What I’m Watching: Veep

Veep: Season 3, Episode 3 “Alicia” (B+)

All comedy aside, it’s great to see Selina do something good for once. In fact, she scored not one but two home runs in this episode, salvaging the child care portion of her speech and embracing the humor of the SNL skit. Having her crack team manage the publicity around her big announcement was predictably out of control, thanks to some zany antics from Mike, Dan, and Gary in particular. Tracie Thoms and Edwina Findley were on fire as Alicia and her friend Dee, both ardent proponents of the need for universal child care, naively trusting of the Vice President’s support and only suspicious once it became clear that they were being sidelined. Mike’s unfortunate cow comment reminded me of actor Matt Walsh’s character in David Cross’ Sundance movie “Hits,” coming out in limited release on May 12th, and it’s a good thing that Alicia opted to lie for him rather than help guerilla journalist Jonah embarrass him further. Seeing Catherine again was great, mainly because of the fact that she was wearing the exact same outfit as her mother and that her pep talk managed to snap her out of it but didn’t result in any kind words from Selina. Having Kent and Ben around full-time is definitely worth it, even when they’re not fighting with each other. Kent’s flirtatious relationship with Sue continues to be odd but entertaining, while Dan is coming off as more and more of an unsympathetic jerk as the campaign kicks into high gear.