TV Review: VEEP: Season 3, Episode 1: Some New Beginnings [HBO]

HBO‘s Veep Some New Beginnings TV Show Review. Veep: Season 3, Episode 1: Some New Beginnings sees Selina Meyer (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and company brought back in full force for one of the best episodes of Veep we’ve seen so far after a good but not great second season. The episode centers around two main things: The big news story regarding the president’s announcement that he will not be running for a second term, and the wedding of the camp’s favorite target Mike McClintock (Matt Walsh). The news about the president is big because his stepping down will ultimately to Selina’s move to run for president (which sets the table for this upcoming season), and Mike’s wedding is just great for some laughs.

Louis-Dreyfus is great as usual in this episode, and proves to be one of the most consistent performers in the show. The boredom she displays during her book signing as well as her outright contempt for replacement aide Richard (Sam Richards) are not only perfect to her character, but are done in a way that makes it feel like this was the role she was born to play.

That being said, this episode wasn’t perfect. One nagging issue is not just the relationship but the outright presence of Dan and Amy. The whole “will they – won’t they” dynamic is not developed enough to be anything besides a distraction, and their characters are almost too similar to really create tension. Both are clearly talented and hit their stride every so often, but there is a lot of potential that just sits wasted.

Overall, the episode stood out as a great season opener. Not only were most scenes funny in their own right, but the story paved the way for what looks to be a solid season.  Watching Jonah try to either fight for his job back or creep onto the Meyer team will be entertaining no doubt, and letting Mike have his moment in the sun before he is inevitably insulted mightily every episode here on out will be great as well.

I have a feeling too that his marrying a journalist will come into play down the line, perhaps forcing him to choose between his wife and his job, in which ultimately he will choose Selina (because let’s face it he is a glutton for punishment). Most importantly of course, is that we are treated to the beginnings of the “Selina Meyer for President” campaign, in which we can only wonder how many ways she will find to lose it all.

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