Via HBO.

Sorry, Game of Thrones, but the most cringe-worthy butchery was on Veep last night, in the form of a terribly awkward Presidential debate. Like the rest of the country, Veep took a holiday for Memorial Day last weekend, but the lull didn’t cause the show to phone it in this week. On the contrary, last night’s “Debate,” was perhaps the strongest of the season, with razor-sharp writing and some of the best character moments of the series.

After Dan had a nervous breakdown and was fired as campaign manager in the last episode, he makes a memorable return, fully bearded and in a Zen-like state. Meanwhile, Amy has taken over as campaign manager, and seems to be handling the job with a level head. Speaking of heads, Selina gets a terrible new haircut that Gary and Mike have to figure out how to deal with. This all happens as Selena and co. gear up for their first Presidential debate against Maddox, Danny Chung, Joe Thornhill, and the first we’ve heard of Owen Pierce, a horribly nervous Senator who apparently has no business running for President.

While this week’s episode arc mostly focused on the preparation for, and the actual debate, each character had their own little subplots that gave them shining moments. Let’s take a look at the power rankings:

1. Joe Thornhill

The former baseball coach who really has no knowledge or experience in American politics wins the debate because America. This dude’s opening remarks (“I want to coach you America and take our country to the pennant.”) were some of the most hilarious, spot-on satire of politicians spewing bullshit rhetoric. And the fact that the polls ate it up was too perfect. I hope the writers can find a way to keep Joe around for a while.

2. Selina

Selina comes in second place in the poll, thus earning the number two spot in the power rankings. Her sudden twitchiness proves successful in that it distracts Maddox when he’s asked to address a question from the audience and embarrasses the shit out of himself. Despite her butchering the last of the three “R’s” (renew! It’s “renew,” Selina!), she still manages to come out on top.

3. Amy

This episode really cements that Amy was the perfect campaign manager all along. She remains cool, collected, and her one-liners are as sharp as ever. Take note, Dan.

4. Dan

Despite everything that went south for Dan last episode, he seems to be in a better place. He rolls into the campaign office bearded and zen-like, being nice to everyone. Seems as though three weeks in therapy/counseling has done him a lot of good. Is this a new Dan we’re seeing? Well, as his final words to Jonads indicate (“go fuck yourself, Jack and the Giant Freakstalk), no, the same old Dan is not gone forever.

5. Mike

I’m surprised it took so long for the inevitable conflict-of-interest dilemma between Mike and his new wife Wendy, a reporter, to come up. She needs a scoop and he won’t give her anything about FLOTUS’s attempted suicide or Ray’s relationship to Selina, putting them in a precarious position. Could we be seeing the dissolution of Mike’s marriage in its infancy?

6. Gary

Ah, poor Gary. Gary only wants to help but he just makes everything worse. After encouraging Selina to get the new short ‘do, he catches an earful from Mike, and then spends the rest of the episode fretting over how the media will react to her new look. In the end, no one really cares. Poor, Gary.

7. Maddox, Danny Chung, and Owen Pierce

They all sucks in the debate in various ways. Though I think Owen was the worst, with his lame “plug” joke and just being a nervous wreck the whole time.

Via HBO.

Quotes, Quips, and Other Observations

• I love how Amy tried to replace Dan with an “uglier, dumber” version of him. I also loved how much shit he caught from everyone.
• Selina: “Can’t we just give Pierce a dollar and send him off to the movies?”
• I kept predicting that the relationship between Kent and Sue would come front and center in an episode eventually, but I really like how the writers are playing it. Each episode we only get hints as to what’s going with them. Last night, it seemed like they were in some sort of fight, with Sue dropping a major diss about Kent’s mom.
• So many of Pierce’s lines were so awkward and great (“oh, my parents didn’t let me play sports growing up”), but I think the best part is the minor details to his character, like the massive stack of notes he has compared everyone else’s single pad of paper.
• Mike: “Of course I don’t like the new haircut! It’s the worst use of scissors since my failed vasectomy.”