“veep,” that marvelously funny satire on politics about a former president and vice president with a more than passing resemblance to Hillary Clinton, ended with a twist into some familiar and yet much-anticipated territory. The last episode of the season contained a number of flashbacks and ended with Selina Meyer throwing away happiness to go after, once again, for that thing she craves more than anything.
Flashbacks ranging from the birth of her daughter to that time at the ‘spa’
The episode had a number of flashbacks in the life of an ambitious female politician.
The birth of Selina’s daughter sparks her ambition for political office. Her first race for the Senate reveals a ruthless streak and a willingness to use human beings as instruments to get what she wants. Selina seems to have spent time in a mental institution recovering from her election loss as president of the United States. The rest of her post-presidency has been nothing if not frustrating.
The momentous decision to eschew happiness for ambition
The root of Selina’s decision to run for president again resides in two factors. First, her post-presidency has been one frustration after another. The crowning aggravation was the derailment of the groundbreaking of her presidential library over an absurd but typical 21st Century PC moment.
The other factor was the fact that Selina’s political star is in ascendance due to her role in the freeing of Tibet from Chinese tyranny having been revealed. The current president is also experiencing a slump in the polls making her vulnerable.
But Selina is throwing away personal happiness in reaching once again for the Oval Office.
She demonstrates a willingness to use her own daughter and grandchild as pawns for her campaign. Worst of all, she breaks off an engagement with a handsome, dutiful man because having a Muslim fiancée not to mention husband is not an advantage in a bare-knuckle fight for the presidency.
The real twist, however, was about Selina’s opponent
However, the real twist concerned another character in the series, having seemingly lost all political power due to his being the most obnoxious member of Congress in history (a rare feat that) deciding that he is a viable candidate for president. Jonah Ryan, who was a White House intern when Selina was first vice president, is now a failed one-term congressman and now a candidate for president of the United States. The perpetual angry little boy who is, if anything, worse that Selina in his outrageous pursuit of undeserved power is going to be a headache for our anti-heroine in the next season. Maybe he won't be the only one. The spectacle will demonstrate that no matter how messed up real-life politics are it can be infinitely worse.
