Cuz all you wanna do is ride around Sally… causing trouble and sinning against the good Lord. Oh Sally “Lord’s disciple” Langston. I like her. She is a perfect feather ruffler and just the kind of character you want in this type of political drama, beating on the celestial drums with one hand and knifing the life out of her husband with the other hand. Perfect.
Scandal has returned!! SCANDAL HAS RETURNED!!! After TEN WHOLE WEEKS that felt like ten years we finally, FINALLY, have a cause to celebrate…
I liked this episode just enough, I didn’t love it as I wanted to because it felt like after all that time we haven’t moved forward much. It was slow to develop and didn’t make my heart stop. It felt like we were talking about the same things- Olivia and Fitz foolishness, Mellie and Cy scheming, Adnan Salif’s return, Abby and David doing whatever Abby and David do and Sally causing a raucous, oh and there Quinn as annoying as ever. Can we just kill her now. Really, can we?
Mellie is troubled by the fact that Sally is going to run against Ftiz for the Presidency and naturally the first person she turns to, is Cyrus her partner in crime. These two make a very good couple; they hate each other but cannot do without each other. They are the ying and yang of the dark side, they complete each other and without the other they are not as powerful. Cyrus has an edge over Mellie but in essence he needs her to yank the necessary chain. I am not quite bored of these two yet…but if this is all there is to their dynamic then we are running the risk of a stalemate. They need something to jolt them, scatter them and force them to re-strategise because their scheming ways is almost so high school.
Mellie has emerged as one of the very necessary characters in this show, we used to tune in because of Fitz and Liv but now we tune in wondering just what the hell Mellie has up her sleeves. She is cold, conniving and a woman driven to the brink because of her simpleton of a husband. She plays that sinister character so well its a joy to witness. The scene of her girly lunch where she tries to bring Liv to heel with her list of suitors so Liv can get her shit together, her mind right and in the game to get Fitz across the finish line; finish his term and be re-elected, because what she is, Liv, is a distraction, was pure ace.
Papa Pope is an angry man, served with his P45 and not even a thank you for all your handwork, by Fitz, he is out for blood, literally. Fitz’s. “Run. Olivia, Run” he tells his daughter whose head is still in the clouds, dreaming about Vermont. If all goes well, Fitz will not see the end of his term, let alone be re-elected…Rowan Pope is another character that adds great dimension to the programme; no one knows just how dangerous he is and worse the extent he is willing to go to get what he wants. But for Liv he would have blown up the White House by now. The things he knows, has seen and the secrets he’d had to keep…now that Fitz has thrown a hissy fit and put him out of a job, time he has on his hands is time to plot and the last thing you want to make of a man like Rowan Pope is an enemy. Liv has been Fitz’s saving grace, whilst he was head of command he saw fit to let sleeping dogs lie but now, there is hell to pay and he is going to collect. Fitz has it coming, a long time coming.
Olivia has allowed herself to be used like a punching bag all in the name of being a patriot, “you’re so busy being a patriot you forget to be a person” sums up everything about her since getting with Fitz. She is weak, a shadow of the woman we fell in love with in the beginning. She has allowed herself to be reduced to this high school girl with a crush… and she is still hankering after Vermont. WITH ANOTHER WOMAN’S HUSBAND!! FOR SHAME OLIVIA. FOR ALL THE SHAME. And Fitz, I don’t even know where to begin, I don’t even think I want to begin because nothing I have to say about him is pleasant. He is the worst character in this programme, not only is he terribly deceptive and childish, throwing a tantrum and drinking himself to stupor because he cannot get his way but he seems to use that as an excuse to mistreat Olivia and she falls for it. He is only making a mockery of her. How can the most powerful man on the planet need his mistress to stay in office…I can’t even begin to understand that shit. The more we see them together, the more we root for Mellie to destroy the both of them… okay maybe not Liv but she needs to yank the carpet from beneath their feet and set them into free fall, scrambling for a safety net. She needs to take that excellent shot.
James- Publius…really though? Publius? Of all the pseudonyms available, that’s the best he can do? But name regardless, James is up to causing a mess and he is bent on taking Cyrus down and once again he is in cahoots with David “the law” Rosen. He is getting in the cross hairs of the Gladiators and Charlie, Cyrus’s dog for hire, and his side kick Quinn, by chasing down the same story. James’ character is something of a catch 22 for me; sometimes I like him and other times I could do without the whiny person he can be. But I like that he is flashing his balls and trying to add something more to his character. I do feel like this is repetitious storyline because we have seen him in this situation with David before but, who knows? He might actually go through with it this time.
Other things in this episode- Adnan Salif finally makes her grand entrance and its a good one for Harrison because he gets sexy time with all the strings attached and now we want to know just what Salif has on him. What doesn’t Liv know about the man she helped get out of prison? And then there’s Governor Nichols, Fitz’s running mate, with his own secrets- he’s not married, doesn’t have a girlfriend and there’s something about him and Mellie… Oh. Oh.
All in one this was a good episode…we have yet to get to the meat on the bones. It feels like a game of chess, very slow and calculated but certain characters just either need to be killed or given a new dimension. It cannot be centred around Liv and Fitz because they are static, they have lost their depth and in that way the love of the audience. I don’t even want to see them together, they are better apart. The gladiators need to be brought back in the fold a lot more because they give us that element of drama and their personal demons need to be a big part in this too. Revolving around Fitz and Liv is just not it.