Round Two: Veep

Veep: Season 1, Episode 2 “Frozen Yoghurt” (B+)

In its second outing, this show demonstrates that its first installment was entirely indicative of the tone and feel that this show will have. Selina’s desperate question, “Did the president call?” seems like a perfect tagline for the series, as the foul-mouthed vice president seems all too eager to respond to the call of duty when she finds out that the president may be having a heart attack. Unfortunately for her, and fortunately for Jonah, he was just having heartburn, and therefore the presidency is no longer in her near future. Her bored efforts to cool down and go see the “normals” didn’t pan out too well either, as the thought of being president distracted her from her previously-scheduled trip to Super Scooper, the frozen yoghurt (with an h) place suggested by Dan. I enjoyed the deliberations over which flavor would best suit her, with red velvet cake notably in the “bad” column and the process used as a smokescreen for the more pressing chart designed to repair the damage done by Selina’s promise to keep oil guys off the task force for the senator. Reporter Leon West didn’t seem all that bad at first, but when Dan didn’t give him a story, he got mean fast. Gary catching the sneeze bullet after telling Dan that it’s not his job to take a bullet for Selina was a rare strong, and not so rarely comic, moment for the least respected of her staffers, but it doesn’t seem like it was enough to prevent her from melting down on the way out to the car after what can only be described as a failed visit with the normals.