Are you okay?
Kind of. In a way and also not. In a third way, both.
What are you talking about? What is? Are we at war?
Ma’am, we’re America, we’re always at war.
You guys. Oh, man, you guys. This is an episode that deserves to stand next to the great television episodes of all time. It is as brilliant an episode as the show has put out, I think. Special mention must go to Nicholas Wyman who does a hilarious guest turn as a pretentious columnist. After a couple of softball questions, he suddenly breaks into stentorian tones to ask Selina why a good God allows suffering. There’s also a scene here that is Louis-Dreyfus’ finest dramatic moment in the series at this point, in which she is forced to come to terms with the fact that she’s going to lose the nomination battle. It’s genuinely gripping and, in the space of less than a minute, I felt as much empathy for Selina as I ever have and, as she then, after her moment of painful grief, explodes into rage at her staff, then loathed her about as much as I ever have. And from the best dramatic moment of the series yet, the show transitions beautifully to a hilarious climax that is, I genuinely think, the funniest scene in the first three seasons of the show. It’s a scene of Selina sharing some momentous news with Gary in a bathroom and if you’ve seen it, you’re already starting to laugh. It’s a scene of pure jaw-droppingly amazing comedy. I went back and watched that scene like three extra times or something and laughedand laughed every time. Both Louis-Dreyfus and Hale are at the top of their game and their chemistry, always very good, has never been better. My God, what an episode of television. Twenty-six minutes of non-stop brilliance and quite possibly the best episode of the first three seasons. 4 stars.
tl;dr – jaw-droppingly great episode has plot twists galore, great guest appearances and both the best dramatic scene of the series and the funniest scene of the series so far. 4 stars.