Veep Season 5, Episode 3 Recap: The Eagle Has Gone Insane

Last week, we had our suspicions about the usefulness of Bob Bradley (Martin Mull), the veteran adviser Selina recruited to help her in Nevada. Turns out, not only is Bob useless, he's a liability. The man known as "The Eagle" has not only lost his mojo, he's lost his marbles. It just takes Selina a little while to figure that out. Selina's obliviousness gets the better of her in multiple ways this episode. She's been going on dates with Charlie Baird, and, surprisingly, the public loves their coupling. Selina's smitten, which leads her to do something a president should never be allowed to do: She tweets. Meaning to DM Charlie, she accidentally broadcasts a rude joke about her political rival, O'Brien, to the world. Yeah, she pulls an Anthony Weiner. This plotline seems a little far-fetched — even for Veep. Why does Selina have the password to her account? Why doesn't she just text Charlie? When Mike sees that Selina is tweeting, he goes into panic mode and tries to interrupt her briefing with the CIA. (Yes, she was tweeting when she should have been worrying about national security.) Her new secret service agent, Marjorie (Clea DuVall), won't let Mike in, so he starts waving his arms like a madman in front of the security cameras. After everyone discovers how bad this is, Ben comes up with a not-so-brilliant ruse to absolve Selina of responsibility for the tweet. China hacked her. So, while the president is blaming China for the fact that she didn't actually listen to Gary when he taught her how to use Twitter, chaos is also unfolding in Nevada, where the recount is underway. Kent discovered that a bunch of ballots are missing, which could be good news for the Meyer campaign. But there are a couple of problems: Kent doesn't know where these ballots are located and the recount certification is happening imminently, leaving him very little time to find them. Amy thinks they need to file a legal injunction to delay certification. Bob disagrees. He suggests that a meeting with Whitman, O'Brien's adviser, will do the trick. Selina, much to Amy's perturbation, decides to send Richard along as Bob's number two. Amy's frustration with Bob starts to look very justified when she finds him rummaging through a supply closet in campaign headquarters late one night. That same evening, Selina calls Bob, asking for advice about what to do about the whole China fracas, which has backfired spectacularly. O'Brien is now targeting Selina's security policies, so she wants to strike in order prove she's not a weak leader. Bob, munching on a bunch of random pills, encourages her to go for it. The next day, she imposes sanctions on the country, not realizing she just has been counseled by a man who takes birth control for the hell of it. Amy tries to warn Selina about Bob, but Selina thinks Amy is just bitter and ignores her. And then the meeting with Whitman happens. Bob starts on his usual spree of aphorism, but Whitman is having none of his vague crap. Bob panics and strands Richard and Dan. From an undisclosed hiding place, Bob makes a video call to Selina, who is on her way to a benefit where she's supposed to meet Charlie. The conversation starts out innocently enough, but then Bob's loose screws start to show. "Is there someone in here?" he asks the camera. He calls Selina "Mr. President." When she corrects him, he replies, "A lady president? Yeah, maybe in the year 2000." Yikes, Bob. Everyone else is catching on to the Bob catastrophe, as well. Jonah reveals that one of the Nevada journalists Bob wanted him to contact is dead and the other is a madam at a brothel. Dan is also well aware of the issue. Still in the meeting, he spies Bob through a window. Bob gets in a cab and drives off. Dan attempts to follow him, leaving the meeting in the hands of the always-dopey Richard. Richard asks Whitman for a picture for his blog. (His blog is real. It is excellent.) Whitman is done with this bizarre affair and heads out. As Whitman is going, it seems like Richard gives away the entire Meyer objective — the attempt to find the missing ballots. Only this time, Richard didn't mess up. In response, Whitman reveals the piece of information the Meyer team was missing: where those ballots are. They still need to extend the deadline, however. To solve this problem, Selina recruits Karen (Lennon Parham), her terribly annoying friend who sent Amy over the edge last season. Karen's manner in court is no less aggravating, but it works. She spouts nonsense at the judge, questioning the definition of the word "vote." By the time she has confounded everyone, the 10,000 ballots have been found and the deadline is extended to allow for a hearing on the matter. Meanwhile, the search for Bob is ongoing. It's imperative that Selina gets to him before he accidentally spills about the China lie. He eventually just shows up at the White House, inquiring about soup. (Yeah, it's gotten that bad.) Ben takes him to his new office. It's located in a basement, with no cell reception. In good news for no one, but especially not for Mike, China hits back over Selina's sanctions. One of their new restrictions? No American adoptions of Chinese children. Mike and his wife, Wendy, were planning to adopt. Poor, poor Mike. Best Richard Splett Moment: Richard, after comparing the tense Whitman meeting to Heat, obliviously asks a stressed out Amy, "What are your top five favorite De Niro movies? And you can't say Meet The Parents, because that's automatically number one." Best Mike McClintock Fact: He alway loses his driver's license. Best Burn: Amy finds out that Dan had sex with her sister, but then realizes he confused CVS for CBS. “You sold your dick for bulk iced tea and off-brand cough syrup," she tells him. Best Burn #2: "I had sex with your sister." — Dan to Amy. It really can't be beat. Sweetest Moment: Charlie Baird is the only person who seems to listen or care about Gary. When Selina is dealing with Bob from her limo, Charlie invites Gary to sit in her seat at the benefit.