Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
Of all the great things about television, the greatest is that it’s on every single day. TV history is being made, day in and day out, in ways big and small. In an effort to better appreciate this history, we’re taking a look back, every day, at one particular TV milestone.
IMPORTANT DATE IN TV HISTORY: June 23, 2013
PROGRAM ORIGINALLY AIRED ON THIS DATE: Veep, “D.C.” (Season 2, Episode 10) [Stream on HBO GO]
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT: Selina Meyer’s political fortunes are not supposed to be stable. One of the most central ideas of Veep is that Washington is a bubbling swampland where the ground from underneath your feet can just devolve into mush as you’re standing on it. The first few seasons of Veep stuck to the mandate of that very title: Selina as the Vice-President of the United States, the useless appendage of the federal government. Those first two seasons saw Selina and her team stumble and bumble and curse their way through the corridors of not-quite-power in Washington. With the season 2 finale, however, creator Armando Ianucci showed his had the confidence to shake things up.
The tenth episode of season 2, “D.C.,” begins with the Meyer camp at their lowest point. Disillusioned by being tethered to the sinking ship that is POTUS, Selina decides she’s going to throw in towel and not run for reelection. But as her team quickly start scrambling for escape hatches and alternate career paths. But just as quickly as that worm turns, it turns again: POTUS won’t be seeking re-election, leaving Selina free to run for President on her own. And then just as THAT jubilant reality settles in, POTUS changes his mind, and Selina’s career is over. And that’s not even the end of the episode; there are at least two political quarter-turns to go before the episode is over.
But more than just being a narrative turning point in the early history of the series, “D.C.” is easily one of the funniest half hours the show has ever produced, from Selina’s recurring “fuck off” bit to Jonah to Amy’s horrified reaction to Selina’s ex Andrew to guest-starring turns from Zach Woods, Jessica St. Clair, and Randall Park. It’s probably the best episode in the entire series and well worth a re-watch.
