Ranking the Veep Seasons

Veep is one of the greatest sitcoms every. Each season is good which is something only a handful of shows ever can say. Here is how I rank them.

Season 6: The Meyer Fund for AIDS, Adult Literacy, and Global Democracy

Season 6 stands out so much for the simple fact that it was the only season where Selina was neither in elected office nor (openly) campaigning for elected office during the season. That is a great concept, but it did make the season feel a little aimless at times that did not help. That was compounded by the problem that started in season 5: there are just too many characters running around, and it was watering everything down. I like that one of the seasons of the show feels really different, but it is definitely the least successful of them all. To be clear though, the weakest season of Veep is still better most seasons of every other sitcom ever.

 

Season 7: New. Selina. Now.

After an extended hiatus, Veep came back for an abbreviated final season. It addressed one issue with season six but continued the one glaring problem at the same time. Turning the final season into Selina’s campaign for president was a great call from both a character standpoint and from a showrunning perspective. It gave the final episodes a sense of focus and urgency that was missing from the previous season. The continued glaring issue was that the show still had too many characters, and the fewer episodes for the season just really shined a light on that. Much like season 6 though, it’s another really funny season that is miles ahead of most season of television ever.

 

Season 5: Recount

The fifth season of Veep was rather unique for the explicitly tight timeframe in which the season took place. The show often played fast and loose with how much time happened between episodes, and it often did huge jumps in time without making sure the audience understood every little thing that happened between episodes. This season takes place in the immediate aftermath of Selina’s presidential reelection campaign where the election ended in a tie so there had to be some recounts and tiebreakers. As such, this season only takes place over about three months. That may seem insignificant, but it was jarring and also differentiated the show from the preceding seasons. It was yet another damn fine season of television, but the show did seem to be slowly losing its fastball at this point. I think it’s possible the ensemble was starting to get a bit too big, and it was causing the show to feel a little watered down. The show seemed to have trouble letting go of characters once they joined in (Diedrich Bader being a notable exception), and I am not sure that was for the best.

 

Season 3: She’s Running

Season 3 was all about the unnamed political party Selina is in (but clearly it’s the Democratic Party) running a surprise presidential primary because POTUS is not running for a second term. This was a fantastic turn of events for the show – elections just make for better television than governance (even failed governance). It possibly more easily allowed them to never abandon their core premise that these people are selfish assholes and incompetent. The swerve was that POTUS resigned before the end of the season and that made Selina president in the most unimpressive way possible. And she was left looking defeated in the POTUS campaign by the end of the season. A brand new way of humiliation.

 

Season 2: Hostage Rescue

Season 2 of Veep establishes that this was not a one-season wonder show. It was a lot more of the same but more confident. If there was a minor nitpick, the show felt like it was eschewing humble storylines and making Selina more in the thick of it. The genius of season 1 was how outside the action she was. This season was just fundamentally different because Selina was forcing her way into the thick of it, and that was just less satisfying.

 

Season 1: Clean Jobs

Season 1 of Veep is rather remarkable. It establishes the major themes and tone of the show that would end up being the core qualities of all seven seasons. It introduced all the major characters without any of them really feeling short-changed. It also managed to be the first truly accurate depiction of United States politics – the most selfish and self-involved people in the world are drawn to power in this country and somehow have deluded themselves they are humble public servants. It is one of the most essential pieces of art to understand this country. And I always hold this first season in high esteem for just how pathetic and unimportant they made the characters.

 

Season 4: Families First

Starting with the end of season 2, Veep managed to throw a curveball by the end of each season to create a fresh dynamic for the ensuing season. Making Selina president was one of the best curveballs. Despite becoming the most powerful person in the world, her indignities only managed to get even fucking worst. The big story as president was that Selina was trying to pass a Families First bill that would have helped working families. As she learns that the bill is becoming too unpopular, she then completely nukes her own big bill to make the lives of working families better to win the election. And then she does not even win the election. She does not even lose which may have been more dignified – she ties. A fantastic season.