Veep Season 6 Episode Guide:
6.01. "Omaha" - Review
6.02. "Library" - Review
6.03. "Georgia" - Airs April 30
6.04. "Justice" - Airs May 7
6.05. "Chicklet" - Airs May 14
6.06. "Qatar" - Airs 21
6.07. "Blurb" - Airs May 28
Veep 6.02: Library - Review:
Directed by Craig Zisk & Written by Alex Gregory & Peter Huyck
After a very strong premiere, Veep returned this Sunday with another equally strong and consistent episode that contained plenty of laughs and comedy. The main question Selina found herself grappling here was what her Legacy should be, as she wanted, as well as working on her memoirs, to also build a library that was on the same level as JFK's, who she argued, was also technically a President who didn't quite make it to the end of his term, although in different circumstances. This lead to doing her best to acquire a library and finding it a lot harder than she initially anticipated, despite every living President currently also having a library.
Selina's struggling to adapt to losing the power that she had so quickly. She's on a White House tour again and tries to climb over the fences to sit back in the Oval Office, in a moment of brilliant comedy that was probably the high point of the episode for me. Hughes managed to (almost) catch her in the act of climbing over the barrier, but thanks to a quick intervention by Gary she was able to escape the humiliation from Hughes, although she unfortunately forgot to remove her handbag. This made it interesting because this was actually one of the few times we've actually seen President Hughes, and it made for a nice move particularly as Hughes himself was also a former President, and is probably no stranger to what Selina was going through. Hughes himself doesn't take too keenly on the suggestion that Selina should have a Library however, suggesting that instead it could serve more as a bookmobile. Selina retorts, "Oh my goodness, you’re so funny! If only the American people could have known you for your sense of humor instead of your bizarre indifference to apartheid," leading to a scalding comeback that reminds you just how awesome this show can be at times.
The main focus of this episode was on Selina who we also got to see attempt to overcome the struggle of having her Presidential portrait painted, with Gary crossing the line when commenting about her dress. This situation is made all the more complicated when Yale inform her that they have no interest of building a library in her name following the controversial pardon of Sherman Tanz. But Smith College is more welcoming to Selina who decides she doesn't need Yale after all, only to find out that its President Regina is someone who she experimented when they were students. This was actually an idea suggested by the actress who plays Regina according to Julia Louis-Dreyfus, where the actress Amy Brenneman came up with an idea for her role so it was cool to see this implemented on the show. It turns out meanwhile that Andrew and Helen, Selina's painter, haven't exactly been getting along on the best of terms as we find out when Andrew's texts are read aloud by the car's automated system. This leads to Helen being fired by Selina who in turn leaks details about Selina and Regina's affair to the press, painting Andrew as the predator. Selina eventually re-hires Helen when things go from bad to worse, but Smith still won't accept the offer of a library being built on its premises.
Catherine and Majorie also announced that they're looking to become parents. As usual this idea doesn't go over too well with Selina who asks them to put the idea of finding a sperm donor on hold for now, and to make matters worse for Amy, she's now facing bigger problems when a potentially career-ending video of Buddy's DUI arrest video leaks online, creating further troubles that come as a response to information about the fact that his main competition is an adulterer. It seems both sides are willing to play dirty, and although this storyline may not be the main part of this season with attention focused largely on Selina, it's always cool to watch Amy adapting to the scaled down Government business on a smaller scale.
Jonah himself also got some brief screentime this week as it turns out people may not be taking him seriously because he isn't married (and because he's Jonah), but Jonah decides to do something about it and starts going on dates which go about as well as you'd expect. Everything is going poorly until the third date when they hit off perfectly - until Dan arrives to ruin things, spoiling Jonah's reputation and taking the woman home as revenge for the meltdown that led to him actually getting the permanent CBS: This Morning gig, which isn't going too well for him.
As usual, the dialogue was on point in a very awesome episode. Two weeks in and the season is already getting off to a strong start and I'm starting to adjust to the fact that there isn't any Game of Thrones on the same night like normal. But either way, HBO's lineup of shows is still very solid regardless and especially with Veep and Silicon Valley being in great form, things are just as awesome as ever.
What did you think of Library? Let me know in the comments below and stay tuned for the next episode of Veep this Sunday at 10:30pm.
