Coming off of a season high episode in a season of high-mark episodes—in which Selina and co. visit Silicon Valley—Veep dials it back a notch in “Fishing.” Instead of delivering belly laugh after laugh in rapid-fire succession, “Fishing” favors key character and plot developments; the campaign in full swing and finally Selina making a decision on who her campaign manager is going to be. But her top choice means that her entire staff will probably get cut.

Simply put, “Fishing” is one of those necessary episodes that serves to move this season’s story in motion. Although it might have been light on laughs, it nevertheless offered some particularly inspired jokes and a raucous subplot that found Mike secretly jerking off in various bathrooms, carrying around a bag of his, uh, DNA, making everyone on staff pretty damn uncomfortable. But now that Selina has chosen her campaign manager, an expected-yet-unexpected candidate, let’s take a look at the power rankings:

1. Dan

It’s been teased since the first episode that Bill Erickson is the guy both Selina and Ben want to run her campaign, and she finally gets a sit-down with him. Unfortunately for Selina, the Erickson declines her offer, instead choosing to run the campaign of newly announced candidate Joe Thornhill. And then there was Dan. It’s unclear if he really was Selina’s number two choice or was just simply at the right place at the right time.

2. Joe Thornhill

And who is this Joe Thornhill guy? An ex-baseball player/coach who is playing the “average Joe” card pretty hard, it’s looking like he’ll give Selina a run for her money in a crowded candidate field that already includes George Maddox and (most likely) Danny Chung. And with Erickson as his manager, it could be that Thornhill is Selina’s greatest threat.

3. Ben

Ben’s adherent “doesn’t give a fuck” attitude is severely tested after Dan, who he’s not a fan of at all, is named Selina’s campaign manager. Still, dude just kind of shrugs it off and drinks. Ben is a role model for all.

4. Maddox

Inviting Selina to his vacation spot in Virginia to talk about the upcoming election, Maddox secretly thinks he’s poaching her to be his running mate, while she thinks the opposite. Predictably, the end result involves lots of cussing.

5. Selina Meyer

Erickson put it best when he said “you’re 30 yards ahead in the polls when you should be three miles ahead.” And after last night’s episode, she might not be ahead in the polls at all.

6. Amy

Poor Amy, she just couldn’t compete with Dan’s sucking up and being nice to everyone. Luckily she has alcohol and her “work friends” to ease the pain. Oh, and her boyfriend, Ed, who makes a hilariously sad cameo for their one year anniversary.

7. Gary

Gary’s shoulder is still killing him and still nobody cares.

8. Mike

Mike spends most of the episode carrying around a little cooler and hopping in and out of bathrooms to jerk off in a cup. He and Wendy are trying to have a kid via IVF, but it’s not going so well. To make matters worse, Gary finds out about it and, of course, blabs to Selina and pretty soon the whole office knows about “Jizzy Mike.”

9. Jonah

Coming off perhaps the lowest point in Jonah’s history on the show, Jonah now works for Maddox, as a glorified Gary (OK, Gary is far more revered in his role by Selina than Jonah is by Maddox). We find out that he only got the job because he has a powerful uncle in politics.

Quotes, Quips, and Other Observations

• Amy: “You may never meet her personally, she may never catch your eye, or ever thank you, but Selina Meyer will never forget you.”
• Are Kent and Sue dating now? Certainly seems that way, but we haven’t really seen anything about it. Here’s hoping they go into it further in the next episode.
• Dan: “You guys are the chosen ones. Not in a Jewish way, but in a ‘selected from my very short list of ten’ way.”
• Selina: “Mississippi’s chock full of assholes. I don’t trust the Chinese.”
• Mike: “All my troops are in a bag now, so all I need to do is get them to the doctor so they can make the assault on egg mountain.”
• Selina: “People like Maddox always have guns on the walls next to the animal heads. It’s like a flowchart for people who don’t know what firearms do.”
• Amy: “I was going to get a new rug anyway…” Ben: “I can take a dump on it for a clincher.”
• Gary: “LET’S THROW CUM! LET’S THROW CUM!”
• Selina: “I’d rather be shot in the fuckin’ face than service as Vice President again. In the fuckin’ face!”