What I’m Watching: Veep

Veep: Season 4, Episode 8 “B/ill” (B+)

It’s inevitable that the lead character on any show will get sick, but I can’t really remember a time where someone ill has been quite as simultaneously rude and obnoxious as Selina was in this hour. She even managed to ruffle Tom’s feathers, which is quite a feat. I enjoyed how she sent people voice memos that contradicted what she had told Gary and that her advisors were competing over whose memo was most recent and more important. Leave it to this group to send those they knew would do poorly in lobbying on behalf of the bill – Jonah and Richard – to talk to the very same people that Gary had subtly and possibly illegally hired Dan and Amy to bully into voting against it. Moyes’ reaction was a vindictive one, and that made the subsequent visit to the bedside of one Congressman Owen Pierce all the more entertaining since Jonah and Dan started shouting at each other and ignoring Pierce after Jonah and Richard had initially succeeded by making him think that the President cared personally about his vote. Naming Dallas as his favorite city when asked where he would like to be ambassador was a ridiculous moment, and Gary deciding on Selina’s behalf that it would be Paris was a surely regrettable decision. I especially enjoyed Bill and Mike’s reactions to seeing Dan and Amy when they stopped by the White House, and it’s good to see everyone in the same space again, particularly because they hate each other so much now. As he’s developing a bit more personality – and even swearing – I’m continuing to enjoy the character of Tom James.