Veep Season 6 Review

Maybe it's the political climate today, or maybe it's just the problem of getting into Season 6. But I don't think that HBO's Veep, winner of the last two Emmys for Best Comedic Series, is nearly as entertaining as it used to be. Maybe the central problem is one that's hanging over it is that now President Meyer is out of office, and has no direction for her career. But I think the problem is far more basic.

In the Season 6 premiere, a critical scene came when President Meyer (Julia-Louis Dreyfus - who else) said that what she had been spent the year out of office doing was 'trying to get to know an old friend. An old friend named Selina Meyer." In a nutshell, that is the problem with the series now. Selina has never been centered on anything, but herself. And now that she's out of power, all she can do is see nothing but herself. She wants to be President again, despite the fact that her family is adamantly opposed to it, and when she learns her political life is over, all she can focus on is her legacy - never mind the fact that everything she did in the White House assured she'll never have one. She focuses on getting her Presidential Library, on racing money for her Foundation, on possibly becoming a Supreme Court Justice. And whereas before this was hysterical funny, seeing  how cruelly she treats everyone around her - from her ever loyal aide-de-camp Gary (Tony Hale, still the best thing about this show) to her own daughter Catherine, who now is in the embarrassing position of holding the purse-strings in her family - it just seem vindictive and pointless.

Granted, everybody outside the Meyer White House is now struggling to find a new career.  Dan (Timothy Simons) has landed on CBS as a morning show host, and is dealing with the fact that his senior cohost seems determined utterly destroy his career before it even begins. Amy (Anna Chlumsky) spent the first three episode trying to get her political inept fiancee to become governor of Nevada, but when he decided to give off the office for her, she gave up on him. She's now back as Selina's aide. Let's see how long that lasted.

At this point, the characters who we have any sympathy for are Gary Cole and Kevin Dunn, Selina's former White House aides, now reduced to helping Congressman Jonah, who seems determined to ignore their advice even when they're helpful. And one can't help but feel for Catherine, the most abused person in this series, now trying to find simple happiness with her lesbian lover (the former head of Selina's secret service detail), and not getting any sympathy from the woman who gave birth to her.

Now I'm not saying I want Veep to suddenly turn into the West Wing or Parks & Rec. There are still some often funny moments, as was demonstrated when Selina traveled to Georgia to monitor the latest election, and found herself being torn between two despot who wanted to make 'donations' to her library. But the series doesn't seem as piquant now (especially given the current political environment) though this may simply be due to the fact that its been on the air past its expiration date. Whatever the reason, I just don't feel that Veep deserves to keep running much longer.

MY SCORE: 2.5 stars.