With Olivia Pope seemingly coming back from the dark side, Scandal needs to find a new villain for its final stretch of episodes. Enter Cyrus.
Granted, Cyrus hasn’t been a likable character for a very long time and I personally started suspecting him of possibly arranging the hacking of the plane when he began giving a rousing speech, but Air Force Two still shows some signs of improvement. With the vice president becoming the biggest threat now, the show can focus on the core characters again instead of wasting time on ridiculous kidnapping storylines and people like Rowan Pope.
Bottle episodes similar to Air Force Two struggle to maintain a sense of urgency. Luckily, if you’re willing to accept the ridiculousness of the plane-hacking plot, this hour becomes enjoyable as it is suspenseful since it puts David, one of the very few likable characters left, in danger. Shonda Rhimes has killed several characters off this show (and others) in the past, so I’ll admit I was slightly worried David and Abby would have a bittersweet ending. Whether or not they’ll both truly survive the series finale is still up in the air right now, and this uncertainty is certainly in the show’s favor.
Also in its favor is getting rid of Olivia’s evil mother. I wouldn’t say Mama Pope overstayed her welcome nearly as much as Rowan, but the Irina Derevko ripoff adds absolutely nothing to Scandal. That’s why Olivia getting her a one-way ticket to Paris is more than a satisfying development that also serves as a way for the writers to start tying up some loose ends. Sounds like a win-win to me.
Scandalous Bits
– How amusing are Abby, Huck and Charlie hacking David’s credit card charges to check if he’s going to propose?
– There are some really awkward vibes between Liv and her mom, but the fake-birthday shtick is too cringe-worthy, even for this show.
– Priceless moment as Mellie tells Jake “I will deal with you later” like a little baby. God, I can’t stand Jake and all his uselessness.
– Less amusing is Mama Pope talking in a baby voice. Again with the cringe!
– Hilarious how Liv mentions Annalise in one throwaway line as if the crossover barely happened last week.
Quipyness
Abby: Nothing says “sexy” like a man named Gergenschlag.
Abby: The only reason normal people go to Qui is if they’re getting engaged.
Charlie: Well, I hate to break it to you, but you guys aren’t technically normal people. You’re Washington A-listers.
Huck: At least David is.
Abby: Oh, thank you for that.
Abby: Brett Keith Jewelers? I don’t know what’s more offensive, the fact that David’s proposing to me or that he’s doing it with a ring he bought at the mall.
Fitz: You made the right call.
Mellie: I know.
Fitz: Now, do you want to know what I would’ve done?
Mellie: Nope, I really don’t.
Conclusion
An unusually intense and consistently entertaining hour of Scandal, a rarity for this show nowadays.
Chris Rating
B+
Olivia kicking her mother to the curb was the first time I’ve been proud of her in a long while. Let’s hope a similar moment occurs with her father. Their toxic dynamic needs to come to a permanent end.
I have mixed feelings about Cyrus’s return to his dark, manipulative ways. On one hand, I was rooting for him a bit in his efforts to do right by Mellie in her administration. It doesn’t undo all the terrible things he has done in the past. But it was nice to see Cyrus do some good on behalf of someone else. But, on the other hand, him stepping up to be the Big Bad gives the final season a much needed sense of direction. Olivia taking up the charge with Cyrus helps further her redemption. I just hope she doesn’t gain her friends’ forgiveness too easily.
“Olivia taking up the charge against Cyrus” I meant
Completely agree! And oddly, I don’t mind Olivia getting her redemption anymore as long as, like you said, her friends don’t forgive her too easily (if at all).
I have a feeling the finale will end with her dead, though.
I REALLY wanna like this show but sometimes they go way too far when promoting a leftist agenda. Case in point: They made a really fair “case” (for lack of a better word) in the crossover on ones right for a fair trial. This was then ruined by Mama Pope when she implied that giving her exactly what she wanted was the same thing as giving people another CHANCE to be released, it was never a guarantee. The only thing she has in common with those people is being a person of color. Unlike them she actually IS guilty. She should be the one locked up in solitary. Selling state secrets, killing an entire flight crew AND plotting to KILL THE PRESIDENT aren’t things to take lightly, and what does she get: Prison for a very short time and is later confined to the White House premises after making a deal that she wouldn’t say anything about B613. The episode basically says “It doesn’t matter what crime you commit. As long as you’re a “person of color”, you have the right not only to keep breaking the law, but also not go to prison. Yet they continue to bring up the “We don’t bend to terrorists” story arc. So sad! I expect more from Shonda Rhimes.
Thank you for commenting, Becky. I see your point and I agree with some parts, but I don’t agree at all that the show was implying you can commit a crime as long as you’re a person of color. To be fair, I don’t think this is the last we’ve seen of Mama Pope (sadly) so there’s no saying that she received “exactly what she wants”. This is a woman who, like you said, did henious acts and committed horrible crimes, but in no way do I think the show ever tried to tell us this person deserves anything but being locked away for good. The same goes for Rowan, a person who understandably should’ve been locked up a long time ago but whose only purpose remains to be the Big Bad. Scandal always referred to him, sometimes even literally, as the Big Bad. Whether or not he will get what he deserves is really just a creative writing decision, but as an audience I think everyone knows these people are all terrible.
That, as well as the fact that all these “terrible people” are actually the main characters of this show, is why I think it’s unfair to compare them to the innocent prisoners from the crossover. The eventual downfall of all the Popes (and Cyrus and Jake and many others) will be even more satisfying if it happens. If not, then as an audience we’re still inclined to make our own fair judgments about what these people deserve, regardless of their skin color.
I think there are a lot of “agendas” in Hollywood, but not in this case.