What I’m Watching: Veep

Veep: Season 4, Episode 2 “East Wing” (B+)

Leave it to this show to have an episode featuring the Israeli prime minister that doesn’t have anything to do with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Instead, it’s all about the mishaps of Selina’s administration, which continue to appear insignificant in nature but then get hilariously blown out of proportion. The decision to remove an ugly painting that happens to be the only work of art by a Native American artist in the White House was one such thing, and Gary’s excessive spending on the reception was another. Selina is not a nice person, and she was digging into Gary in a cruel way when she was berating him for his spending. Fortunately, it turned awkward and forgiving pretty quickly, resulting in some bonding over the consumption of the light sponge cake Gary had made in celebration of Selina exceeding William Henry Harrison’s term in office. The hiring of Dierich Bader’s Bill Ericsson should prove interesting, and its first two effects, Jim being told that Bill was hired to replace him and Mike seeing side-by-side photos of him with his colored mustache and him without it, are certainly worth the addition so far. The pairing of Jonah and Richard is perfect since Jonah will soon tire of Richard’s combination of idiocy and oblivious good nature. Kent volunteering to talk to Catherine about the fact that she is so unlikeable after everyone else tried to get out of it was fun, and I enjoyed their straightforward conversation and the episode-ending ceremony Catherine compared to the end of “Star Wars.”