[7.5/10] “Debate” plays to Veep’s strengths. One of the consistent best qualities of this show is its ability to come up with witty barbs and amusing comic takedowns, so putting a collection of snarkers in the spin room watching the debate and issuing insults like they were library cards is a recipe for a lot of great one-liners and a lot of laughs.
There’s a lot of good gags about Selina’s new short hair, and I enjoy the bit with Gary having to try to spin it, getting embroiled in Mike and Wendy’s marital conflict over limits. One of the good recurring bits on the show is one of the staff members letting something slip to a reporter and then desperately trying to cover it up and only making it worse, and that’s Mike and Gary to a tee here.
The debate itself was pretty funny. The homespun nothings of the baseball manager candidate was great, and it’s clear the show is positioning him as the biggest-yet-underestimated threat. Him confessing to his affair with stepford smiling wife, throwing Amy off and visually blocking Selina was some great visual humor. At the same time, the inexperienced candidate doing some dismal prop comedy, Sec. Def. Maddox getting tripped up over a “hole” metaphor, and Chung bringing up his war record yet again with the commentary from the peanut section was all funny stuff.
Selina had amusing bits in the debate too. She goes full Rick Perry, forgetting the third “R” of her immigration plan but unwittingly doing well. The congressional “allies,” Ben, and Kent tossing around putdowns is funny the whole time. Dan and Jonah’s stuff isn’t as engaging, but I continue to be invested in Amy’s success here, so that props up some of the plot-based stuff.
Overall, a good episode that scores by leaning into the show’s top notch insult humor.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParent2017-04-26T01:59:10Z
[7.5/10] “Debate” plays to Veep’s strengths. One of the consistent best qualities of this show is its ability to come up with witty barbs and amusing comic takedowns, so putting a collection of snarkers in the spin room watching the debate and issuing insults like they were library cards is a recipe for a lot of great one-liners and a lot of laughs.
There’s a lot of good gags about Selina’s new short hair, and I enjoy the bit with Gary having to try to spin it, getting embroiled in Mike and Wendy’s marital conflict over limits. One of the good recurring bits on the show is one of the staff members letting something slip to a reporter and then desperately trying to cover it up and only making it worse, and that’s Mike and Gary to a tee here.
The debate itself was pretty funny. The homespun nothings of the baseball manager candidate was great, and it’s clear the show is positioning him as the biggest-yet-underestimated threat. Him confessing to his affair with stepford smiling wife, throwing Amy off and visually blocking Selina was some great visual humor. At the same time, the inexperienced candidate doing some dismal prop comedy, Sec. Def. Maddox getting tripped up over a “hole” metaphor, and Chung bringing up his war record yet again with the commentary from the peanut section was all funny stuff.
Selina had amusing bits in the debate too. She goes full Rick Perry, forgetting the third “R” of her immigration plan but unwittingly doing well. The congressional “allies,” Ben, and Kent tossing around putdowns is funny the whole time. Dan and Jonah’s stuff isn’t as engaging, but I continue to be invested in Amy’s success here, so that props up some of the plot-based stuff.
Overall, a good episode that scores by leaning into the show’s top notch insult humor.