Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Diedrich Bader
Veep, Season 3, Episode 05: “Fishing”
Teleplay by Georgia Pritchett and Will Smith, Story by Armando Iannucci, Georgia Pritchett, and Will Smith
Directed by Becky Martin
Airs Sundays at 10:30pm (ET) on HBO
Since the beginning of the season, the selection of a campaign manager has been a major decision looming over Selina Meyer. With both Dan and Amy openly vying for the position, and Ben advising Meyer to go with a third party, it was clear the current vice-president was delaying the inevitable. This week’s episode sees Meyer finally make a decision, in a compelling outing that adds new complications to Jonah’s story, as well as Mike and Gary’s.
Selina’s increased disdain for her staff in this week’s episode is an intriguing turn for the character. While it’s clear that Meyer has never had much love for the people she works with, this season has shown just how little she cares for them, beginning with her missing Mike’s wedding, and continuing with her willingness to bring in an external campaign manager. With Ericsson’s words this week, however, it’s clear that Meyer has begun to see her staff in a new light. Thinking that her staff is incompetent and thinking they’re holding her back are two different things, and it will be interesting to see how this affects Meyer over the course of the campaign, especially since she’s stuck with the group for now.
Dan’s selection as campaign manager is also a promising turn. Despite the arguable qualifications of both Dan and Amy for the position, it’s clear that Meyer’s selection of Dan was less of a careful decision, and more of a matter of convenience. In addition, Dan’s been more fragile under pressure over the course of this season, and as campaign manager, he would be under that much more pressure. How Dan handles the pressure, how Amy handles her bitterness over losing the job to Dan, and how these two factors affect Meyer and her campaign promises to be worth a watch. It will also be fascinating to see if Amy’s desire to be campaign manager leads to her undercutting Dan, even at the cost of the election.
Overall, this is another strong episode. Watching Maddox and Meyer sit down this week is a great way to build up Meyer’s campaign rival as someone who’s not easily dismissed, while also showing the tension between the two presidential candidates behind the cameras. Jonah working for Maddox is an interesting turn for the character, following his brief flirtation with multimillionaire status in last week’s episode. It will be worth keeping an eye on Jonah as more people realise who his uncle is. How many people try to poach him, and what his reactions are, will say a lot about the character, and is bound to be hilarious as well. Mike and Gary both having problems with the job is a development well worth watching, and how their individual issues shake out over the season is bound to make for a compelling storyline.
– Deepayan Sengupta