S03.E01: Some New Beginnings

[Tara Ariano]

Selina courts voters at a book signing in Iowa; Selina and her staff hear a rumor that could impact the next election.

[Tara Ariano]

Here's what I wrote about Veep (but it's pretty spoil-y, so don't read it until you've watched the episode).

[Danny Franks]

Welcome back, show. I've missed you.

As good an episode as they've done, in my opinion. Mike's wedding was every bit as cringeworthy and mortifying as I'd imagine it would be, even more so with Gary as his best man (and isn't that sad, when you think about it?).

Loved Selina's new assistant, and his hapless attempts to be effective. "It's the... um... Prime Minister of... Scotland." Loved him channelling Gary via two phones, to inform Selina of things like, "you hate him".

Dan's utter delight at Hepatitis-J's firing was fantastic. The idiocy of running a political gossip blog while working in the West Wing? Come on, Jonad, even you know better than that. I almost felt sorry for him when I saw how everyone was just mocking him on his way out of the door, but then I remembered that he's a sex wasp whose pheromones make bitches moan.

The phone bowl joke, and Amy's trauma at finally being separated from her blackberry were hilarious. And then Dan had a backup phone, and then Amy had one hidden away as well. Preparedness is hot.

Loved the callback to season 1, with Jonah echoing the photographer's directions, and then asking "5D?" Heh.

I liked them showing Selina actually being pretty damned good at politicking, when she pulled an affecting speech out of her arse, based on two random facts about the dead congressman. But then she lazily recycled that for her speech about Mike, a guy she knows a lot about. Sums her up, really.

[jellysalmon]

God I loved seeing Jonah suffer.

[Milaxx]

For some reason I have a suspicion that the POTUS is going to go back on his word and decide to run for reelection after all.

[formergr]

Best quote from the episode regarding the book--"That title is such bullshit there's even a colon in the middle of it!" 

Love. It's scary how well this show gets DC sometimes...

Edited April 7, 2014 by formergr

[cattykit]

My love for Veep has no bounds.  This season opener was fantastic.  So glad they're back.

 

I liked them showing Selina actually being pretty damned good at politicking

Yes, I like it when they show her skills, too, and not just the 50 ways she and her staff can screw up on a regular basis.  And the new assistant's screwups, which highlighted just how really good Gary is in his very strange way.

[samuel]

Fantastic season premiere. My favorite part was actually when the Iowa helper dude said butter doesn't need to be refrigerated. My parents are from the midwest and would store a stick of butter in the cupboard, where it got pretty congealed and disgusting. They never thought anything of this, but I definitely agree with Selina about butter not needing refrigeration: "that's ... not true."

[StatMom]

My parents are from the midwest and would store a stick of butter in the cupboard, where it got pretty congealed and disgusting. They never thought anything of this, but I definitely agree with Selina about butter not needing refrigeration: "that's ... not true."

 

Ditto, ditto and ditto. Just because in my childhood I HAVE eaten butter that's been left out for days (and survived!) doesn't mean I SHOULD. I mean, it's a dairy product, right? 

That sub assistant in Iowa! How awful! Is that the best they can do, even as a temporary replacement? If anyone blows up Selina's grand plans, he seems like a good candidate. 

[abcfsk]

That dude was hilarious, hope he sticks around (though not for selina's sake)

[mad_typist]

I loved the terrible assistant in Iowa - he had great comic timing, so I'd love to see him return to the show somehow.

It was nice to see Selina be competent at politicking for once. Though obviously the show works best when she's thwarted, I like when she shows enough proficiency that the defeats sting that much more (so close!).

[Lola82]

My favorite little moment was when the "bag of wrist slits" asked Selina if she's thinking of running, the Iowa assistant nodded enthusiastically behind her right after being told that he should say nothing about it. And as soon as Selina said no, he started shaking his head. I love how incompetent he is. I hope there's a scene between him and Gary.

[nomodrama]

 

My favorite little moment was when the "bag of wrist slits" asked Selina if she's thinking of running, the Iowa assistant nodded enthusiastically behind her right after being told that he should say nothing about it. And as soon as Selina said no, he started shaking his head.

YES! Especially after Selina's "Now we have to kill him!" in the car. 

My husband, a total tech nerd, was dying when Johan was threatning to distribute The White House's wifi password. Jonah's entire exit was hilarious! I kind of wish we could have seen everyone reacting to the news of Jonah getting fired, that would have been fantastic.  

[Danny Franks]

YES! Especially after Selina's "Now we have to kill him!" in the car. 

My husband, a total tech nerd, was dying when Johan was threatning to distribute The White House's wifi password. Jonah's entire exit was hilarious! I kind of wish we could have seen everyone reacting to the news of Jonah getting fired, that would have been fantastic.  

I can only hope the next episode begins with Dan showing them all the video he recorded of it. Nothing unites this backstabbing bunch like the chance to mock Jonah.

One thing I was unclear on when I rewatched the episode: Did Dan actually forward Jonah's blog post or did he just claim credit for it when Jonah's blog post got him fired? I thought it was the latter, because Kent was already aware of Westwingman.net earlier in the episode.

[arc]

I think butter spoils in the air, not because of being out at room temperature. There are "butter keepers" to keep butter at room temp (and thus soft) but submerged under water to prevent contact with air.  Not that you would do that with a giant slab of Iowa-shaped butter though.

Jonah's a complete douche and richly deserved to go for his terrible blog, but even so I felt a little bad about how Dan had completely played him to achieve great ends there.

One thing I was unclear on when I rewatched the episode: Did Dan actually forward Jonah's blog post or did he just claim credit for it when Jonah's blog post got him fired?

Well, Dan was on his phone as he was talking to Jonah about pulling the post, so he very well might have forwarded it. Now, Jonah took that picture and posted it of his own stupid volition, but Dan capitalized on it.  He probably leaked it to reporters and got Jonah to pull it to make it even more of a scandal.  He might have leaked Jonah's identity to get him fired too; not clear about that. Either way, I think there was definitely a bunch (of very evil moves) that Dan could legitimately take credit for.

[SleepDeprived]

 

The phone bowl joke, and Amy's trauma at finally being separated from her blackberry were hilarious.

I thought that was a nicely done subtle allusion toward Anna Chlumskly's role as Miriam Lass on Hannibal, too. Missing limb and phantom phones. Hee. Or ew. Both work just fine.

Jonah Ryan 2026!