Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		4.5

Veep: The Final Season Blu-ray Movie Review

Politically incorrect and then some.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman January 13, 2020

There’s a perhaps baseline metric by which you can measure how you’ll respond to the often scabrous humor of this final season of Veep: do you think the seemingly endless round (pun unavoidable) of mass shootings with which the United States seems consigned to be fated can be mined for laughs? There’s certainly other provocative material running rampant throughout Veep’s seventh year, but having an obviously self absorbed character like Selina Meyer (Julia Louis-Dreyfuss) respond to a spate of that kind of horrific mass murder event is indeed grist for the comedic mill here, and heaven forfend, this particular reviewer, while absolutely shocked, did find it bracingly funny. The entire creative team of Veep seems to definitely be throwing caution to the wind with this final year, and while I’m sure there are going to be some who are downright offended with some aspects of the show, those with a tolerance for the (literally and figuratively) politically incorrect may find this one of the series’ most consistently well written years, at least the equal and arguably superior to what I considered to be generally a fantastic sixth season. It’s always fun to see a cast which has pretty much been firing on all cylinders from the get go achieve the added kind of camaraderie that working on a series for several years no doubt affords, and there is a constant level of appealing (if often hilariously wrong) interaction between the characters on Veep that keeps the show humming at a really estimable level throughout this season.

Those wanting to catch up on the by this point completely inaccurately named Veep can glean some insight from our reviews of the show's previous seasons, accessible by clicking on the following links:

Veep: The Complete First Season Blu- ray review

Veep: The Complete Second Season Blu-ray review

Veep: The Complete Third Season Blu-ray review

Veep: The Complete Fourth Season Blu- ray review

Veep: The Complete Fifth Season Blu-ray review

Veep: The Complete Sixth Season Blu- ray review

As alluded to above, mass shootings are certainly not the only potentially controversial subjects being used for comedic purposes in this final season of Veep, with other hot button topics like abortion and wounded vets being trotted out at regular intervals for various punchlines. It's all patently (and intentionally) provocative, but for those with a jaded sense of humor, it's also often undeniably hilarious. Selina is back on the campaign trail, trying to recapture whatever magic she's obviously deluded about having had in the first place, though she's also aware that she has a certain magnetic knack for attracting disaster. Her campaign slogan "New Selina Now" is an attempt to redefine herself in a more positive way, but of course calamity continues to follow her at virtually every turn.

For those with the ability to get past the "iffier" aspects of some of the comedy, this wrap up season provides everything fans of the series have come to love, including a bunch of bumbling staff members who are nonetheless largely believable. And it's in fact the heart displayed between characters (who are often ironically at each others' throats) that really ultimately defines this show and gives it so much of its crazy quilt charm. The "career trajectory" Selina has enjoyed (?) during the run of Veep has always provided tons of material that basically begs to be skewered, and that is certainly the case again this year, especially as it seems that her pipe dream of returning to the White House may actually pan out, despite constant recurrent missteps. The only difference is, it's getting harder and harder to tell the difference between these often incompetent politicos and a whole host of people who populate the evening news broadcasts.

Veep: The Final Season Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Veep: The Final Season is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of HBO and Warner Archive Collection (which has evidently taken over the distribution of at least some HBO Blu-ray titles) with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. This is another appealing looking set of transfers for the typically nicely detailed looking series. The prevalence of handheld "jiggly cam" moments, along with a glut of framings that tend to have "interstitial" elements like the backs of heads between the viewer and whatever the supposed focal element of the moment is, can tend to give at least the perception of slight softness at times, but in more "stationary" moments, fine detail on things like fabrics on costumes or even some of the campaign promotional material is typically excellent. The palette is nicely suffused and natural looking throughout. A couple of dark or nighttime scenes, especially a set of scenes in a lodge setting early in the season, looked a little murky to me, but otherwise this is another solid high definition presentation for the series.

Veep: The Final Season Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Veep: The Final Season features a nice sounding DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track that is able to provide some good immersion courtesy of quite a few outdoor scenes, where, along with well placed ambient environmental effects, other sounds like the roar (?) of crowds (?) assembled to see Selina can dot the surround channels. As with previous seasons, a lot of the episodes play out in smaller scale scenes where two or more characters are talking (often over each other), and as such really aggressive surround activity is limited, but there's still a good sense of spaciousness. Fidelity is fine throughout all episodes, and I noticed no issues with regard to distortion, dropouts or other damage.

Veep: The Final Season Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Character Retrospectives (1080i; 7:21) provide brief overviews of several of the major characters, with snippets from the show and some short interviews with the actors portraying the various roles.


• Inside the Final Season (1080p; 1:35) offers Julia Louis-Dreyfus' thoughts on the show's wrap up year.


• Audio Commentaries

  Episode 1 with David Mandel (Executive Producer / Director), Lew Morton (Executive Producer / Writer), Tony Hale (Actor), Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Executive Producer / Actor)

  
  

  Episode 2 with David Mandel (Executive Producer), Erik Kenward (Consulting Producer / Writer), Timothy Simons (Actor), Julia Louis- Dreyfus (Executive Producer / Actor)

  
  

  Episode 3 with David Mandel (Executive Producer), Morgan Sackett (Executive Producer / Director), Rachel Axler (Co-Executive Producer / Writer), Anna Chlumsky (Actor), Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Executive Producer / Actor)

  
  

  Episode 4 with David Mandel (Executive Producer), Peter Huyk (Executive Producer / Writer), Clea Duvall (Actor), Tony Hale (Actor), Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Executive Producer / Actor)

  
  

  Episode 5 with David Mandel (Executive Producer), Jennifer Crittenden (Co-Executive Producer / Writer), Gabrielle Allan (Co-Executive Producer / Writer), Andy Daly (Actor), Matt Walsh (Actor), Sam Richardson (Actor), Tony Hale (Actor), Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Executive Producer / Actor)

  
  

  Episode 6 with David Mandel (Executive Producer), Brad Hall (Director), Ian Maxtone Graham (Co-Executive Producer / Writer), Dan O'Keefe (Co-Executive Producer / Writer), Dan Mintz (Consulting Producer / Writer), Steve Hely (Co-Executive Producer / Writer), Peter MacNicol (Actor), Clea DuVall (Actor), Sam Richardson (Actor), Tony Hale (Actor), Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Executive Producer / Actor)

  
  

  Episode 7 with David Mandel (Executive Producer / Writer / Director), Matt Walsh (Actor), Tony Hale (Actor), Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Executive Producer / Actor)

  
  

  Episode 7 with David Mandel (Executive Producer / Writer / Director), David Miller (Director of Photography), Morgan Sackett (Executive Producer)

Veep: The Final Season Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Regular readers of my reviews may have already figured out that I have a kind of "take no prisoners" approach toward humor, and, while even I can be shocked at times (and definitely was at certain moments during some episodes of this season), I genuinely appreciated how brave the writers and performers were in tackling some subjects that many people would consider to be taboo or at least in the "be very careful" category. The fact is, there's an almost reckless quality to some of the humor in this final year of Veep, but it's actually kind of thrilling at times to see this incredibly capable cast just go for the gusto at every turn. Technical merits are solid, and the supplementary commentaries, while kind of "noisy" at times, may provide even more laughs for some fans. Highly recommended.