Veep 5x1 'Morning After': Back to Basics

Veep 5x1 changes up the political stakes but keeps the hilarious absurdities and charm of the Armando Iannucci days.

Reviewed while realizing Egwene might be the best character in The Wheel of Time. Also while listening one Om Unit song, and then another.

'You're a nincompoop.'

The Dow is collapsing, mudslides swamp Idaho (but who cares, apparently?), we have a tie in the Presidential election. And a powerful white man has actually been arrested for something.

Chaos. Or, as Ben would put it. ‘We need to round up some blacks and FAST!’

That’s the kind of intuitive creative thinking that we demand from our nation’s leaders. The same leaders who make a race symposium of all white panelists from historically black colleges, and didn’t know what to do when the presidential election ended in a tie.

America is coping with an unprecedented event, where the fate of the most prominent job in the world depends on one particular branch of government doing what they never do anymore: something. This leaves Selina and Co. having to dig deep in their treasure troves of sycophantism and pander to Congressman! Except, WAIT! Nevada might need a recount! Send the sycophants there! Oh, but the recount leads to a stock market crash! It’s all happening so fast, the zingers might not be able to keep up! Quick, get Bill arrested! AND ROUND UP SOME BLACKS, AND FAST!

This is all the exact kind of frenetic pace Veep’s post-Iannucci era needed. There was a fear that Armando Iannucci’s acute genius in how to balance semi-realistic political complications with tears of laughter would be sorely missed from the show. His style is just so specific (you should check out his first show, with the Doctor!) that it’s hard to imagine Veep without him. So it makes sense that the writing team, now helmed by David Mandel of Curb Your Enthusiasm cred, decided to go at a break-neck speed with the premiere, so you wouldn’t have time to even remember that Iannucci is gone. They also had a plethora of material to run with. Not only did last season end on a brilliant cliffhanger that leaves so many doors open as to what could happen (Dr. House could be PRESIDENT!), but in the 10 months since the season 4 finale aired, all manner of absurdities have occurred in real life politics to both feed the fodder and foster an audience that is desperate for an escape from the cacophony #2016.

It’s standard fictional catharsis for the world’s problems, and it could not have come at a better time. Instead of stressing over the uncertainty of where we are as a country, politically, socially, even internationally, we get to laugh at some ‘nincompoops’ (yes, Selina said that) as they navigate their own states of limbo. Dan’s out of a job. Again. Jonah’s the subservient whipping boy. Again. Amy’s back. Again. Catherine’s a disappointment to her mother. Again. And Selina’s got a public face problem. Literally. Again (Remember when she walked through a glass door? Classic). Everyone’s been here before, but it’s all different. Selina’s president, but she might not be for long. And it all might hinge on Nevada... Nevada. What this all means for the show is a chance to explore, dramatically, how to keep itself fresh after four seasons. Remix old threads, and let us see if our characters have learned anything in the interim. The beauty of Veep has always been how it can blur the lines between character development and comedic stasis. It’s not often that characters in comedies get to grow. We can’t all be Elizabeth Meriwether with New Girl. But because the setting is in such a tumultuous environment as American politics, learning to adapt and evolve is an asset. So the show juggles between growth and arrested development. And the show does it masterfully. It was a staple of Iannucci, as he explored people power mongering versus kinda sorta wanting to do the right thing but not really.

‘Morning After’ implies exactly what it’s meant to. Everyone’s basically hungover from the shock of the tie. And they’re trying so very hard to be better at their jobs than they were before. But they are just So. Childish. Selina can’t stop insulting Idaho, or natural disasters. Dan still doesn’t know how to take rejection. Mike is literally running around playing catch up and making bold purchase decisions. First it was a boat, and now it’s a HUMAN. A Chinese baby human. And for the record, that is not to trivialize a Chinese baby by comparing it to a boat. I’m acknowledging that all the others react to Mike’s adoption news the exact same way they did with the boat. A boat and a baby are the same to them: useless material acquisitions that are not going to help them gain more power and might just be political liabilities for Selina’s campaign. In the same boat (PUN!) as Catherine’s thesis project, which is a documentary on how Selina handles the tie (Shittily). 'Morning After' is not a classic on its own, and the humor did dull at a few stretches, but that was honestly hardly noticeable because it’s so steeply caught up in the chaos following the election. That’s why the plot pacing matters. Just keep going, and the humor will come to you. Because these characters are hopelessly inept, and yet they are running America.

Deep down, ‘Morning After’ makes the defining statement that Veep is little different from the show it was under Iannucci, and it embodies its best traits. It’s grown a little, adapted to age, but it reverts back to old habits in hilarious ways. Iannucci will be dearly missed. But Mandel has given promise here that he knows what he’s doing in Washington. Which is more than can be said for, like, everyone actually in Washington right now.

But don’t worry. 'Prosperity’s just around the corner'… that was sarcasm.

Grade: B+

When I got sidetracked

-Zing of the week: 'I LBJ'd you. I'm the LBJ Queen and you are Sargeant SUCK IT SHRIVER!' ​

-‘Cancel it and see if you can get your money back!’ The President of the United States, talking about a human infant.

-Which is worse: a swastika-shaped shit in a synagogue or a urinal cake from Chernobyl? You Decide! DEOMCRACY 2016!

-IT’S WENDY-LITE FROM THE WENDY’S COMMERCIALS!!!... Why is she blonde?

-Clea DuVall also made a guest appearance, as female Secret Service who CAN work as Selina's body-double. You can assume how Selina took that, but here’s hoping we see more of Clea!

#review #TV #Veep