Due to unforseen events Thursday evening, I wasn’t able to this week’s episode of Scandal until late Friday evening. So based on that agonizing fact (seriously, I had to steer clear from everything Internet related and my coworkers at my job), I’m just going to discuss my reactions and observations on the episode since we’ve all (at least I hope) have seen the episode in question. So much “Oh My Freaking God” type stuff went down since Verna’s funeral last week, ten months of stuff actually, so there’s a lot to take in and a lot to analyze, especially with Scott Foley eerily duplicitous character joining the fray.
The Hottest Olitz Moment EVER Turned Into a Coldest Walk of Shame
I have to start with the moment that had me acting a damn fool in my job’s break room, which was Olivia and Fitz’s extremely not safe for anywhere, knockin’ boots moment in the storage room closet. I was enraptured with life as Fitz took Olivia to that switchboard like a dog in heat, turning me into an ecstatic kid who had just opened that Super Soaker he begged his parents to get him for Christmas. Then I was quickly doused with water straight from the Artic Ocean when Fitz not only read Olivia for apologizing about Defiance, but made her take the coldest walk of shame I have ever witnessed in my entire life. Seriously, I felt that invisible backhand slap for Olivia as she wobbled away. Shonda Rhimes, Kerry Washington, Tony Goldwyn, and Matt Byrne, the writer of this episode, all need a standing ovation for that scene and the emotional rollercoaster it sent the viewers through while watching it.
Now let’s discuss the situation at hand, which was mostly from President Fitz’s viewpoint as he was slowly but sure pushing away those he once thought he trusted. I will touch on Cyrus later in this article, but now I want to focus on Fitz’s ‘triangle of love’ with Olivia and Mellie, if you even want to call it that. Let’s face it: As much as Fitz wants to act as if he’s done with Olivia, he’s far from sticking a fork in that relationship and it is really eating him up inside. In his mind, Olivia has committed the ultimate betrayal of not being the strong rod in his back he thought she was. Instead, he’s created this image of Olivia that justifies, in a morbid sense, him killing Verna, which he can’t turn away from. Fitz is damaged and blames his soul mate for bringing him to that point of no return, which is a complete and utter travesty.
Plus, Fitz clearly doesn’t want to have anything to do with Mellie, despite her honesty (and lack thereof in some areas, if you ask me) about the entire Defiance scandal and his newfound ‘affection’ for his wife. Mellie might know the right words to say to him, but they don’t hold any weight to sustain him to give in to her fully. He’s nursing a broken heart and no matter how much Fitz denounces Olivia in favor of his wife, he’s never really going to be with Mellie fully, just as he will never give up Olivia Pope.
It’s a sad visual of a man on a downward spiral, trying to prove that he is the right person for the job that his friends and confidants got for him under sketchy pretenses. It’s only the beginning and if what we saw in this episode is any indicator to what is to become, then I am scared s#*!less about what’s to come.
Somebody’s Watching Olivia…
So, new player in town Captain Jake Ballard (Scott Foley) seems to be channelling the ‘seminal’ 1992 drama Sliver with Olivia Pope being the Sharon Stone to his William Baldwin. I can’t say too much about this situation besides Olivia needing Huck to do a sweep of her place like yesterday. 
But knowing Olivia’s confidant and resident spy, he will probably sense a dust bunny out-of-place and would want to check her place thoroughly. Also, whatever secret Weston has under his sleeve has to be connected to the mole within President Fitz’s endeavors to rescue those soldiers from overseas. What a mighty web Shonda Rhimes weaves…
David Rosen – Down But Not Out
As much as I don’t care for David’s quest to take down Olivia Pope and Associates, I can’t help but feel for this guy after the hell the firm has put him through. So for David to request the services of the very people who actually ended his career took irony to a whole new level, giving Joshua Molina several great scenes within the episode to work with. Favorite scene? David giving advice to his successor about how the fresh face should not be stupid enough to come after him without any hardcore evidence for backup. In other words, don’t repeat his mistakes or you’ll end up teaching a political science 101 course at a local university.
But at the end of the day, David Rosen is not out for the count. If anything, this attempted frame-up has recharged his batteries and his urge to take down whoever came for him. However as Olivia said in the episode, he just wants to wear the ‘white hat’ again, making sure justice is served to the highest of his abilities.
In other words, David Rosen will be back in business in no time.
Mellie’s Game
Scandal’s version of Lady Macbeth played her latest hand so coldly that I as much as I can’t stand the heifer, I can’t help but marvel at her craft of mean.
Turning Fitz against Cyrus seemed like an idiotic move, but now that the Fab Five is no longer a thing, she now has no reason to really fear anything from Monster Cyrus. In fact, if she continues to expertly play her hand, Mellie could get Cyrus removed from the office of Chief of Staff, which I wouldn’t be surprised if it was her endgame when it comes to Cyrus.
Speaking of Mr. Beene, he looked completely lost throughout the episode after discovering that Fitz knew about the Defiance scandal, which Olivia brought to his attention. So with that knowledge on his brain, Cyrus had to approach handling a seriously betrayed and pissed off Fitz a whole different way, and it hasn’t gone over too well. He used to be able to dish out a decent monologue that would cause Fitz to stop and think for a minute, but now those aren’t working and Fitz was just simply not having it. The dynamic has changed drastically and with Cyrus off his ‘A’ game on handling Fitz, and Mellie gunning to take him down, things in the White House are about to get even more deliciously complicated. And that’s not even counting the mole within the latest operation…
So that’s my quick, but late, view on last week’s Scandal. What did you all think about the time jump?
Photo Credit: ABC
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