This episode brings Veep to… well, Detroit, where Selina is giving a speech at a jobs summit. Let’s just say it doesn’t go terribly well. We find Dan having his first test, or should I say tests, as campaign manager, Amy having to step aside as lead of Selina’s team, and an attack from the Statue of Liberty.
The episode also saw the return of Sally Phillips as Minna Häkkinen, the now former Prime Minister of Finland, who is hilariously able to match Selina’s painfully awkward interactions with a deadpan expression that make her absurd dialogue and ridiculous accent even more amusing. The Former Prime Minister inadvertently caused what could only be called a disaster for the Veep’s campaign.
While walking into her speech Selina is attacked by a man dressed as the Statue of Liberty. Catherine hilariously punches the man square in the face, which propels her into “America’s Next Top Redneck.”
While in Detroit Selina must deal with the issue of gun control, much like she had to deal with the issue of abortion earlier in the season. After a shooting across town that resulted in the death of a respected (in the eyes of the public, not so much Selina) reporter, Selina talks to the Former Prime Minister about gun control. Selina essentially pissed off the entire NRA when she said that “the second amendment is a problem.”
The statement gets leaked when Jonah, pretending to be part of the Veep’s team, gets the Former Prime Minister to tell him what Selina said. To remedy the issue, the team goes to a Women’s Gun Show, where Catherine has turned into quite the celebrity complete with t-shirts, selfies, and chants.
On top of all these problems we have the issue of Ray, Selina’s new personal trainer and campaign “stress reliever”. Christopher Meloni as Ray is a delight to watch. Although he’s playing the stereotypical dumb muscle head (“I know IMF stands for International Money Fund”), he has perfected the art of the one-liner. Every single time he opened his mouth I was cracking up. Everything from his expression, to his delivery was pitch perfect. Who would have though that Elliott Stabler from Law & Order: SVU could be this funny?
I am confident when I say that this was probably the best episode of the season. I am constantly shocked at how much the writers are able to pack into one episode and still make every storyline feel complete (take a note Modern Family). Every single moment was smart, sharp, and hilarious and packed with hilarious one-liners like: “I wish we were still on abortion, that was easy.” I don’t think I have ever laughed out loud that much during any episode of television, if Veep maintains this quality to the end of the season, then I think we have contender for one of the best seasons of comedy in recent memory.
Hey, I'm Karl, founder and film critic at Smash Cut. I started Smash Cut in 2014 to share my love of movies and give a perspective I haven't yet seen represented. I'm also an editor at The New York Times, a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, and a member of the Online Film Critics Society.