#bill ericsson

[olivekitteridge]

Gary Cole and Diedrich Bader (Kent and Bill) on set of “Veep”

[mcclintcock]

in tehran (s4e4) no one can tell me there's nothing happening between bill and kent...

[starburns]

[safflowerseason]

How do you feel about Bill Ericsson?

I had NO feelings about Bill Ericsson until Mandel tried to convince us there was some great untapped love story between Bill and Amy solely through one (1!) interaction. And he, not Amy, is the one to inform the audience that it's a good thing Amy never had kids. I just cannot. The whole thing just depresses me. I can’t help but feel like it’s another indictment of Amy’s character by Mandel, putting her with Bill Ericsson who is presented as cold and bloodless and revenge-driven and a complete and total mercenary. We know that Mandel saw Amy as old and ugly and unfunny and a failure of femininity, so putting her with slab-of-political-granite-Bill Ericsson feels like an extra slap in the face, especially after we know what happens to Amy’s career with Jonah. I don’t like it. It just feels like the show is confirming in yet another way this version of Amy as cold and sexless and rigid by putting her with someone cold and sexless and rigid. Like, of course Dan is a horrible person in his own way, but he is presented with genuine romantic appeal in a way that Bill Ericsson never is. As I put it in BMTL, “at least he got some fucking charisma.”

(I know, I know, it was all Anna Chlumsky’s idea, and yes, of course S7 Bill Ericsson is better than S7 Sex-Pyschopath Dan, but STILL. Let me have this rant.)

Now, I have not recently rewatched Bill and Amy’s scenes in S3 and S4, but I know @thebookofmaev has, and I know she’s fairly certain the writers are “considering” whether or not there is some kind of emotional/romantic tension between the characters to be mined. Which I definitely believe—they put the two characters in a hotel room, after all—and it’s not like this is an uncommon tactic among television writers. It also seems clear that the Veep creative team was intent on pushing Dan and Amy’s relationship into new territory in S4, and introducing a romantic opposite to Dan would have been a very good way to do that. And if Bill and Amy are supposed to have some kind of story together, I would have much preferred to see the Iannucci version of it, rather than the Mandel version. I am sure it would have been much more interesting and compelling—it’s not that I can’t see the logic of it (although the age difference is a bit much for me). Unlike Dan, Bill Ericsson is an actual adult (he is also explicitly framed by the show as “the adult” in the room compared to most of Selina’s team) who could probably communicate what he wants from her instead just pulling at her hair all the time. (thebookofmaev has of course written her compelling version of their relationship in her latest fic, which I highly recommend, even if you read all the Bill/Amy scenes while grinding your teeth, as I did.) 

At the same time, I do think it’s noteworthy that the writers completely drop the Bill/Amy hints in S4, and instead go all in on the “Dan sweeps in to rescue from Amy from unemployment and now they wander around town in matching clothes” plotline. Far more than Bill Ericsson, what they really do in S4 is lean in on the Dan/Amy/Selina triangle, which is far more complicated and compelling because we know the depth of Amy’s connection with Selina. 

In forthcoming chapters of BMTL, I think I am going to be able to work in some hints at an Amy/Bill backstory (nothing like an actual relationship, of course, considering BMTL observes the timeline of the show from S1-S6, so Amy would be the pregnant by the time she and Bill might cross paths again), and it’s possible we will get another interaction between Dan and Bill, if I can fit it in. It’s possibly a sign of my complete lack of interest in Bill Ericsson that I didn’t even bother to check his backstory in the actual canon world of the show— in the BMTL universe I thoughtlessly mentioned that Bill has two kids at Cassie’s school, but apparently it IS mentioned somewhere that he has one kid. So, let’s say in the BMTL universe it’s possible that Bill has gotten remarried, possibly to some young blonde volunteer he met on Jonah’s campaign in a key swing state like Florida or Ohio. And/or some cousin of the Tanzes. A fitting punishment. 

[veepoutofcontext]

[wecouldstillbegreat]

So the only kiss we got was between Dan and Bill 😂

[casliyn]

Deleted Footage of Amy, Bill, Kent, Dan and his wife approaching Selina’s casket at the funeral.

[turquoise27]