Veep Recap: “Judge”

Veep has always had a large ensemble cast, and it has worked for the series because the group was usually always together in the same storyline.

This season of Veep has been so disconnected, and “Judge” really highlights those flaws. While Selina’s focusing on figuring out her library and her love life, every other character also has their own storyline. Whether it’s Catherine’s and Marjorie’s romantic trouble, Dan trying to save his job, Amy’s misadventures with Mike, or Jonah being obstinate about daylights savings time, “Judge,” just has too many stories to juggle. While “Judge,” isn’t necessarily a bad episode, it definitely suffers from its lack of focus despite plenty of great ideas.

Back in “Justice,” Veep delivered the joke that Gary would be celebrating his birthday in Alabama and hoped that Selina would come. Under the judgmental eyes of a nurse and her desperate employee, she was forced to agree despite clearly not wanting to. It would have been easy for the show to skate over this moment and never mention it again, but Veep instead chooses to give us a Gary-centric episode with the entire gang headed to his home town for his party in “Judge”.

Image Credit: HBO

Arriving at Gary’s friendly southern home is expectedly terrible for team Meyer, who prefer the fast-paced cutting energy of Washington D.C. Selina doesn’t like how quaint the house is or Gary’s father’s candor about how he didn’t vote for her but genuinely liked Tom James. It doesn’t make it any better that her ex-lover, Jaffar, is adamant about getting a meeting with her again just as her library donors are pressuring to make progress or they’ll pull out of the deal.

Of course, Richard tells Jaffar to come on down to Alabama, which he does despite Selina demanding Amy to tell him no. His arrival could not be better though since his friend in the south just-so-happens to be a wealthy man who has donated money to libraries before making the perfect addition to Selina’s money troubles.

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Unfortunately, he finds Selina to be too much of a “city-girl” to get behind her so she takes Gary’s party as an opportunity to prove him wrong. It doesn’t matter that Gary was excited for his tastefully designed birthday, complete with a gorgeous set of crystal glasses, Selina decides to overrun it with a full on hoe-down complete with plenty of confederate flags. The decor makes his actual friends uncomfortable enough that they choose to leave and poor Gary is left celebrating at his party alone because Selina is too busy trying to earn donations.

All of his pent-up anger comes out on his father, who happens to be an abusive bully, who has done nothing but push him around his entire life. It’s a nice scene for Gary, as well as lets Tony Hale show off his acting chops but it also allows the audience to see why he’s stuck around with Selina for as long as he has.

While the party chaos ensues in “Judge,” Amy and Mike are stuck in a pretty minor side-plot because the latter lost his White House diary. For much of the season, Amy has expressed her discontent with not being able to do anything while working for Selina, and this episode is no different.

She’s fed up with being sent to do menial tasks and being shipped off to a B-story with Mike is just another slight to the over-qualified former Chief of Staff. It would come as no surprise if, by the end of the season, Amy chooses to leave team Meyer in favor of joining a more ambitious politician. Or maybe now that Jonah has an opening on his team, she’ll be jumping ship over to his camp.

Speaking of Jonah, he’s only gotten more stubborn in “Judge”. As per usual, he’s ignoring both Ben and Kent in favor of Sherman Tanz as well as his own desire to get Daylights Saving Time abolished. After getting a meeting with the President where he gets everything that Tanz wants in exchange for getting the government back up and running, Jonah chooses to ignore the deal because she still won’t get rid of Daylights Saving Time.

Ben gets fired when he calls Jonah out on his idiocy but it doesn’t matter because Congressman Ryan won’t listen to reason. On a lighter note, he does force Dan to take him out partying in exchange for an interview request. Unfortunately, Jonah does the interview but with the newly returned, Jane McCabe who seems thirsty for vengeance against Dan.

Image Credit: HBO

The episode ends with a few revelations that are sure to shake up the cast for the rest of the season. Now that the Jeffersons have turned against Jonah, he will need to fight incredibly hard to not only keep his power but to also keep his fiancée by his side. With the return of Jane McCabe, Dan’s job is also at risk unless he swallows his pride and actually starts sleeping with his cohost. Meanwhile, the fact that Mike accidentally swiped Leon West’s diary will most likely be either the best or worst mix-up of his life depending on what’s inside.

Hopefully, Veep manages to reunite the cast before the end of the season because it’s less entertaining having everyone separated. With such a talented ensemble, it seems like such a waste to not have everyone together, spewing hate like the good old days.

Sound off in the comments about your thoughts on “Judge” and what you hope to see next week!