(CNN) The following contains spoilers about the "Veep" series finale.

"Veep" earned a reputation for its uncanny ability to anticipate the news, dreaming up fantastic plots that somehow seemed to magically be mirrored by reality. After a closing flurry of episodes that consciously leaned into current events, the show closed at its most cynical and acerbic in an effort to trump them, zeroing in on its protagonist's utter ruthlessness in the pursuit of power.

The Emmy-winning HBO comedy aired its finale on Sunday, after a build-up in which former president and current presidential candidate Selina Meyer (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) accepted help from the Chinese government, which reached out to her through the most unwitting of third parties.

The final episode picked up at a deadlocked, brokered convention, where Selina demonstrated her complete lack of principle. That included using the #MeToo movement to torpedo a rival, and throwing everyone close to her -- including her trusted aide Gary (Tony Hale) and own daughter (Sarah Sutherland) -- under the bus in her bid to retake the White House.

Written and directed by David Mandel, the episode seemed particularly true to a character whose commitment to winning has always overwhelmed any pretense of morality -- certainly in her private, hilariously foul-mouthed exchanges with her various minions.

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