Episode Title: 'Frozen Yoghurt'
Writer: Simon Blackwell and Armando Iannucci
Director: Armando Ianucci
As the Vice President, Selina Meyer (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) is one heartbeat away from becoming the Commander-in-Chief of the United States. But the keyword in that equation is "heartbeat," not "heartburn," as Selina was reminded this week.
Selina meets with Senator Doyle, who charms her into agreeing to take oil off of the Clean Jobs Task Force in exchange for his support on filibuster reform. When she breaks the news to her staff, the Veep realizes her minor coup could turn into a major screw-up.
However, that crisis in interrupted when Jonah (Timothy Simons) passes along word that the President suffered a heart attack while traveling through South Africa, putting Selina in the hotseat. Plans to "normalize" the Veep's agenda go awry when Selina's ushered off to the White House Situation Room, forcing Mike (Matt Walsh) and Dan (Reid Scott) to do damage control at a frozen yoghurt shop.
A Washington heat wave only makes things worse, especially for Mike, whose dress shirt is soaked in unsightly sweat stains. While he and Dan try to hold off the whistle-blowing reporter Dan invited to Selina's no-show public outing, word comes down that it's actually a bad case of heartburn, not a heart attack, that the President is suffering from. And with that the wind is quickly taken out of Selina's sails.
With the President's health no longer in question, Selina is whisked away to the frozen yoghurt shop. But by the time she arrives, the gastric flu she contracted from Senator Doyle's Chief of Staff has already taken hold, making for a drippy photo op.
I gave the pilot episode of "Veep" a perfect ten and this second episode was only slightly less entertaining than the first, which means it's still better than ninety-nine percent of the comedies on TV right now.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus is certainly capable of carrying her own show but what makes 'Veep' work is its excellent supporting cast. Tony Hale and Matt Walsh had some great scenes in this second outing, when Gary "took a bullet' for the Veep when she's nearly sneezed on while Mike literally sweated out the frozen yoghurt debacle. And Anna Chlumsky brings balance to the farce as often the only level-headed person in the room.
As the country prepares for the upcoming presidential election, 'Veep” provides some welcome comic relief from a tense political climate. After such a strong premiere, "Frozen Yoghurt" proves there's plenty more laughs yet to come out of Washington.
