[7.6/10] Yet again, I like how they're leaning into Selina as a bad person here -- having her schedule the hostage rescue to directly overshadow Sue's fifteen minutes of fame after the "robust" speech was ruined. It's the sort of petty stuff that makes for good entertainment on a West Wing-set comedy show. But I also like how they set up the other side of it too, with Selina having real trouble facing the fact that her rescheduling to one-up her own secretary led to a soldier losing his leg who wouldn't even have been on that mission if she'd waited instead of trying to sweep her subordinate out of the news. It's not played for drama, just for guilt in the middle of comedy, and I definitely dig that.
The rest of the episode was good too. Selina visiting the troops was entertaining, and her little rivalry with the Secretary of Defense (Clay Davis!) was fun with their little jabs back and forth. Cliff (Sue's substitute, who I recognized from Community) was great as the unflaggingly chipper, jokey, and ultimately inept fill-in was a fun addition at the margins. Gary Cole continues to shine as Kent with his noodle analogy landing in ridiculous fashion. And the mini-rivalry between Gary and Dan for Selina's ear, with it blowing up in Dan's face and Gary getting to peacock a bit was a nice subplot as well.
Overall, another good episode in a row, with an interesting bit of moral heft to undergird the comedy.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParent2017-02-01T02:42:51Z
[7.6/10] Yet again, I like how they're leaning into Selina as a bad person here -- having her schedule the hostage rescue to directly overshadow Sue's fifteen minutes of fame after the "robust" speech was ruined. It's the sort of petty stuff that makes for good entertainment on a West Wing-set comedy show. But I also like how they set up the other side of it too, with Selina having real trouble facing the fact that her rescheduling to one-up her own secretary led to a soldier losing his leg who wouldn't even have been on that mission if she'd waited instead of trying to sweep her subordinate out of the news. It's not played for drama, just for guilt in the middle of comedy, and I definitely dig that.
The rest of the episode was good too. Selina visiting the troops was entertaining, and her little rivalry with the Secretary of Defense (Clay Davis!) was fun with their little jabs back and forth. Cliff (Sue's substitute, who I recognized from Community) was great as the unflaggingly chipper, jokey, and ultimately inept fill-in was a fun addition at the margins. Gary Cole continues to shine as Kent with his noodle analogy landing in ridiculous fashion. And the mini-rivalry between Gary and Dan for Selina's ear, with it blowing up in Dan's face and Gary getting to peacock a bit was a nice subplot as well.
Overall, another good episode in a row, with an interesting bit of moral heft to undergird the comedy.