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trope is renamed Prefers Going Barefoot. Dewicking old name


* DoesNotLikeShoes: Selina takes off her shoes, whenever she has the opportunity.
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* ICanSeeYou: PlayedForLaughs. Mike tells Jonah he is working on local business initiatives while gorging himself at a rooftop event, and Jonah reveals he's standing in the stadium next door watching him.
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* NotMeThisTime: When some of the characters hear Jonah is involved in sexual harassment, they assume he’s the culprit. He’s actually the victim, having been repeatedly groped by Doyle’s chief of staff Teddy.
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** The convention in season 7 takes place in Charlotte, North Carolina. A couple of people in Selina’s campaign say they shouldn’t be legitimizing a state who passed an anti-transgender bathroom bill. This actually happened in North Carolina in 2016 under a [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Facilities_Privacy_%26_Security_Act]] Republican governor/legislature. THe bill went on to cost the governor his job and some but not all of it was later overturned.

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** The convention in season 7 takes place in Charlotte, North Carolina. A couple of people in Selina’s campaign say they shouldn’t be legitimizing a state who passed an anti-transgender bathroom bill. This actually happened in North Carolina in 2016 under a [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Facilities_Privacy_%26_Security_Act]] Republican governor/legislature. THe The bill went on to cost the governor his job and some but not all of it was later overturned.
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** Danny Chung's veteran shtick is reminiscent of the 2004 Democratic Presidential nominee, John Kerry. He's also the governor of the Democratic state of Minnesota.

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** Danny Chung's veteran shtick is reminiscent of the 2004 Democratic Presidential nominee, John Kerry. He's also the governor of the Democratic blue state of Minnesota.



** The convention in season 7 takes place in Charlotte, North Carolina. A couple of people in Selina’s campaign say they shouldn’t be legitimizing a state who passed an anti-transgender bathroom bill. This actually happened in North Carolina in 2016 under a [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Facilities_Privacy_%26_Security_Act]] Republican governor/legislature. Said bill went on to cost said governor his job and some but not all of it was later overturned.

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** The convention in season 7 takes place in Charlotte, North Carolina. A couple of people in Selina’s campaign say they shouldn’t be legitimizing a state who passed an anti-transgender bathroom bill. This actually happened in North Carolina in 2016 under a [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Facilities_Privacy_%26_Security_Act]] Republican governor/legislature. Said THe bill went on to cost said the governor his job and some but not all of it was later overturned.
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* NoPartyGiven: The show never reveals Meyer or any other characters' political party. However, given the issues she claims to stand for, she can be interpreted as a Democrat. [[AllThereInTheManual According to the props in the post-series auction also later confirms she's Democrat]].

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* NoPartyGiven: The show never reveals Meyer or any other characters' political party. However, given the issues she claims to stand for, for and other various bits of information, she can be interpreted as a Democrat. [[AllThereInTheManual According to the props in the post-series auction also later confirms she's Democrat]].



** Season 7 introduces Kemi Talbot, a black woman senator from New York whom Selina calls "the future of our party." Black women are the most monolithically Democratic group in the country (roughly 95% of black women voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016) and New York is a 2-to-1 Democratic state.

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** Season 7 introduces Kemi Talbot, a black woman senator from New York whom Selina calls "the future of our party." Black women as a group are the most about as close to monolithically Democratic as a group in the country can be (roughly 95% of black women voted for Hillary Clinton vote Democratic in 2016) presidential elections) and New York is a 2-to-1 Democratic state.



*** While most of the people match up with their real life state’s partisan lean, Montez is presumably a Republican senator from the Democratic state of New Mexico. State level Republicans have done well there in recent years but it’s been pretty solidly Democratic on the federal level for quite some time. It’s voted for the Democratic Presidential nominees 5 out of the last 7 elections (Bush 43 won it twice).

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*** While most of the people match up with their real life state’s partisan lean, Montez is presumably a Republican senator from the Democratic state of New Mexico. State level Republicans have done well there managed to win some statewide races in recent years but it’s been pretty solidly Democratic on the federal level for quite some time. It’s voted for level, Democrats have dominated since the Democratic Presidential nominees 5 out of early ‘90s with the last 7 elections (Bush 43 won it twice).only Republican win since being a squeaker of less than 6,000 votes by Bush Jr. in 2004.

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* EasilyForgiven: The majority of Selina's staff had been fired or resigned at least once over the course of the show, where the narrative then splits them apart into a separate storyline to show them dealing with unemployment or a job away from the White House. They eventually come back to work with Selina despite how [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech brutal their firing or resignation was previously]]. This does accurately reflect the complexities of politics, taking in familiar faces [[TeethClenchedTeamwork despite hating them]] because they are familiar with each other and ironically trust them more than someone else.



* OnceMoreWithClarity: Over several episodes Catherine is shown to be recording various conversations in the White House for a college class project. A later {{Mockumentary}} episode shows many of those conversations having much different tones when you see what happens before or after.



* UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist: Very few characters on the show are actually likeable, the best you are likely to get is they can be better than someone else. By the end of the series just about every character has proven to be self-involved and immoral in some fashion. The humor is largely from the sheer desperate lengths they go to cover up mishaps or gain some political advantage.

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* UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist: Very few characters on the show are actually likeable, the best you are likely to get is they can be better than someone else. By the end of the series just about every character has proven to be self-involved and immoral in some fashion. The humor is largely from the sheer desperate lengths they go to cover up mishaps or gain some political advantage. The only characters who are depicted mostly positively are Ann and Gary for their MarriedToTheJob dedication and UndyingLoyalty to Selina, misplaced it may be, but even they have moments [[NotSoAboveItAll to show themselves just as cruel and vindictive as everyone else]].
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** Jonah has a brief period after the revelations of him being sexually harassed comes to light in the congressional hearings where he becomes a men's health advocate, complete with his own taglinr of "check 'em, don't neglect them" at the end of Season 4. In the finale of Season 5, Jonah is diagnosed with testicular cancer. The nursr tells him that it coukd have been caught earlier with self-checks, to which Jonah replies that he knows allla bout them.

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** Jonah has a brief period after the revelations of him being sexually harassed comes to light in the congressional hearings where he becomes a men's health advocate, complete with his own taglinr tagline of "check 'em, don't neglect them" at the end of Season 4. In the finale of Season 5, Jonah is diagnosed with testicular cancer. The nursr nurse tells him that it coukd could have been caught earlier with self-checks, to which Jonah replies that he knows allla bout all about them.
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* AluminumChristmasTrees: In "Omaha", Jonah giving a speech to an empty Congressional hearing room is played for laughs because it is quite absurd. However, this is something that happens often in real life. Real life Congressmen give these sorts of speeches to put clips of them arguing passionately about certain issues in the media, not to persuade their colleagues.
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Direct link.


* EmpathyDollShot: Invoked InUniverse in the {{Tag}} of "Storms and Pancakes." A hurricane was forecast to hit North Carolina, and Selina has the North Carolina governor ground flights to shut out her rivals to get publicity in the aftermath of the hurricane. Barometric pressure causes the hurricane to hit Florida instead, where Senator O'Brien and his running mate already are. Mike announces that O'Brien has pulled a teddy bear from the ruins of a house.

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* EmpathyDollShot: Invoked InUniverse in the {{Tag}} TheTag of "Storms and Pancakes." A hurricane was forecast to hit North Carolina, and Selina has the North Carolina governor ground flights to shut out her rivals to get publicity in the aftermath of the hurricane. Barometric pressure causes the hurricane to hit Florida instead, where Senator O'Brien and his running mate already are. Mike announces that O'Brien has pulled a teddy bear from the ruins of a house.
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* UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist: Very few characters on the show are actually likeable, the best you are likely to get is they can be better than someone else. By the end of the series just about every character has proven to be self-involved and immoral in some fashion. The humor is largely from the sheer desperate lengths they go to cover up mishaps or gain some political advantage.

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* DialogCentricWork: The show is primarily a series of high stakes conversations taking place between different rooms, and sometimes racing between those rooms. The language is exceedingly profane and vulgar, with characters hurling gross insults at each other that is barely acknowledged and obscene metaphors used to describe the various political situations they find themselves in. Jonah is just as profane as anyone but in addition is [[RealisticDictionIsUnrealistic near incomprehensible]] with his rants. When he gets fired and [[BasementDweller goes back to his mom]] she is appalled at what he says but he brushes it off as ''everyone'' in DC talking like that.


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* SpeechCentricWork: The show is primarily a series of high stakes conversations taking place between different rooms, and sometimes racing between those rooms. The language is exceedingly profane and vulgar, with characters hurling gross insults at each other that is barely acknowledged and obscene metaphors used to describe the various political situations they find themselves in. Jonah is just as profane as anyone but in addition is [[RealisticDictionIsUnrealistic near incomprehensible]] with his rants. When he gets fired and [[BasementDweller goes back to his mom]] she is appalled at what he says but he brushes it off as ''everyone'' in DC talking like that.
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* DialogCentricWork: The show is primarily a series of high stakes conversations taking place between different rooms, and sometimes racing between those rooms. The language is exceedingly profane and vulgar, with characters hurling gross insults at each other that is barely acknowledged and obscene metaphors used to describe the various political situations they find themselves in. Jonah is just as profane as anyone but in addition is [[RealisticDictionIsUnrealistic near incomprehensible]] with his rants. When he gets fired and [[BasementDweller goes back to his mom]] she is appalled at what he says but he brushes it off as ''everyone'' in DC talking like that.

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* GodzillaThreshold: In the GrandFinale Selina finds that she may lose the party nomination with everything coming down to a slim margin, and if she doesn't get this she will certainly never keep that momentum to make another attempt at the presidency. This forces her to pull out ALL the stops. [[spoiler: She bullies Tom James' campaign manager and secret mistress into going public claiming their consensual tryst [[FalseRapeAccusation was actually an abuse of power]], decimating his reputation in an instant. She strikes a deal with Governor Calhoun to have him become the Secretary of Education and a promise to make gay marriage illegal, which destroys her relationship with Catherine. She offers Jonah the VP position to gain his voters, which is so absurd Kent is shaken up and quits politics that night. And she arranges to have Gary take the fall for the campaign donation scandal, with him being escorted away by FBI agents. This is already paired with her making a backdoor deal for Chinese assistance by promising they can retake Tibet, which makes firing Dan and demoting Amy in the same night barely register]]. In the span of an evening she managed to alienate or sacrifice near every member of her long-standing team, but which did earn her the nomination. [[spoiler: She goes on to become President again, but quickly realizes none of her staff were the same people who actually got her there]].



* HugeGuyTinyGirl: Jonah towers over just about everyone, but especially the women. This causes a good bit of awkwardness whenever he tries to interact with them naturally.



** Selina Meyer draws several parallels to UsefulNotes/HillaryRodhamClinton, but also to Al Gore (a policy wonk relegated to VP status by a failed presidential run), UsefulNotes/JoeBiden (former Senator from a Mid-Atlantic state with a tendency toward making [[OpenMouthInsertFoot awkward]] [[DidIJustSayThatOutLoud statements]]), and UsefulNotes/SarahPalin (a female politician criticized for "diva-like" behavior and whose scathing impression on ''Saturday Night Live'' is considered insanely popular).

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** Selina Meyer draws several parallels to UsefulNotes/HillaryRodhamClinton, UsefulNotes/HillaryRodhamClinton (Catherine is heavily based on Chelsea Clinton), but also to Al Gore (a policy wonk relegated to VP status by a failed presidential run), UsefulNotes/JoeBiden (former Senator from a Mid-Atlantic state with a tendency toward making [[OpenMouthInsertFoot awkward]] [[DidIJustSayThatOutLoud statements]]), and UsefulNotes/SarahPalin (a female politician criticized for "diva-like" behavior and whose scathing impression on ''Saturday Night Live'' is considered insanely popular).
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* PostScriptSeason: The season five finale provides a serviceable conclusion to Selina Meyers story and offers a look at where the other characters have landed. This makes season 6 and 7 something of a minor {{Retool}} where everyone has split into different fields, some of which are not politically related, before showing another dive into a presidential campaign.


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* TokenGoodTeammate:
** Tom James in introduced in the fourth season as [[TheCharmer impeccably social and a very talented politician]] who joins Selina's campaign as the VP candidate. It is a stark contrast to the self-absorbed, often immoral characters that he is surrounded by. While he goes on to demonstrate he can play the betrayal game as well as anyone else and has his fair share of adulteries, his affable nature and efforts to remain moral and upstanding remains genuine.
** Richard Splett first appears as an assistant for the Meyer campaign where he was defined by his cheerful optimism and BrutalHonesty. His sincere nature shows him gradually working up the ranks, to where even Selina shows surprising respect to him. The last season he quickly elevates from mayor of a small town in Iowa to Junior Governor, to Governor [[spoiler: to having an acclaimed two terms as president in the DistantFinale, with it said he brokered peace in the middle east]].

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** In Season 1, Selina constantly asks whether the President has called. He never does.In second season premiere "Midterms", the President finally calls, and gives Selina a new role in foreign policy after she was judged to be an asset in the midterm elections. In the season 3, there was a CallBack in the form of a throwaway gag about how the President won't stop calling, followed by [[spoiler:Selina being asked to call someone when she becomes the president.]]

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** In Season 1, Selina constantly asks whether the President has called. He never does. In second season premiere "Midterms", the President finally calls, and gives Selina a new role in foreign policy after she was judged to be an asset in the midterm elections. In the season 3, there was a CallBack in the form of a throwaway gag about how the President won't stop calling, followed by [[spoiler:Selina being asked to call someone when she becomes the president.]]



** In Season 5 Catherine is doing a film school project, prompting Selina to yell "Catherine, out!" after particularly damaging outbursts, followed by the reveal that she was standing in the corner filming it.



** Every personal choice Catherine makes ends up being denied or scrutinized through Selina's PR team and often forcing her to backtrack in some way. This includes becoming a vegetarian, because Selina had completely spaced on her becoming one during a home interview.



** In Season 5 Catherine is doing a film school project, prompting Selina to yell "Catherine, out!" after particularly damaging outbursts, followed by the reveal that she was standing in the corner filming it.



* StageWhisper: Given how mutually abusive ''everyone'' in Washington is, it's possible they're just ignoring her, but it's pretty conspicuous how nobody seems to react to Selina shit-talking them to her staff literally five feet away.

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* StageWhisper: Given how mutually abusive ''everyone'' in Washington is, it's possible they're just ignoring her, but it's pretty conspicuous how nobody seems to react to Selina shit-talking them to her staff literally five feet away. Also Gary's entire role in the staff is to stand next to her and whisper information about the people she is greeting, which is telegraphed both visually and audibly that it's hard to believe nobody sees through it.
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* WhatYouAreInTheDark: Despite dramatically quitting as campaign manager and getting work as a lobbyist/consultant in the mean time, Amy decides to visit Selina and the crew during election day because it was still something she worked on. On her side Selina had no expectations she would show up, but was tentatively accepted in the room anyway.

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* DamnYouMuscleMemory: Gary is Selina's personal assistant and has dedicated himself to knowing all the social chit-chat around DC so that he can whisper it in her ear during major functions so she can appear to be up to date on all local stories. But he also finds himself whispering information in her ear even in situations that doesn't require the same social grace as needed in public, one time doing it when it was just them and her personal staffers.



* Does Not Like Shoes: Selina takes off her shoes, whenever she has the opportunity.

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* Does Not Like Shoes: DoesNotLikeShoes: Selina takes off her shoes, whenever she has the opportunity.

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* ColdTurkeysAreEverywhere: After Selina got the chance to participate in the military operation to rescue hostages for the first time it was deemed a success, but one of the marines was injured and [[AnArmAndALeg lost a leg]]. She becomes unnerved by any sense of limb loss, from asking people to reposition the way they are sitting to running a 10k next to an amputee with a prosthetic leg.



* TheUnfavorite: VP Meyer seems to be this within the administration.

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* TheUnfavorite: VP Meyer seems to be this and her entire office is treated as irrelevant within the administration.administration. This is partially TruthInTelevision, by design the VP office is redundant outside of very specific events and their primary job is to be prepared in the case the President is incapacitated in some way. Depending on the administration they may range from direct policy development to simply being an advocate for the President, but their actual political power is dictated by the presidency.
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Up To Eleven is a defunct trope


** Taken UpToEleven in the season 3 episode "Debate," where each candidate can't seem to break out of their mold. Even [[ExploitedTrope exploited]] in Selina's prep.

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** Taken UpToEleven Exaggerated in the season 3 episode "Debate," where each candidate can't seem to break out of their mold. Even [[ExploitedTrope exploited]] in Selina's prep.
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** Jonah has a brief period after the revelations of him being sexually harassed comes to light in the congressional hearings where he becomes a men's health advocate, complete with his own taglinr of "check 'em, don't neglect them" at the end of Season 4. In the finale of Season 5, Jonah is diagnosed with testicular cancer. The nursr tells him that it coukd have been caught earlier with self-checks, to which Jonah replies that he knows allla bout them.
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** Selina's outfit that she wears to the First World War's centennial memorial service in "Special Relationship" is one to Eliza Doolitle's Ascot Gavotte outfit in ''Film/MyFairLady'', right down to the color scheme and the [[NiceHat giant hat]]. Dan explicitly calls this a "Reverse-My Fair Lady" scheme to appeal to blue-collar voters.

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** Selina's outfit that she wears to the First World War's centennial memorial service in "Special Relationship" is one to Eliza Doolitle's Ascot Gavotte outfit in ''Film/MyFairLady'', right down to the color scheme and the [[NiceHat giant hat]].hat. Dan explicitly calls this a "Reverse-My Fair Lady" scheme to appeal to blue-collar voters.
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* Does Not Like Shoes: Selina takes off her shoes, whenever she has the opportunity.
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* BlackComedy: '''All the time'''. The series is packed with cynicism and absolute volatility (just like ''The Thick of It'').

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* BlackComedy: '''All the time'''. The series is packed with cynicism and absolute volatility (just like ''The Thick of It'').
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Other members of the cast include Creator/AnnaChlumsky (Chief of Staff Amy Brookheimer), Creator/TonyHale (Gary Walsh, personal assistant to the VP), Creator/ReidScott (Dan Egan, Deputy Director of Communications), Creator/MattWalsh (Mike [=McLintock=], Director of Communications), Sufe Bradshaw (Sue Wilson, executive assistant to the Vice President), Timothy Simons (Jonah Ryan, White House Liaison to the VP), Creator/KevinDunn (Ben Cafferty, White House Chief of Staff), Creator/GaryCole (Kent Davison, White House senior strategist and polling adviser), and Sarah Sutherland (Catherine Meyer, Selina's daughter).

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Other members of the cast include Creator/AnnaChlumsky (Chief of Staff Amy Brookheimer), Creator/TonyHale (Gary Walsh, personal assistant to the VP), Creator/ReidScott (Dan Egan, Deputy Director of Communications), Creator/MattWalsh (Mike [=McLintock=], Director of Communications), Sufe Bradshaw Creator/SufeBradshaw (Sue Wilson, executive assistant to the Vice President), Timothy Simons (Jonah Ryan, White House Liaison to the VP), Creator/KevinDunn (Ben Cafferty, White House Chief of Staff), Creator/GaryCole (Kent Davison, White House senior strategist and polling adviser), and Sarah Sutherland (Catherine Meyer, Selina's daughter).
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* CelebrityCasualty: [[spoiler:The series finale has Selina's funeral interrupted by the news that Creator/TomHanks has died.]]

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TRS cleanup


* FormulaBreakingEpisode: Fourth-season episode "Testimony" consists in its entirety of just that, testimony given by Selina and members of her administration in a Congressional hearing and depositions. It is viewed solely from the perspective of C-SPAN footage and recorded legal depositions.



* SomethingCompletelyDifferent: Fourth-season episode "Testimony" consists in its entirety of just that, testimony given by Selina and members of her administration in a Congressional hearing and depositions. It is viewed solely from the perspective of C-SPAN footage and recorded legal depositions.
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* SoundtrackDissonance: For such a scathingly cynical show, the [[https://youtu.be/g2tk7ethx1Q soundtrack]] is all upbeat, patriotic themes that wouldn't sound out of place on ''Series/TheWestWing''.
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* RealAwardFictionalCharacter:
** Laura Montez wins the Nobel Peace Prize for freeing Tibet (which was actually done by Selina, but Montez stole the credit).
** The finale reveals that [[spoiler:Richard ended up becoming President and also won the Nobel Peace Prize for resolving the Middle East conflict with a "three-state solution".]]
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misuse


* {{Hypocrite}}: The CEO of the Facebook-type Silicon Valley startup Craig ([[ItsPronouncedTropay CRAY-g]]) Juergensen claims that he doesn't follow politics, but then asks Selina about dropping repatriation taxes because they "stop so much innovation"

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* {{Hypocrite}}: The CEO of the Facebook-type Silicon Valley startup Craig ([[ItsPronouncedTropay CRAY-g]]) (CRAY-g) Juergensen claims that he doesn't follow politics, but then asks Selina about dropping repatriation taxes because they "stop so much innovation"

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