Matt Smith reviews the fifth episode of Veep season two…
Lunacy. Running around in circles like a headless chicken. Everything that little bit too mad for anything to actually be done. Whether this is a description of farce or governmental procedure, it’s really very unclear once the facts are laid out. And the best way to point this out, like the review from last week said, is by using satire.
This week, Vice-President Selina Meyer is taken to Finland to meet the Prime Minister and talk over an agreement of some sort. But really, at least according to everyone else, it’s about something else.
There’s more fallout from the song Meyer sang (in which she mocked several countries), Mike is left in DC to do important work he’s wholly unqualified for and the Prime Minister’s husband is a little too hands on in the case of Meyer herself. Classic farcical procedure ensues, with Dan apologising for anything and everything.
Reid Scott as Dan, an up-and-coming political child, is hilarious in this week’s episode. Given the enviable task of bouncing off every other character, he’s given rein to play the underdog, the idiot and the unlikeable all in less than thirty minutes. With Mike gone but not forgotten when it comes to the trip to Finland, Dan’s given a chance to step up and Scott ably steps up his comedy chops at the same time.
Back in DC, more satire is being played out. In one line, Mike sums up what’s best about this show. ‘Christ, I hate knowledge’ works on so many levels, and it can’t be a coincidence in a show that has the confidence to occasionally tell jokes in Finnish that this line isn’t used to represent both the character and the general feeling towards the government’s outlook.
Everyone needs everyone else’s help. Even Jonah gets dragged in to work this week, meaning the situation must be dire. And in this world of transparency versus all-around cover-ups, this series represents better than any other the moment between the government keeping everything in Pandora’s box and the news becoming viral.
Apart from the farce and satire, there’s also great awkward comedy to be played out between Meyer and the Finnish PM. Not since The Office has there been humour so cringe inducing and brilliant all at once. Every meeting and talk they have together, the characters are so well drawn against each other in every way that the feeling of a sinking ship is never far away.
Along with sleazy husbands and horrible journalists popping up, the pacing certainly isn’t letting up. If the series continues as it is, it’ll be even better than the first and potentially better than its British predecessors in The Thick Of It. Relying on more farcical plots instead of the more drama-based finale of The Thick Of It might create a loss of meaning or sense of weight when it comes to Veep’s end, but so far it’s a lot more entertaining while being just as smart and hilarious. And just because it seems madder doesn’t mean it’s any less related to fact, or any less important.
Matt Smith – follow me on Twitter.
Originally published November 15, 2013. Updated April 11, 2018.
