What I’m Watching: Veep

Veep: Season 2, Episode 8 “First Response” (B+)

It should come as no surprise that Allison Janney fits into this show’s universe so well. The Aaron Sorkin regular is well-equipped to handle the fast-paced and highly sarcastic dialogue rattled off on this show. What I actually enjoyed most about this particular event was Amy getting angry and yelling at the cameraman, who in turn swore back at her. Jonah dropping by in the middle of the interview was terrific, and his complete obliviousness continues to be among his most entertaining traits. Catherine and Andrew also had crucial roles to play in this very staged family portrait interview. Gary writing a sign to tell both Selina and Andrew that Catherine was a vegetarian was hilarious, and her continued emphasis of vegetables prior to this was great. Andrew’s impressive ability to make any situation worse and his attempt to insult Selina’s lack of knowledge of the CIA spy as a way of deferring his guilt related to his e-mail was low. But, somehow, and not likely due to Dan’s aggressive pep talk, Selina managed to come out ahead and deliver a rather stirring and honest confession which might have consequences in the episodes to come but at least managed to show her old classmate that she has what it takes to make the right call sometimes. Selina has had a few momentous successes in this season, and it’s really because of other things, like her weakness for Andrew, that she can’t always stay on top and has to be relegated to her often irritating office.