Ep 4. Tehran

In the fourth season of the Emmy-winning political satire series, Veep, in the episode named "Tehran," we find Vice President Selina Meyer (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) leading a mission to Iran, hoping to get the country to sign a peace treaty. However, as we know from the previous episodes, Selina is not the most reliable or competent politician, and things rapidly start to unravel as soon as she touches down in Tehran.

At the start of the episode, we see Selina attending a fundraising event, where she is told about a possible situation in Iran. Despite her limited knowledge of the country and its politics, Selina agrees to lead the mission to negotiate a peace treaty, hoping that this will make her look good to the public and bolster her political standing.

Accompanying Selina on this mission are her chief strategist, Kent Davison (Gary Cole); her press secretary, Mike McLintock (Matt Walsh); her personal aide, Gary (Tony Hale); and her daughter Catherine (Sarah Sutherland), who is on a documentary filmmaking mission. Upon arriving in Iran, Selina and her team are immediately met with a smaller than expected welcome. They are driven through some sketchy areas of Tehran in a car with dubious car parts.

As soon as they arrive at their hotel, Selina begins to feel the pressure of the situation as she is greeted by the country's president's right-hand man and many of the nation's most prominent officials. Selina is immediately confronted with the complexities of international diplomacy as she goes into damage control following a tweet made by one of her staffers back in the States.

Things don't get any easier for her once the actual negotiations start, as the Iranian officials seem to be playing a game of cat and mouse. Selina's team is constantly being dragged along without any clear objectives, as their Iranian counterparts continually change the rules of the negotiations. With minimal progress being made, tensions between Selina and her team start to become high.

Additionally, we see that Selina has problems back in the States as her staff is not doing their job correctly. As she struggles to maintain appearances in Iran, the situation back home becomes a disaster. We can see the frustration on her face when she learns of the failing approval ratings, and her staff's attempts at damage control only add to the political chaos.

As the episode progresses, the stakes get higher as Selina and her team try to navigate the complex and treacherous world of international politics. All this, while Selina is still reeling from a recent scandal and trying to keep her job in the face of an upcoming election. The tense negotiations are made even more challenging by the fact that, given Selina's limited diplomatic experience, she is finding it tough to gauge when and how to stay engaged with the process and when to step back.

Overall, the episode is a perfect example of Veep's signature brand of biting satire, sharp dialogue, and cringe-worthy moments. With Selina's team constantly stepping on one another's toes while trying to save face, things spiral out of control faster than anyone could have imagined, making for an entertaining and hilarious episode. The political farce on display in "Tehran" is a reminder that Veep continues to be one of the funniest and most intelligent shows on television.