S03.E06: Detroit

[ElectricBoogaloo]

At an economic summit in Detroit, Selina’s staff and her family are peeved by the presence of her new personal trainer, Ray. Meanwhile, Jonah and Mike negotiate a photo-op with Selina and Maddox. Later, Catherine protects her mom from a protestor, and Selina attends a women’s gun show.

 

[Danny Franks]

So I'm kind of in love with Catherine, I think. I really like seeing her display a bit more backbone and openly disagreeing with Selina, and with Dan, even if she still ends up going along with their plans anyway. And then she punched that protester right in the face. But she still has to deal with the trauma of practically walking in on her mother having sex with her personal trainer. Poor girl.

 

Speaking of, Ray was really funny. Dim but with high opinions of himself, and hey, he even knows what the "International Money Fund" is. Loved him thinking that Rudolph was Santa's mean spirited helper who kidnaps children. And he got Selina in that workout gear, which was nice. I liked that he was Dan's idea, as Selina's "chew toy" to stop Andrew from getting in the way. And it was working too, until the news about those jobs that wouldn't materialise.

 

Dan seems a little out of his depth, but I hope he pulls it around, because he is ruthless enough to be a great campaign manager, and I prefer it when these guys are competent, but foiled by things outside their control. Like Mina talking to Jonad.

 

Sue and Kent as the organisational androids was amusing, but I wince at the thought of whatever their relationship is, outside of work. Remember what Selina said about Kent? "I bet he doesn't even have a cum face."

 

This show is so, so good at crafting one liners that just land, every time. All those little comments at the gun show, about Amy's ever-present tension and her absolute loathing of anyone who tries to be helpful towards her. She's the prickliest person in this show, and that takes some doing.

[abcfsk]

For some reason Amy's "nobody likes sex" stuck out as the funniest line this week. 

[radishcake]

Seeing Chris Meloni be funny is my favorite thing in life. <3 that guy! 

[pivot]

I loved this episode but they are really making Selina more inept by the second.

[Danny Franks]

I loved this episode but they are really making Selina more inept by the second.

 

I think she's the same as she's always been. A bright, talented woman who can never fight her way past her own flaws. We've seen her blow the doors off brick buildings (thanks, Sam Seaborn) with some of her public speaking. Especially some of the more off-the-cuff stuff, and we've seen her calmly negotiate with some tough customers like Furlong. But we've also seen how her staggering arrogance and self-absorption have sabotaged her, time and again.

 

I don't think she really did much inept in this episode. She struggled at the small talk with Mina, and so said something she shouldn't have, which snowballed when Mina told Jonah. And she unfortunately got caught in an inopportune moment by Andrew, so he didn't give her heads up on the jobs thing until it was too late. And then Mina unknowingly screwed things up for her again.

 

I think it's her staff who are becoming more inept, especially Dan and Amy. That's disappointing to me, because I enjoyed them so much more in the first couple of seasons, when they actually seemed to know what they were doing.

[ganesh]

 

Dan seems a little out of his depth, but I hope he pulls it around, because he is ruthless enough to be a great campaign manager, and I prefer it when these guys are competent, but foiled by things outside their control.

Dan's not doing that bad. He's doing like 100 things at once and had to deal with a lot of curveballs. I think he's going to have a major fuck up at some point, but I don't think it will be totally his fault.

 

I'm not seeing Selina as inept either. I've said before that I think she's actually a a good politician. They basically spent the episode having to put out some fires and still managed to do ok. Selina's got to know just not to say anything about anything to anyone. Which i suppose is the staff's problem that she never should be alone unscripted. 

[Baltron9000]

We all saw and were disturbed by Ray's boner jabbing in Amy's direction in the last scene, right? That wasn't just me? 

Sue and Ken are perfect for each other. But it still disturbs me. What do they talk about in their off time? Do they even have off time? 

[Corgi-ears]

Not just you. Gary very quickly looks down at Ray's groin when he first walks up to them, as a way to signal said boner to Amy. Guess this was one fact he couldn't whisper into someone's ear.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Seeing Chris Meloni be funny is my favorite thing in life. <3 that guy!

Several years ago, I read an interview where he said that he actually started in comedy but when he ended up getting cast in dramatic roles like Keller and Stabler. I love when he gets to be funny!

[ganesh]

You should watch him in Wet Hot American Summer if you like CM funny.

[radishcake]

Oh that is one of my favorite movies!!

[Catherinewriter]

The exchanges between Selina and the Prime Minister (sorry, ex-prime minister) of Finland make me have to stop noshing, for fear of choking. Whoever's playing Minna is terrific.

[radishcake]

The exchanges between Selina and the Prime Minister (sorry, ex-prime minister) of Finland make me have to stop noshing, for fear of choking. Whoever's playing Minna is terrific.

That's Sally Phillips! She was on Rescue Me for a while and Dave Foley was her husband on the Helsinki episode! He plays such a good perv. 

[Catherinewriter]

Thanks, I'll look her up.

I kept waiting for the breast-grabber to appear behind Selina, but I guess the ex-prime minister's hubby isn't on this trip.

I wish this show were on a prime-time schedule. And I worry for the show in terms of the election. She can't be president and she doesn't want to remain the VP. Please, Ianucci, find a way to keep this show going.

[Danny Franks]

I think she can be president, as long as she gets landed with an opposition controlled congress, and so can't get any of the laws she wants passed. It's a stretch, especially with the show being called Veep, but it wouldn't be impossible.

 

The Thick of It managed to transition Malcolm Tucker and co from power to opposition quite effectively, although that show had a less on-the-nose title. Yes, Minister became Yes, Prime Minister. So Veep could transition Selina from VPOTUS to POTUS, and still work well. It just needs to be done in a way that doesn't marginalise any of the characters (like, for example, moving Selina to President and bringing in a new Veep character. I'd hate that).

[Rinaldo]

But (as I think has been pointed out, perhaps in another thread) real time doesn't have to correspond to in-show time, especially with so few episodes in a year. They could take several of our years to get to the election (and, if they so choose, use her winning the election as the series finale).

[Baltron9000]

Little bit of a rant here, but I really dislike it when fandom has to worry about a show's title. No offense to yous guys, of course. Smallville didn't end when Clark Kent left the titular town. Prison Break didn't end when they prison broke. In my eyes the title of the show is not half as important as the content. Veep can still be Veep even if Selena isn't the vice president. The title of the show relates more to the theme and characters than anything. The show will still be awesome regardless of what the election outcome is. Rant over, it is now safe to leave your homes and return to your jobs. 

[ganesh]

Yes, but they went to another prison to break out of.

 

 

Veep can still be Veep even if Selena isn't the vice president.

 

It really can't though because there's something unique about the office of vice president that inherently invites ineptitude. It's not an elected (sort of) or appointed position, but yet it's both. No one's said, 'Mondale was a great VP.' They say he was the idiot who went on national tv as a presidential candidate and told everyone he was going to raise taxes.

 

The VP can do what ever they want, but they can't do anything. Even though they were scrambling to clarify her position on abortion, so what? The reason they were doing it was to cover her ass for when she runs for potus. 

 

This show just won't work with Selina as potus because the suspension of disbelief is so high. The entire planet literally hangs on what the president of the us says. Every word. You just can't have this kind of show if she's potus. 

 

However, as I've said before, you can have 4 more seasons of Selina as VP because the election cycle is so damn long here.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Deleted scenes:

[Catherinewriter]

Thanks to posters who suggest that all the show has to do is drag out the election for more seasons. But also, I think Ianucci is some kind of evil genius, so he can probably think of others ways to keep it going.

Agree that Sue and Kent are the subsurface gold of this show.

"Nice dress."

"It's actually a skirt and top."

"Even better/" Or some such exchange.

[Babalu06]

On 5/14/2014 at 5:52 PM, radishcake said:

That's Sally Phillips! She was on Rescue Me for a while and Dave Foley was her husband on the Helsinki episode! He plays such a good perv. 

Yes, I’m watching Veep nearly 10 years too late, but, in case anyone who enjoyed Sally Phillips sees this, she also has a recurring role as Miranda’s friend on Miranda (currently available on Tubi).