Matt Smith reviews the sixth episode of Veep season two…
Like the image to the right, there’s an expression every person makes when they’re a little out of the loop or confused. When they’re covering up for something or trying to tell a lie without being caught.
That’s where we find Selina Meyer this week, as she has to cover up a press release calling her ‘Meyer the Liar’ while covering up that she is in fact a liar. She didn’t know about a spy in the midst of the hostages she helped rescue, while at the same time she doesn’t want to seem dumb enough not to know. Simultaneously, she has to pretend she gets on with her husband Andrew (David Pasquesi) at her daughter’s birthday party.
It’s all a bit much; especially when Meyer has to negotiate some budget deals with another high-up in DC. All a bit much, I suspect, for Meyer and the audience, and the classic Veep set up of letting the viewer know what’s in store (‘If X doesn’t happen, we are as screwed as (insert metaphor)’) happens at the beginning before the farce can begin and begin to be understood.
When it does start up proper, everything converges (as they tend to do in good farces) and Meyer’s meeting happens at her daughter’s twenty first birthday party. Budget talk in the toilet, while brief, is a good example of the tone for Veep as a series.
What is unexpected is Jonah and Dan’s unlikely alliance as Amy introduces her boyfriend Ed (Zach Woods). Despite being ripe for awkward humour, Ed ends up being the straight man to Dan’s drunkenness and Jonah’s great set of chat up lines.
While Dan is hilarious, and Jonah suitably put down, most of the time is devoted to Selina Meyer. And that sums up what it’s like for those around her. She really is the main character, even if this was a real person, as her daughter’s birthday occasions are quickly overturned and made into Meyer events and every other character is drawn into the mix.
It’s the lack of awareness that makes it funny, as with all satires the main character doesn’t know they’re an idiot. And in Veep, everyone in DC is an idiot for whatever reason. Everyone is lying about the same thing. And the crazy thing is that they will all look you in the eye and insist to the last breath that they’re telling the truth. It’s when the lies catch up that the problems start spilling out. We’ll see next week if Meyer the Liar has to cover up as her mistakes come to catch up with her.
Matt Smith – follow me on Twitter.
Originally published November 22, 2013. Updated April 11, 2018.
