‘Veep’ season 2, episode 2 review: A pig roast vs. getting roasted
After a strong premiere episode last week, “Veep” continued to grow with this week with an episode that really just built upon what seemed to be the major stories of the year. Amy’s sick father looks to be a convenient excuse that she will use to get out of problems, Selina Meyer will continue to harass Gary Cole’s senior adviser with anything and everything related to POTUS, and Gary has a girlfriend who is more harm than good when it comes to leaking stories to the press.
When it comes long-term plots, though, what seems to be the major issue here is Selina’s continued dismissal of an obnoxious, sexist Congressman who is upset that he is not being given the time in which to make his future case for Senate clear. The more she blows this guy off, the angrier he is going to get … and you have to imagine that there will be problems down the road as a result.
As for the parts of this episode that feel a bit more isolated, we had yet another case of Selina talking amongst the people while at a pig roast, which of course led to her basically just trying to find a way to duck and cover almost every serious problem that they wanted her to talk about. While this was happening, though, she also had to balance out a major problem regarding her daughter, who published a film essay that was controversial towards both Israel and Palestine. Combine Jewish culture and pigs, and you have a recipe for disaster.
In terms of pure laughs, watching Jonah try to human shield a pig from a TV camera was clearly the episode’s finest hour, since the story content was really more of the same “Veep” that we have come to know and appreciate. The show is still too cynical to make us want to watch any episode of it more than once, but if you are looking for a few belly laughs (especially on a Sunday night), there really are few other options out there. What “Veep” does, it does very effectively at the end of the day. We just wish still that it gave us a little bit more to latch onto emotionally.
What did you think about this “Veep” episode? Be sure to share some of your thoughts below, and you can read our full review of the season premiere over at the link here.
Photo: HBO