The American political system has rules for just about every “what if” imaginable after existing for over 200 years. We figured out what happened when a president died while in office. We figured out what would happen if a president is unable to govern while in office. We figured out what happens if Florida leaves their chads hanging. Now, thanks to Armando Iannucci and the Veep writing team, we’re about to learn what happens if an election ends in a tie.
Yes, just like the real world, nothing comes easy in Veep. Selina Meyer can’t just win the presidency. That would just be too simple and she doesn’t really deserve it after all the screw-ups of season four. Heck, one of her closest advisors - Bill - is going to end up in prison. So, season four ended in the most surprising way possible. You can’t let Selina just lose because the show has been renewed, but letting her easily win the election would be too easy to predict.
“History is calling,” Tom tells Selina at the start of the episode. “It won’t go to voice mail.” Yeah, that sums it up. Everyone is anxiously waiting in a Baltimore hotel room as the media announces their projections. Bill keeps reminding everyone that he’s going to prison, which no one wants to hear. Kent is yelling out bad news whenever he can. Mike is getting shocked by everything he touches and, just to make everything worse, Selina brings Karen back. It’s all “transcendent bullsh*t.”
Meanwhile, Dan and Amy are on CNN as analysts, with both trying desperately to not say anything bad about Selina and her rival, Senator O’Brien. While Dan is having a ball making a Nate Silver-esque numbers junkie look bad, Amy is wishing that she was back with the president. After all, she’s spent so much of her life by Selina’s site.
Amy gets a hold of Sue, who takes her over to the hotel. Before that, there’s a brilliant scene with Sue and her friend, with Sue admitting that politics is “boring as hell.” But once Sue and Amy arrives at the hotel room, Sue’s opinion changes.
Jonah is trying his best to keep everyone at the rally calm, taking advantage of his newfound celebrity as the face of men’s health. Everything is going well until he mentions the A-Team. Apparently, Jonah found the one crowd in the world that doesn’t like Mr. T. So, he calls up Selina’s team and begs them to deliver the “political meth” - a.k.a. Tom James. It’s a bad idea to go out there with the election not called, so they delay the inevitable as long as possible.
Meanwhile, Tom confronts Selina. He doesn’t want a small role as Veep. He also wants to be Treasury Secretary. Tom’s true colors are finally showing. He was - like everyone else in Washington - only trying to get what was best for himself.
The team is also freaking out. While Pennsylvania has actually turned blue to Selina’s side, it all comes down to Virginia. But even if Selina wins Virginia, it would come down to a TIE! That means that Congress would have a role in electing the president and Tom could somehow manage to become President. “The rule book has been torn up and America is wiping its nasty ass with it,” Selina yells.
Karen accidentally lets Tom go to the rally, forcing Selina and the rest of the team to rush there. The Virginia results are not in yet, so Selina wastes time by introducing everyone in her campaign team. (Dan is disappointed that he didn’t get a shout-out.) Of course, Virginia ended up going for Selina, putting the team in a kind of purgatory until the Congressional elections are called. The season ends with Tom asking Selina if she’d be his Veep, a question she’s at first revolted by. But... she might as well take that job.
You can check out my recap of the previous episode right here.
image courtesy of Peter West/ACE/INFphoto.com