Kevin Dunn, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Sam Richardson
Veep, Season 3, Episode 01: “Some New Beginnings”
Teleplay by Sean Gray and Will Smith, Story by Armando Iannucci, Sean Gray, and Will Smith
Directed by Chris Addison
Airs Sundays at 10:30pm (ET) on HBO
Over the course of Veep’s second season, Selina Meyer grew increasingly disillusioned with her position as vice-president, disillusion which seemed to be mirrored by the President himself. While a second presidential run for Meyer seemed to be a foregone conclusion, the end of last season gave a strong indication that she would get this chance sooner rather than later. The third season premiere of Veep picks up on this thread again, in a hilarious episode that nonetheless manages to set up some compelling stories and character dynamics for the upcoming season.
The firing of Jonah is a solid shakeup to the existing character dynamics, and opens up some intriguing possibilities. As this episode demonstrates, there’s no love lost between Jonah and anyone he worked with. However, his new blog could prove to be a crucial instrument in the upcoming electoral run. Since he doesn’t have an allegiance to any particular group, Jonah’s blog may find its way to the public as a potential source of truth. This would put Jonah in a position of power amongst all the candidates, a position he has craved since the beginning of the show. How Selina Meyer and her campaign team deal with this, as well as how Jonah tries to exploit his new power, will be worth keeping an eye on.
Mike’s marriage is also a big change for the character. Much like Jonah, Mike’s job has been the one strong force in his life, in large part because it’s the only thing he’s good at, as was evidenced by his time with Kent. Mike’s marriage to Wendy, however, adds a second constant right at a time when his work pressure is likely to be increasing. As the press secretary, he is bound to be a crucial member of the campaign team. His marriage, however, gives him less motivation to be at a job he doesn’t enjoy, and for the first time, Meyer will have to actively work to keep Mike onboard. Her refusal to be at his wedding, and her clear disinterest in getting to know Wendy may thus end up being deciding factors in Selina’s run for the presidency, and how Mike’s attitude to the job, and his marriage, evolve over the season promise to be compelling.
Overall, this is a hilarious return for the show, and a strong start to the third season. Amy and Dan’s competitiveness over their desires to be campaign manager made for a fun watch, and it will be intriguing to see how the two deal with news that Meyer wants to bring in an outsider to be a campaign manager. The potential for a team-up between Dan and Amy to oust any new campaign manager is a promising one. Selina’s interactions with Richard, particularly juxtaposed with Gary’s actions with Wendy at her wedding, serve once again to highlight how good Gary is at his job, despite often being the butt of jokes. Meyer already getting campaign weary will be worth keeping an eye on, as the race is only going to get more difficult now that it has begun in earnest. Meyer’s issues with campaigning are bound to collide with her desire to be President sooner or later. Selina’s regurgitation of her speech at Cargill’s funeral to Mike at his wedding is a great example of how little regard she has for her staff. How the campaign shakes out, as well as what effect it has on Meyer and the members of her staff, as well as Ben, Kent, Jonah, and others, will be worth keeping an eye on over the course of the upcoming season.
– Deepayan Sengupta