Veep 6.10: "Groundbreaking" - Review:
Written and Directed by David Mandel
In this episode of Groundbreaking, the season six finale, we got to see the establishment of two clear sides for the inevitable next Presidential run that will likely take up the focus of season seven, with Selina going head to head against the Outsider's Insider Jonah Ryan, who has been spurned by his allies following his decision to shutdown the Government. This led to chaos and him being rejected by pretty much everyone, and now he's trying to see if he can win the election on his own. It's one incompetent man against one incompetent woman, and it'll be interesting to see how the show plays out going forward. The potential for Jonah/Selina debates alone could be very interesting.
One thing that I really did like here was seeing the multiple flashbacks that explored the past of the characters and how they came to be working with Selina. It echoed Parks and Recreation's finale only instead of looking forward as to where they ended up it looked backward to the beginning, even going far back as showing Selina give birth to Catherine. These flashbacks were a very cool way to tie up the season, including seeing Jonah meeting Selina for the first time, as well as Selina's first meeting with Gary. The juxtaposition of Selina giving birth Catherine with Catherine's birth to her child was a highlight, and their meeting with Selina's ex Andrew also gave them a chance to recommend that the baby called Richard, after the father. The thought of there being a Little Richard proved to be incredibly exciting for Richard, and of course, Selina turns what should be Catherine's moment into something that's all about her once again, using it to prop up why she still needs that Library pushed through in Yale.
Because of course Yale have decided to put the library on hold for now, not only because its construction resembles something like a vagina, but also because the library is situated on the site of Yale's former slave quarters. This doesn't go down too well with the press when it gets out, Selina opting to keep it under wraps in favour of hoping to avoid the public attention on this particular scandal. But it's Veep of course, scandals like this are always going to be made public, and it further shows that Selina is never going to have an easy ride. But then, it wouldn't be Veep if she got what she wanted all the time. Maybe she should have paid Mike's suggestion to honour the men and women who suffered with an exhibit in the library more attention, things could have turned out better. Speaking of Mike, by the end of the episode, it doesn't look as though he's on Team Selina anymore. Like Amy at the beginning of Season 5 he's moved on to new things, teaching at a college civics course which naturally has a low attendance, and it seems as it's only going to get lower as he is still having trouble mixing up White House politics with teaching, in an hilarious manner. I really hope we get to see more of Mike the teacher next season, as his new role should certainly come with some interesting new challenges.
Mike aside, it looks as though the gang are all back together now for Selina's second Presidential bid. Dan has come back on board after his failed stint with CBS: This Morning, and this has me really excited at the prospect of the season ahead. The interesting revelation as well that Amy was pregnant with Dan's child (despite Dan apparently not being able to have children anymore), provided for something that will no doubt be the topic of much debate in Season 7, and on top of this, the breakup in relationship between Selina and Jaffar also ended things on a devastating note for Selina. It's not often that we have emotional moments like what we had here on Veep but it was fantastic to watch this drama unfold, really showing just how good Julia-Louis Dreyfus was in this episode. It was certainly an excellent way to end the season as well, because as things have proven, when it's bad news for Selina, it's normally good entertainment for the audience.
The final conclusion from Selina that she doesn't need a library because she isn't a former President yet shows how determined she is to win the election, and now the show has positioned us with a new problem regarding who to support in their Presidential bids. There can't surely be another tied vote can there? Either way, it looks like the re-election bid is going to take up much of Season 7 so that will no doubt be exciting to watch. This season as a whole has been a really successful experiment with Selina's new role, testing the boundaries regarding how far the show can go away from the Vice Presidential job that comes with its title, and whilst this gave us mixed results, they were still effective ones for the most part that excelled particularly the longer that the team were together. Hopefully the writers have learned from this lesson and will keep this fantastic ensemble together for as long as possible, as they've certainly positioned everyone in the parts that they need to shine.
What did you think of Veep's Season 6 finale, Groundbreaking - or of the season as a whole? Let me know in the comments section below and be sure to check out my reviews of The Mist Season 1 and Preacher Season 2 while you wait for the show to return!
