Warning: Reviews of The Regime will contain spoilers.

It’s been five years since Veep went off the air, and we’ve been starved for great political satire entertainment. Part of this is because real-life global politics have simply been too bizarre to spoof with subtlety. Now comes HBO/Max’s newest limited series The Regime, which marries a heightened comedy and a sharp political insight with uniquely rendered characters. In this episode 1, “Victory Day”, not all of its elements work perfectly, but it sets the groundwork for a great deal of entertainment.

Elena Vernham (Kate Winslet) is the Chancellor of a purposefully unnamed country in “Central Europe”, whose ruthlessness is easily matched by her paranoia. Winslet alone makes The Regime worth watching, fully embodying the pressures put upon her by the office. Of course, she’s an unlikeable character, but you won’t be able to take your eyes off her as she alienates everyone because of her numerous insecurities. Oh yea, and she has a silly accent to boot.

At the top of that list is her lingering hypochondria, which introduces Herbert Zubak (Matthias Schoenaerts), a disgraced soldier who she tasks with following her around to inspect the humidity in the air everywhere she goes. Herbert and Elena’s relationship has the potential for a fun dynamic, and it gets off to a good start in episode 1. The bulk of the drama in “Victory Day” comes as Elena’s nation is considering making a deal with America to provide them with a portion of the country’s cobalt exports.

The episode’s centerpiece scene comes during a celebratory banquet, which kicks off with Elena and her husband (Guillame Gallienne) duetting a number in front of foreign and domestic dignitaries. It’s peak cringe comedy, but it almost feels as if episode writer and show creator Will Tracy is just trying to heighten the comedy for the sake of doing so. This isn’t necessarily a problem, but if the show is really trying to sell its satire, it needs to be grounded in some sort of recognizable reality. Much more effective is, in the same scene, when Elena is negotiating with the American diplomat, and we learn not only the hilariously surreal backstory of her marriage, but see the inner workings of her strategic mind.

If anything has me excited for the remainder of the show, besides Schoenaerts and Winslet, it’s in its commentary on how world relations are often the product of toxic personalities and how they can influence one another. Herbert’s worldview, while less well defined so far, feels like the personality type that dictators are often drawn to. And while Elena is obviously a heightened caricature, it doesn’t feel too far off from certain infamous world leaders of past and present. Tracy has written for Succession and Last Week Tonight, and was the co-writer of The Menu, so he certainly has the credentials to do biting political commentary and silly comedy. So while episode 1 didn’t necessarily wow me from beginning to end, I’m giving The Regime the benefit of the doubt, based on the overwhelming degree of talent involved.