footing for her since she quit the Meyer campaign in a huff two seasons ago, and I’ve become frustrated.

I get what you’re saying about Selina’s scattershot post-White House life being intentional, but to me, the appeal of Veep was watching all of this bumbling nastiness in service of a woman’s quixotic ambitions. It was mean and vulgar and scathing towards Washington, but its purpose gave it all a bit of leavening, This year, instead, has felt stuck in the mud of a woman’s political annihilation. There’s a bitter aftertaste that keeps me from appreciating even episodes that have been consistently funny, joke-to-joke.

I also am not ruling out the fact that my subconscious has zero use for a show about the absurdities of Washington when every day gives me a look at what irredeemable people are doing as the run the government. Oh God, did Trump take Veep from me too??

Brett: I think Trump did take Veep from you! I’ve honestly found this season so refreshing because it’s spent so little time in the White House. I now associate the White House with…well, things I don’t want to watch. With Veep firmly out of that house and into the larger world, the show’s actually been a bit of escapist fun for me. I now am questioning why I find the things in this show “fun.” All these people are awful (except for beautiful perfect baby Richard Splett, so pure, so marvelous).

You’ve hit on the exact problem I have with this season, and I say that as the pro-Season 6’er. I too really miss seeing the entire gang together. I’ve hated that Ben and Kent have been stuck in Jonah’s office all season, even though they are amazing foils for him. And I definitely agree that Dan and Amy flounder when they aren’t both vying for power and screwing each other over. And yes, whither Sue?!!! I miss Sufe Bradshaw so much! If I had to say anything negative about this season, it’s the Buffy Season 4-ness of it all; the main cast has been splintered, and I think a lot of the quintessential Veep-ness suffers for that.

But, to turn it back around, I have to say the core cast around Selina this season–Gary (Tony Hale), Richard (Sam Richardson), Mike (Matt Walsh) Catherine (Susan Sutherland), and Mr. Marjorie (Clea DuVall)–have straight up killed it. If other cast members are being underserved (and they are), that quintet has been given a platter of Chili’s appetizers all season long (I need to get better taste in food). Selina and Gary’s chain reaction heart attacks, Richard’s sperm donor plotline, every single time Marjorie and Selina share a scene. And, of course, Gary’s birthday episode with legends Stephen Root and Jean Smart! I miss the larger camaraderie, but I love this season’s core cast.

So I revealed my biggest pet peeve of this season, even though I’m still on board. Is there anything about this season that you loved, despite your overall distaste?

Joe: It’s a lot of small moments. Jonah banging his head on the sloped ceiling over and over and over again. Selina’s autobiography titled “A Woman First: First Woman.” As much as the general direction of the show hasn’t been my thing, this is still a phenomenally talented cast, and they can knock out a joke. Sam Richardson’s performance as Richard is untarnishable (I don’t ever want these jokes about the Lhasa Express to end); Clea DuVall is a gem, and the guest stars, especially in the most recent weeks, have been top notch. Adam Scott as the Tonight Show host was especially brilliant. This talent isn’t going away, I’m just hoping it finds a place to point its arrow soon.

Brett: Well, judging by the season finale, it looks like the arrow is pointing towards the presidency once again. The primary gang’s even all back together, with Mike replaced by an actual writer (Brian Huskey’s Leon West). And we both expressed frustration with Amy and Dan’s distance this year; the two of them having a child together really gives them a lot to do next year.

Joe: Not to be a Dan Egan-style smug bastard or anything, but I feel like the finale justifies all my complaints about this season, in that it felt like a real course-correction. By gathering up all our favorite characters (I’m still hoping Sue just shows up next season sans explanation) to once again run for President … yes, in some ways it’s a re-hash, but it’s also a tacit admission that this show works better when it gives Selina some ambition to be thwarted. Watching Amy walk into the room with Ben, Kent, and Dan surrounding Selina, ready to once again subject themselves to abject humiliation in service of the only thing Selina has ever cared about, it made me so happy. And as if directly answering my “Give Amy More to Do!” whining, I cannot imagine how much of a holy terror she’s going to be on the campaign trail while pregnant. Good God, I can’t wait.

Where to stream Veep