Veep ‘Full Disclosure’: A Horse, A Sheep, And A Pig

In some ways, ‘Full Disclosure’ felt like Veep, if it were a tightly scripted reality show. That reality show, of course, would be ‘Who The Fuck Is Selina Going To Fire?’ and the stars tonight were the three top dogs in the Meyer political machine, who put their self-preservation skills to the test during a very plot-heavy half hour of political comedy.

First of all, a big sigh of relief for the show disposing the pregnancy story line (albeit in a very cheap ‘miscarriage’-y fashion). We’re only seven episodes into the show, so it doesn’t make sense for the show to completely abandon its established reality and head in a completely different, difficult-to-maneuver direction. But the end of her pregnancy is but one of the many rumors and pieces of bad press surrounding Selina in ‘Disclosure’, and gets a little lost in the shuffle as everything else bad about Selina’s vice presidency comes to an ugly head – spearheaded by a less-than-flattering viral video.

What followed for the next 20 minutes was the most unflattering version of Selina Meyer we’ve seen yet, ruthlessly turning her own aides against themselves in a fight for survival. There isn’t a lot wrong with Veep, but there are times where the thick-headed asshole inside Selina goes a little over the top, and it leaves her feeling less like a three-dimensional human, and more of a goofy character who’s just bumbling from one mistake to the next, with no real ability to navigate the political world. I mean, she ended up in the VP chair somehow, and the best trait we’ve seen from her are some questionable PR skills. I’m not saying she needs to be the best politician ever, but at times, it feels like Selina’s narcissism and utter lack of empathy for anyone borders on the cartoonish – even for the heavy satire that is Veep.

There’s also her relationship with Ted, which we’re given about three minutes of on-screen time to, but are supposed to have a reaction to their break-up, which a good part of the episode is dealing with. Once again, it avoids any sort of nuance or personality from Selina, except that she’s worried about her public image and is SO self-centered she can’t even handle being dumped. It’s hard to care about a relationship we don’t see, and frustrating that we only get a few seconds of Selina letting down the political wall and talking to Ted (and even then, its all sexual).

If there’s one thing that’s clear about Selina – or any of the other characters on the show except Gary – its that they’re worried about self-preservation over anything else, and this can leave the supporting cast scrambling without much of a center. We understand why Gary and Dan want to keep their jobs, but the motivations are never that clear for Mike & Amy, the backbone of her staff, and the two characters who take most of her shit. Mike is simply aloof in every aspect of his job, and Amy is so loyal to Selina, she doesn’t even raise a question when Selina asks her to sacrifice her personal reputation by taking responsibility for the re-assignment of the Secret Service agent.

In the end, nobody gets fired, although Selina hardly lets anybody get away without some kind of insult thrown their way – even Sue, the most useful woman in the history of the world, is deemed ‘not important enough’ by Selina behind her back. And while ‘Full Disclosure’ had its normal share of hilarious Jonah jokes and witty bits of dialogue, the mission to save Selina’s public image didn’t do much but make its protagonist more unlikable. A little too heavy-handed at times, but still funny as hell throughout.

Grade: B-

Other thoughts/observations:

– Dick Cake.

– the little touches in Gary’s apartment were great. The garden, the cat jungle gym (which by the way, are ridiculously fucking expensive – I know because I wanted to buy one for our cat awhile back)… great stuff, and perfect rendezvous place.

– By the same accord, nice to see Jonah’s roommates shit on him as well. His apartment looks like it wanted to be a cool house, and instead got stuck with Jonah’s hard rock music and Blue Moon posters.

– funny how quickly the suicide pact fell apart…. added to the reality show aura of the entire Amy vs. Dan vs. Mike plot line.

– The one thing I liked is how inherent Sue & Gary’s importance is throughout the episode, and how its obvious neither of them wil ever be let go (even when one tries to tearfully). Gary’s is a little more explicitly stated, but that’s because his presence is a lot more visible, being by the VP’s side all the time.

– I still don’t think we’re out of the water with one of the aides being fired. Mike, Amy & Dan have all massively fucked up in one way or another, and they’re not in the clear yet.

What did you think of ‘Full Disclosure’? Feel free to leave your thoughts/comments below!