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Veep Recap: ‘Chicklet’

By Kelly Shanaphy

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Even though “Chicklet,” aired on Mother’s Day, Veep chooses to focus on Selina’s relationship with her father.

Five episodes in and it’s still a little murky trying to figure out what Veep‘s endgame is for season six. Will Selina be back in office somehow or will the show be stepping away from politics completely? While this hasn’t been the most interesting season yet, it has at least allowed the writers to explore the relationships between these characters more outside of work rather than just inside the office.

After suffering a heart attack in the previous episode, Amy discovers that Selina is suffering from depression. True to form, she refuses to accept the diagnosis and continues on an insult parade. Luckily for Mike, her emotional state allows him to finally get some work done on the memoir he’s been tasked to write.

Photo Credit: HBO

After an accidental run-in with Andrew, Selina is desperate to trash talk her ex as well as open up about the only man who’s never let her down: her father. At first, the tidbits are warm memories that she remembers, such as the horse named “Chicklet” he gave or her collection of snow globes from his business trips. In fact, the two have so much fun that their discussion turns into a slumber party much to Gary’s horror.

Unfortunately, the next morning, Mike has put the information together and realized that Selina’s father may not be the stand-up guy she has made him out to be. Just like Andrew, Selina seems to ignore all the odd behavior (such as her father’s secretary “discovering” his body at two in the morning) because they offer her endless love and compliments.

Upon going to meet with her Uncle George, her eyes get opened to the truth for the first time in her life: her father was a pretty terrible man. In fact, he was the one who sold her beloved horse, “Chicklet,” and allowed her mother to take the fall and had his secretary buy all those snow globes for her as “business trip souvenirs” even though he was in the backyard the entire time.

Selina takes Mike back to her father’s barn, which had been converted into an office for his multiple affairs, where she fondly remembers hiding under his desk after his death as a coping mechanism. With her new knowledge of her true nature, she is forced to grapple with the truth: that she ruined her relationship with her mother over an idealized one with her deceased father.

Photo Credit: HBO

Of course, Selina has always been terrific at handling emotional situations in healthy ways so she begins trashing the barn. Encouraging Mike to join in, the two scream their frustrations over life while tearing the place apart. Even in its sixth season, Julia Louis-Dreyfus continues to knock it out of the park as Selina Meyer by capturing all the pain, narcissism, and anger through her tantrum.

By the end of the night, she drunkenly drives her car straight through the barn and happily pins it on Mike while proudly showing her security the pencil holder she made at camp for her dad.

Elsewhere, Catherine and Marjorie are also dealing with their “daddy problems,” or more specifically finding a father for their baby. Since Dan can no longer be a donor, the two go with the unusual choice of Richard. Again, it’s weird that they wouldn’t pick Gary since he’s already a part of the family, but Richard is a decent pick as well.

The two are ecstatic that smart, naïve, and optimistic Richard is happy to be their sperm donor although he is unsure of how to actually make the donation. It makes for a small funny joke but the best part will be the future payoff for when Selina finds out that her new assistant is going to be the father of her grandchild. With her father problems solved, Catherine once again tries to deal with the deep-rooted “mommy issues.”

Photo Credit: HBO

Played for laughs last season was Catherine falling in love with the look-alike secret service agent to Selina that hinted at a deeper problem. This episode makes it more clear considering she rolls over for both of her parents money-wise but has also sought out a therapist that is exactly like her mother. Will she ever address these problems or is Catherine destined to let her resentment grow until her relationship with her mother resembles Selina’s with “Mee-Maw”? It seems like the latter now that Selina has taken the house that Catherine was planning on raising her family in away in favor of the Meyer library.

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Amy has gotten a new job being in charge of the nonexistent library but spends most of her time in “Chicklet,” trying to find a new spot for Selina’s wax statue so people stop posing with it inappropriately. It’s a minor plot, with almost all the laughs coming from silly Instagram pictures, but it does allow for Amy to reunite with Dan for a brief chat.

The latter is still upset over the rumor that he’s sleeping with his much older co-host until he learns that she is the one spreading the rumors. It could be potentially interesting to see what he does with that information but nonetheless,

it’s a step up for both characters to finally be back in the fold.

“Chicklet,” is a great episode for Selina Meyer, because Veep continues to showcase just how much of a complex character she is. The show seems to be gaining its footing more and more every week after a shaky start to this season now that the cast seems to be regrouping.

Next week it looks like Ben and Kent will be going head-to-head with Jonah’s new girlfriend who has begun using her new beau as a political pawn for her father, Sherman Tanz. Here’s hoping the two somehow manage to pull Jonah out of this mess before he’s ousted from office for listening to the seedy Tanz.

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