Matt Smith reviews the first episode of Veep season three…
Veep’s back, and it’s making up for lost time as quick as it can.
With Selina stuck at a book signing, the series sets itself up quickly to lampoon the modern politician. A president is nothing without new issues to be solved and new problems to solve, but of course they’re too busy being politicians to come up with their own ideas. Therefore our titular character finds herself stuck at said book signing, with only a phone for company, as the political world goes mad.
This reintroduction to a series filled with great one-liners and set ups gives us the same things that were funny in the previous two seasons, along with the special insults that Veep and its kin specialise in. Equally savage and childish. Except this time there’s a sense of rushing, a sense that season three has a purpose and drive that was lacking in season two. This speed and, to an extent, urgency to get things moving matches both the characters themselves and the type of comedy being brandished.
The series gives us its characters bickering amongst each other in the same funny, but perhaps pessimistic, way that has become the norm. While most people in politics may be in it for the power and prestige, would they all be as conniving as Selina Meyer’s staffers? A few moments with Ben Cafferty, played with ease by Kevin Dunn, balances things out. Cafferty seems to be the voice of the people who have been burnt out by politics, both those inside the powerhouses and those who merely watch from the sidelines bemused and depressed.
Veep simultaneously gives off a sense of realism while surprising its viewers with the next turn it takes. Surely the end of Jonah cannot be realised this early in the season? Surely the tallest, and least powerful, man in the room must be back for more, in a seemingly more obvious set up the series gives viewers. What the show has in store for him is perhaps even more comedically exciting than the prospects being dreamt up by Selina Meyer and co. The way the show got him there seems less realistic than would be ideal, however. Would Jonah really get away with running a gossip column concerning American politics?
With plot becoming more important, it’s perhaps not surprising that the comedic one liners took a little step to the side this week as things get working again. With promises of episodes leaving Washington and going out on the road as Selina hunts down the presidency among the American people, hopefully this provides the show with more comedic fodder as well as keeping the pace up as we join the Vice President in trying to navigate the jumbled up world of American politics.
Matt Smith – follow me on Twitter.
Originally published July 22, 2014. Updated April 12, 2018.
