Not bad at all. I wasn’t too enamored by this week’s case but Olivia’s devious machinations more than made up for any weaknesses in the standalone plot.
I love that Shonda isn’t afraid of painting her heroine in an negative light. We all knew Olivia wasn’t perfect, but she’s going down quite the dark path by causing this rift between Abby and David (and using Harrison to do so). Olivia’s genius ploy to use Abby’s domestic abuse past in order to drive the wedge really blurred the lines. I applaud the show for making it difficult for us as viewers to take Liv’s side which is just some marvelous writing. Kerry Washington continues to sell the role beautifully with some incredible nuances and moments.
As for the spy case, I didn’t find it very enjoyable. It might be because I’m not a fan of Huck who bores me to tears. His tortured soul act is getting old fast and it’s just not entertaining as far as I’m concerned. Nevertheless, I still enjoyed the hour. It just wasn’t as fantastic as the last few weeks with the conspiracy and the roundtable of evil.
Scandalous Bits
– Cyrus’ husband has to be the most annoying character of all time.
– Huck’s tortured soul act is getting a bit old. Not very entertaining.
– Wonderful misdirection with the Pope team being terrified of the elevator only for a soccer mom to arrive. Actually the whole cast of spies were hilarious, especially Betsy Ray.
– I get what they were going for, but I rolled my eyes when the spies all had guns pointed at each other.
– Cyrus tricking his husband with fake tears was so very amusing and satisfying.
– Loved Olivia smashing the laptop in anger.
– Wink shooting Melvin after Huck’s cliche speech was awesome.
– Beautifully played scene as Abby cries and apologizes to Olivia who looks guilty as hell.
– I liked the ending with Olivia breaking down and kissing Edison.
Quipyness
Harrison: I’m your family, I am your gladiator and that is not a job to me. That’s who I am. And right now you need me. So no questions asked, whatever you need. Give me some marching orders Liv.
Must Download Tune
I think It’s Going To Rain Today by Nina Simone.
Conclusion
Not the most exciting hour of Scandal, but an episode with some intriguing developments.
Nad Rating
B-
They should have called this episode “Huck and Friends” :p
Agreed with everything u said
This show is so full of itself. dialogue, story, even camera angles. it seriously got on my nerves. and the guy who plays huck can't act his way out of a paper bag.
Haha I think they put themselves in a corner with the Fitz and Liv thing – now it's what we all expect and are not getting. Yes, the camera angles bother me, and sure the actor who plays huck is not the best, but it was a good story (though predictable as when he gave the series of numbers, totally expected him to be the leak)
In light of all the above negativity, I have to say this is easily becoming one of my favorite shows this year. I love Olivia, exaggerate expressions and overt drama and all. Olivia is always portrayed as this “white knight” and I love how they've finally knocked her off her pedestal during this episode. What she did to Abby was awful. There's no two ways about it. She had an ulterior motive. She was self-serving, and she basically ripped into one of Abby's hidden wounds (then proceeded to comfort her in the aftermath). It's guttural and it's bad, but it's human.
I had little interest in the Huck storyline but also loved the moment the gun was whipped out and that dude was shot point blank in the middle of his head. It just highlighted a common theme in the episode – we may be full of hope, but the world is full of ugly.
I'm just enjoying this show very much this season. Maybe I'm just a sucker for forbidden love stories – which is at the very core what this show is about.
Scandal has been on fire this year! So witty, intelligent and gripping. But you can't deny that this was the weakest episode so far. There was waaaaay too much focus on Huck and waaaaay too little focus on the Roundtable of Evil. Unacceptable!