On last week’s episode of Veep Vice President Selina Meyer (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) started a firestorm before a big foreign trip to Finland by inadvertently offending most of Europe with a song at a DC dinner and this week picked up right where we left her en route to Helsinki while her staff tries to stymy the fallout.
With Mike still in Kent’s “numbers prison” (where you get raped with numbers), Dan is forced to step into the role of Press Secretary for the Veep even though he has seemingly no experience doing so. Mike suggests that he try telling bad jokes to disarm the press but this strategy has little effect on a particularly prickly British reporter who thinks Selina should apologize for the song. Dan seems unconcerned about said British reporter but Amy sternly warns him, “You do not want one of them on your back. They’ll sell nude photos of their grandmother for a glass of hot beer.”
Dan eventually holds a press availability from their hotel in Helsinki where he apologizes for the song’s unfortunate interpretation and does so without a hint of humor. Problem solved. For now…
Meanwhile, Selina is feeling the stress of being overseas and forces Gary (still not pleased with the new bag she gave him last week) to buy her cigarettes. Upon receiving them she promptly lights one up causing Gary to open a window and look ashamed. In one of the episode’s best lines Selina snaps, “Don’t give me that Quaker in a titty bar look. Seriously. Don’t.”
Eventually though the time comes for Selina to actually meet with the Finland Prime Minister for the signing of the trade agreement and to say its awkward would be an understatement. For example, when the two leaders exchange gifts Selina presents the Finnish PM with a book about fishing in America stating that she can use it when she visits the United States someday. The confused PM responds with “because no one will feed me?”
“No, it’s because you like fishing.”
“I don’t actually.”
But it gets even more awkward when the PM in turn then gives Selina a large clock featuring Angry Birds, which was apparently developed there. Selina feigns excitement over it and as you can imagine, fails miserably.
But then, when you start to think things are likely to get worse: they do. The PM lets it be known that she was offended that Dan apologized for the song as it made her appear to be humorless, so Selina forces Dan to apologize for the apology much to the evil British reporter’s delight. And THEN, while taking a secret smoke break from a nighttime reception with the PM’s husband (Dave Foley), Selina finds herself getting groped in the tits and ass by said husband who shows no sign of shame whatsoever. Gary later suggest retaliating with nukes to what becomes known as “the sexual 9/11…or the sexual Cuban Missile Crisis at the least.”
Back in Washington, we learn that one of the recently freed hostages was in fact an American spy despite members of the administration (including Selina) going on record to say that there were no spies involved. Kent instructs Sue to fill up Selina’s schedule in Finland in hopes that it keeps press attention on the Veep instead of the looming scandal. At the same time, Mike begs Amy to keep Selina away from the press at all costs.
For the most part they manage to succeed in this effort and get her to the airport without much fuss (where she has a firecracker farewell to the PM’s husband) but just as she walking out of the airport to board her plane she gets asked a question about the spy thanks to Mike accidentally emailing Kent’s polling data about it to everyone. Her response? “I stand with the president!”
We can only wait until next week to find out what the impact of this will be but I have to just say how impressed I was by this episode. All of the plotlines came together perfectly here with a barrage of jokes and one-liners that I haven’t even scratched the surface of here. This episode also featured a glossier, more polished visual look than most, which I genuinely hope is a trait that sticks around. Overall though, if the rest of the season is even as half as good as this episode we’re in for a real treat!
Favorite vulgar lines of the episode: “The National Security Adviser is running around like he has eagles flying out of his dick!”
Veep, Season 2, Episode 5: “Helsinki” (originally aired May 12, 2013)
Catch Veep Sundays at 10/9 Central on HBO.
Images courtesy of HBO.
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