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Veep Recap: “Qatar”

By Kelly Shanaphy

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How the mighty have fallen! Selina once again tries to get her foreign reputation back on track in, “Qatar”.

Unfortunately, things crash and burn for her again in a welcome surprise after she escaped consequence-free in her previous trip overseas. More than half-way through the season, it’s hard to tell if Selina and her scrappy team will make it to the finish line victorious or if this year will be a slow-burn while they fall to even greater lows.

After suffering the massive blow over losing the Tibet-China deal to her rival, President Montez, Selina gets an opportunity to get the credit she feels she deserves. While she needs to skirt her way around photos with many unsavory characters, she finally gains the attention of Jafar, the negotiator/businessman that she had dealings with last season. Excited that she finally has a chance to change the public perception of her, Selina quickly dives into the plans Jafar makes while ignoring her team.

While she may have gotten sidelined at the beginning of the season, Amy returns to her typical triumphant self in, “Qatar,” where she easily finds Selina a women’s rights activist in Sudan for a photo op. She not only gets her the meeting, Amy also books her as a key speaker at a human’s right event, which unfortunately Selina manages to tank on her own accord. With a speech that doesn’t satisfy the activists or the businessmen she hoped to do business with, she finds herself humiliated along with dumped by Jafar.

Veep may not be mirroring the current political administration, but addressing the deep prejudice in recent years between Muslims and Western civilization does make the show relevant to the events that have happened recently. It’s nice to see that the show can still deliver a biting commentary on our current world without having to parody everything happening in politics.

Photo Credit: HBO

Meanwhile, Dan finally manages to get Jane fired from CBS after he off-handedly complains to his producer about her sexual harassment. It may be hard for viewers to take Dan seriously considering the amount of awful behavior he’s shown in the past, it’s true that Jane has been acting inappropriately towards him. Unfortunately for her, a well-timed outburst at an HR worker seals her fate and sends her to the CBS streaming platform. Dan is absolutely giddy at having his own solo show but this is undoubtedly going to come back around by the end of the season with some major consequences.

Jonah also hits some few big strides in both his personal and professional life in, “Qatar”. His relationship with Shawnee Tanz has flourished to their recent engagement which opens many doors for him. For starters, Congressman Furlough is back and Jonah scores an invite to an exclusive dinner party that is usually only reserved for married couples.

With Shawnee by his side, she manages to threaten Furlough to get Jonah a better office as well as impress “Bent” or Ben and Kent. Jonah is so head-over-heels happy in, “Qatar,” that it’s only a matter of time before he comes crashing down. The day will come soon when he doesn’t just roll over for Shawnee and hopefully, it comes before their married or he’ll be looking at a pretty pricey divorce.

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He isn’t the only one whose personal life is moving in the right direction! Catherine reveals to her mother at the beginning of, “Qatar,” that she’s pregnant alongside an ecstatic Marjorie. True-to-form Selina is so busy focusing on her own situation that she doesn’t even realize what Catherine has said before ordering Gary to simply hang up on her.

It isn’t until the end of the episode when Richard off-handedly mentions her upcoming grandchild does Selina finally get a dose of reality. His question on what she likes to be called, specifically if it should be “Mee-Maw,” brings the pain for Selina as she finally has to grapple with the thought she could become her mother.

All-in-all, “Qatar,” is a decent episode of Veep where it establishes the shifting dynamic for everyone in the cast while Selina stays the same. Dan and Jonah have found success at work, while Mike and Catherine have found happiness in their home lives. Everyone else has continued to find work and even when Selina is gone will always be able to find jobs in Washington. Meanwhile, in its sixth season, Veep is finally tackling the future and that Selina’s time as a public figure can’t last forever.

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