S04.E03: Data

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Selina and the team attempt to find a scapegoat. Catherine decides to back an anti-bullying campaign.

 

Promo:

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Clip:

[raspberry7]

Now we have a true villain!

[pivot]

I'm so sad that Dan got fired again. I hope that they can finagle a way to get him back into the WH soon. I love watching him play off the rest of the staff. I am really looking forward to him colluding with Amy outside the WH though.

I also liked that Dan was straight up offended about what the VP's Chief of Staff was doing to Jonah and called it sexual harassment. I hope that guy gets fired along with Bill once Dan/Amy get vengeance.

Just make sure to not get rid of Ben. He has the best one liners on the show.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I honestly thought that Ben was going to tell Dan that it was an April Fool's Day joke but nope, they actually fired Dan! My disappointment is twofold - first, I was really looking forward to Jonah being fired and wallowing, secondly Dan being fired makes Jonah happy and Jonah being happy annoys me.

[lassiecat]

I was so sad when I thought Ben was leaving, but damn if he didn't terrify me two seconds later when he brought down Dan!

There's a real difference in the generations. Dan, Amy, and Jonah may talk a good game, but Ben, Kent, and Selina will straight up cut you. And then go read a children's book.

This show is very good at making you forget how ruthless Washington is. One week it's just an embarrassing party, the next week someone gets taken out.

[tomsmom]

Selina-"What the hell? Where did HIV come from?"

Mike-"I think a guy fucked a monkey."

Gold Jerry! Gold!

[Ms Blue Jay]

I was describing the show to a friend and I said it's unique in that it's the only show where nobody has a heart (except for maybe Gary towards Selina?) and yet I'm somehow attached and still want to know what happens the following week.  I haven't always felt like that, so maybe these past 2 seasons are actually superior to the previous.

 

Ben and Kent are so amazing.... Obsessed with Gary Cole in this role.

 

It's funny how two of the cast members are from my favourite movie Office Space - Gary Cole and (the evil) Diedrich Bader.  Even his real name sounds evil.  They should have Ron Livingston on the show.  And Stephen Root could easily slide into Ben's role.

 

Compared to House of Cards, there is no comparison.  On an episode by episode basis this show blows HOC out of the water.

 

Also.... I'm still amazed by Sue.

Edited April 27, 2015 by Ms Blue Jay

[Traveller519]

Acting is still top notch, and the dialogue is as snappy as ever.

 

My issue is that with the change in office, these fuck-ups that used to not feel like they had any real impact because of the nature office of the vice-president and being mirrored against Selina's inability to accomplish anything because of the office seamed at least realistic, now don't seem like they'd be hand-waved quite as easily, even with "senior level" firings.

 

I hate that I'm making a (This Sitcom isn't realistic!!!!) observation, because I don't think they should be, but I'm not feeling the Selina as President stories as much, and I think that's why.

[TV Anonymous]

Agree. It used to be just a comedy about situations that become funny because of some unintended consequences. Therefore, sit-com. Just three episodes in, I feel like the presidential staff is made up of idiots who do not know anything about anything who keep on making mistakes even a fresh graduate can not afford to make.

[LADreamr]

I honestly thought that Ben was going to tell Dan that it was an April Fool's Day joke but nope, they actually fired Dan! My disappointment is twofold - first, I was really looking forward to Jonah being fired and wallowing, secondly Dan being fired makes Jonah happy and Jonah being happy annoys me.

But Jonah always seems to shoot himself in the foot when he thinks he's got it made, so that could be fun to watch.

[ganesh]

I can totally buy how this would be a problem. It seems like the team just survives one crisis to the next.

Dan was the logical choice to go imo. He's not senior enough yet does have an impact on the staff. I really liked his genuine outrage about Jonah being harassed.

I think they were wrong about the anti bullying though. She could have just said that she saw class mates bullied as a kid.

Nice to see Gary more involved.

I actually was worried about shifting the show to the presidency, but it's working for me.

 

For the male viewers, did anyone else go, "wtf Dan" when he lined up in the urinal right next to Ben?

Edited April 27, 2015 by ganesh

[Ms Blue Jay]

Was Selina's point that people will conclude that Catherine was bullied because her mother was the VP?

 

I think that makes Selina more sympathetic, not less, so I'm not sure I get that.

[ganesh]

No. The daughter said that. Selina said people will think she bullied her own daughter.

I think they handled it wrong and was suggesting a way for her to work with the group and leave Selina out of it. It's a good cause for the first daughter imo.

[cattykit]

I'm so sad that Dan got fired again. I hope that they can finagle a way to get him back into the WH soon. I love watching him play off the rest of the staff. I am really looking forward to him colluding with Amy outside the WH though.

I also liked that Dan was straight up offended about what the VP's Chief of Staff was doing to Jonah and called it sexual harassment. I hope that guy gets fired along with Bill once Dan/Amy get vengeance.

Just make sure to not get rid of Ben. He has the best one liners on the show.

Yes, yes, and yes.  Saved me from having to post!

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I loved that Dan sandwiched his sincere horror and concern at Jonah's balls being grabbed between berating him as always.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Deleted scenes:

[tennisgurl]

I laughed like an idiot at the Marine dressed as the Easter Bunny, telling Selena about how he saw his best friend get blown up, while Selena just stood there, awkwardly. Then I felt bad.

 

I love that Dan was legitimately horrified by Teddy constantly groping Jonah. Its always nice to see actually human reactions from the characters on this show, besides stress and anger. Not often, but once in a blue moon. Dan actually does have standards after all.

 

Seriously. When even Dan thinks something is fucked up, you know its bad. Didn't he kill an animal one time, just because? Damn. 

[Monx]

Dipping into the shallow end for a moment, but I had to re-watch the Selina, Amy and Dan scene because I was so distracted by how amazing Anna Chlumsky looked in that burgundy dress, like damn.

Now if you all excuse me while I go to the gym...

[iMonrey]

 

For the male viewers, did anyone else go, "wtf Dan" when he lined up in the urinal right next to Ben?

 

No, because the little one gives him splash-back. And there were only three total.

 

Something I can't figure out and I've seen it twice: at one point Amy is on the phone in the hallway saying "I have to be in the running because I've been doing it for three years." What was that in reference to? Is she shopping around for another job? Trying to jump over to another campaign?

 

The other thing I kind of didn't get was the how the whole HIV girl thing unfolded. All Selina did was mention some girl with HIV in a stump speech. How were this girl's records in some kind of government database? Is that how Selina knew about her in the first place? A lot of this story went over my head.

 

LOL on Gary using the tape roller on Selina's dress and the side eye she gave him when he rollered her boob.

Edited April 28, 2015 by iMonrey

[ganesh]

She thought Ben was being canned, so she thought she'd be the next chief of staff because she was in the VP office. 

[peeayebee]

I'm not quite sure I understood the HIV girl story completely. I think there were two separate issues. The first one was that Reddit figured out who Selina was talking about, and they outed the girl. So it's the privacy matter. The second one was, I think, that the campaign used private info for their mailings to target parents who had lost a child, the mailings being about some children's issue. I can't remember where the campaign got the info. Maybe Medicaid.

[iMonrey]

 

I'm not quite sure I understood the HIV girl story completely. I think there were two separate issues. The first one was that Reddit figured out who Selina was talking about, and they outed the girl. So it's the privacy matter.

 

That much, I get. What I don't get is how any of that would be Selina's fault (or anyone in their administration). Seems like Reddit should have taken the heat for the scandal if all Selina did was mention some girl (not by name) in a stump speech. I'm thinking the reason Selina knew about this girl was that she was in some kind of gov't database which Reddit hacked, but still don't see how that's Selina's fault, although a data breach would reflect poorly on the WH I guess.

[ganesh]

No, I think they said the info was hacked and leaked to reddit. Reddit didn't do the hacking.

[peeayebee]

I didn't understand it that way. I thought they said that Reddit took what information Selina mentioned, did research, connected dots, and came up with the girl's name. So it wasn't really the government's fault except that Selina used personal info for political purposes without the permission of the person, presumedly.

 

I wish I had time to rewatch the ep.

[Maysie]

I love the fact that both of the Veep's weddings included "Every Breath You Take." That's such a creepy song. Kind of beautiful, but really stalkerish.

 

I'm wondering if Teddy/Veep is behind the data breach.

 

I thought the episode was a bit confusing as well re HIV girl and the mailing list.

[Blakeston]

The issue with the mailing list makes sense to me - someone on Selina's staff searched confidential medical records to identify parents who'd recently lost a child, and sent them all a targeted mailing. That could send the guilty party (or parties) to prison for quite some time.

 

But the thing with the girl made very little sense. I guess the issue is that Selina mentioned an 8-year-old girl from a specific town in Alabama who wants to be a ballerina, and contracted HIV from her mother's breast milk. And with it being a small town, other residents quickly figured out who the little girl is, and now the girl is being harrassed.

 

And I guess she was mentioned in the speech because someone on the staff was browsing through confidential medical data, and saw the file of an 8-year-old girl from a small town in Alabama who contracted HIV from her mother's breast milk, and decided she should be in the speech?

 

But how the hell did they figure out that she wants to be a ballerina? Even without the ballerina part, it's still very strange and confusing.

[bunnyblue]

Thank you, Blakeston, for explaining the 2 different issues regarding the HIV+ girl and the mailing list because I've watched the episode twice and still didn't understand what the hell was going on. 

 

But what I still don't get is who searched through confidential medical records to come up with the story of the girl in Alabama? They fired Lee who was low on the totem pole but she wasn't the real culprit. And neither was Dan. So I'm baffled as to how the staff was able to figure everything out but couldn't deduce who did the research for Selina's speech.  

 

Anyway, I hope this isn't the end of Dan. I hope he finds his way back to the WH because the show wouldn't be the same without him.

 

Was this the first time we've seen Ben get really angry and threaten anyone? Seeing him throw the weight of his position around to force Dan to quit was surprising. He's competent at his job but otherwise he's always acting like he doesn't give a crap and is biding his time 'till he dies or retires.

 

Teddy has got to go. If Dan feels disgusted by his treatment of Jonah, then you know something is really wrong. Seeing Jonah stammer trying to explain the sexual harassment away made me feel a twinge of sympathy for him. Jonah deserves most of the crap thrown his way but this isn't one of them.

 

I didn't laugh much this episode but this exchange: 

 

Selina-"What the hell? Where did HIV come from?"

Mike-"I think a guy fucked a monkey."

 

had me literally LOLing that I rewound it a few times. Selina's reaction was also priceless. God, she is surrounded by morons.

Edited May 1, 2015 by bunnyblue

[ALenore]

But how the hell did they figure out that she wants to be a ballerina?

 

I have a guess how it could have happened.   I work as a medical transcriptionst, and part of many dictations is a section called "Social History" which is mostly just whether the patient smokes or drinks, but also often includes what they do (or did) for a living.  Freuqently the doctor will mention somehting like "The patient is an avid gardener".  (because it might indicate why the patient has back or knee pain for example).   For this little girl, it might have been mentioned in the context that say she was having problems keeping up in her ballet class due to her illness or the meds she was on.  (The part of "wanting to be a ballerina"  was probably just a bit of extrapolation).  

[Blakeston]

I have a guess how it could have happened.   I work as a medical transcriptionst, and part of many dictations is a section called "Social History" which is mostly just whether the patient smokes or drinks, but also often includes what they do (or did) for a living.  Freuqently the doctor will mention somehting like "The patient is an avid gardener".  (because it might indicate why the patient has back or knee pain for example).   For this little girl, it might have been mentioned in the context that say she was having problems keeping up in her ballet class due to her illness or the meds she was on.  (The part of "wanting to be a ballerina"  was probably just a bit of extrapolation).  

 

But is there some sort of government database with the patient files that doctors' offices keep? If so, that's pretty terrifying.

 

I could see a health department having a list of the known cases of HIV in their jurisdiction, and a staffer finding out about the girl that way. But to have everyone's patient files in a database is something else.

[Muffyn]

I was just re-watching this episode.  The Marine in the bunny costume talking about his friend dying in Afghanistan was just too funny.  It's hard to pull off such dark humor.  I love that Selena did not have a comeback.  

 

While I do know that Jonad is the biggest clown in the posse, I did like that he got one over on Dan when he exited the building.   One very brief moment of joy for the jolly green jizz face.

[Milburn Stone]

I admire the show, and it makes me laugh, but I had an easier time accepting the rank incompetence of Serena's staff when she was vice president than now. A big part of the humor of the show--an indispensable part, in fact--has been the audience's ability to say, "You know, I bet that's not that different from what goes on in a powerless Washington figurehead's real life." But I'm finding it not nearly as easy to bring this assumption of "I bet the show's not that far off" when it concerns the White House itself (even in the 21st century). Reality just can't be like that--or we'd all be dead by now.