HBO’s successful political comedy Veep returns for a third season via this set. A series about the life of Vice President Selina Meyer, the Blu-ray includes all of Season Three’s 10 episodes across two discs. The plot synopses come straight from the Blu-ray menus.

Some New Beginnings: “Selina (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) courts caucus voters in Iowa amidst rumors that could affect the next election in Washington.” Season Three starts well, as “Beginnings” manages a good mix of plot elements and comedy. Seeing Selina adrift without her team amuses, and the intrigue related to her presidential candidacy makes the show move well.

The Choice: “Selina is forced to re-examine her stance on a major issue; Gary (Tony Hale) questions his role; Jonah (Timothy Simons) starts a blog.” I know we’re only two episodes in, but so far S3 is humming. “Choice” moves along the story and packs a boatload of laughs to become one of the better episodes I’ve seen.

Alicia: “Selina prepares to announce her candidacy; Dan (Reid Scott) gets word of a not-so-flattering SNL sketch.” The involvement of the episode’s title character (Tracie Thoms) creates some drag here. We see too much of the show from Alicia’s eyes, and this adds a mild dramatic tinge that doesn’t suit the series. “Alicia” still amuses, but it doesn’t work as well as I’d like.

Clovis: “Selina has a memorable fundraising trip to Silicon Valley; Jonah makes a viral video; Dan starts a rumor about Chung (Randall Park).” While not as stellar as the first couple of episodes, “Clovis” manages to bounce back after “Alicia”. I like the spoofery in Silicon Valley, and Jonah’s side of the program amuses. A few draggy parts emerge, but the show mostly fares well.

Fishing: “Selina has a secret meeting with an outside strategist and is invited to General Maddox’s (Isiah Whitlock Jr.) country house.” This show brings us a pretty good mix of narrative intrigue and comedy. While not the most laugh-packed program, it has more than enough to sustain us along with some story movement.

Detroit: “Selina’s staff and family are peeved by the presence of a personal trainer at a Detroit economic summit.” As the campaign heats up, S3 percolates a bit more as well. Like “Fishing”, this melds laughs with character/narrative elements in a satisfying way – and it’s nice to see Selina’s daughter Catherine (Sarah Sutherland) have something to do for once.

Special Relationship: “In the UK, the staff worries about Ray’s (Christopher Meloni) influence over Selina, and Dan’s nerves begin to fray as Ben (Kevin Dunn) gets news that sends him back to DC.” I like the change of scenery to England, and the Ray character adds more life. This develops into a solid episode with a bunch of interesting developments.

Debate: “Selina preps for a debate with her primary opponents; Mike’s (Dan Walsh) wife (Kathy Najimy) does a style piece on the Veep.” As the campaign heats up, the series percolates well. A few clunkers emerge – mostly via not-so-clever comments about other candidates – but “Debate” manages to succeed most of the time.

Crate: “Selina’s staff devises a way to make her more ‘folksy’; Jonah tries to find a new job.” With just one episode left in the year, S3 throws out a major plot twist, but that’s not its best element. Nothing tops the sight of Jonah at home with his mom in all his pathetic glory, so those scenes delight the most. The rest of the show delivers mirth and movement in a satisfying manner as well.

New Hampshire: “Selina and staff juggle her schedule in the days leading up to the New Hampshire primary.” Events of the last few episodes come to a head here – sort of. “New Hampshire” leaves us with a bit of a cliffhanger for Season Four, but it gives us some good progress nonetheless. The show finishes S3 on a pretty positive note.

Veep appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.78:1 on these Blu-ray Discs. As was the case in the past, the episodes offered solid visuals.

Sharpness seemed positive. A smidgen of softness might’ve crept into a handful of shots, but the majority of the series seemed accurate and well-defined. I saw no shimmering or jagged edges, and edge haloes remained absent. No print flaws marred the image either.

Colors tended toward a subdued feel, with a bit of an amber tint to the proceedings. Within those parameters, the hues seemed well-developed and concise. Blacks looked dark and firm, and low-light shots gave us smooth, clear visuals. This offered a satisfying presentation.

Also similar to what we got with prior seasons, this year’s DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio didn’t excel but it worked fine. A chatty series, the soundscape lacked a lot of scope, so effects failed to do a lot. Street and crowd scenes offered a bit of life, and music showed reasonable spread, but nothing here stood out as memorable in a sonic sense.

Audio quality seemed good. Speech was an important factor, and the lines appeared distinctive and natural. Music was full and lush, while effects came across as accurate and tight. I was fine with the low-key audio on display.

We get four audio commentaries here. Here’s the list:

“Special Relationship”: executive producer Chris Godsick, producer/actor Julia Louis-Dreyfus, director Chris Addison and actors Anna Chlumsky and Tony Hale;

“Debate”: Louis-Dreyfus and actors Kevin Dunn, Gary Cole and Matt Walsh;

“Crate”: Louis-Dreyfus, Addison, Hale, Walsh and executive producer Frank Rich;

“New Hampshire”: Louis-Dreyfus, Dunn, and actors Reid Scott, Tim Simons and Sufe Bradshaw.

Across the various tracks, we learn about story/character elements, cast and performances, sets and locations, and some different series components. If you heard the tracks for prior seasons, you’ll know what to expect here.

That means listenable but not especially informative chats. We get a smattering of useful notes, and the conversations remain reasonably engaging. However, we find a lot of laughter and happy talk, so don’t anticipate a bunch of good details about the series.

48 Deleted Scenes fill a total of 18 minutes, 17 seconds. These come for every show except Episode 10. With an average length of about 23 seconds per scene, one shouldn’t expect a lot from them in terms of plot/character developments.

Instead, we find a slew of extra quips. These tend to be funny and they’re good to see, but they don’t give us anything of substance.

Finally, Governor’s Visit brings us a two-minute, 56-second clip. It shows former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley’s stop at the Veep set. It feels more an a promo for future O’Malley campaigns as well as the use of Maryland for TV/movie productions than anything else.

Possibly the series’ best year, Season Three of Veep offers a quality collection of shows. It moves along the overall narrative and provokes a bunch of laughs. The Blu-ray boasts solid visuals as well as acceptable audio and a handful of supplements. Fans will continue to enjoy the series in its third season