Okay, so I had dinner with some dear friends, and got home just in time to sit down in front of the television. I barely went upstairs to kiss my sleeping kid good night. I need an intervention.
Our show opens with Huck in full-on batsh!t crazy mode. He's longingly gazing at his torture tools. Quinn is tied up on the floor, on plastic, and her eyes are transmitting the terror she cannot vocalize, because she also has duct tape on her mouth. He tells her that he's so sorry he has to do this to someone he loves, and worse, he's sorry he will enjoy this as much as he will. He calls it the friends and family discount. Now, honestly, I thought that Huck was teaching her a lesson about all of this B6-13'ing going on, but when he props her mouth open with a dental shield, I have to stop watching. Quinn's teeth are literally saved (for now) by the bell. A very freaked out Liv is calling to tell Huck her mother is alive. She has no idea what to do, but Huck does. He instructs her take the battery out of her phone, and to leave, knowing full well if she's alive, B6-13 is coming for her. You think Quinn is safe, because Huck says he's on his way, but Huck decides Liv can keep for one tooth, saying to Quinn - "what is it the kids say? YOLO!" And BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! You may only live once, but according to Dr. Seuss' The Tooth Book, once you get that second set of teeth? That's it.
And...opening credits...
Leo, the adorable *other* campaign manager is managing the VEEP's break from the Grant Presidency. He tells her he quite frankly doesn't give a damn about her beliefs, no Oval Office for her if she doesn't stop with this Anti-Choice nonsense. And she gets it. She wants the white house more than she thinks. This may be foreshadowing just how much like Fitz she is.
And speaking of Sally's issues with lifestyles, the next scene is Cyrus not being able to sleep for the mental images of his precious James butterball naked with the VP's husband. James says he can't sleep because he's wired from his interview with Daniel Douglas, and that he got him to go "deep". And ha. And Cyrus, James deserves this pound of flesh! There are so many shades of gray on this show, but Cy's treatment of James is wrong on every level.
Olivia, still freaked out, is sitting in a corner, rocking like Huck did in 752. And Girl? Right? Your dad is head spy and your mother has just materialized from the grave. And there's no wine in sight. Harrison and Abbey are just DONE. Abbey calls Jake and Huck out on being all Spy Bro and says they can't produce "Dead Mama Pope" and expect them to fall in line. Abby ain't having it, and basically asks Mama Pope, daf*q you been all these years, girl? Mama Pope says she found out Eli was Command and decided she was going to London to turn him in, but he found out about her plans and put her in jail for 22 years. When Ja-Huck realizes she escaped from Command, they go SpyBro again and realize she has a tracking device. And so they give her a towel on which to bite and cut it out. And I'm just putting it out here, since Khandi Alexander (Dead Mama Pope, DMP) came on the scene, Scandal has just been a bloody, gory, mess. And gosh.
Huck was 100% right - B613 is tracking her, and they track the device to the safe house, but they've already left (of course they have. Spy Bro - 1; B6-13 - 0). Eli is putting an APB out on them, tapping into the traffic cams with face recognition (is this a real thing?). The best part about having ex-B6-13 folk on your team is that JaHuck are ahead of the game, handing out burner phones and fogging windows to help with facial recognition. Olivia asks where Quinn is, and Huck says she's doing what she needs to do (which is probably a saline rinse), and offers to go check on her. Olivia can't part with Huck, so Huck needs to wait - but Quinn has a tooth OUTSIDE her body to remind her of what's coming. Harrison and Abby are back at their ransacked office, wondering how Olivia hasn't just broke down when Harrison's contact comes in, flirts a little, and tells Harrison Adnan Salif says hello. There's that name again, and likely the focus of the second half of the season.
If you read my recaps, you know I watch the episode a couple of times before I recap, which allows me to catch some things I don't catch the first viewing because I'm gasping for air. DMP is too comfortable with the man who cut her skin to remove a tracking device. She's too comfortable with a man who KNOWS THERE'S A TRACKING DEVICE. She (DMP) and Liv bond a bit - the momma knows her daughter, and calls her on the complete lack of laughter in her life. She appreciates her access to all the power, but feels like she's become her father. Obviously, Olivia takes total umbrage at this assumption. Ja-Huck doesn't want her to run and hide, as its shrinking Olivia, who is already not as sharp. Huck says they will need help, and Jake knows where he can get that level of help.
Of course he does - the White House has a revolving door here lately! [Editorial nitpick here: I asked my friend Tamara if Jake would be allowed to don his dress blues without shaving. She replied, quick as a flash, no. Not ever, but certainly not for a meeting at the oval. Somehow, I knew this. And while I get time is of the essence, why would Jake draw attention to himself by looking like that in his uniform? Oh, and Jake with a 5:00 shadow. YUM. I didn't say I didn't like it. I just said it rang a tiny bit false.]
Anyhoo - Jake wants Rowan/Eli gone. Fitz can't kill Olivia's father, but Jake says he can. Because he should finally have his back, that because of his "political destiny" that landed Jake a slave to B6-13. Jake dismisses Fitz as a useless FlyBoy, which pisses him off. He warns Jake that he just wants to be, not just any hero, but HER hero, and that Liv doesn't need another hero. My lyrical tourettes kicked in and I started singing Tina Turner, but not before Jake tells Fitz he's selfish and how nice it must be for him to have other people doing his dirty work. And of COURSE it is. You don't get to be president without side stepping a few land mines. Stop being a sore loser, Jake, and go find that builder in Vermont.
Meanwhile, back at the white house, Mellie wonders what's up with Daniel Douglas. Cyrus says he's holding, and Mellie's all...now's not the time to hold. Fix it. Because the Vice President is actively planning her defection from the Grant Party and she likes the idea of being her first lady president. She's sharing some scripture with her husband, who sees James in he hallway and has a FIT. He makes him promise he won't tell what happened. He wants a quick look at the article, because he's afraid James has written about he. He then loses his sh!t just a bit, swearing that had never happened before, and that "gay people think everybody is gay". To which James responds..."no, we think gay people are gay". And. Word. Daniel goes on to call his particular situation a sickness, and that he's a faithful man who's attracted to his wife despite his "despicable temptation". It's a really pathetic scene, to think a grown man can think so little of himself and live an ENTIRE life with so much self-hate. James gets it, and if he didn't hate Cyrus before for what he did, he surely does now. Up until now, I think James has been using this for a little get-back at Cyrus (even says that "Danny" is coming over to their house to finish the interview, and reminds Cyrus he won't be home that night), but in that moment, I think he realizes (and calls him out on it later) that what he's done is a lot bigger than their marriage.
So, left to his own devices, Jake gets has assassins headed to Rowan's office to kill him (Rowan). But the office is empty - it's a trap. B6-13 - 1; Spy Bro - 1. Cue Charlie being excited about blowing up the office. Rowan knows JaHuck is getting closer, and he wants Charlie to get Quinn back involved on the inside. He goes off to track her down, after telling Jake he's a fool to trust anyone in B6-13 himself included. He doesn't have to go far. She's still tied up on her floor, naked, and knocking a glass off to free herself. But Huck gets back to her, and goes all crazy eyed again. [side note - I read an interview with ShondaGirl and she said that she was very careful with these scenes - to have Guillermo Diaz and Katie Lowes run through them numerous times to make sure she was okay. And Katie Lowes was comfortable the entire time. And I thought wow. I don't care how great of an actress I am. The next day when Guil is all...Katie, wanna grab lunch? I don't think I'm speaking to him for a while. A long while. Just like if I were Kerry Washington, Mrs. Goldwyn would not be having me over for tea. Sorry. Still haven't forgotten last week's love scene] Anyway, crazy Huck scares the sh!t out of me. Quinn begs BEGS for mercy and Huck tells her no. Because if she had just betrayed him, that would be one thing, but betraying Olivia was, in his book, unforgivable. My ma had a lot of issues with these scenes, but I feel in the time it took him to deliver that line, he explained it all. Huck is loyal, above all, to Liv. That is the basis of his character; in that respect, these scene are very true to Huck's character.
Hey! Liv speaks Japanese. She really is awesome. Liv is trying to secure her Mom's passport to put her on the first flight to Hong Kong, and just when it seems like this will be okay, Eli has put her name and face out on the 'Do Not Fly' list under the alias of Marie Wallace. Abby tries to get David to get her off the no-fly list, to which David replies "normal girlfriends don't dabble in aiding and abetting". And. Ha.
When Sally takes Fitz up on his offer of a few weeks ago (when he thought he was going to get to go off and make jam) to resign and run against him as an independent. Sally calls him being so blind or self-involved that he can't see the "immeasurable destruction he's brought to the country, to the party, to his family". And you know - this show is bananas. Or I've lost my moral compass too because she's RIGHT. He has made a mess of things -- 2 sex scandals, a dead intern, the mole, and now assassins running crazy. But I still love him. He tries reasoning with her, to no avail, and then he goes all Carl Bruner on her -- you see his eyes change. He tells her she's making the biggest mistake of her life crossing him, and that he'd work "tirelessly" for the rest of his life to remind of her of that. He warns she will regret this day forever. And you know, it would be over the top, if we didn't know the last time he went Carl Bruner, a justice died. Sally is badASS too though, because she looks him smack in the eye and says "see you on the battlefield".
Cy rushes home from his meeting to find James just typing and wondering why he's so out of breath. Cy can't take it anymore, and calls James out on having sex with Daniel. James says he's confused since that's what he thought he wanted. James finally boils over, and in what is Dan Bucatinsky's emmy reel, he asks him why on EARTH he wouldn't hire a prostitute over pimping out his own husband. And because Shonda's words are better: "you used me like a cheap whore, and then you made me think you were doing me a favor. You are the devil. The devil is inside you right now. Do you not get what you've done here? You have ruined us, Cy. You have ruined everything, not to mention the fact you are a gay man who is going out of his way to shame another gay man for being in the closet. How could you?" It was powerful. And I got nothing. Over his tears, James tells Cy he wants a divorce. But Cy is clearly the bigger monster here, who tells James if he leaves he will go public with the pictures. James can't believe he took pictures, and Cy can't believe he didn't think he would. The devil inside, indeed. This is interrupted by Cy's phone. It's Fitz, and before he answers, he tell James he's not leaving, because he never does. And Cy, did we not learn about taking James for granted last week?
Fitz is still in Carl Bruner mode, and takes a huge chunk out of Cy's ass for not handling the Sally situation, and that he's too late because Sally is leaving the ticket. Fitz is otherworldly pissed off - that he's always bragging about doing the dirty work and now he's got a "Sally sized shiv" in his back. Mellie is all...I TOLD YOU, and that's just all Cy can take. He breaks down crying. Mellie has never seen a monster cry before and she decides to give him a moment. She knows what happened. In her own way, Mellie tries to comfort Cy telling him it will hurt until it doesn't. And maybe you won't sleep as well at night, but he'll be fine. "Numb. But numb and fine are the same." And ouch. [And Mellie is ROCKING the red suit]. She reminds Cy that you have to work through heartbreak sometimes and he needs to see through handling Sally being a "weed in their garden".
David can't help get DMP out of the country. She (DMP) tells Olivia he (Eli) always wins. She says her job is to fix things and she'll figure out a way. Her way is the Super Fitz Phone. He wants to fix it, but she knows he can't. She's says she's not calling to ask for help, but she wanted to hear his voice and talk about jam, Vermont, and kids. She just needed "one minute"...and my heart just soared. He tells her to consider it handled...and Lord I just love that man. She breaks down to thank him and he responds "I love you." HE then tells her to hang up because he has things to do. And I'm sorry Mrs. Goldwyn about my feelings for your husband.
Charlie tracks down Quinn (which wasn't hard. Still taped up, still naked). He unbinds her, she takes a shower, and when she comes out, he tells her to drink the vodka - it'll ward off infection as well as numb the pain (ER, B6-13 Style). When she breaks down in tears, he calls her on it. Crying is against the rules, and "big dogs get bit". And tells her to toss off that she won't be able to eat steak anymore. And that's a big deal. Quinn says Huck was her person and he hurt her, now she doesn't have anyone. Charlie says - " you have me" and you know what? I think he's sincere. This isn't a tact...but Quinn, hearing a little bit of approval drops her towel and they get down. And now I'm seeing why Quinn was such an easy mark last season...jeepers criminy Girl. Fresh off some loving from Charlie, she goes to see Eli. (B6-13 - 2; SpyBro 1. Or is it?)
Cyrus pays the Vice President a late night visit - and I had to wait until 50 minutes to get a line of the night:
Sally: Cyrus. I know why you're here, but you're too late. I'm afraid I've already stabbed the pig through its belly.
Cyrus: And I'm sure if I were from your neck of Hickland, that would make some semblance of sense.
These two are awesome adversaries. He shows her the pics of her husband getting all sorts of naughty with James. Check. She calls his bluff. She says there's NO WAY he'll release those pics because it implicates his husband too, and publishing those pics will ruin him (Cy) as well, as the ticket will bump him as Chief of Staff. Check mate.
Cyrus calls James, tell him he'd never show the pics, and that he's sorry, and wants to come home. I think he's sincere too. He tells him Sally will never see the pics, he's burned them, and wants his forgiveness. But James is sitting on the bed with his bag packed.
Olivia delivers DMP to the airport, and as she's saying goodbye. Abby reminds her this is no ordinary client, that its her mother and she's leaving and demands she go hug her mother. Olivia's cry of "Mom" along with Ben playing, brings tears spring to my eyes, and Olivia flashes back to the last day she saw her mom...when her Mom said she loved her. She also remembers a little more. It seems the phone rang after DMP left, and the person asked for Marie. Then, she dismissed it as a wrong number. NOW, she calls Huck and asks who that is on the Do Not Fly List...it all comes together. The wanted terrorist was Marie Wallace. In Liv's words "my father was trying to protect me. He's not the monster. She is." Huck says...then we have a problem...
...because NOW we know how Charlie came to find Quinn toothless, but very much alive. She offers to DO SOMETHING. And the something appears to be to kill command, as she's standing before him, demanding the tape of her killing the security guard, but hiding a needle.
And just when I thought I was ready for credits, the phone rings. It's Sally, calling Cyrus. She whispers she's committed a sin. The camera pans out to see her dead husband in the background. That's definitely worthy of confession.
And...credits.
Ya know, the episode where DMP chewed her arm off, I thought, what if she were the terrorist who put the bomb on the plane that Fitz shot down? And then I thought - nah - that's too bananas. Even for Scandal. I know Monday morning quarterbacking isn't allowed, but I wanted it on the record that I called this (then second guessed myself.)
I rewound the previews for next week about 5 times to make sure I was certain I saw it. Fitz looks like he's going to go Carl Bruner on Eli/Rowan. I think we will all need this winter break to get our blood pressure back to normal.
See you next week!
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Thursday, December 5, 2013
Heartbreak Hotel
I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday, and the vacation from Gladiating. But I saw a preview of Thursday’s episode, and I can see already I’m going to have a hard time settling down Thursday night.
The show opens with Eli explaining to Mama Pope that Olivia has been asking all sorts of hard questions (and not what types of cookies she made when she was sad), so he will be putting her on a plane out of the country. He cautions the living conditions won’t get better where she lands, it’s just further away and harder to find. And. Damn. I know Walter entertains the notion from time to time of putting me away somewhere, but I usually think it involves a padded cell. This is a marriage in crisis, friends. Anyway, Mama wants to see her daughter before she leaves, and Eli is all...have we met? But she’s been underground for 20 years and this is all she wants. And wow. 20 years. She’s missed the Saints winning the super bowl, two presidents, and Miley Cyrus’ twerking. (oh. And she’s (Miley) is Time’s Person of the Year. Consider. Discuss).
The newest, and most annoying member of B6-13, Quinn, is getting guidance from Charlie on going to work, listening, and understanding she’ll need to report back on what she knows. In case we weren’t already irritated enough with her, we are treated to a flashback of her killing the connection to Omar Dresden. The case of the week is tracking down who killed the guard – who is Quinn. This has total shades of “No Way Out”, where the gladiators spend the day tracking down the person in the video, who is Quinn. I love these scenes, the Gladiators (a group that still includes Jake) trying to piece together who did it. Huck goes to explain how they are doing it and Abby cuts him off saying she wasn’t really asking. And how great would my work life be if I could do that?
James is not speaking to Cyrus because he got fired and he (Cy) doesn’t care. He was bored, and Cy dangles a carrot of a puff piece on the Vice President’s husband. Sadly, Cyrus is setting James up – remember, from last week’s episode, we’ve figured out the Veep’s husband, Daniel Langston, is more into men than women. James, bless his heart, falls for this, hook, line, and sinker and loves Cyrus again. And I must say, even with Cy’s questionable behavior, I love him. He fascinates me. But he is a douche when it comes to James, and I’m thinking – he has to stop doing this.
The other story of the week, Phoebe is back, and someone has broken into Phoebe’s house and stolen the computer containing their campaign strategy. Eh, I’m not going to spend a lot of time building the suspense on this one, as it appears Lisa Kudrow’s story arc has come to an end. The sister/daughter staged the break-in. When Olivia recommended Phoebe cut ties with her, Phoebe instead takes the blame for it, and says she owes her this. And this campaign implodes, exiting stage right. And also leaving Olivia with no dog in the political fight. Oh but wait – Harrison also shook the sheets with sister/daughter, and I’m deeply saddened the only hint of a storyline Harrison gets is with someone who’s leaving. But the upside is we do get scenes of Abby and David who are clearly back together. Line of the night – David calling us Gladiators PopeHeads...BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! He says he’s not getting involved in this alleged break-in, and she retorts he needs to use the snore guards or it’s back to the sofa. I just love this relationship, the healthiest on the show.
Mellie is rewatching her interview where Fitz comes to her aid, and you can see she’s all starry eyed about him. Again. But Fitz is completely preoccupied, and leaves her saying, don’t wait up. Next scene – he is calling the Super Fitz Phone (SFP). Olivia is still caught up in ‘the love of my life killed my mother’, so she watches the SPF, instead of answering it. Mellie can see that something has his attention, but she’s hoping it’s not his Liv.
Scandal then earns its parental advisory by showing us in graphic detail, her mother’s maneuver to get out of the cell. She’s gnawing on her WRIST. Yes, this was some nasty, Hannibal Lecter business and I had to avert my eyes. Mama Pope is as cray as the rest of them. As the doctor said “she ate her own wrist. Most people would have passed out after a few bites, but this one? Just kept chewing until she found an artery. Whatever demons she’s wrestling with are still there.” And. Word. Eli Pope looks as if his entire world is just falling apart. There are clearly some likeability issues if someone will bite off their flesh to get away from you. Just a thought, Eli.
Cyrus has a sordid little plan of getting compromising pics of the Vice President’s husband, which includes him (husband) coming onto James. He enlists Mellie into his diabolical plan – by asking her to let on to Daniel that it’s an open marriage. And wow. I’ve heard of pimping your spouse, but right there, Cyrus went too far. Of course, comeuppance is everything on this show.
Fitz calls Olivia telling her they need to talk, that he “owes” her. And this makes her go smooth the eff off, telling him to stop calling. She then takes a very nice – I’m guessing Restoration Hardware – paper weight to the SPF. Jake calls BS on this, reminding her that the leader of the free world won’t let anything like a broken phone stop him. And he was right – next thing we know – Tom, GSSG is at her apartment saying it’s time to go. She is – get this – whisked off to Vermont. Where he calls her out on keeping her Dad a secret and continuing to tell him she doesn’t know him, when in fact, she knows him better than anyone. But she doesn’t know this: in Vermont, Fitz has built their dream home where they raise kids and make jam. He admits he can’t be the mayor there, but she can still make jam. And I have figured out that Liv is obsessed with grapes—wine, jam. Anyway, the house is incredible – including skylights, and plenty of room for kids. It in, in short, their dream, and he wanted her to see it before he sold it. HE. BUILT. HER. DREAM. Olivia is badASS, but even a badass’ panties will melt away when the President of the United States builds your dream. The scene of passionate lovemaking is...well, my tv melted, so I can’t tell you about the rest of the episode. This scene is interspersed with scenes of Mellie trying to reach Fitz via his cell. When she asks Lauren (the long LONG suffering staff assistant) to try Olivia’s cell phone, Lauren gets the “aw hell” look on her face, knowing that Olivia won’t answer. She doesn’t, and Mellie is crushed. And I’m crushed on her behalf. She thinks that last week’s interview was a step in the right direction to repairing their marriage. But while Fitz did the right thing, he’s still in love with Liv.
[okay, I have about 55 parenthetical thoughts here. And I can remember them all because my tv melted. FIRST, how can Fitz build a HOUSE for Olivia and Mellie not know about this? I knew when Walter bought a Samsung Galaxy Phone (no...no Iphone there. It’s heartbreaking), and yet Fitz can buy land, and build a HOUSE using all local builders and this doesn’t make the news? Or their bank account? I’m thinking Mrs. Obama would be all “what up, Boo?” when she saw that credit card bill. Second? Fitz is supposed to be in New Hampshire, and yet he’s in Vermont. In a secluded house. That man is a Secret Service detail’s worse nightmare. Third. Poor Lauren and Tom – those two canNOT catch a break. They should quit, or at the very least, demand hefty raises. Between having to track Olivia all over DC, making phone calls on Mellie’s behalf – just damn. Lastly, Tony Goldwyn has single-handedly changed my mind on gratuitous nudity. No wait. Lastly. Bill Withers ‘Ain’t No Sunshine’ played during this scene. Brilliant.]
...Liv is getting dressed after her night of passionate sheet shaking (and uh...Kerry and Tony? Y’all owe me for a melted tv). She hears the helicopter and says she has to go – her ride’s there. And ha. He invites her to stay another day. She says she has to work, and he has the world to run. And ha ha. Fitz tells Olivia he loves her, no matter what, but he needs to stop her father. She tells him to do what he has to do, because they both need answers, and she goes off to catch her ride with the parting shot – “don’t sell the house. Not yet.” And Fitz fans all over swoon. Jake is cute, and he’s got a lot of catchy sarcasm (he reminds her that breaking the SPF doesn’t stop the President), but he doesn’t have a house where Olivia can make jam. I hope they aren’t planning to write Kerry Washington’s pregnancy into the show. Because what these people DON’T need is a baby gladiator. But that kid will have the best outerwear at Sidwell Friends.
In many ways, this was a heartbreaking episode – Mellie’s heart broke AGAIN. She is constantly putting her faith in that errant husband of hers. If she wasn’t sure he was with Olivia, seeing her husband in full presidential mode while (finally back) in New Hampshire gave her all the information she needs. She hints to Fitz that maybe the situation has changed and Liv may want to run his campaign, and Fitz simply says, maybe it has. Heartbreak #1. I think the price Mellie has paid for being in the White House has been even greater than she anticipated, and the look on her face during this scene is just...wow. [Bellamy Girl, you have scenes and scenes for your Emmy reel. Choose wisely.] She even tries to HELP Cy, by warning him to stop being so cavalier about his marriage – “that once you open a door, you can’t close it. And it changes everything”. Mellie and Cyrus have an uneasy alliance, at best, but she is being a true friend to him here. Which Cyrus brushes off with a smug “my husband isn’t your husband”. And the irony alarm starts clanging wildly!
Because James, dressed in a nice cashmere sweater, carrying a bottle of bourbon and in Daniel’s game room (heh), is trying to conduct this interview. But Daniel, armed with a gossip tidbit from Mellie that Cy and James have an open marriage, isn’t interested in an interview. He’s interested in James, who is so cute (And he is. I love Dan Bucatinsky!). And naïve. When James tries to kiss him, James is completely taken aback. Daniel tries to get all righteous because he was set up (which was comical! What do you mean you’re not in an open marriage and don’t want to cheat with me? The nerve!), and as James realizes he (James) was really the one that was set up, we see heartbreak #2. And heartbreak #3 if you count that mine broke, just a bit. Cyrus, Cyrus, Cyrus, not everything is for sale. When James comes home – he’s a little standoffish, obstensibly because he’s so hurt Cyrus could use his love like that. But then Cyrus gets a text from his PI, which shows the real reason James is so aloof – it seems after a bit of booze, James got himself a little side lovin’ from the Vice President’s husband. And this breaks Cyrus’ heart. Now, does it break because of James, or because now his plan is foiled? I can’t say, but there’s heartbreak #3 (4 counting mine). [Otis Redding is playing over this scene. Again. Brilliant.]
And then in a bit of poetic justice for me personally: it turns out when Huck said he couldn’t make out the face of the person that killed Omar Dresden? He was telling a tiny lie. He shows up at Quinn’s apartment, with his torture gear, telling her they need to talk about who exactly her employer is. Gulp. She oughta be scared, and deeply apologetic for getting on my damned nerves these past couple of months.
Eli takes press clippings of Olivia to MamaPope, and she’s amazed that he raised such a beautiful daughter. She then asks about photographs of their life together, and when he admits there are none, she asks what happened between them, and what he did to her when he promised to take care of her. He admits to taking care of her basic needs, and without saying another word, MamaPope knows her daughter is a mess. (Heartbreak #4, 5 counting mine) When she pushes too far, he storms out telling her now that she’s well enough to travel, she’ll be leaving the next day.
Oh but no. Because a woman batsh!t crazy enough to chew her own damn arm can get out of a hospital. Why she wasn’t in restraints is beyond me. She’s clearly got a little B6-13 in her, because she overtakes the doctor and escapes.
Livvie is walking down the streets of DC when she hears “Hi Livvie”. She turns around – it’s her MOTHER! And the heart that’s been broken since this series began starts to heal.
Credits. Apparently we have only 2 episodes left before the winter break? What IS that? If it’s a few weeks, okay, but if it’s months and they won’t be back until February sweeps? I will have some issues.
So – will Olivia return to the Grant campaign for reelection? Where did MamaPope learn to chew her arm off?
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
The show opens with Eli explaining to Mama Pope that Olivia has been asking all sorts of hard questions (and not what types of cookies she made when she was sad), so he will be putting her on a plane out of the country. He cautions the living conditions won’t get better where she lands, it’s just further away and harder to find. And. Damn. I know Walter entertains the notion from time to time of putting me away somewhere, but I usually think it involves a padded cell. This is a marriage in crisis, friends. Anyway, Mama wants to see her daughter before she leaves, and Eli is all...have we met? But she’s been underground for 20 years and this is all she wants. And wow. 20 years. She’s missed the Saints winning the super bowl, two presidents, and Miley Cyrus’ twerking. (oh. And she’s (Miley) is Time’s Person of the Year. Consider. Discuss).
The newest, and most annoying member of B6-13, Quinn, is getting guidance from Charlie on going to work, listening, and understanding she’ll need to report back on what she knows. In case we weren’t already irritated enough with her, we are treated to a flashback of her killing the connection to Omar Dresden. The case of the week is tracking down who killed the guard – who is Quinn. This has total shades of “No Way Out”, where the gladiators spend the day tracking down the person in the video, who is Quinn. I love these scenes, the Gladiators (a group that still includes Jake) trying to piece together who did it. Huck goes to explain how they are doing it and Abby cuts him off saying she wasn’t really asking. And how great would my work life be if I could do that?
James is not speaking to Cyrus because he got fired and he (Cy) doesn’t care. He was bored, and Cy dangles a carrot of a puff piece on the Vice President’s husband. Sadly, Cyrus is setting James up – remember, from last week’s episode, we’ve figured out the Veep’s husband, Daniel Langston, is more into men than women. James, bless his heart, falls for this, hook, line, and sinker and loves Cyrus again. And I must say, even with Cy’s questionable behavior, I love him. He fascinates me. But he is a douche when it comes to James, and I’m thinking – he has to stop doing this.
The other story of the week, Phoebe is back, and someone has broken into Phoebe’s house and stolen the computer containing their campaign strategy. Eh, I’m not going to spend a lot of time building the suspense on this one, as it appears Lisa Kudrow’s story arc has come to an end. The sister/daughter staged the break-in. When Olivia recommended Phoebe cut ties with her, Phoebe instead takes the blame for it, and says she owes her this. And this campaign implodes, exiting stage right. And also leaving Olivia with no dog in the political fight. Oh but wait – Harrison also shook the sheets with sister/daughter, and I’m deeply saddened the only hint of a storyline Harrison gets is with someone who’s leaving. But the upside is we do get scenes of Abby and David who are clearly back together. Line of the night – David calling us Gladiators PopeHeads...BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! He says he’s not getting involved in this alleged break-in, and she retorts he needs to use the snore guards or it’s back to the sofa. I just love this relationship, the healthiest on the show.
Mellie is rewatching her interview where Fitz comes to her aid, and you can see she’s all starry eyed about him. Again. But Fitz is completely preoccupied, and leaves her saying, don’t wait up. Next scene – he is calling the Super Fitz Phone (SFP). Olivia is still caught up in ‘the love of my life killed my mother’, so she watches the SPF, instead of answering it. Mellie can see that something has his attention, but she’s hoping it’s not his Liv.
Scandal then earns its parental advisory by showing us in graphic detail, her mother’s maneuver to get out of the cell. She’s gnawing on her WRIST. Yes, this was some nasty, Hannibal Lecter business and I had to avert my eyes. Mama Pope is as cray as the rest of them. As the doctor said “she ate her own wrist. Most people would have passed out after a few bites, but this one? Just kept chewing until she found an artery. Whatever demons she’s wrestling with are still there.” And. Word. Eli Pope looks as if his entire world is just falling apart. There are clearly some likeability issues if someone will bite off their flesh to get away from you. Just a thought, Eli.
Cyrus has a sordid little plan of getting compromising pics of the Vice President’s husband, which includes him (husband) coming onto James. He enlists Mellie into his diabolical plan – by asking her to let on to Daniel that it’s an open marriage. And wow. I’ve heard of pimping your spouse, but right there, Cyrus went too far. Of course, comeuppance is everything on this show.
Fitz calls Olivia telling her they need to talk, that he “owes” her. And this makes her go smooth the eff off, telling him to stop calling. She then takes a very nice – I’m guessing Restoration Hardware – paper weight to the SPF. Jake calls BS on this, reminding her that the leader of the free world won’t let anything like a broken phone stop him. And he was right – next thing we know – Tom, GSSG is at her apartment saying it’s time to go. She is – get this – whisked off to Vermont. Where he calls her out on keeping her Dad a secret and continuing to tell him she doesn’t know him, when in fact, she knows him better than anyone. But she doesn’t know this: in Vermont, Fitz has built their dream home where they raise kids and make jam. He admits he can’t be the mayor there, but she can still make jam. And I have figured out that Liv is obsessed with grapes—wine, jam. Anyway, the house is incredible – including skylights, and plenty of room for kids. It in, in short, their dream, and he wanted her to see it before he sold it. HE. BUILT. HER. DREAM. Olivia is badASS, but even a badass’ panties will melt away when the President of the United States builds your dream. The scene of passionate lovemaking is...well, my tv melted, so I can’t tell you about the rest of the episode. This scene is interspersed with scenes of Mellie trying to reach Fitz via his cell. When she asks Lauren (the long LONG suffering staff assistant) to try Olivia’s cell phone, Lauren gets the “aw hell” look on her face, knowing that Olivia won’t answer. She doesn’t, and Mellie is crushed. And I’m crushed on her behalf. She thinks that last week’s interview was a step in the right direction to repairing their marriage. But while Fitz did the right thing, he’s still in love with Liv.
[okay, I have about 55 parenthetical thoughts here. And I can remember them all because my tv melted. FIRST, how can Fitz build a HOUSE for Olivia and Mellie not know about this? I knew when Walter bought a Samsung Galaxy Phone (no...no Iphone there. It’s heartbreaking), and yet Fitz can buy land, and build a HOUSE using all local builders and this doesn’t make the news? Or their bank account? I’m thinking Mrs. Obama would be all “what up, Boo?” when she saw that credit card bill. Second? Fitz is supposed to be in New Hampshire, and yet he’s in Vermont. In a secluded house. That man is a Secret Service detail’s worse nightmare. Third. Poor Lauren and Tom – those two canNOT catch a break. They should quit, or at the very least, demand hefty raises. Between having to track Olivia all over DC, making phone calls on Mellie’s behalf – just damn. Lastly, Tony Goldwyn has single-handedly changed my mind on gratuitous nudity. No wait. Lastly. Bill Withers ‘Ain’t No Sunshine’ played during this scene. Brilliant.]
...Liv is getting dressed after her night of passionate sheet shaking (and uh...Kerry and Tony? Y’all owe me for a melted tv). She hears the helicopter and says she has to go – her ride’s there. And ha. He invites her to stay another day. She says she has to work, and he has the world to run. And ha ha. Fitz tells Olivia he loves her, no matter what, but he needs to stop her father. She tells him to do what he has to do, because they both need answers, and she goes off to catch her ride with the parting shot – “don’t sell the house. Not yet.” And Fitz fans all over swoon. Jake is cute, and he’s got a lot of catchy sarcasm (he reminds her that breaking the SPF doesn’t stop the President), but he doesn’t have a house where Olivia can make jam. I hope they aren’t planning to write Kerry Washington’s pregnancy into the show. Because what these people DON’T need is a baby gladiator. But that kid will have the best outerwear at Sidwell Friends.
In many ways, this was a heartbreaking episode – Mellie’s heart broke AGAIN. She is constantly putting her faith in that errant husband of hers. If she wasn’t sure he was with Olivia, seeing her husband in full presidential mode while (finally back) in New Hampshire gave her all the information she needs. She hints to Fitz that maybe the situation has changed and Liv may want to run his campaign, and Fitz simply says, maybe it has. Heartbreak #1. I think the price Mellie has paid for being in the White House has been even greater than she anticipated, and the look on her face during this scene is just...wow. [Bellamy Girl, you have scenes and scenes for your Emmy reel. Choose wisely.] She even tries to HELP Cy, by warning him to stop being so cavalier about his marriage – “that once you open a door, you can’t close it. And it changes everything”. Mellie and Cyrus have an uneasy alliance, at best, but she is being a true friend to him here. Which Cyrus brushes off with a smug “my husband isn’t your husband”. And the irony alarm starts clanging wildly!
Because James, dressed in a nice cashmere sweater, carrying a bottle of bourbon and in Daniel’s game room (heh), is trying to conduct this interview. But Daniel, armed with a gossip tidbit from Mellie that Cy and James have an open marriage, isn’t interested in an interview. He’s interested in James, who is so cute (And he is. I love Dan Bucatinsky!). And naïve. When James tries to kiss him, James is completely taken aback. Daniel tries to get all righteous because he was set up (which was comical! What do you mean you’re not in an open marriage and don’t want to cheat with me? The nerve!), and as James realizes he (James) was really the one that was set up, we see heartbreak #2. And heartbreak #3 if you count that mine broke, just a bit. Cyrus, Cyrus, Cyrus, not everything is for sale. When James comes home – he’s a little standoffish, obstensibly because he’s so hurt Cyrus could use his love like that. But then Cyrus gets a text from his PI, which shows the real reason James is so aloof – it seems after a bit of booze, James got himself a little side lovin’ from the Vice President’s husband. And this breaks Cyrus’ heart. Now, does it break because of James, or because now his plan is foiled? I can’t say, but there’s heartbreak #3 (4 counting mine). [Otis Redding is playing over this scene. Again. Brilliant.]
And then in a bit of poetic justice for me personally: it turns out when Huck said he couldn’t make out the face of the person that killed Omar Dresden? He was telling a tiny lie. He shows up at Quinn’s apartment, with his torture gear, telling her they need to talk about who exactly her employer is. Gulp. She oughta be scared, and deeply apologetic for getting on my damned nerves these past couple of months.
Eli takes press clippings of Olivia to MamaPope, and she’s amazed that he raised such a beautiful daughter. She then asks about photographs of their life together, and when he admits there are none, she asks what happened between them, and what he did to her when he promised to take care of her. He admits to taking care of her basic needs, and without saying another word, MamaPope knows her daughter is a mess. (Heartbreak #4, 5 counting mine) When she pushes too far, he storms out telling her now that she’s well enough to travel, she’ll be leaving the next day.
Oh but no. Because a woman batsh!t crazy enough to chew her own damn arm can get out of a hospital. Why she wasn’t in restraints is beyond me. She’s clearly got a little B6-13 in her, because she overtakes the doctor and escapes.
Livvie is walking down the streets of DC when she hears “Hi Livvie”. She turns around – it’s her MOTHER! And the heart that’s been broken since this series began starts to heal.
Credits. Apparently we have only 2 episodes left before the winter break? What IS that? If it’s a few weeks, okay, but if it’s months and they won’t be back until February sweeps? I will have some issues.
So – will Olivia return to the Grant campaign for reelection? Where did MamaPope learn to chew her arm off?
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Thursday, November 21, 2013
Sistas are Doin It For Themselves
Lord have mercy Lord have mercy!
I’ll just get right to it.
This week was Mellie’s back story. And you knew she had to have a compelling story. Because ShondaGirl writes strong female characters, and Mellie is kind of a mess. And she can’t just be THIS fractured without a story. My friend Debbie and I have endless debates about whether or not Mellie is a respectable character. She says no woman would allow her husband to be IN LOVE with another woman and stay married. That her cold bed is what she gets for sacrificing love for power. I say – Mellie’s Achilles’ Heel and the reason she can’t do any of that is that she actually loves Fitz.
Or at least she did. The back story picks up about 15 years ago. Flat-haired Mellie (seriously – her flashback hair involves about 20% of the product First Lady Mellie uses) and Fitz are newly married, and they are shaking the sheets in hopes of her getting pregnant (that little throwaway nugget becomes very important). They are living, I guess, in Fitz’ childhood home, and his father Gerry (Barry Bostwick nails this role. He is an unmitigated SOB) bellows up the stairs. They canoodle as newlyweds do (and DAMN! Tony Goldwyn is in hella shape), and when they go downstairs, it’s to meet Gerry’s “King Maker”, namely, one bearded, married (to a woman) Cyrus Beene. Gerry wants to start working on his governor candidacy, a surprise to Fitz as he wasn’t planning this for another 3 years. He is ADAMANT they will not use his military career to further his political career, which causes Gerry to be all...awful.
Present day, Olivia is still a broken mess (but ROCKIN’ a black and white tuxedo swing coat). The Super Fitz Phone (SFP) rings, but she can’t talk to him. She can’t get past the fact he killed her Mom. Fitz is worried about her (as he should be – after all, by her own words, she’s “surrounded by murderers. I’m surrounded by men with a body count. I’m standing in a graveyard made by people she thought she loved”. And I could see how that could make for a rough day. Fitz is broken up about this, but he can’t discuss it. Since I’m TOTALLY team Fitz, this conversation broke my heart. She’s not just reeling from the fact that he shot this plane out of the sky, but there’s something she doesn’t know about Fitz. But when she drops the name Rowan, he realizes there more to her story too.
Olivia has decided her client (besides Phoebe, who’s off camera this week) is getting to the bottom of this plane crash. Their client is her Mom. They want to know what happened to this plane. [side note: is Jake a gladiator now? I say no. Still not sure he wears a white hat.] She knows by asking them to do this, they could be in danger too, because her Dad is Super Assassin, but you know the gladiators – “over a cliff”. Even Abby is like...”damn girl”, and in what is probably one of my favorite scenes ever, she goes into Liv’s office and warns her that “she’s about to hug her and she (Liv) just need to stand there and take it. So here’s what we know on this plane crash so far:
- Flight was delayed, but not listed as delayed
- Flight was overbooked, but the flight manifest is missing a name
- A federal marshall takes someone off the plane (Omar Dresden)
- The subcommittee that headed up the investigation into this crash was Gerry Grant.
- The guy driving the plane stairs (you know the ones) is still in DC and probably saw Omar Dresden.
Oh – and also in present day – it would seem that CrazyQuinn has a new friend and admirer in Charlie (the OTHER assassin. We know this is not going to end well, but WOW) Huck is giving her (Quinn) about 450 different pounds of shade, and that’s not helping her infatuation with Charlie. She ends up tailing Charlie (and what IS IT with people trailing ASSASSINS?) She and Charlie lip lock and he invites her to hang out. Which she does. But I’m not speaking to Quinn. Keep reading, you’ll see why.
Other present day action – Mellie is trying to rebuild her image (and that of the president’s) by a documentary of Mellie’s days in the White House. She pretends she loves it, but to Cyrus she admits what we all know: the role of docile wife does not suit her. She hates it, and is more interested in helping Cyrus pick out an escort to derail Sally’s husband (we know more and more that Sally’s husband is not the faithful type). She picks a good one, leading Cyrus to note she’s “way better at picking out hookers than China Patterns.” And. Ha. Cyrus successfully gets Madame Vice President away from this dinner, and asks him to remember his promise to her. [Turns out – the big secret the VP is hiding – it’s not his love of women. It appears to be his love of men. A fact that tickles Mellie. And me.]
Back to Flat-Haired Mellie and Gerry’s house. I love this scene- Cyrus running down politics, Fitz in a black turtleneck, Cyrus calling Fitz and Mellie “Richie Rich and Snow White”, Fitz in a black turtleneck (that was my favorite part) Fitz is all – if I can’t win without my military career, I won’t win at all. I had to laugh – when Fitz told his Dad no, his dad was one step from a spit take. He looked like I’m sure I do when Alex says no....as if to say – I don’t understand that word coming out of your mouth. Gerry and Fitz have a knock down fight that highlights just how jacked up their relationship is. Gerry alludes to getting Fitz out of the jam of shooting down the plane and how he now owns him and that without him, he’s nothing. He actually says “I made you. I can destroy you. So you’ll do what you’re told and that’s an order”. Fitz gets off a line, but it’s still an incredibly hurtful scene to have to watch. Up until now, whenever Gerry was in the story – he wasn’t kind, but Fitz didn’t make it easy on him. The second time I watched this it hit me: we are not just getting Mellie’s backstory, we’re getting Fitz’ too. In the mist of this melee, Mellie runs in to say Cyrus is leaving. Cyrus is all – I can’t help this boy and rolls out. Mellie tries to stop him, but he tells her it’s not his job to take care of this guy, it’s Mellie’s job. Mellie is genuinely confused, as she has a pedigree of her own, and big plans for her own career. Cyrus plays the role of foreteller here telling her that she will not be able to have a career, for being “the woman behind the man” will become her career. Mellie, on the spot, makes a decision (and you know – Bellamy Young is one HELL of an actress to get this across her face as quickly as it happens), she’s going to make Fitz her full time job and promises that he’ll be ready to work.
Present day – Mellie and her documentary cameras are headed to the oval office so he can say good night to Teddy, and he’s not there. She lights into Fitz that she’s doing the best she can, but he has to help. He has to be there, seeing as she’s the one America hates even though he had the affair. [side note – she is KILLING this red dress]. She admits she’s tired of having to do everything herself, and that he’s a lousy partner. She foreshadows the next scene, saying, as much to herself as to him, that he had no idea of the things she’s given up, the sacrifices, only to be treated like sh!t. I must quote here because the words Shonda put into Bellamy Young’s mouth here are damn near poetic and I wish I had written them: ‘You declare war on me, and you shame me, and you make me beg for scraps when I have done nothing but fight for you. You don’t have to love me, but we’re here in this hell together and the flames are burning both of us with equal intensity, baby, so the least you can do is be my friend. Just a little bit. The least you can do is show up. Show up for me, Fitz.” And I got nothing. She killed this scene. Fitz doesn’t have anything either, but shame, because he shows up for the next interview, and it’s a good thing – because he saves her from a disasterous line of questioning. Fitz saves her from the attack, and you see they are in this together. And...awww....
15 years ago, a drunken Gerry tells Mellie more of what we know as the Remington Story. What we learn:
- Gerry confirms that Fitz shot the plane down, because of a dirty bomb that was supposedly on board. Gerry fixed Fitz’ military record so he’s nowhere near the plane.
What happens next is awful. Fitz’s dad rapes Mellie.
Editorial rant: I’m so conflicted about this scene. I detest rape as a story line. I find it cheap, and easy, and usually beneath the writers. It’s far too easy to victimize a woman. Here’s the thing – I could not begin to fathom what it’s like to come back from such an attack, a brutal theft of what you hold most dear – what no one should be able to take from you. And I’m not just talking about sexuality. So do we really need a rape scene to make Mellie sympathetic? Should this ever be a story line? It absolutely happens – I don’t say that, but should we EVER use it in ficitional television? I don’t know. Scandal doesn’t flinch, but I admit, watching this scene, I did.
Mellie goes upstairs, where Fitz pulls her into bed, and tells her all he wants is for his father to be kind. He wants him to, just once, apologize and be on his side, noting if he’d just admit that, he thinks he’d be a great governor. But as of now, he just wants to pack it in. It’s really messed up. And in the dark, Mellie makes her next decision. The next morning, shades of big haired First Lady Mellie surface as she tells Gerry they will never speak on it again, and he’ll tell Fitz exactly what he wants to hear. Which he does, and the next flashback shows them celebrating his election to government. She also whispers in his ear she’s pregnant, but when he hugs her, her face is not joyous. In fact, it’s terrified. Remember – that assault happened when Fitz was trying to get her pregnant. A smart girl like Mellie probably knows when she’s ovulating. That was the first DAMN!
And THEN!! CrazyQuinn is hanging with Charlie, and between making out, he dangles the carrot of helping him, allegedly by knocking out the guard to get some information. But no – what she injects into his hand is a lethal something because he dies. She’s otherworldly freaked out (because she’s a nut) and trying to dial Huck – and Charlie tells her that’s a bad idea, and welcomes her to B6-13. DAMN! DAMN!
And THEN!! Turns out, the guy Quinn killed? That was the guy driving the stairs the night the plane crashed! The lone link to Omar Dresden! DAMN! DAMN! DAMN!
BUT THEN!!!!!! Fitz is looking into a file on Liv’s Mom, trying to figure out how his life got so batsh!t crazy. He sees that the Mom is survived by a daughter, and a husband who is a curator at the Smithsonian. He puts together that Rowan is the husband is the dad! DAMN! DAMN! DAMN! DAMN!
AND THEN!! What we all know! Rowan goes through a building, down a hall, into a basement and says “your daughter has been looking for you” OMAR DRESDEN WAS LIV’S MOM!!
DAMN! DAMN! DAMN! DAMN! DAMN!!
So – Rowan obviously knew the plane was going to be shut down, so he saved her, but why take her from Liv. What will Fitz do now that he knows Super Assassin is Liv’s Dad? And just who the hell fathered Fitz’ oldest child?
Whew child. I’m grateful that next week has to be a repeat. It’ll take me some time to digest all this!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
I’ll just get right to it.
This week was Mellie’s back story. And you knew she had to have a compelling story. Because ShondaGirl writes strong female characters, and Mellie is kind of a mess. And she can’t just be THIS fractured without a story. My friend Debbie and I have endless debates about whether or not Mellie is a respectable character. She says no woman would allow her husband to be IN LOVE with another woman and stay married. That her cold bed is what she gets for sacrificing love for power. I say – Mellie’s Achilles’ Heel and the reason she can’t do any of that is that she actually loves Fitz.
Or at least she did. The back story picks up about 15 years ago. Flat-haired Mellie (seriously – her flashback hair involves about 20% of the product First Lady Mellie uses) and Fitz are newly married, and they are shaking the sheets in hopes of her getting pregnant (that little throwaway nugget becomes very important). They are living, I guess, in Fitz’ childhood home, and his father Gerry (Barry Bostwick nails this role. He is an unmitigated SOB) bellows up the stairs. They canoodle as newlyweds do (and DAMN! Tony Goldwyn is in hella shape), and when they go downstairs, it’s to meet Gerry’s “King Maker”, namely, one bearded, married (to a woman) Cyrus Beene. Gerry wants to start working on his governor candidacy, a surprise to Fitz as he wasn’t planning this for another 3 years. He is ADAMANT they will not use his military career to further his political career, which causes Gerry to be all...awful.
Present day, Olivia is still a broken mess (but ROCKIN’ a black and white tuxedo swing coat). The Super Fitz Phone (SFP) rings, but she can’t talk to him. She can’t get past the fact he killed her Mom. Fitz is worried about her (as he should be – after all, by her own words, she’s “surrounded by murderers. I’m surrounded by men with a body count. I’m standing in a graveyard made by people she thought she loved”. And I could see how that could make for a rough day. Fitz is broken up about this, but he can’t discuss it. Since I’m TOTALLY team Fitz, this conversation broke my heart. She’s not just reeling from the fact that he shot this plane out of the sky, but there’s something she doesn’t know about Fitz. But when she drops the name Rowan, he realizes there more to her story too.
Olivia has decided her client (besides Phoebe, who’s off camera this week) is getting to the bottom of this plane crash. Their client is her Mom. They want to know what happened to this plane. [side note: is Jake a gladiator now? I say no. Still not sure he wears a white hat.] She knows by asking them to do this, they could be in danger too, because her Dad is Super Assassin, but you know the gladiators – “over a cliff”. Even Abby is like...”damn girl”, and in what is probably one of my favorite scenes ever, she goes into Liv’s office and warns her that “she’s about to hug her and she (Liv) just need to stand there and take it. So here’s what we know on this plane crash so far:
- Flight was delayed, but not listed as delayed
- Flight was overbooked, but the flight manifest is missing a name
- A federal marshall takes someone off the plane (Omar Dresden)
- The subcommittee that headed up the investigation into this crash was Gerry Grant.
- The guy driving the plane stairs (you know the ones) is still in DC and probably saw Omar Dresden.
Oh – and also in present day – it would seem that CrazyQuinn has a new friend and admirer in Charlie (the OTHER assassin. We know this is not going to end well, but WOW) Huck is giving her (Quinn) about 450 different pounds of shade, and that’s not helping her infatuation with Charlie. She ends up tailing Charlie (and what IS IT with people trailing ASSASSINS?) She and Charlie lip lock and he invites her to hang out. Which she does. But I’m not speaking to Quinn. Keep reading, you’ll see why.
Other present day action – Mellie is trying to rebuild her image (and that of the president’s) by a documentary of Mellie’s days in the White House. She pretends she loves it, but to Cyrus she admits what we all know: the role of docile wife does not suit her. She hates it, and is more interested in helping Cyrus pick out an escort to derail Sally’s husband (we know more and more that Sally’s husband is not the faithful type). She picks a good one, leading Cyrus to note she’s “way better at picking out hookers than China Patterns.” And. Ha. Cyrus successfully gets Madame Vice President away from this dinner, and asks him to remember his promise to her. [Turns out – the big secret the VP is hiding – it’s not his love of women. It appears to be his love of men. A fact that tickles Mellie. And me.]
Back to Flat-Haired Mellie and Gerry’s house. I love this scene- Cyrus running down politics, Fitz in a black turtleneck, Cyrus calling Fitz and Mellie “Richie Rich and Snow White”, Fitz in a black turtleneck (that was my favorite part) Fitz is all – if I can’t win without my military career, I won’t win at all. I had to laugh – when Fitz told his Dad no, his dad was one step from a spit take. He looked like I’m sure I do when Alex says no....as if to say – I don’t understand that word coming out of your mouth. Gerry and Fitz have a knock down fight that highlights just how jacked up their relationship is. Gerry alludes to getting Fitz out of the jam of shooting down the plane and how he now owns him and that without him, he’s nothing. He actually says “I made you. I can destroy you. So you’ll do what you’re told and that’s an order”. Fitz gets off a line, but it’s still an incredibly hurtful scene to have to watch. Up until now, whenever Gerry was in the story – he wasn’t kind, but Fitz didn’t make it easy on him. The second time I watched this it hit me: we are not just getting Mellie’s backstory, we’re getting Fitz’ too. In the mist of this melee, Mellie runs in to say Cyrus is leaving. Cyrus is all – I can’t help this boy and rolls out. Mellie tries to stop him, but he tells her it’s not his job to take care of this guy, it’s Mellie’s job. Mellie is genuinely confused, as she has a pedigree of her own, and big plans for her own career. Cyrus plays the role of foreteller here telling her that she will not be able to have a career, for being “the woman behind the man” will become her career. Mellie, on the spot, makes a decision (and you know – Bellamy Young is one HELL of an actress to get this across her face as quickly as it happens), she’s going to make Fitz her full time job and promises that he’ll be ready to work.
Present day – Mellie and her documentary cameras are headed to the oval office so he can say good night to Teddy, and he’s not there. She lights into Fitz that she’s doing the best she can, but he has to help. He has to be there, seeing as she’s the one America hates even though he had the affair. [side note – she is KILLING this red dress]. She admits she’s tired of having to do everything herself, and that he’s a lousy partner. She foreshadows the next scene, saying, as much to herself as to him, that he had no idea of the things she’s given up, the sacrifices, only to be treated like sh!t. I must quote here because the words Shonda put into Bellamy Young’s mouth here are damn near poetic and I wish I had written them: ‘You declare war on me, and you shame me, and you make me beg for scraps when I have done nothing but fight for you. You don’t have to love me, but we’re here in this hell together and the flames are burning both of us with equal intensity, baby, so the least you can do is be my friend. Just a little bit. The least you can do is show up. Show up for me, Fitz.” And I got nothing. She killed this scene. Fitz doesn’t have anything either, but shame, because he shows up for the next interview, and it’s a good thing – because he saves her from a disasterous line of questioning. Fitz saves her from the attack, and you see they are in this together. And...awww....
15 years ago, a drunken Gerry tells Mellie more of what we know as the Remington Story. What we learn:
- Gerry confirms that Fitz shot the plane down, because of a dirty bomb that was supposedly on board. Gerry fixed Fitz’ military record so he’s nowhere near the plane.
What happens next is awful. Fitz’s dad rapes Mellie.
Editorial rant: I’m so conflicted about this scene. I detest rape as a story line. I find it cheap, and easy, and usually beneath the writers. It’s far too easy to victimize a woman. Here’s the thing – I could not begin to fathom what it’s like to come back from such an attack, a brutal theft of what you hold most dear – what no one should be able to take from you. And I’m not just talking about sexuality. So do we really need a rape scene to make Mellie sympathetic? Should this ever be a story line? It absolutely happens – I don’t say that, but should we EVER use it in ficitional television? I don’t know. Scandal doesn’t flinch, but I admit, watching this scene, I did.
Mellie goes upstairs, where Fitz pulls her into bed, and tells her all he wants is for his father to be kind. He wants him to, just once, apologize and be on his side, noting if he’d just admit that, he thinks he’d be a great governor. But as of now, he just wants to pack it in. It’s really messed up. And in the dark, Mellie makes her next decision. The next morning, shades of big haired First Lady Mellie surface as she tells Gerry they will never speak on it again, and he’ll tell Fitz exactly what he wants to hear. Which he does, and the next flashback shows them celebrating his election to government. She also whispers in his ear she’s pregnant, but when he hugs her, her face is not joyous. In fact, it’s terrified. Remember – that assault happened when Fitz was trying to get her pregnant. A smart girl like Mellie probably knows when she’s ovulating. That was the first DAMN!
And THEN!! CrazyQuinn is hanging with Charlie, and between making out, he dangles the carrot of helping him, allegedly by knocking out the guard to get some information. But no – what she injects into his hand is a lethal something because he dies. She’s otherworldly freaked out (because she’s a nut) and trying to dial Huck – and Charlie tells her that’s a bad idea, and welcomes her to B6-13. DAMN! DAMN!
And THEN!! Turns out, the guy Quinn killed? That was the guy driving the stairs the night the plane crashed! The lone link to Omar Dresden! DAMN! DAMN! DAMN!
BUT THEN!!!!!! Fitz is looking into a file on Liv’s Mom, trying to figure out how his life got so batsh!t crazy. He sees that the Mom is survived by a daughter, and a husband who is a curator at the Smithsonian. He puts together that Rowan is the husband is the dad! DAMN! DAMN! DAMN! DAMN!
AND THEN!! What we all know! Rowan goes through a building, down a hall, into a basement and says “your daughter has been looking for you” OMAR DRESDEN WAS LIV’S MOM!!
DAMN! DAMN! DAMN! DAMN! DAMN!!
So – Rowan obviously knew the plane was going to be shut down, so he saved her, but why take her from Liv. What will Fitz do now that he knows Super Assassin is Liv’s Dad? And just who the hell fathered Fitz’ oldest child?
Whew child. I’m grateful that next week has to be a repeat. It’ll take me some time to digest all this!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Thursday, November 7, 2013
One Part Be My Lover
This week in ShondaLand, Olivia and Eli are having dinner (apparently, Sunday dinners are back on the table), but without any of the pretenses of the other dinners. He says they are making progress because she hasn’t accused him of any crimes against humanity, she says she’s only there so he won’t make her friends kill people. He takes a little pride in that she’s a lot more like him than she wants to be. When she says she’s who she is in spite of him, and not because of him, he notes it’s “two sides of the same coin”. And, word. Ever notice the more people try to get away from being whatever it is they detest – they swing so far on the dial they are still pretty closed to it? He leaves her with an ominous warning that as long as Huck and Jake leave him be, they’ll be okay. Loving Joe Morton even more, loving the Jake and Huck bro-mance (because I’m still not speaking to Quinn) LOVE MY SHOW!!
I mention the JaHuck bromance because Jake is currently breaking into Eli’s place and stealing files, and I cannot stress enough how much I do not understand the freakish chances these people take with this man. He’s an assassin, and he’s a mean one. So really? B&E on his property, is, at best, misguided. It’s a nail-biting scene, but he doesn’t get caught. He has “it”. And no, I don’t know what “it” is…something to do with Remington. I’m gonna need them to let me in on this secret.
In the Oval, Mellie and Cyrus are showing the male version of Tyuana Bailey around, because he is so elated to be in the office he is looking at every single artifact as if to say…WHOA!! THIS IS THE OVAL OFFICE! Turns out, Leo is another campaign guy they want to run Fitz’s campaign…and while he is appreciative of the offer, he says no because there’s NO way Fitz is going to win (he’s got problems – big problems – character problems, credibility problems…and a penis problem). To his credit, he tries to have this conversation without Mellie, but she won’t leave because he’s not her husband, he’s “their guy”. I probably would have left though when he called me a frigid shrew. But that’s me. Anyhoo, Leo can’t back a loser. He also says…everyone knows they pissed off Olivia Pope, so why would he take them on? He plays the part of Greek Chorus here – asking them why America would reelect this guy who’s head is so clearly not in the game…and it’s a good scene considering we all know he’s going to get reelected somehow. Really, who would CARE about the heart of Scandal if Fitz was not the POTUS, so whatev. But it was a great scene.
OPA has been hired by Phoebe to work her campaign, and what gets her hired is her brutally honest speech on what her shortcomings are and how she can fix them. Phoebe doesn’t want her to manage her campaign, she wants her to ensure that the baby she gave up for adoption before she decided to go into politics stays hidden. And I loved this – she doesn’t want her to not come to light because of her politics, but because she wants that child, now woman, to enjoy the life she’s built and not have it be destroyed by the political machine. She says she won’t use it for political gain and needs it fixed. So we (and by we, I mean the Gladiators) all head to Montana to keep this secret, and find out the real secret is that Phoebe’s sister and manager is actually her daughter she gave up for adoption. Olivia knows this is going to come out, and encourages her to come clean, as if she wants to be the president, her personal life is going to be on full display. She warns her of the upcoming ambush during a debate, and when it goes down EXACTLY how Olivia tells her it will, Phoebe looks like a hero, and Cyrus gets closer to that second heart attack. Pheobe, now America’s sweetheart walks off, and fires Olivia for her great work. Because her sister Candy has figured it out and she’s pissed.
Other things we learn in Montana:
- Huck has bugged Eli’s office and has a tape of his meeting with Fitz (Presidential Fitz, who we know I love). Fitz wants to take Eli to task for having Pete Foster killed. He calls him on the bs card that he (Pete Foster) committed suicide and asks who else will die to “protect the secret no one is looking for”. Eli knows Pete’s files have been accessed so he knows someone is looking into it.
- The term…”Poped”. Cyrus’s sweet assistant (whose name escapes me) realizes Olivia’s people are quicker than he is, and he’s so afraid to tell Cyrus (and. Word.), and he shrieks, we got Poped. I love that, and it will surely make it into my business lexicon in the near future.
- Huck told Harrison and Abby about Quinn’s newest appetite (Harrison: drill baby, drill), and she’s basically grounded from helping them. Huck really is trying to help her, but this fool buys a gun while she’s out in Montana. And please, Shonda, I beg you…bring her back.
- Abby and David are back together, but she’s having a hard time. Turns out, David invited her to the White House Correspondent’s Dinner and she stands him up because her husband is there. We know her husband abused her, but I’m not sure if we’ve seen him yet. Maybe it’s Leo???
Huck is giving Jake details of the meeting between Fitz and Eli when a Suburban rolls up and tells him to get into the car. Jake thinks he’s being kidnapped by command (making me wonder why he didn’t run like hell), but actually he’s escorted to the White House’s basketball court (seriously? There’s an outdoor court there?). Fitz admits he wanted to get into Jake’s head by having him kidnapped, and says everyone takes it easy on him and doesn’t expect this game to be easy.
And cut. I readily admit right here, my comments are not at all objective. I love basketball. I love to watch basketball. And Tony Goldwyn and Scott Foley look like they can ball a bit. So it’s kinda gratuitous, but I don’t care. And Jake’s crossover dribble made me forget, just a bit, that I am all about Fitz. The point of this game, after a few hard fouls – was that the President is OTHERWORLDLY pissed off that he sent him to protect Olivia and he instead shakes the sheets. Jake ain’t talking about Olivia. Period, and that doesn’t set well with POTUS. Olivia could do worse – these are some pretty pretty boys fighting over her.
And speaking of Olivia – she watches the phone. This is so…normal. She’s waiting for the president to call on “their” phone, and when the phone rings she’s so hopeful, but no, it’s her other phone. It’s Cyrus calling looking for dirt on Phoebe, and gives her enough information to know the gladiators are not alone in Montana. In a snit, she throws the phone in the trash can, after Jake (rightly) points out that waiting for “the secret Fitz phone” to ring is so beneath her. You can tell from her face she’s not leaving the phone in the trash, but she wants to. She so wants to – but when it rings, in the trash, she answers, and it’s Fitz. I wanted to think about how this was a crucial scene showing how they enable each other, but then. The conversation that takes place is so honest, so ordinary, so mundane, and so electric because the whispers of two people in love tend to be electric. He admits to her that he’s afraid of the correspondence dinner, because he’s ashamed of his image. She helps him by vetting his jokes, and her ability to help him thru it despite his failings is why he loves her. It’s the type of conversation that should NOT be heard by your wife. And watching Mellie overhear this conversation is why I just can’t help but root for her character.
Which makes it all the more heartbreaking when, during the correspondence dinner, Mellie uses the “secret Fitz phone” to get Olivia to a hotel room to BEG her to run Fitz’ campaign. Because he is “her guy”. Because she knows Leo was right and that the only person that brings a spark to Fitz’ eye and makes him presidential is Olivia Pope. They wisely cut this scene with montages of Fitz’ speech where he’s killing it – it’s clear he needs Olivia. Mellie [and girl! What happened to your hair?] breaks my heart, admitting that Fitz isn’t alive when she’s not around, that he can’t breathe, “because she’s everything to him.” And wow. I got nothing.
Harrison calls Live back to the office, where Phoebe is waiting to offer her the job back. She turns it down (over Harrison’s ‘dafuq’ expression. Remember. He knows they have a mortgage), and leaves him standing there. And for you Jake fans, she goes to the office after Jake leaves her at the correspondent’s dinner, telling her, he “won’t be second, not even to the president”. And Yowsa. BUT BUT BUT! (and there’s always a BUT BUT BUT!, isn’t there?) Huck has continued to put the pieces of the puzzle together on the flight that never was. It would seem, according to Huck (who tells Jake this after breaking into his house, and really? Have these people heard of doorbells), that the big secret is Fitz shot a commercial plane out of the sky. A commercial plane carrying Maya Lewis, who was still using her maiden name. Her married name is Pope. JaHuck interrupt Liv’s reminiscing about her days as “banged Olivia” (election rigging not withstanding)to deliver this very disturbing turn of events – that quite possibly the President caused the death of her mom.
And…credits.
There’s more to this story and we will not find out next week. I’m convinced the previews are filled with red herrings. So, in my mind, Remington remains a mystery. Because why would Eli want this covered up? Did he not realize his wife was on the plane? And what else was on this commercial airline? There’s more questions than answers! I can’t stand it!
Until next week!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
I mention the JaHuck bromance because Jake is currently breaking into Eli’s place and stealing files, and I cannot stress enough how much I do not understand the freakish chances these people take with this man. He’s an assassin, and he’s a mean one. So really? B&E on his property, is, at best, misguided. It’s a nail-biting scene, but he doesn’t get caught. He has “it”. And no, I don’t know what “it” is…something to do with Remington. I’m gonna need them to let me in on this secret.
In the Oval, Mellie and Cyrus are showing the male version of Tyuana Bailey around, because he is so elated to be in the office he is looking at every single artifact as if to say…WHOA!! THIS IS THE OVAL OFFICE! Turns out, Leo is another campaign guy they want to run Fitz’s campaign…and while he is appreciative of the offer, he says no because there’s NO way Fitz is going to win (he’s got problems – big problems – character problems, credibility problems…and a penis problem). To his credit, he tries to have this conversation without Mellie, but she won’t leave because he’s not her husband, he’s “their guy”. I probably would have left though when he called me a frigid shrew. But that’s me. Anyhoo, Leo can’t back a loser. He also says…everyone knows they pissed off Olivia Pope, so why would he take them on? He plays the part of Greek Chorus here – asking them why America would reelect this guy who’s head is so clearly not in the game…and it’s a good scene considering we all know he’s going to get reelected somehow. Really, who would CARE about the heart of Scandal if Fitz was not the POTUS, so whatev. But it was a great scene.
OPA has been hired by Phoebe to work her campaign, and what gets her hired is her brutally honest speech on what her shortcomings are and how she can fix them. Phoebe doesn’t want her to manage her campaign, she wants her to ensure that the baby she gave up for adoption before she decided to go into politics stays hidden. And I loved this – she doesn’t want her to not come to light because of her politics, but because she wants that child, now woman, to enjoy the life she’s built and not have it be destroyed by the political machine. She says she won’t use it for political gain and needs it fixed. So we (and by we, I mean the Gladiators) all head to Montana to keep this secret, and find out the real secret is that Phoebe’s sister and manager is actually her daughter she gave up for adoption. Olivia knows this is going to come out, and encourages her to come clean, as if she wants to be the president, her personal life is going to be on full display. She warns her of the upcoming ambush during a debate, and when it goes down EXACTLY how Olivia tells her it will, Phoebe looks like a hero, and Cyrus gets closer to that second heart attack. Pheobe, now America’s sweetheart walks off, and fires Olivia for her great work. Because her sister Candy has figured it out and she’s pissed.
Other things we learn in Montana:
- Huck has bugged Eli’s office and has a tape of his meeting with Fitz (Presidential Fitz, who we know I love). Fitz wants to take Eli to task for having Pete Foster killed. He calls him on the bs card that he (Pete Foster) committed suicide and asks who else will die to “protect the secret no one is looking for”. Eli knows Pete’s files have been accessed so he knows someone is looking into it.
- The term…”Poped”. Cyrus’s sweet assistant (whose name escapes me) realizes Olivia’s people are quicker than he is, and he’s so afraid to tell Cyrus (and. Word.), and he shrieks, we got Poped. I love that, and it will surely make it into my business lexicon in the near future.
- Huck told Harrison and Abby about Quinn’s newest appetite (Harrison: drill baby, drill), and she’s basically grounded from helping them. Huck really is trying to help her, but this fool buys a gun while she’s out in Montana. And please, Shonda, I beg you…bring her back.
- Abby and David are back together, but she’s having a hard time. Turns out, David invited her to the White House Correspondent’s Dinner and she stands him up because her husband is there. We know her husband abused her, but I’m not sure if we’ve seen him yet. Maybe it’s Leo???
Huck is giving Jake details of the meeting between Fitz and Eli when a Suburban rolls up and tells him to get into the car. Jake thinks he’s being kidnapped by command (making me wonder why he didn’t run like hell), but actually he’s escorted to the White House’s basketball court (seriously? There’s an outdoor court there?). Fitz admits he wanted to get into Jake’s head by having him kidnapped, and says everyone takes it easy on him and doesn’t expect this game to be easy.
And cut. I readily admit right here, my comments are not at all objective. I love basketball. I love to watch basketball. And Tony Goldwyn and Scott Foley look like they can ball a bit. So it’s kinda gratuitous, but I don’t care. And Jake’s crossover dribble made me forget, just a bit, that I am all about Fitz. The point of this game, after a few hard fouls – was that the President is OTHERWORLDLY pissed off that he sent him to protect Olivia and he instead shakes the sheets. Jake ain’t talking about Olivia. Period, and that doesn’t set well with POTUS. Olivia could do worse – these are some pretty pretty boys fighting over her.
And speaking of Olivia – she watches the phone. This is so…normal. She’s waiting for the president to call on “their” phone, and when the phone rings she’s so hopeful, but no, it’s her other phone. It’s Cyrus calling looking for dirt on Phoebe, and gives her enough information to know the gladiators are not alone in Montana. In a snit, she throws the phone in the trash can, after Jake (rightly) points out that waiting for “the secret Fitz phone” to ring is so beneath her. You can tell from her face she’s not leaving the phone in the trash, but she wants to. She so wants to – but when it rings, in the trash, she answers, and it’s Fitz. I wanted to think about how this was a crucial scene showing how they enable each other, but then. The conversation that takes place is so honest, so ordinary, so mundane, and so electric because the whispers of two people in love tend to be electric. He admits to her that he’s afraid of the correspondence dinner, because he’s ashamed of his image. She helps him by vetting his jokes, and her ability to help him thru it despite his failings is why he loves her. It’s the type of conversation that should NOT be heard by your wife. And watching Mellie overhear this conversation is why I just can’t help but root for her character.
Which makes it all the more heartbreaking when, during the correspondence dinner, Mellie uses the “secret Fitz phone” to get Olivia to a hotel room to BEG her to run Fitz’ campaign. Because he is “her guy”. Because she knows Leo was right and that the only person that brings a spark to Fitz’ eye and makes him presidential is Olivia Pope. They wisely cut this scene with montages of Fitz’ speech where he’s killing it – it’s clear he needs Olivia. Mellie [and girl! What happened to your hair?] breaks my heart, admitting that Fitz isn’t alive when she’s not around, that he can’t breathe, “because she’s everything to him.” And wow. I got nothing.
Harrison calls Live back to the office, where Phoebe is waiting to offer her the job back. She turns it down (over Harrison’s ‘dafuq’ expression. Remember. He knows they have a mortgage), and leaves him standing there. And for you Jake fans, she goes to the office after Jake leaves her at the correspondent’s dinner, telling her, he “won’t be second, not even to the president”. And Yowsa. BUT BUT BUT! (and there’s always a BUT BUT BUT!, isn’t there?) Huck has continued to put the pieces of the puzzle together on the flight that never was. It would seem, according to Huck (who tells Jake this after breaking into his house, and really? Have these people heard of doorbells), that the big secret is Fitz shot a commercial plane out of the sky. A commercial plane carrying Maya Lewis, who was still using her maiden name. Her married name is Pope. JaHuck interrupt Liv’s reminiscing about her days as “banged Olivia” (election rigging not withstanding)to deliver this very disturbing turn of events – that quite possibly the President caused the death of her mom.
And…credits.
There’s more to this story and we will not find out next week. I’m convinced the previews are filled with red herrings. So, in my mind, Remington remains a mystery. Because why would Eli want this covered up? Did he not realize his wife was on the plane? And what else was on this commercial airline? There’s more questions than answers! I can’t stand it!
Until next week!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Thursday, October 31, 2013
Get Low
Gladiators!
My 9-5 is kicking my ass, so I fell asleep on my favorite broken people. This is a situation that needs to be addressed. Stay with me while I get my blogging rhythm back.
Jake has healed from the sleeping, bandaged mess he was last week, and seems to making himself at home in Liv’s beautiful apartment. But it’s time for him to go, says Liv. She wonders if he’ll be safe from Command, he wonders if Fitz knows her father is command, and she’s all…nah, my Dad is okay. Crazy assassin maybe, but mostly fine. Again, only on Scandal can a crazy assassin be “mostly fine”. Jake, understandably pissed off that he’s been in a box and tortured for God only knows how long, wants to band together to take down her father and she’s all… ”Nah Cuz, that dude is too powerful even for my fixing”. We see a lot of uncharacteristic fear in Liv’s eyes this episode, saying that her father is way too powerful, noting that he got Huck to fall of the wagon. Jake leaves, and Liv gets a call from Hamilton (who, so far, has been powerfully UNDERUTILIZED this season. C’mon Shonda! We are waiting for that backstory!), who says the bills will be paid because they landed a new client. It’s kind of refreshing that ShondaGirl hasn’t forgotten that the firm was basically involved in a huge scandal this year and their client based had dried up.
Quinn continues to lean on my nerves (I’m being generous here. She’s plucking every single one of my nerves). She follows HUCK (and seriously? Trail the assassin?) to a heartbreaking AA meeting where he admits that he’s had a drink (killed) again, and he loved it. Huck calls Quinn out for following her, saying friends don’t follow friends. Then later, in a painfully accurate exchange, he tells Quinn she’s not worried, she’s curious, and for her own sake, he wants her to stop being curious. One of the reasons Huck is such a wonderfully complex character is that he’s one of the few in the Scandal-verse who truly gets how broken he is. He doesn’t want anyone to be like him. Jake foolishly tries to sneak up on HUCK THE ASSASSIN. Huck lets him live thru this exchange, which, not surprisingly, happens at gunpoint. Turns out, Jake wants Huck’s help to bring down command, and is met with his second “is you crazy” expression of the episode.
The Scandal of the Week has been ripped from the headlines. A senator has been texting his junk and is on trial for the recipient’s murder (okay, so only the beginning has been ripped from the headlines. Shout out to my main freak Anthony Weiner!). Abby gets off an early line of the night – “a perving sexting pervy perv” – he’s sending the texts, but this girl turns up dead, and that’s a problem. OPA has some morality issues accepting this case, but the lights gotta stay on, and even gladiators have mortgages. The senator (played by none other than Professor Laskey from Saved by the Bell, the College Years. Don’t judge me.) insists while he has this bad habit of putting his phone in his pants, he’s not really a killer. His wife (played by Melora Harding who was Albert Ingall’s love interest on Little House on the Prairie. Okay, judge me now.) will be his alibi – she was home with him the entire night. He assures the Gladiators that he’s put this all behind him. Even his wife says they’ve been through marriage counseling and he’s all better and he deserves a second chance after this one mistake. And those were lovely “famous last words”.
I must say, part of why I enjoyed this episode so much is that we spend a lot of time with this trial, and in the courtroom, which means…DAVID ROSEN. Apparently, he and Abby have been spending time together and are slowly working their way back to each other. And after a lot of back and forth, by the end of the episode, they appear to be back together. And. Aw….Anyway, the courtroom scenes do a fantastic job of showing just how pervalicious the good Senator is, and it appears this guy is headed to jail. The jurors are giving him the “you are all guilty” stink-eye. To help the Senator, the gladiators need to “slut shame the dead girl”. And ouch. This case just gets dirtier and dirtier (and funnier and funnier to me). They do too good of a job painting her as…ahem…someone who enjoys the company of wealthy men. But then! ANOTHER woman comes forward to prove, in fact, that he’s not quite over his sexting. In fact, he has been doing it during the trial (personal shout out AGAIN to Anthony Weiner! And a life lesson to everyone – please, let your freak flag fly, but discretion really is the better part of valor. Camera phones will be the downfall of our society. You read it here.) But in the end, his disgusted wife still provides the alibi – she admits that she can’t stand him and his dirty ways, and that he’s ruined her marriage, but since he’s on trial for being a murderer, and not a pig, and he was home with her, they have to acquit. This works and he’s acquitted…but but BUT!! Turns out, she was lying. She wasn’t home – she was out MURDERING the girl. Yes – turns out Senator McSextingPants was her alibi. And wow. I can’t help but think this wouldn’t have happened if she’d stayed with Albert Ingalls.
Meanwhile, my girl Mellie ALSO has a very uncharacteristic blunder – talking trash about the constituents who are supporting Josephine Marcus - and since I hear Lisa Kudrow has joined Scandal in a multi-episode arc, we will be referring to her as Phoebe. Mellie says something really hurtful about trailer trash and a push up bra. It was completely snobby and hysterical, and lands her in hot water with the public, and especially Cyrus. He reminds her of the rules of politics – apparently the first rule is “the mic is always on”. Despite her apology, Mellie helps Phoebe become a real contender in politics. Cyrus calls it “minting her ass”, and sends his adorable new assistant off to help find some dirt. Cyrus is letting Mellie have it pretty good when Fitz comes to her aid, and shows her compassion that knocks her so off kilter it pisses her off. And I get that. Don’t be treating me like gum on your shoe and then surprise me by being kind. That would piss me off too. And I’m kinda looking forward to more of this story.
Presidential Fitz is clearly my favorite Fitz, as when GSSG is giving him the details of Pete Foster’s less than stellar life and the plans for this final resting place [a pine box], he “pulls a few strings” to get him buried at Arlington National Cemetery. And. I cannot continue here with anything snarky because Arlington National Cemetery is what it is, and this entire scene was incredibly moving.
When Cyrus gets wind that the President is being all independent and making his own decisions by burying Pete Foster at ANC, this does not sit well with him and he goes to see Eli. I can safely say now that I am loving Joe Morton in this role – he tears up every scene he’s in. He’s a great villain, with no discernible Achilles’ Heel. Cy and Eli’s conversation are being (somewhat poorly) monitored by Jake (who clearly, doesn’t work for NSA), and he takes his concerns to Liv. And again, he’s shot down. Why this guy just doesn’t leave the country – disavowed assassin, tossed aside by his lady love bug, given the look of death by Huck – really REALLY bad week – is beyond me. [side note, he goes to Olivia when she’s watching the horrible press on herself…and again, nice touch of realism of how your career can just go to sh!t in the blink of an eye]. Jake gives us a little insight into Remington – as best I can tell – it involves a flight that has not been recorded anywhere in the US Military. Maybe it’s the flight that was scheduled to take PFC William Santiago away from Gitmo. Sorry. Not focused. Liv tells Jake to take his files and his conspiracies and leave.
But he’s not giving up that easily. The next time he shows up at her apartment, he has Huck in tow, who has either recorded this conversation as well, or gotten the recording from Jake. Pete Foster, I *think* has been killed because he had an original flight plan, and the flight number tattooed on his body. This is FAR too confusing for me right now. But I know something is indeed rotten in the state of Denmark.
Jake and Huck implore Olivia to see what they are seeing, and she’s caught between her loyalty to these two, her fear of B6-13 and what they can do to these two men, and what I think is her love for her Daddy. She’s understandably confused. My heart goes out to Olivia, who has been thru a lot lately, and she just can't seem to land on terra firms. She admits to Jake that she’s scared, and he promises her he’s not going anywhere. They lean in, and it’s a slow, hot kiss and Jake fans all over the world swoon. But then her phone rings, and she answers.
"Mr. President”.
"Why so formal?”
"What can I do for you?”
"Do for me? Does everything in this town have to be transactional, even with us?”
And my heart that has Fitz tattooed on it starts beating wildly. These two have more chemistry on the PHONE than most, because my answer would not have been one that would have been airable even on a 10:00 show! Jake stops short on marking his territory by peeing on Olivia, but instead offers a “more wine, Olivia”, so that a) Fitz knows that he’s still in the picture, and b) Olivia knows he’s not afraid of Fitz knowing. Fitz’ beautifully tortured face crumbles, and understanding he has no right to keep her from her life, hangs up. He goes back to the secret bunker with crazy flattering fluorescent lighting, gets all “Presidential Hot” as he’s flanked by Tom and Hal and goes into an office...ELI’S office. And says, "this is a reunion. One that is long overdue."
Annnnd…credits.
I have so many questions! Does Fitz know this is his boo’s father? What will Cy do when he finds Fitz being independent again? And why was Fitz holding Mellie’s hand? More importantly, with OPA being in financial ruin, will Olivia resort to Boone’s Farm? Tell me your thoughts!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
My 9-5 is kicking my ass, so I fell asleep on my favorite broken people. This is a situation that needs to be addressed. Stay with me while I get my blogging rhythm back.
Jake has healed from the sleeping, bandaged mess he was last week, and seems to making himself at home in Liv’s beautiful apartment. But it’s time for him to go, says Liv. She wonders if he’ll be safe from Command, he wonders if Fitz knows her father is command, and she’s all…nah, my Dad is okay. Crazy assassin maybe, but mostly fine. Again, only on Scandal can a crazy assassin be “mostly fine”. Jake, understandably pissed off that he’s been in a box and tortured for God only knows how long, wants to band together to take down her father and she’s all… ”Nah Cuz, that dude is too powerful even for my fixing”. We see a lot of uncharacteristic fear in Liv’s eyes this episode, saying that her father is way too powerful, noting that he got Huck to fall of the wagon. Jake leaves, and Liv gets a call from Hamilton (who, so far, has been powerfully UNDERUTILIZED this season. C’mon Shonda! We are waiting for that backstory!), who says the bills will be paid because they landed a new client. It’s kind of refreshing that ShondaGirl hasn’t forgotten that the firm was basically involved in a huge scandal this year and their client based had dried up.
Quinn continues to lean on my nerves (I’m being generous here. She’s plucking every single one of my nerves). She follows HUCK (and seriously? Trail the assassin?) to a heartbreaking AA meeting where he admits that he’s had a drink (killed) again, and he loved it. Huck calls Quinn out for following her, saying friends don’t follow friends. Then later, in a painfully accurate exchange, he tells Quinn she’s not worried, she’s curious, and for her own sake, he wants her to stop being curious. One of the reasons Huck is such a wonderfully complex character is that he’s one of the few in the Scandal-verse who truly gets how broken he is. He doesn’t want anyone to be like him. Jake foolishly tries to sneak up on HUCK THE ASSASSIN. Huck lets him live thru this exchange, which, not surprisingly, happens at gunpoint. Turns out, Jake wants Huck’s help to bring down command, and is met with his second “is you crazy” expression of the episode.
The Scandal of the Week has been ripped from the headlines. A senator has been texting his junk and is on trial for the recipient’s murder (okay, so only the beginning has been ripped from the headlines. Shout out to my main freak Anthony Weiner!). Abby gets off an early line of the night – “a perving sexting pervy perv” – he’s sending the texts, but this girl turns up dead, and that’s a problem. OPA has some morality issues accepting this case, but the lights gotta stay on, and even gladiators have mortgages. The senator (played by none other than Professor Laskey from Saved by the Bell, the College Years. Don’t judge me.) insists while he has this bad habit of putting his phone in his pants, he’s not really a killer. His wife (played by Melora Harding who was Albert Ingall’s love interest on Little House on the Prairie. Okay, judge me now.) will be his alibi – she was home with him the entire night. He assures the Gladiators that he’s put this all behind him. Even his wife says they’ve been through marriage counseling and he’s all better and he deserves a second chance after this one mistake. And those were lovely “famous last words”.
I must say, part of why I enjoyed this episode so much is that we spend a lot of time with this trial, and in the courtroom, which means…DAVID ROSEN. Apparently, he and Abby have been spending time together and are slowly working their way back to each other. And after a lot of back and forth, by the end of the episode, they appear to be back together. And. Aw….Anyway, the courtroom scenes do a fantastic job of showing just how pervalicious the good Senator is, and it appears this guy is headed to jail. The jurors are giving him the “you are all guilty” stink-eye. To help the Senator, the gladiators need to “slut shame the dead girl”. And ouch. This case just gets dirtier and dirtier (and funnier and funnier to me). They do too good of a job painting her as…ahem…someone who enjoys the company of wealthy men. But then! ANOTHER woman comes forward to prove, in fact, that he’s not quite over his sexting. In fact, he has been doing it during the trial (personal shout out AGAIN to Anthony Weiner! And a life lesson to everyone – please, let your freak flag fly, but discretion really is the better part of valor. Camera phones will be the downfall of our society. You read it here.) But in the end, his disgusted wife still provides the alibi – she admits that she can’t stand him and his dirty ways, and that he’s ruined her marriage, but since he’s on trial for being a murderer, and not a pig, and he was home with her, they have to acquit. This works and he’s acquitted…but but BUT!! Turns out, she was lying. She wasn’t home – she was out MURDERING the girl. Yes – turns out Senator McSextingPants was her alibi. And wow. I can’t help but think this wouldn’t have happened if she’d stayed with Albert Ingalls.
Meanwhile, my girl Mellie ALSO has a very uncharacteristic blunder – talking trash about the constituents who are supporting Josephine Marcus - and since I hear Lisa Kudrow has joined Scandal in a multi-episode arc, we will be referring to her as Phoebe. Mellie says something really hurtful about trailer trash and a push up bra. It was completely snobby and hysterical, and lands her in hot water with the public, and especially Cyrus. He reminds her of the rules of politics – apparently the first rule is “the mic is always on”. Despite her apology, Mellie helps Phoebe become a real contender in politics. Cyrus calls it “minting her ass”, and sends his adorable new assistant off to help find some dirt. Cyrus is letting Mellie have it pretty good when Fitz comes to her aid, and shows her compassion that knocks her so off kilter it pisses her off. And I get that. Don’t be treating me like gum on your shoe and then surprise me by being kind. That would piss me off too. And I’m kinda looking forward to more of this story.
Presidential Fitz is clearly my favorite Fitz, as when GSSG is giving him the details of Pete Foster’s less than stellar life and the plans for this final resting place [a pine box], he “pulls a few strings” to get him buried at Arlington National Cemetery. And. I cannot continue here with anything snarky because Arlington National Cemetery is what it is, and this entire scene was incredibly moving.
When Cyrus gets wind that the President is being all independent and making his own decisions by burying Pete Foster at ANC, this does not sit well with him and he goes to see Eli. I can safely say now that I am loving Joe Morton in this role – he tears up every scene he’s in. He’s a great villain, with no discernible Achilles’ Heel. Cy and Eli’s conversation are being (somewhat poorly) monitored by Jake (who clearly, doesn’t work for NSA), and he takes his concerns to Liv. And again, he’s shot down. Why this guy just doesn’t leave the country – disavowed assassin, tossed aside by his lady love bug, given the look of death by Huck – really REALLY bad week – is beyond me. [side note, he goes to Olivia when she’s watching the horrible press on herself…and again, nice touch of realism of how your career can just go to sh!t in the blink of an eye]. Jake gives us a little insight into Remington – as best I can tell – it involves a flight that has not been recorded anywhere in the US Military. Maybe it’s the flight that was scheduled to take PFC William Santiago away from Gitmo. Sorry. Not focused. Liv tells Jake to take his files and his conspiracies and leave.
But he’s not giving up that easily. The next time he shows up at her apartment, he has Huck in tow, who has either recorded this conversation as well, or gotten the recording from Jake. Pete Foster, I *think* has been killed because he had an original flight plan, and the flight number tattooed on his body. This is FAR too confusing for me right now. But I know something is indeed rotten in the state of Denmark.
Jake and Huck implore Olivia to see what they are seeing, and she’s caught between her loyalty to these two, her fear of B6-13 and what they can do to these two men, and what I think is her love for her Daddy. She’s understandably confused. My heart goes out to Olivia, who has been thru a lot lately, and she just can't seem to land on terra firms. She admits to Jake that she’s scared, and he promises her he’s not going anywhere. They lean in, and it’s a slow, hot kiss and Jake fans all over the world swoon. But then her phone rings, and she answers.
"Mr. President”.
"Why so formal?”
"What can I do for you?”
"Do for me? Does everything in this town have to be transactional, even with us?”
And my heart that has Fitz tattooed on it starts beating wildly. These two have more chemistry on the PHONE than most, because my answer would not have been one that would have been airable even on a 10:00 show! Jake stops short on marking his territory by peeing on Olivia, but instead offers a “more wine, Olivia”, so that a) Fitz knows that he’s still in the picture, and b) Olivia knows he’s not afraid of Fitz knowing. Fitz’ beautifully tortured face crumbles, and understanding he has no right to keep her from her life, hangs up. He goes back to the secret bunker with crazy flattering fluorescent lighting, gets all “Presidential Hot” as he’s flanked by Tom and Hal and goes into an office...ELI’S office. And says, "this is a reunion. One that is long overdue."
Annnnd…credits.
I have so many questions! Does Fitz know this is his boo’s father? What will Cy do when he finds Fitz being independent again? And why was Fitz holding Mellie’s hand? More importantly, with OPA being in financial ruin, will Olivia resort to Boone’s Farm? Tell me your thoughts!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Papa, Can You Hear Me?
Hello Gladiators!!
Okay...so, this week, apparently we are getting some of Olivia's backstory. Banged Olivia (this refers to her hair when they do flashbacks, and not any sort of mattress mambo) says hey to Huck in the subway on her way to her weekly dinner with Dad. Looks like Joe Morton is going to be a regular. I'm a fan of Joe Morton. My feelings on Eli Pope? I'll get back to you.
Apparently, Liv has made a deal with Dad - I'll break bread with you weekly in exchange for paying off law school for me. And he bought this. Apparently, Liv is still a little hurt she got shipped off to boarding school after her mom died. And while I get that, let me just say this type of emotional bribery wouldn't have gotten me 5 dollars from my folks, let alone school loans repaid. Dad, after another dinner of silence and curt nodding, throws the bullish!t card and says...I ain't gonna keep feeding you and paying off your loans for nothing. This seems to work, as Olivia starts talking to him. Turns out, she's living with Edison Davis, who she calls after dinner and admits her father is actually trying. She gets mugged in the subway and Huck goes all assassin and beats the almighty shit out of those guys. It's clear he didn't learn to fight at school, or even in a bar. He's a professional, something that is not lost on Liv.
Present day, Olivia is running in the park when Tom, GSSG (Good Secret Service Guy) slips her a cell phone kinda the same way we were taught to hand off the baton in the relay race in fifth grade. Of course, it's Fitz, who says they can't come clean with their affair. Olivia agrees, saying it'll look like he will pull down his pants for anyone. [and about that? Fitz is lucky. He still hasn't been re-elected, and he's already got 2 sex scandals. Who's advising this guy?] He goes on to tell her the mundane details of his day. Only when you're the president, 'mundane' means he shot hoops with the Dali Lama (who has a great jump shot). Anyway, she's the one who he wants to share these details with, and he says in another world he's a mayor guy from Vermont, and they have four kids...and Olivia makes jam. I'm just telling you what she said. Somehow I don't see her making jam. Anyhoo, it's all sweet, and it's a conversation had by two people in love, where the mundane details strung together create great moments together. Olivia tells her she's representing Jeanine Locke, and says she won't hold back. He tells her he doesn't expect her to, as they both know she's innocent. And these two want the truth to come out. And again...Fitz? Keep your eye on reelection, Hotness.
Cut to the White House, where Cy is looking all over for Jeanine Locke in that frenzied way that makes everyone think Cy is about to have another heart attack. Mellie is freaking out that she's gone, and Eli, whitley's ex and Liv's Dad, is wondering why Cy hasn't run with this gift wrapped fix if Jeanine Locke. Cy tells him he gets it and to basically get off the phone so he can do his job [Eli tries to threaten him. Cy: "you know sometimes people just say good bye'. And. Ha.] He then finds Jeanine, outside the White House with Eli's daughter, Olivia Pope. Olivia is basically all...these anonymous sources say they president has slept with everyone from me to this innocent girl...and what, just what? She's giving them hell. Fitz looks admiringly at the tv and says to Cy...what did you expect from Olivia?
Flashback - Olivia sees Huck on her way to dinner and wonders how he learned to do he commando sh!t that served her so well last week. After a lousy lie, he tells her the truth, that he's an ex-assassin from B6-13, and when they threw him out, they kept his life. She asks if there's anything he needs and he wonders if they could eat at a hamburger joint. Sunday night's dinner is at Olivia's dad's house and they begin to genuinely bond over a home cooked meal and good wine. Eli asks why she's friends with the homeless guy and asks that she not tell her about muggings in email anymore. Olivia makes a crucial (but she doesn't know) error by telling her dad Huck's story, and he makes her seem like it's crazy. And - Eli is a great assassin because basically his cover is blown, and he barely lifts an eyebrow.
Back at the White House, Cy tells Fitz to 'grow some presidential sized balls' and admit to the affair that didn't happen. Mellie is all...Mellie, but with lower hair and she continues to rock the jewel tones that are the rage this season. Fitz is all...BTFU - I'm the president. I call the shots. Which. Hookay. He really doesn't, bless his heart, but he lambasts Mel and Cy for throwing Jeanine under the bus. He tells them they will deny this affair and then apologize, and leaves the room with an ominous 'try me'. Proving how little they listen, they go on with their plan to keep Jeannine the lover du jour, and Mellie offers up all the times she wasn't in the White House and they can match those dates to find when Jeannine and the president did the humpty hump. Jeanine, back at OPA, cries she was never alone with the president. She (Jeanine) tells Huck he can access the IMs on the White House server to prove she's right. Liv and Huck are walking into the OPA conference room to find the other gladiators schmoozing with none other than Eli Pope. They are surprised that he lives in DC and they've never met. He extends his hand warmly and introduces himself to Huck, who seems to have never met him, even though, as we learned in the heartbreaking episode '752' last season, Huck just met his assassin-boss.
Back in the day, Banged Olivia notices Huck is gone from union station and asks her dad if she ever followed up and he's all...nah! girl I told you, that was some crazy sh!t dude told you. He goes on to say the guy was arrested and was schizophrenic. Olivia keeps pushing and finally the mask starts to drop when he tells her, in no uncertain terms, to drop it.
In one of the coolest scenes in the history of TV, Olivia and her dad have this serious as hell conversation in her glass office with smiles on their faces, but it's anything but friendly. Daddy-O is all...you need to let the public believe it was Jeanine and she's all...nah. Daddy goes Colonel Jessup again, and reminds her that Jake Ballard's well being is basically in her hands. We find out Olivia has been checking the morgue whenever a dark haired John Doe shows up there. And. Ew. She asks Huck about B6-13, and he tells her that they break you, and when that doesn't work, the make you wish you were dead. She calls GSSG, her new conduit to Fitz (which works for me. I like Tom). She asks him to get Jake out of harm's way and Fitz is all...'save the guy who I got to watch you get down with...dafuq?" And...LOL! Boys can be petty.
Banged Olivia is not satisfied with Dad's story, or she's genuinely concerned about Huck, so she goes to see a DA referred by her professor friend and it's David Rosen!! Turns out, Huck wasn't arrested at all, David says his prints aren't in the system and someone lied to her. Olivia recalls Huck telling her B6-13 was fronted by a store called Acme, near Wonderland, welcome to wonderland, and she gets in her Volvo and drives to Acme, which is at the corner of wonderland and something or other and she realizes the pen her dad gave her is from the Acme Limited and BAM! Olivia now knows her Dad is badass. But for real. He's bad. She goes to Sunday dinner and calls him out, afraid to hear the answer. Caught dead to rights, and confronted by his tearful daughter, Eli tells her 'you don't want to know me that way, but if you push you will and that will break my heart'. And damn. Don't we all only want to show the best parts of ourselves to our kids. But you know, they are watching everything you do and even what you don't show because student loans are one thing, but your dad being an assassin is another and she rolls out.
Now - we get a glimpse of baby Huck, AKA Quinn, who has hacked into Liv's email and wonders what happened between Liv and her dad that dinners stopped so abruptly. And damn, it's going to take me the better part of the season to forgive Quinn for what goes down after this. Huck tells her to be less like him, and oh. How I wish she'd listened.
Fitz wants info on B6-13 and goes to Cy, where we learn that B6-13 does not answer to the executive branch and it's set up that way for the president's own good, so basically, I can't tell you jack. Fitz tries to go all presidential right now, and Cy is like...don't play the Commander in Chief card because they don't give a sh!t and really, leave them be because they can bring shade on the president the likes of which he's never seen. Fitz isn't sure he believes him, but it sounds scary enough. On the other side of town, Olivia is all in fixer mode with Jeanine, who has a breakdown that her life and career are ruined because 'one single person whispered my name'. Jeanine says she knows the president had an affair - everyone knew - but they didn't know who it was. Liv, feeling lower than whale poop promises to get her thru this, because she knows this is, somewhat, her fault. Olivia promised to get her thru this, but doesn't count on an end run from Mellie, who offers Jeannine a kabillion dollars to skip town and just be the mistress.
Banged Olivia returns to her dad for Sunday dinner with Edison Davis as her fiancé. Edison has been appointed to some committee that makes sure the government behaves [do we still have one of them? And if so, what the hell are they doing right now?] Edison goes off to open the fine wine and Liv begs her dad to give Huck back.
Present day, Olivia realizes someone at the White House got to Jeanine and she's about to admit everything, and Liv, realizing that it's either Jeanine or Jake, shows some uncharacteristic panic. She calls the president and he's all...I know he's alive, but B6-13 is like the petulant child over which I have no control, so sorry. She's like...what? You're the president...make it happen, and he hangs up, so she calls her pops, who's all...you can save him, but it's up to you. She offers back Sunday dinners for Jake. She even tries to tell Jeanine that she can't lie about this, and she (Jeanine) plays dumb, but then admits she sold her soul for $2M, and Liv gives one of her speeches that gives you some insight into how high her (Liv's) therapy bills must be.
But wait! Jeanine is preempted by the president. The president tells Cy he's playing let's make a deal...he's going into his press conference and he will either say Cy orchestrated the cover up and that he had an affair with Olivia, the truth he wants to tell anyway, knowing full well this will get them both kicked out of the White House. Behind curtain #2, he says he will cop to the affair, and Cy will get B6-13 to release Jake Ballard. Cy sputters about how he doesn't have control and Fitz is all...it's one or the other, your choice. He ends his speech with 'how presidential are my balls now, Cy?' And. Check. Mate. And I love him.
Banged Olivia gets Huck back in Union Station. And she also gets a call from her Dad saying she needs to let Edison down gently, especially since he's in the hospital after an 'accident'. And ooh. Dark and twisty and I only caught this the second time I watched. Incidentally, this is about where we've met Huck in the past. Because soon after this, we get Huck at the White House and Olivia inviting him to live with her.
Present day - Fitz admits to the affair and the VEEP calls him on lying and he tells her he had Jeanine '6 ways to Sunday all over this White House, and after some soul searching on all of our parts, I believe my constituents will forgive me.' And damn. I feel really conflicted that this man is giving Justin Timberlake a run for my affections.
...and here's why I am not speaking to Quinn, she kept digging and she points out that Liv and her dad had to be discussing Huck in the emails right before they stopped, and Huck flashes back to the only lie (I think) Liv ever told Huck - that she didn't make a deal for Huck. In the garage, Huck confronts Liv about it and when she denies it, he takes her into a choke hold, and loses it a bit, until she admits that her father is command. He walks off and Liv's and my heart break, a little.
Her father calls her that night, and she tells him to go to hell. He says open the door. She opens the door to a severely dehydrated and hurt Jake. Dad says dinner on Sunday is on.
So who saved Jake? Liv, or Cy? Hard to tell...but I'm not speaking to Quinn. And can Jake be trusted? This season is on fire already.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Okay...so, this week, apparently we are getting some of Olivia's backstory. Banged Olivia (this refers to her hair when they do flashbacks, and not any sort of mattress mambo) says hey to Huck in the subway on her way to her weekly dinner with Dad. Looks like Joe Morton is going to be a regular. I'm a fan of Joe Morton. My feelings on Eli Pope? I'll get back to you.
Apparently, Liv has made a deal with Dad - I'll break bread with you weekly in exchange for paying off law school for me. And he bought this. Apparently, Liv is still a little hurt she got shipped off to boarding school after her mom died. And while I get that, let me just say this type of emotional bribery wouldn't have gotten me 5 dollars from my folks, let alone school loans repaid. Dad, after another dinner of silence and curt nodding, throws the bullish!t card and says...I ain't gonna keep feeding you and paying off your loans for nothing. This seems to work, as Olivia starts talking to him. Turns out, she's living with Edison Davis, who she calls after dinner and admits her father is actually trying. She gets mugged in the subway and Huck goes all assassin and beats the almighty shit out of those guys. It's clear he didn't learn to fight at school, or even in a bar. He's a professional, something that is not lost on Liv.
Present day, Olivia is running in the park when Tom, GSSG (Good Secret Service Guy) slips her a cell phone kinda the same way we were taught to hand off the baton in the relay race in fifth grade. Of course, it's Fitz, who says they can't come clean with their affair. Olivia agrees, saying it'll look like he will pull down his pants for anyone. [and about that? Fitz is lucky. He still hasn't been re-elected, and he's already got 2 sex scandals. Who's advising this guy?] He goes on to tell her the mundane details of his day. Only when you're the president, 'mundane' means he shot hoops with the Dali Lama (who has a great jump shot). Anyway, she's the one who he wants to share these details with, and he says in another world he's a mayor guy from Vermont, and they have four kids...and Olivia makes jam. I'm just telling you what she said. Somehow I don't see her making jam. Anyhoo, it's all sweet, and it's a conversation had by two people in love, where the mundane details strung together create great moments together. Olivia tells her she's representing Jeanine Locke, and says she won't hold back. He tells her he doesn't expect her to, as they both know she's innocent. And these two want the truth to come out. And again...Fitz? Keep your eye on reelection, Hotness.
Cut to the White House, where Cy is looking all over for Jeanine Locke in that frenzied way that makes everyone think Cy is about to have another heart attack. Mellie is freaking out that she's gone, and Eli, whitley's ex and Liv's Dad, is wondering why Cy hasn't run with this gift wrapped fix if Jeanine Locke. Cy tells him he gets it and to basically get off the phone so he can do his job [Eli tries to threaten him. Cy: "you know sometimes people just say good bye'. And. Ha.] He then finds Jeanine, outside the White House with Eli's daughter, Olivia Pope. Olivia is basically all...these anonymous sources say they president has slept with everyone from me to this innocent girl...and what, just what? She's giving them hell. Fitz looks admiringly at the tv and says to Cy...what did you expect from Olivia?
Flashback - Olivia sees Huck on her way to dinner and wonders how he learned to do he commando sh!t that served her so well last week. After a lousy lie, he tells her the truth, that he's an ex-assassin from B6-13, and when they threw him out, they kept his life. She asks if there's anything he needs and he wonders if they could eat at a hamburger joint. Sunday night's dinner is at Olivia's dad's house and they begin to genuinely bond over a home cooked meal and good wine. Eli asks why she's friends with the homeless guy and asks that she not tell her about muggings in email anymore. Olivia makes a crucial (but she doesn't know) error by telling her dad Huck's story, and he makes her seem like it's crazy. And - Eli is a great assassin because basically his cover is blown, and he barely lifts an eyebrow.
Back at the White House, Cy tells Fitz to 'grow some presidential sized balls' and admit to the affair that didn't happen. Mellie is all...Mellie, but with lower hair and she continues to rock the jewel tones that are the rage this season. Fitz is all...BTFU - I'm the president. I call the shots. Which. Hookay. He really doesn't, bless his heart, but he lambasts Mel and Cy for throwing Jeanine under the bus. He tells them they will deny this affair and then apologize, and leaves the room with an ominous 'try me'. Proving how little they listen, they go on with their plan to keep Jeannine the lover du jour, and Mellie offers up all the times she wasn't in the White House and they can match those dates to find when Jeannine and the president did the humpty hump. Jeanine, back at OPA, cries she was never alone with the president. She (Jeanine) tells Huck he can access the IMs on the White House server to prove she's right. Liv and Huck are walking into the OPA conference room to find the other gladiators schmoozing with none other than Eli Pope. They are surprised that he lives in DC and they've never met. He extends his hand warmly and introduces himself to Huck, who seems to have never met him, even though, as we learned in the heartbreaking episode '752' last season, Huck just met his assassin-boss.
Back in the day, Banged Olivia notices Huck is gone from union station and asks her dad if she ever followed up and he's all...nah! girl I told you, that was some crazy sh!t dude told you. He goes on to say the guy was arrested and was schizophrenic. Olivia keeps pushing and finally the mask starts to drop when he tells her, in no uncertain terms, to drop it.
In one of the coolest scenes in the history of TV, Olivia and her dad have this serious as hell conversation in her glass office with smiles on their faces, but it's anything but friendly. Daddy-O is all...you need to let the public believe it was Jeanine and she's all...nah. Daddy goes Colonel Jessup again, and reminds her that Jake Ballard's well being is basically in her hands. We find out Olivia has been checking the morgue whenever a dark haired John Doe shows up there. And. Ew. She asks Huck about B6-13, and he tells her that they break you, and when that doesn't work, the make you wish you were dead. She calls GSSG, her new conduit to Fitz (which works for me. I like Tom). She asks him to get Jake out of harm's way and Fitz is all...'save the guy who I got to watch you get down with...dafuq?" And...LOL! Boys can be petty.
Banged Olivia is not satisfied with Dad's story, or she's genuinely concerned about Huck, so she goes to see a DA referred by her professor friend and it's David Rosen!! Turns out, Huck wasn't arrested at all, David says his prints aren't in the system and someone lied to her. Olivia recalls Huck telling her B6-13 was fronted by a store called Acme, near Wonderland, welcome to wonderland, and she gets in her Volvo and drives to Acme, which is at the corner of wonderland and something or other and she realizes the pen her dad gave her is from the Acme Limited and BAM! Olivia now knows her Dad is badass. But for real. He's bad. She goes to Sunday dinner and calls him out, afraid to hear the answer. Caught dead to rights, and confronted by his tearful daughter, Eli tells her 'you don't want to know me that way, but if you push you will and that will break my heart'. And damn. Don't we all only want to show the best parts of ourselves to our kids. But you know, they are watching everything you do and even what you don't show because student loans are one thing, but your dad being an assassin is another and she rolls out.
Now - we get a glimpse of baby Huck, AKA Quinn, who has hacked into Liv's email and wonders what happened between Liv and her dad that dinners stopped so abruptly. And damn, it's going to take me the better part of the season to forgive Quinn for what goes down after this. Huck tells her to be less like him, and oh. How I wish she'd listened.
Fitz wants info on B6-13 and goes to Cy, where we learn that B6-13 does not answer to the executive branch and it's set up that way for the president's own good, so basically, I can't tell you jack. Fitz tries to go all presidential right now, and Cy is like...don't play the Commander in Chief card because they don't give a sh!t and really, leave them be because they can bring shade on the president the likes of which he's never seen. Fitz isn't sure he believes him, but it sounds scary enough. On the other side of town, Olivia is all in fixer mode with Jeanine, who has a breakdown that her life and career are ruined because 'one single person whispered my name'. Jeanine says she knows the president had an affair - everyone knew - but they didn't know who it was. Liv, feeling lower than whale poop promises to get her thru this, because she knows this is, somewhat, her fault. Olivia promised to get her thru this, but doesn't count on an end run from Mellie, who offers Jeannine a kabillion dollars to skip town and just be the mistress.
Banged Olivia returns to her dad for Sunday dinner with Edison Davis as her fiancé. Edison has been appointed to some committee that makes sure the government behaves [do we still have one of them? And if so, what the hell are they doing right now?] Edison goes off to open the fine wine and Liv begs her dad to give Huck back.
Present day, Olivia realizes someone at the White House got to Jeanine and she's about to admit everything, and Liv, realizing that it's either Jeanine or Jake, shows some uncharacteristic panic. She calls the president and he's all...I know he's alive, but B6-13 is like the petulant child over which I have no control, so sorry. She's like...what? You're the president...make it happen, and he hangs up, so she calls her pops, who's all...you can save him, but it's up to you. She offers back Sunday dinners for Jake. She even tries to tell Jeanine that she can't lie about this, and she (Jeanine) plays dumb, but then admits she sold her soul for $2M, and Liv gives one of her speeches that gives you some insight into how high her (Liv's) therapy bills must be.
But wait! Jeanine is preempted by the president. The president tells Cy he's playing let's make a deal...he's going into his press conference and he will either say Cy orchestrated the cover up and that he had an affair with Olivia, the truth he wants to tell anyway, knowing full well this will get them both kicked out of the White House. Behind curtain #2, he says he will cop to the affair, and Cy will get B6-13 to release Jake Ballard. Cy sputters about how he doesn't have control and Fitz is all...it's one or the other, your choice. He ends his speech with 'how presidential are my balls now, Cy?' And. Check. Mate. And I love him.
Banged Olivia gets Huck back in Union Station. And she also gets a call from her Dad saying she needs to let Edison down gently, especially since he's in the hospital after an 'accident'. And ooh. Dark and twisty and I only caught this the second time I watched. Incidentally, this is about where we've met Huck in the past. Because soon after this, we get Huck at the White House and Olivia inviting him to live with her.
Present day - Fitz admits to the affair and the VEEP calls him on lying and he tells her he had Jeanine '6 ways to Sunday all over this White House, and after some soul searching on all of our parts, I believe my constituents will forgive me.' And damn. I feel really conflicted that this man is giving Justin Timberlake a run for my affections.
...and here's why I am not speaking to Quinn, she kept digging and she points out that Liv and her dad had to be discussing Huck in the emails right before they stopped, and Huck flashes back to the only lie (I think) Liv ever told Huck - that she didn't make a deal for Huck. In the garage, Huck confronts Liv about it and when she denies it, he takes her into a choke hold, and loses it a bit, until she admits that her father is command. He walks off and Liv's and my heart break, a little.
Her father calls her that night, and she tells him to go to hell. He says open the door. She opens the door to a severely dehydrated and hurt Jake. Dad says dinner on Sunday is on.
So who saved Jake? Liv, or Cy? Hard to tell...but I'm not speaking to Quinn. And can Jake be trusted? This season is on fire already.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
As We Lay
Hello Gladiators!!
Was I the only one who drank in the recap episode like it was the best. Margarita. Ever? It was like my long lost friends came back to town...and they did NOT disappoint.
Okay, so in the finale last season, Fitz chose Olivia and they shook all sorts of sheets. I believe he referred to some superpower...and it was indeed. But. All hell is breaking loose in GladiatorLand. Mellie has outed the president's affair, and she is coming off the RAILS that the president has just tossed her to the wind. Fitz has dared her to fight it, telling her exactly how it's going to go down and their relationship will slake a real debate on race. And really, Fitz. Your wife is cray. Stopping poking that bear. Anyway, she's threatening to lose her mind, Defiance (you know, that tiny town that threw the presidency) is getting known by just too many people (side note: my boss always says the only secrets that are kept are the ones you tell God. And. Word.) Anyhoo, the latest person to find out is the governor who lost the primary to Fitz. And of course, wanting to come clean just doesn't happen in Washington, he wants to be on the ticket. However, if Defiance comes out, we have no president in peril, so it turns out David Rosen really wasn't working with Billy Chambers - he dupes him into getting the card back and uses it to get his job back with the US Attorney's Office. And because I love David, it's not despicable.
Cyrus, trying to keep all do these crazy assed people in order, has a heart attack. Olivia is, uncharacteristically, still clinging to the hope that she and Fitz will finally be together, even after Cyrus telling Fitz about her getting busy with Jake, as well as Fitz going Carl Bruener on Justice Thorton. I told you, he SAID it was a superpower. But - Olivia takes one more opportunity to save Fitz...to tell him everyone has a clean slate and he needs to go, get reelected, and be the president she knows he can be. She kisses him goodbye and this is the end of Fitz and Liv. Santa Claus and the Easter bunny see her out because yeah...that's how real it was.
By the end, it is all too neat. Cue the happy montage of everyone getting their life together and getting back to normal. Olivia leaves her fab apartment to go jogging and is immediately met with reporters asking if it's true about her and the president. She's whisked into a limousine where Park Bench Guy, aka Rowan, aka Byron the jilted senator from A Different World, is waiting. She looks at him, incredulous, and says "Dad". End scene.
Okay. That was 3 paragraphs worth of one of the best finales last season. Hulu, Netflix, on demand. Go watch it if you didn't.
The premiere opened up right where last season left off. She's in the limousine giving her dad the stink eye, and he remarks that she hasn't said a word in 22 minutes and why couldn't she have been like that as a child. And ha. Rowan delivers Olivia to a plane hanger where he spells out the plan for getting her out of this, but not before delivering a speech that is laced with the special type of vitriol parents save for their adult children who have royally. Shat. The. Bed. In his mind, falling for the president was not only dangerous, it was stupid and beneath her, calling her aspirations of being FIRST LADY mediocre. And. Damn. I always thought that was a cool job to have but everyone on this show scoffs at it. Eh well...still get to go to lots of great parties. Anyway. Rowan's tirade was hurtful, stinging, and brilliant. Remember how I said last season Shonda 'busta' Rimes, never leans on the racism angle, but gets it right all the time? I don't know any one of my minority friends who hasn't gotten the twice-as-better-half-as-much speech. Granted, mine was about scholarships and jobs and not sleeping with the leader of the free world, but you get my point. For them to NOT touch on race, especially given Fitz is a conservative in super political buttoned up Washington, would be too disingenuous. Anyhoo...my friend Parrish says that Rowan getting dumped by Whitley Gilbert all those years ago seems to have turned him into a douche. And. Word.
Meanwhile, back at the White House, Cy is all about the damage control. He wants the VP to take the meetings and, in a really funny exchange, she says no. She tells him she's doing the Lord's work, and he tells her The Lord doesn't vote. And. Ha. She goes in to tell him to, essentially, stop picking on her, that she never says anything about his Godless homosexuality and the brown baby they bought into the fold. And ha ha. [those two have the best exchanges. He never explains to her just how effed up her thinking is, and she's convinced she's got The Lord on her side. Who doesn't vote.] Eventually the president and the Vice President bond over scotch because...that sh!t burns going down and you'll agree to anything to stop drinking it.
Meanwhile, Olivia gets on the plane with her tail between her legs, and calls to say good bye to Cyrus. Cy begs Olivia to get off the plane (rightly) telling her that if she disappears the president will think he ordered her killed. She tells him he's a monster and he says...but I'm your monster. And...aw. So Olivia remembers that she is OLIVIA POPE and gets off the plane, demanding the driver take her to her office. Obviously, because Pope and Associates is run by Olivia pope, she is met by throngs of press and is escorted to the office by Huck. The gladiators are all gathered around doing their usual...aw hell [side note! Damn Abby! You look good, girl] when Olivia walks in and says lets get to work, and they are all 'dafuq. Have you WATCHED the news'? Well, Olivia hasn't, but all of her clients have, because they are all...'girl. Wow. Sorry about your luck. Let me hand you over to Uncle Click.' [seriously. You know you played that game.] Olivia is learning, sadly, that you're only as good in DC as your last scandal. Olivia has stayed, I reckon, pretty scandal free, but damn she's landed in the mother of scandals.
Frustrated, Olivia calls Daddy-O, asking where Jake is. (Jake, at the end of season 2, was tossed in a hole for disobeying an order.) Rowan makes it clear that orders are just that in his business and not to be disobeyed. Actually, he goes all Colonel Jessup and tells Olivia that without him, the nation would be a big mess. Rowan repeats the White House will throw her to the wolves, explaining what Olivia already knows. This isn't about the president. It's about the power and they both know the president has none. He tells her she's out of options and she tells him...ah...no.
And she's really not because she has a secret code with a secret password, and suddenly, there's a dozen limos leaving her garage in all different directions. And I gotta tell you. Olivia has done some cool sh!t on this show, but that was cool. I very much want a code like that.
Of course a code and limos can only be delivering her to the President. In a bunker, somewhere where he gives her hell for pulling the trigger on the secret code, and that using it was for an emergency. And hello? If this isn't an emergency, what is? Because clearly, them playing loosely goosey has gotten them in trouble because there's now video of Fitz leaving Olivia's apartment. (Those damned secret service men. I don't expect the bad one (Hal) to help, but Tom? Tom should have seen that camera.) Anyhoo, clearly Olivia needs to fix this, and who should show up, but Mellie. And underneath that Steel Magnolias hair, Mellie is just gorgeous. She refers to Olivia as a whore one too many times, and Olivia is like...hold up. And here's the thing. Mellie knows she's not a whore. And because she knows, she's not okay with them handling this scandal by telling the truth, because then she knows the public will know this just wasn't an affair - she carefully details all of her humiliation - knowing he went to her inauguration night, calling out Olivia's name when he was shot (by Justice Verna's assassin), things that make it quite clear that she knows this is more than an affair, and when Fitz tells her she knows he's in love with her, my heart broke a little, just as Mellie's face crumbles. Olivia, realizing, she owes Mellie this pound of flesh, asks what story she feels comfortable telling. They decide on some of the truth [it is DC afterall] and Mellie stomps off. And they are alone...and he wants to know how she's doing. She's clearly not fine and he takes his jacket off and holds her for about 5 seconds. And the way she melts into him, without a word, is exactly why Mellie called her a whore about 50 times. And why Olivia didn't care. And damn...Tony Goldwyn. I love you.
But there is still the tiny matter of Olivia's career circling the drain, and who exactly told on Olivia. We find it's leaked in the WaPo Style section...and that it's by a columnist who hangs with the secret service guys, so of course I think it's Hal. But it's not! It's Tom! The one I thought understood what secret meant. But he knows what secret means. He does this on behalf of the PRESIDENT. Dafuq?
Mellie has figured this out, because she's a bored First Lady with a lot of time on her hands, and for real...? Quit dissing that job! And she calls Fitz romantic and idiotic. But he goes all Carl Bruner on her and tells her he did it to set Olivia free from Mellie. They have declared war on each other...and that seems like a jolly set up to the season.
But but but!! Just as they are about to come clean, just as Cyrus is using his kill folder on Olivia Pope (which isn't a literal kill folder, but kill your reputation), the gladiators, who confirm they are gladiators, and not bitches, leak to the press snippets of the Vice Presidents chief of staff saying how doable Fitz is [and girl. Holla.] The press runs with it and concedes the public owes Olivia Pope an apology. So everyone is happy. Everyone except Fitz and Olivia. Olivia takes her on as a client because she knows they are using her. She also knows that there but for the grace of God goes her, and Olivia wears a white hat, don't you know.
Turns out, Rowan has legitimate concerns about his daughter. He has Cy kidnapped from his home and a sleeping James and is delivered to B6-13, where he shows Cy a file from Fitz' days with Jake in theatre, and Cyrus says "oh my God". And for an admitted monster like Cyrus to be taken aback, you know we are on the roller coaster for season 3!
Welcome back Gladiators!!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Was I the only one who drank in the recap episode like it was the best. Margarita. Ever? It was like my long lost friends came back to town...and they did NOT disappoint.
Okay, so in the finale last season, Fitz chose Olivia and they shook all sorts of sheets. I believe he referred to some superpower...and it was indeed. But. All hell is breaking loose in GladiatorLand. Mellie has outed the president's affair, and she is coming off the RAILS that the president has just tossed her to the wind. Fitz has dared her to fight it, telling her exactly how it's going to go down and their relationship will slake a real debate on race. And really, Fitz. Your wife is cray. Stopping poking that bear. Anyway, she's threatening to lose her mind, Defiance (you know, that tiny town that threw the presidency) is getting known by just too many people (side note: my boss always says the only secrets that are kept are the ones you tell God. And. Word.) Anyhoo, the latest person to find out is the governor who lost the primary to Fitz. And of course, wanting to come clean just doesn't happen in Washington, he wants to be on the ticket. However, if Defiance comes out, we have no president in peril, so it turns out David Rosen really wasn't working with Billy Chambers - he dupes him into getting the card back and uses it to get his job back with the US Attorney's Office. And because I love David, it's not despicable.
Cyrus, trying to keep all do these crazy assed people in order, has a heart attack. Olivia is, uncharacteristically, still clinging to the hope that she and Fitz will finally be together, even after Cyrus telling Fitz about her getting busy with Jake, as well as Fitz going Carl Bruener on Justice Thorton. I told you, he SAID it was a superpower. But - Olivia takes one more opportunity to save Fitz...to tell him everyone has a clean slate and he needs to go, get reelected, and be the president she knows he can be. She kisses him goodbye and this is the end of Fitz and Liv. Santa Claus and the Easter bunny see her out because yeah...that's how real it was.
By the end, it is all too neat. Cue the happy montage of everyone getting their life together and getting back to normal. Olivia leaves her fab apartment to go jogging and is immediately met with reporters asking if it's true about her and the president. She's whisked into a limousine where Park Bench Guy, aka Rowan, aka Byron the jilted senator from A Different World, is waiting. She looks at him, incredulous, and says "Dad". End scene.
Okay. That was 3 paragraphs worth of one of the best finales last season. Hulu, Netflix, on demand. Go watch it if you didn't.
The premiere opened up right where last season left off. She's in the limousine giving her dad the stink eye, and he remarks that she hasn't said a word in 22 minutes and why couldn't she have been like that as a child. And ha. Rowan delivers Olivia to a plane hanger where he spells out the plan for getting her out of this, but not before delivering a speech that is laced with the special type of vitriol parents save for their adult children who have royally. Shat. The. Bed. In his mind, falling for the president was not only dangerous, it was stupid and beneath her, calling her aspirations of being FIRST LADY mediocre. And. Damn. I always thought that was a cool job to have but everyone on this show scoffs at it. Eh well...still get to go to lots of great parties. Anyway. Rowan's tirade was hurtful, stinging, and brilliant. Remember how I said last season Shonda 'busta' Rimes, never leans on the racism angle, but gets it right all the time? I don't know any one of my minority friends who hasn't gotten the twice-as-better-half-as-much speech. Granted, mine was about scholarships and jobs and not sleeping with the leader of the free world, but you get my point. For them to NOT touch on race, especially given Fitz is a conservative in super political buttoned up Washington, would be too disingenuous. Anyhoo...my friend Parrish says that Rowan getting dumped by Whitley Gilbert all those years ago seems to have turned him into a douche. And. Word.
Meanwhile, back at the White House, Cy is all about the damage control. He wants the VP to take the meetings and, in a really funny exchange, she says no. She tells him she's doing the Lord's work, and he tells her The Lord doesn't vote. And. Ha. She goes in to tell him to, essentially, stop picking on her, that she never says anything about his Godless homosexuality and the brown baby they bought into the fold. And ha ha. [those two have the best exchanges. He never explains to her just how effed up her thinking is, and she's convinced she's got The Lord on her side. Who doesn't vote.] Eventually the president and the Vice President bond over scotch because...that sh!t burns going down and you'll agree to anything to stop drinking it.
Meanwhile, Olivia gets on the plane with her tail between her legs, and calls to say good bye to Cyrus. Cy begs Olivia to get off the plane (rightly) telling her that if she disappears the president will think he ordered her killed. She tells him he's a monster and he says...but I'm your monster. And...aw. So Olivia remembers that she is OLIVIA POPE and gets off the plane, demanding the driver take her to her office. Obviously, because Pope and Associates is run by Olivia pope, she is met by throngs of press and is escorted to the office by Huck. The gladiators are all gathered around doing their usual...aw hell [side note! Damn Abby! You look good, girl] when Olivia walks in and says lets get to work, and they are all 'dafuq. Have you WATCHED the news'? Well, Olivia hasn't, but all of her clients have, because they are all...'girl. Wow. Sorry about your luck. Let me hand you over to Uncle Click.' [seriously. You know you played that game.] Olivia is learning, sadly, that you're only as good in DC as your last scandal. Olivia has stayed, I reckon, pretty scandal free, but damn she's landed in the mother of scandals.
Frustrated, Olivia calls Daddy-O, asking where Jake is. (Jake, at the end of season 2, was tossed in a hole for disobeying an order.) Rowan makes it clear that orders are just that in his business and not to be disobeyed. Actually, he goes all Colonel Jessup and tells Olivia that without him, the nation would be a big mess. Rowan repeats the White House will throw her to the wolves, explaining what Olivia already knows. This isn't about the president. It's about the power and they both know the president has none. He tells her she's out of options and she tells him...ah...no.
And she's really not because she has a secret code with a secret password, and suddenly, there's a dozen limos leaving her garage in all different directions. And I gotta tell you. Olivia has done some cool sh!t on this show, but that was cool. I very much want a code like that.
Of course a code and limos can only be delivering her to the President. In a bunker, somewhere where he gives her hell for pulling the trigger on the secret code, and that using it was for an emergency. And hello? If this isn't an emergency, what is? Because clearly, them playing loosely goosey has gotten them in trouble because there's now video of Fitz leaving Olivia's apartment. (Those damned secret service men. I don't expect the bad one (Hal) to help, but Tom? Tom should have seen that camera.) Anyhoo, clearly Olivia needs to fix this, and who should show up, but Mellie. And underneath that Steel Magnolias hair, Mellie is just gorgeous. She refers to Olivia as a whore one too many times, and Olivia is like...hold up. And here's the thing. Mellie knows she's not a whore. And because she knows, she's not okay with them handling this scandal by telling the truth, because then she knows the public will know this just wasn't an affair - she carefully details all of her humiliation - knowing he went to her inauguration night, calling out Olivia's name when he was shot (by Justice Verna's assassin), things that make it quite clear that she knows this is more than an affair, and when Fitz tells her she knows he's in love with her, my heart broke a little, just as Mellie's face crumbles. Olivia, realizing, she owes Mellie this pound of flesh, asks what story she feels comfortable telling. They decide on some of the truth [it is DC afterall] and Mellie stomps off. And they are alone...and he wants to know how she's doing. She's clearly not fine and he takes his jacket off and holds her for about 5 seconds. And the way she melts into him, without a word, is exactly why Mellie called her a whore about 50 times. And why Olivia didn't care. And damn...Tony Goldwyn. I love you.
But there is still the tiny matter of Olivia's career circling the drain, and who exactly told on Olivia. We find it's leaked in the WaPo Style section...and that it's by a columnist who hangs with the secret service guys, so of course I think it's Hal. But it's not! It's Tom! The one I thought understood what secret meant. But he knows what secret means. He does this on behalf of the PRESIDENT. Dafuq?
Mellie has figured this out, because she's a bored First Lady with a lot of time on her hands, and for real...? Quit dissing that job! And she calls Fitz romantic and idiotic. But he goes all Carl Bruner on her and tells her he did it to set Olivia free from Mellie. They have declared war on each other...and that seems like a jolly set up to the season.
But but but!! Just as they are about to come clean, just as Cyrus is using his kill folder on Olivia Pope (which isn't a literal kill folder, but kill your reputation), the gladiators, who confirm they are gladiators, and not bitches, leak to the press snippets of the Vice Presidents chief of staff saying how doable Fitz is [and girl. Holla.] The press runs with it and concedes the public owes Olivia Pope an apology. So everyone is happy. Everyone except Fitz and Olivia. Olivia takes her on as a client because she knows they are using her. She also knows that there but for the grace of God goes her, and Olivia wears a white hat, don't you know.
Turns out, Rowan has legitimate concerns about his daughter. He has Cy kidnapped from his home and a sleeping James and is delivered to B6-13, where he shows Cy a file from Fitz' days with Jake in theatre, and Cyrus says "oh my God". And for an admitted monster like Cyrus to be taken aback, you know we are on the roller coaster for season 3!
Welcome back Gladiators!!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Friday, May 10, 2013
Who's Zooming Who?
Okay, so, anyone who has been within 100 feet of me over the past month knows that I have become obsessed with Scandal. Like "willing-to-stay-up-til-11-on-a-school-night obsessed". Like "Finally-forgiven-Tony-Goldwyn-for-killing-Patrick-Swayze-20-years-ago" obsessed. Shonda Rimes is a gifted writer, we saw that on Grey's before Grey's got old. And if you watch Scandal, you realize that Grey's is old. Cyrus Beene is now getting all of Miranda Bailey's monologues.
So what is this Scandal all about, you say? What has half of America rooting for an illicit affair, you wonder? And, if you think you can't possibly catch up before next week's finale - take heart. Scandal was a mid season replacement last year, and only ran for 7 episodes. This season was a full 22-episode order. That means there's 28 episodes in the books. We can catch up on 28 episodes. Scandal makes me love TV again. TV is my first love, and AI (my last blogging passion) has let me down so horribly (Nicky Minaj and Mariah Carey? Show killers. Even Randy Jackson finally sees the stink on this show and is leaving his chair next year). But I digress. If I tried to go into great detail on the first 28 episodes, I'd likely be sitting here typing until the season finale, but I'm going to give you a detailed set up and the highlights..how's that?
The show opens with Quinn Perkins joining Olivia Pope and Associates (Gladiators in Suits) as a new lawyer. I always think of lawyer firms that have associates as being big companies, but Olivia Pope and Associates is but a team of 6, including Quinn.
- Olivia (Kerry Washington of the beautiful cheekbones and odd mouth. I read somewhere that she's the first black woman in history to be the lead on a tv show. But that can't be right - in my limited mind - Nell Carter comes to mind from Gimme a Break, and Esther Rolle from Good Times. Maybe they meant drama. Whatev) Olivia Pope is a fixer - she tells us she's good, and she must be, as she can call anyone for a favor, and walks on and off the white house grounds like she's Sasha or Malia - without SS detail. Olivia's wardrobe is to KILL for. And it fits her nicely as I've never seen her actually eat. But she loves her wine. And her staff. And the President (oh how she loves the president). She talks fast, takes NO BULLSHIT (except from the President, but I think that's allowed), and she's lonely.
- Harrison Wright - a lawyer by trade. While we don't know his backstory, we know he's on parole and that he was in jail for 3 days. And whatever happened in those three days, it was real, because he has no desire to go back, despite realizing he operates in a very gray area of the law. No two ways about it, Harrison is fine, and I do wonder why it is that Olivia never looks at him, realizes that he's adorable, and goes off to make little Gladiator babies with him.
- Abby Whelan - snarky snarky liberal lawyer who was rescued from an abusive husband. Completely broke her radar on men, but more about that in a bit. Abby is quite bitchy from time to time, and she's the Greek Chorus of the show, because sometimes Olivia will tell them to do something and from my couch I'm like...dafuq? Abby is usually the one that is all...yeah, you're our girl, but is you crazy?
- Huck (no last name required) - The one person, perhaps on the show whose moral compass isn't on tilt. But he's a reformed assassin. Sorta. And he goes to AA. But he doesn't drink. He's addicted to the high from killing people. But you know you can't say something like that in AA because even though everyone is trained to not judge, someone saying "I like torturing and killing people" will elicit at least a raised eyebrow and a "Jesus" from someone. Oh - also, Huck has this Rain Man like thing happening where he can hack into a computer just about anywhere. So he's an assassin and he's brilliant with a computer. And he's a victim of PTSD so from time to time, he stops bathing. So just when you think you may want to date him, you're all...nah.
- Stephen Finch - adorable man-whore from the first season who went off to be normal in season 2, so he's not important.
Anyhoo, Quinn Perkins joins as the 6th Gladiator in the first episode. What Olivia Pope and Associates does by 'fixing' is save people's asses. Regularly. Saving a decorated war hero from a bogus murder charge (they think he killed his girlfriend; in fact, he's gay). Fixing it so that a revered bishop who dies in the arms of his lover is remembered for his work with the Lord, and not in the hotel), an airline pilot who is blamed for a plane crash, a business woman who is going to lose her job on a morals charge. OPA is constantly either spinning or preventing scandals, which is why they have the loyal support of practically everyone in Washington. Saving a kidnapped kid (who actually kidnapped herself). Helping the wife of a foreign official stay in the US with her children..it goes on. When there's a side story, it's almost always wrapped up in an episode, like Perry Mason.
But the scandals they have not fixed, the scandals at the heart of the series, and (in my opinion) for what the show is named, are the scandals that involve these very people. Folks, these people are a MESS. I'm gonna give you the highlights in order, even though much of Scandal is told in flashback. In fact, the show opens in the 2nd Year of the President's term, but we actually met these people on the campaign trail. Anyhow, the reason Quinn is in Washington is because she was on the run, accused of setting off a bomb in an office building that killed 7 people. She's hiding in a hotel and the next thing she knows she's been drugged and wakes up in DC overlooking the Mall, with a passport and id that say Quinn Perkins (and NOT Lindsey Dwyer, her real name), and a lot of money on the bedside table. So you know who ever did this is connected, and not just because she woke up in what could, from the view, be the Hotel Washington. That place ain't cheap. Quinn, who is a lawyer and is smart, obviously knows something is fishy, but her choice is basically working with her hero Olivia (it's never quite explained why she worships Olivia) and going back to face charges of killing people. It's a no brainer and she suits up. She spends a lot of time watching and looking and wondering how and the hell Olivia is going to make payroll seeing as I've never seen a client PAY.
Obviously, if you've caught any channel 7 snippet about this show, you know one of the two main scandals is the fact that the President of the United States, Fitzgerald T. Grant (played brilliantly, painfully, by Tony Goldwyn) is in love with Olivia. Not just had an affair on the campaign trail, but is in love, wants to leave his southern bred lass First Lady for, in love with Olivia. And here's where I think you get some of Shonda's best writing -- ever. As tortured as it was with Derek and Meredith, Derek never had as much to lose. Fitz literally has the weight of the free world on his shoulders, and the words he utters as he realizes he has this dream life that he worked so hard for and doesn't want it, are heartbreaking.
The other main scandal on the show is that President Grant is the President because of a teeny tiny election rigging that went on in a teeny tiny town of Defiance, Ohio. You see, Hollis Doyle owns Cytron, the company who made these new machines. In his employ was Jesse, a computer geek who figured out how you could rig the machines. He was paid handsomely by Hollis, fixed that one machine in Defiance, and (figurative) BOOM! Inauguration balls for Fitz, and his wife, Mellie. There was also some hot lovin' in the Oval office the first night, not with Mellie. We figure out very quickly which Secret Service agent was truly loyal, because on a run, he's all "Mr. President, I understand that you want to get your swerve on, but maybe not in the Oval Office where there are cameras". We also figure out the other Secret Service detail is loyal to Mellie, because every time he's asked, while he doesn't say it outright, he ALWAYS gives it away, and seriously? Dude! The first word in your job title is SECRET. Learn!
Back to Jesse, when he realized what a killing Hollis made, he got greedy and demanded more. Hollis has never let anything like morals get in his way and next thing you know, (literal) BOOM! in the cytron building, where Quinn has been framed. Turns out, Quinn has been bought to Washington by Huck and Olivia because OLIVIA was in on the election rigging. The dirty half-dozen-minus-one that came up with this idea:
Hollis Doyle - this man loves power and the idea of getting free reign in the white house is too attractive. Plus, Hollis loves money. Because money gives him power. And it does not set well with him when the stolen white house wants to...ahem, do good things and serve the people.
Verna Thorton - I don't know what she did before the election, but after the election she is sworn in a supreme court justice. You don't have to remember her, as she's dead now. But you'll probably want to remember that, on her death bed, she was killed (or euthanized; after all, she was terminal) by Fitz. Yup. After Verna tells him about the election rigging, and breaks his heart, the president goes all Carl Bruner (Ghost) and takes off her oxygen mask. Incidentally, the US District Attorney, David Rosen, was waiting outside her hospital room to take her statement where she fully planned to confess to election rigging to clear her conscience before she died.
Mellie Grant - The first lady is bad ass in her own right. She's smart, she's cool, she's calculating. And for her, being FLOTUS is her ticket into the white house, but that's not all she wants to do. She understands that being the First Lady is a business, and when her fake miscarriage didn't swing voters, she figured a little election rigging was in order. Mellie's fatal flaw is that she actually does love the brooding Fitz. Not that wants him, but she's spent a lot of time creating this president, and like any badASS, she ain't giving him up without a fight.
Cyrus Beene - In my opinion, Cyrus is one of the most complex, interesting characters to show up on television in a long time. He is devoted to the president. The white house is his first love, his life, but since he knew he'd never be president (too ugly. too gay. his words, not mine), he has "settled" for sitting at the right hand of the power. Cyrus loves his country, always refers to it as "this great nation", and understands that sometimes the American people have to be guided to the right decision. Cyrus isn't really bound by any sort of moral or ethical law, or real law, as in these last 28 episodes, he's had the president's mistress killed, almost killed his husband, and yes, election rigging. Last night, he told the Good Secret Service guy (after the GSSG told him he wouldn't let Jesus in the door) that he shouldn't confuse him with Jesus. "Jesus is good. Jesus saves. I destroy." Cyrus is a monster. And yet, he's SO human. I can't help but love him. He also has the number of an assassin on speed dial (Charlie, not Huck).
David Rosen is the US DA, in the beginning, but he loses his job in a spectacular meltdown. In the first season he accidentally stumbles onto the election rigging and, aided by James Novak, Cyrus' husband who also happens to work in the Press Corps at the white house, along with Gideon, a reporter who is close to cracking the truth even though he thinks what he's following is the President's affair. We learn from flashbacks that in the very beginning of the Grant Administration, Olivia's conscience gets the best of her when she discovers Mellie knows about their affair. She quits. Fitz, rather than choosing his wife as the transitional woman, has a one-hour stand with Amanda Tanner. But it turns out that Amanda has been set up to sleep with the president...turns out she's pregnant by Billy Chambers, Vice President Sally Langston's chief of staff. Billy Chambers orchestrates the affair to discredit Fitz because apparently to be a chief of staff, you have to be loyal to the point of obsessed. Billy Chambers (and I'm not sure why, but for me, it's always Billy Chambers. Not Billy) wanted to bring Fitz down before the election, but by the time he got the evidence to Sally, she had already conceded in the primaries and agreed to be Fitz' running mate. Sally is a crazy-right wing religious fanatic republican, and pretty much hates Fitz for being soft on gays, and on religion, and you know, being a republican in name only. The first season ends rather spectacularly when Billy, who is full on bat shit crazy kills Gideon the reporter who's figured it out, and then, during a WH press conference, says - I'm heartbroken because my girlfriend Amanda died, and she was cheating on me with the president (and about that? I'm thinking no one cheats on you with the president. I'm thinking you're the fool who's with the girl who's with the president). That is enough to end a normal administration, but not the Grant Administration, as he (Fitz) pretty much orders VP Sally Langston to disown him. Which she does and last we see of Billy (until last night), he's in the elevator with Charlie, Cyrus' assassin. Despite all this, David takes the case to the grand jury, only for his case to implode when James lies on the stand and the case falls apart. After losing this case and Quinn's murder case (which Olivia fixed to get her off), he's pretty much fired because really...two cases? He leaves the US Attorney's office and goes to work as a teacher. It's a pretty sad fall - even Harrison notes of his new business cards "I didn't know they made cardstock this thin".
BUT IT'S NOT THE END OF BILLY CHAMBERS OR DAVID ROSEN. Turns out, there's been a mole (the Albatross) in the administration basically f**king up and making Fitz look like a moron. And it's Billy. And he's been assisted by none other than David Rosen. Revenge is serious on this show. Nobody forgets anything.
Only on scandal is the president's attempted assassination (during his birthday party) a side point. It was orchestrated by dead Verna to make sure the Defiance election rigging story never got out. But he survived only to kill her. There's some ironic justice in there.
Oh - and Jake. Captain Jake Ballard, maybe he's good, maybe he's bad, and he's played by the lovable Scott Foley. He has also shook the sheets with Olivia, and it was in his best interest for that to remain secret. But then it turned out, Charlie the Cyrus Assassin had taped this, and he's now turned this over to Joe Morton, Park Bench Guy, Man Scorned by Whitley Gilbert. PBG, we know is the head of the assassin unit of the government that has employed, at times, Huck, Charlie, and Jake, but we still don't know just how he fits in. There's a train of thought that he's Olivia's father. I don't know, but I know that next week's season finale is a finale that's worthy of a party.
I don't want to muddy already muddled waters with names that we may or may not see next Thursday, but there's also Edison Davis, the Senator Majority leader who was in love with Liv, proposed to Liv, and was rejected by Liv. He annoyed me. He also promised Liv he was done. Let's hope so.
So there you have it, enough of 28 episodes to really enjoy next week. But you should watch all 28 anyway (some of them I've watched twice. Don't judge me). This show, while soapy and funny, and campy, is more addictive than hot McDonald's French fries. And I think it's additive because you can't really say that none of this would never happen. This show thrives on ambiguity: the only black and white are on suits here. We live in interesting times, and where I think at one point we wanted to believe Washington was like the West Wing, it's probably more like Scandal (save the euthanized supreme court justice. Let's hope that would never happen). The writing on this show is so nuanced, so dead on, that even though they've never filmed an episode here, and there are a lot of scenes that take place in a park that is probably supposed to be McPherson Square but looks nothing like it, this show GETS it. The underground racism that is never spoken but it's there. It's there when one of Olivia's clients assumes the lovely red-headed Abby is the powerful Olivia. It's there in Cyrus' frank discussion with Fitz that Olivia's hue will never play well with his constituents. Olivia is successful and rich and lovely, but she's lonely. People who get married are "normal", and that's not good. The show never leans on any one thing, but neither does it flinch, and it's brilliant.
Until next week, Friends!
So what is this Scandal all about, you say? What has half of America rooting for an illicit affair, you wonder? And, if you think you can't possibly catch up before next week's finale - take heart. Scandal was a mid season replacement last year, and only ran for 7 episodes. This season was a full 22-episode order. That means there's 28 episodes in the books. We can catch up on 28 episodes. Scandal makes me love TV again. TV is my first love, and AI (my last blogging passion) has let me down so horribly (Nicky Minaj and Mariah Carey? Show killers. Even Randy Jackson finally sees the stink on this show and is leaving his chair next year). But I digress. If I tried to go into great detail on the first 28 episodes, I'd likely be sitting here typing until the season finale, but I'm going to give you a detailed set up and the highlights..how's that?
The show opens with Quinn Perkins joining Olivia Pope and Associates (Gladiators in Suits) as a new lawyer. I always think of lawyer firms that have associates as being big companies, but Olivia Pope and Associates is but a team of 6, including Quinn.
- Olivia (Kerry Washington of the beautiful cheekbones and odd mouth. I read somewhere that she's the first black woman in history to be the lead on a tv show. But that can't be right - in my limited mind - Nell Carter comes to mind from Gimme a Break, and Esther Rolle from Good Times. Maybe they meant drama. Whatev) Olivia Pope is a fixer - she tells us she's good, and she must be, as she can call anyone for a favor, and walks on and off the white house grounds like she's Sasha or Malia - without SS detail. Olivia's wardrobe is to KILL for. And it fits her nicely as I've never seen her actually eat. But she loves her wine. And her staff. And the President (oh how she loves the president). She talks fast, takes NO BULLSHIT (except from the President, but I think that's allowed), and she's lonely.
- Harrison Wright - a lawyer by trade. While we don't know his backstory, we know he's on parole and that he was in jail for 3 days. And whatever happened in those three days, it was real, because he has no desire to go back, despite realizing he operates in a very gray area of the law. No two ways about it, Harrison is fine, and I do wonder why it is that Olivia never looks at him, realizes that he's adorable, and goes off to make little Gladiator babies with him.
- Abby Whelan - snarky snarky liberal lawyer who was rescued from an abusive husband. Completely broke her radar on men, but more about that in a bit. Abby is quite bitchy from time to time, and she's the Greek Chorus of the show, because sometimes Olivia will tell them to do something and from my couch I'm like...dafuq? Abby is usually the one that is all...yeah, you're our girl, but is you crazy?
- Huck (no last name required) - The one person, perhaps on the show whose moral compass isn't on tilt. But he's a reformed assassin. Sorta. And he goes to AA. But he doesn't drink. He's addicted to the high from killing people. But you know you can't say something like that in AA because even though everyone is trained to not judge, someone saying "I like torturing and killing people" will elicit at least a raised eyebrow and a "Jesus" from someone. Oh - also, Huck has this Rain Man like thing happening where he can hack into a computer just about anywhere. So he's an assassin and he's brilliant with a computer. And he's a victim of PTSD so from time to time, he stops bathing. So just when you think you may want to date him, you're all...nah.
- Stephen Finch - adorable man-whore from the first season who went off to be normal in season 2, so he's not important.
Anyhoo, Quinn Perkins joins as the 6th Gladiator in the first episode. What Olivia Pope and Associates does by 'fixing' is save people's asses. Regularly. Saving a decorated war hero from a bogus murder charge (they think he killed his girlfriend; in fact, he's gay). Fixing it so that a revered bishop who dies in the arms of his lover is remembered for his work with the Lord, and not in the hotel), an airline pilot who is blamed for a plane crash, a business woman who is going to lose her job on a morals charge. OPA is constantly either spinning or preventing scandals, which is why they have the loyal support of practically everyone in Washington. Saving a kidnapped kid (who actually kidnapped herself). Helping the wife of a foreign official stay in the US with her children..it goes on. When there's a side story, it's almost always wrapped up in an episode, like Perry Mason.
But the scandals they have not fixed, the scandals at the heart of the series, and (in my opinion) for what the show is named, are the scandals that involve these very people. Folks, these people are a MESS. I'm gonna give you the highlights in order, even though much of Scandal is told in flashback. In fact, the show opens in the 2nd Year of the President's term, but we actually met these people on the campaign trail. Anyhow, the reason Quinn is in Washington is because she was on the run, accused of setting off a bomb in an office building that killed 7 people. She's hiding in a hotel and the next thing she knows she's been drugged and wakes up in DC overlooking the Mall, with a passport and id that say Quinn Perkins (and NOT Lindsey Dwyer, her real name), and a lot of money on the bedside table. So you know who ever did this is connected, and not just because she woke up in what could, from the view, be the Hotel Washington. That place ain't cheap. Quinn, who is a lawyer and is smart, obviously knows something is fishy, but her choice is basically working with her hero Olivia (it's never quite explained why she worships Olivia) and going back to face charges of killing people. It's a no brainer and she suits up. She spends a lot of time watching and looking and wondering how and the hell Olivia is going to make payroll seeing as I've never seen a client PAY.
Obviously, if you've caught any channel 7 snippet about this show, you know one of the two main scandals is the fact that the President of the United States, Fitzgerald T. Grant (played brilliantly, painfully, by Tony Goldwyn) is in love with Olivia. Not just had an affair on the campaign trail, but is in love, wants to leave his southern bred lass First Lady for, in love with Olivia. And here's where I think you get some of Shonda's best writing -- ever. As tortured as it was with Derek and Meredith, Derek never had as much to lose. Fitz literally has the weight of the free world on his shoulders, and the words he utters as he realizes he has this dream life that he worked so hard for and doesn't want it, are heartbreaking.
The other main scandal on the show is that President Grant is the President because of a teeny tiny election rigging that went on in a teeny tiny town of Defiance, Ohio. You see, Hollis Doyle owns Cytron, the company who made these new machines. In his employ was Jesse, a computer geek who figured out how you could rig the machines. He was paid handsomely by Hollis, fixed that one machine in Defiance, and (figurative) BOOM! Inauguration balls for Fitz, and his wife, Mellie. There was also some hot lovin' in the Oval office the first night, not with Mellie. We figure out very quickly which Secret Service agent was truly loyal, because on a run, he's all "Mr. President, I understand that you want to get your swerve on, but maybe not in the Oval Office where there are cameras". We also figure out the other Secret Service detail is loyal to Mellie, because every time he's asked, while he doesn't say it outright, he ALWAYS gives it away, and seriously? Dude! The first word in your job title is SECRET. Learn!
Back to Jesse, when he realized what a killing Hollis made, he got greedy and demanded more. Hollis has never let anything like morals get in his way and next thing you know, (literal) BOOM! in the cytron building, where Quinn has been framed. Turns out, Quinn has been bought to Washington by Huck and Olivia because OLIVIA was in on the election rigging. The dirty half-dozen-minus-one that came up with this idea:
Hollis Doyle - this man loves power and the idea of getting free reign in the white house is too attractive. Plus, Hollis loves money. Because money gives him power. And it does not set well with him when the stolen white house wants to...ahem, do good things and serve the people.
Verna Thorton - I don't know what she did before the election, but after the election she is sworn in a supreme court justice. You don't have to remember her, as she's dead now. But you'll probably want to remember that, on her death bed, she was killed (or euthanized; after all, she was terminal) by Fitz. Yup. After Verna tells him about the election rigging, and breaks his heart, the president goes all Carl Bruner (Ghost) and takes off her oxygen mask. Incidentally, the US District Attorney, David Rosen, was waiting outside her hospital room to take her statement where she fully planned to confess to election rigging to clear her conscience before she died.
Mellie Grant - The first lady is bad ass in her own right. She's smart, she's cool, she's calculating. And for her, being FLOTUS is her ticket into the white house, but that's not all she wants to do. She understands that being the First Lady is a business, and when her fake miscarriage didn't swing voters, she figured a little election rigging was in order. Mellie's fatal flaw is that she actually does love the brooding Fitz. Not that wants him, but she's spent a lot of time creating this president, and like any badASS, she ain't giving him up without a fight.
Cyrus Beene - In my opinion, Cyrus is one of the most complex, interesting characters to show up on television in a long time. He is devoted to the president. The white house is his first love, his life, but since he knew he'd never be president (too ugly. too gay. his words, not mine), he has "settled" for sitting at the right hand of the power. Cyrus loves his country, always refers to it as "this great nation", and understands that sometimes the American people have to be guided to the right decision. Cyrus isn't really bound by any sort of moral or ethical law, or real law, as in these last 28 episodes, he's had the president's mistress killed, almost killed his husband, and yes, election rigging. Last night, he told the Good Secret Service guy (after the GSSG told him he wouldn't let Jesus in the door) that he shouldn't confuse him with Jesus. "Jesus is good. Jesus saves. I destroy." Cyrus is a monster. And yet, he's SO human. I can't help but love him. He also has the number of an assassin on speed dial (Charlie, not Huck).
David Rosen is the US DA, in the beginning, but he loses his job in a spectacular meltdown. In the first season he accidentally stumbles onto the election rigging and, aided by James Novak, Cyrus' husband who also happens to work in the Press Corps at the white house, along with Gideon, a reporter who is close to cracking the truth even though he thinks what he's following is the President's affair. We learn from flashbacks that in the very beginning of the Grant Administration, Olivia's conscience gets the best of her when she discovers Mellie knows about their affair. She quits. Fitz, rather than choosing his wife as the transitional woman, has a one-hour stand with Amanda Tanner. But it turns out that Amanda has been set up to sleep with the president...turns out she's pregnant by Billy Chambers, Vice President Sally Langston's chief of staff. Billy Chambers orchestrates the affair to discredit Fitz because apparently to be a chief of staff, you have to be loyal to the point of obsessed. Billy Chambers (and I'm not sure why, but for me, it's always Billy Chambers. Not Billy) wanted to bring Fitz down before the election, but by the time he got the evidence to Sally, she had already conceded in the primaries and agreed to be Fitz' running mate. Sally is a crazy-right wing religious fanatic republican, and pretty much hates Fitz for being soft on gays, and on religion, and you know, being a republican in name only. The first season ends rather spectacularly when Billy, who is full on bat shit crazy kills Gideon the reporter who's figured it out, and then, during a WH press conference, says - I'm heartbroken because my girlfriend Amanda died, and she was cheating on me with the president (and about that? I'm thinking no one cheats on you with the president. I'm thinking you're the fool who's with the girl who's with the president). That is enough to end a normal administration, but not the Grant Administration, as he (Fitz) pretty much orders VP Sally Langston to disown him. Which she does and last we see of Billy (until last night), he's in the elevator with Charlie, Cyrus' assassin. Despite all this, David takes the case to the grand jury, only for his case to implode when James lies on the stand and the case falls apart. After losing this case and Quinn's murder case (which Olivia fixed to get her off), he's pretty much fired because really...two cases? He leaves the US Attorney's office and goes to work as a teacher. It's a pretty sad fall - even Harrison notes of his new business cards "I didn't know they made cardstock this thin".
BUT IT'S NOT THE END OF BILLY CHAMBERS OR DAVID ROSEN. Turns out, there's been a mole (the Albatross) in the administration basically f**king up and making Fitz look like a moron. And it's Billy. And he's been assisted by none other than David Rosen. Revenge is serious on this show. Nobody forgets anything.
Only on scandal is the president's attempted assassination (during his birthday party) a side point. It was orchestrated by dead Verna to make sure the Defiance election rigging story never got out. But he survived only to kill her. There's some ironic justice in there.
Oh - and Jake. Captain Jake Ballard, maybe he's good, maybe he's bad, and he's played by the lovable Scott Foley. He has also shook the sheets with Olivia, and it was in his best interest for that to remain secret. But then it turned out, Charlie the Cyrus Assassin had taped this, and he's now turned this over to Joe Morton, Park Bench Guy, Man Scorned by Whitley Gilbert. PBG, we know is the head of the assassin unit of the government that has employed, at times, Huck, Charlie, and Jake, but we still don't know just how he fits in. There's a train of thought that he's Olivia's father. I don't know, but I know that next week's season finale is a finale that's worthy of a party.
I don't want to muddy already muddled waters with names that we may or may not see next Thursday, but there's also Edison Davis, the Senator Majority leader who was in love with Liv, proposed to Liv, and was rejected by Liv. He annoyed me. He also promised Liv he was done. Let's hope so.
So there you have it, enough of 28 episodes to really enjoy next week. But you should watch all 28 anyway (some of them I've watched twice. Don't judge me). This show, while soapy and funny, and campy, is more addictive than hot McDonald's French fries. And I think it's additive because you can't really say that none of this would never happen. This show thrives on ambiguity: the only black and white are on suits here. We live in interesting times, and where I think at one point we wanted to believe Washington was like the West Wing, it's probably more like Scandal (save the euthanized supreme court justice. Let's hope that would never happen). The writing on this show is so nuanced, so dead on, that even though they've never filmed an episode here, and there are a lot of scenes that take place in a park that is probably supposed to be McPherson Square but looks nothing like it, this show GETS it. The underground racism that is never spoken but it's there. It's there when one of Olivia's clients assumes the lovely red-headed Abby is the powerful Olivia. It's there in Cyrus' frank discussion with Fitz that Olivia's hue will never play well with his constituents. Olivia is successful and rich and lovely, but she's lonely. People who get married are "normal", and that's not good. The show never leans on any one thing, but neither does it flinch, and it's brilliant.
Until next week, Friends!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)