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Thursday, March 28
The Indiana Daily Student

weekend

'Veep' returns cruder and quicker than ever

Tony Hale and Julia Louis-Dreyfus return to HBO this week for the sixth season of "Veep." 

“Veep” premiered its sixth season this week, and HBO’s hit comedy is cruder and quicker than ever.

In the premiere Selina Meyer, played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, is stuck in a political and financial rut of massive proportions. It’s been a year since she lost the presidency, and now she’s trying to revamp her reputation. All the while, Meyer is trying to russle up some extra cash in order to fuel a second presidential campaign — or so viewers are led to believe.

The first episode had all the great one-liners and usual character shenanigans we’re used to from “Veep,” just in a new setting. The first half focused on establishing where each of the characters are now that they’re no longer working for Meyer. From an Uber driver to a Congressman to a talk show host, our beloved characters have gone their separate ways — for now, anyway.

These establishing clips were interwoven with an interview with Meyer, where she spoke about how she feels writing a memoir is “a debt that a president owes to history.” Clearly she hasn’t changed much in her removal from office.

One scene in particular illustrated Meyer’s singular difficulty with accepting the 
reality of her situation. She asks her family to weigh in on her decision to run for president again, but she doesn’t get the responses she is hoping for. Her family and employees actually have real concerns about her idea to run again, convinced that she has no real chance of winning.

A character I’m excited to see more from this season is Richard, played by Sam Richardson. The nice but dim-witted sidekick trope can feel tired and overdone, but doesn’t here, as Richardson delivers his characteristic one-liners with ease.

Richard also seems to be slowly winning over Selina and unknowingly making an enemy of Gary (Tony Hale) in the process. In a particularly funny moment from the premiere, Selina asks Richard for the first name of the secretary working in the Bronx offices.

In the next scene Richard enters the room and says “Ma’am, me again. The secretary’s name is Jenniker.” Then, realizing his mistake, he pauses and says, “That can’t be right.” In true “Veep” fashion, everyone in the room ignores him.

Moments like this are rooted in the show’s own awareness of how unaware its characters are. Each line is crafted to work off the professional demeanor of the characters, but often contains moments of total obliviousness. Each episode is packed with little quips like this, and each one flies by so quickly that viewers can barely catch them all.

As the sixth season of “Veep” continues, I hope to see the characters grow not only in their new occupations, but hopefully returning to their roots and working for Meyer again — in 
whatever government position she ends up screwing up this time around.

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