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Scandal: One for the Dog

“What did you do?”

I do not know where to begin. I really do not. So much went on in this episode! We went from the horrors of watching a beloved main character be viciously tortured to rejoicing at the single word “Hi.”

Most importantly, FITZ IS AWAKE. Happy dance! I really didn’t think Shonda Rhimes would let her romantic lead die, but I was getting so sick of Fitz in a coma. If it had gone on another week, I would have been extremely annoyed. I wonder what (if anything) woke him up. Every time Olivia touched him or almost touched him, I thought he would suddenly awaken. I guess the writers were able to restrain themselves from using that particular cliché.

One they apparently couldn’t avoid was the miraculous recovery. Yes, I know this is a TV show. Yes, I know that this is a rather far-fetched, soap-tastic TV show. Still, I find it hard to believe that a man could get shot in the head and wake up a week later with perfect speech and motor skills. From the previews from next week, it looks like there are some health repercussions, but even so.

Onto Mellie: what the hell was she thinking? I don’t care if she can forge his signature, what was her plan? What was her plan? She gave this whole speech about how she’s a woman and women think things through, but did she think this through? As stupid as the decision was, Mellie showed real loyalty to Fitz this episode. I do love to hate her, but I believe she faked Fitz’s consciousness for him and not for herself. Sure, she indicated she would be happy to secretly run the country, but I believe her primary reason to get some well-deserved revenge on Hollis Doyle.

Yes, indeed we have a bad guy now: Hollis Doyle. Surprised? Me neither. Still, it’s nice to get some confirmation. The only other real possibility was that it was Sally, but I just don’t think she’s twisted enough to be able to justify assassinating the president to herself. Speaking of Sally, it was rather disturbing to see how easily Hollis played her. Sally’s sharp. She picked up on Mellie’s ruse immediately. Perhaps it’s a ‘Hey you have a southern twang, I have a southern twang’ thing.

What are we going to do about Hollis? If one of our gang tries to turn him in, he can blow the whistle on the whole election rigging thing. Is that why he rigged the election? So he would have extraordinary power over the president? I suppose that makes sense, but I still would like clarification on why he developed this scheme in the first place. It seems like there would be plenty of ways to gain power over the president that would have required less effort.

I really liked David in this episode. It was refreshing to see at least one person watching someone being tortured and getting upset about it. I also loved him riding in to save the day with Sally’s executive order. He seemed so proud. Still, I find it hard to believe the DOJ would allow an acquaintance of a suspect to watch the (sense the sarcastic quotation marks) “interrogation” of that suspect. That seems like a rather large conflict of interest.

As for the torture scenes, I think they went overboard. Particularly on the one that had Huck projectile spitting blood on the observation window. Torture is bad, we know. Do we have to see it? I really don’t want to talk about these scenes any further, nor can I, given that I watched them through my fingers.

Bits and Pieces:

The first thing I thought when I saw Huck being tortured was ‘Damn. Billie’s going to hate this.’

Jeff Perry is awesome. When I first saw the scene where he meets Olivia at the hospital, I totally believed he thought Fitz was awake. The second time through, there were tell-tale signs that Cyrus was faking it.

Harrison says Huck’s not in jail, he’s in “the dark side.” The non-Star Wars meaning of the term was created by former VP Dick Cheney in 2005 when he said “We also have to work, though, sort of the dark side, if you will,” in order to justify his position on so-called “enhanced interrogation techniques” (cough, torture, cough).

What the hell was on pages four and five of Huck’s dossier? I really want to know!

It looks like Edison and Olivia are over. Oh. I’m so very sad. I’m not sure there are enough tissues in the world to help me through this difficult time. Eye roll. I still want the awkward, “actually I’m madly in love with the president” reveal. That should be fairly juicy.

Olivia appears to be ready to open up to Quinn. Hopefully this will make Quinn less whiny. I actually rather like her when she’s being a team player. It’s the constant angst I can’t stand.

Quotes:

“I’m not some man reacting out of rage and then thinking later. I am a woman. So I thought about it and I made my decision.”

“I just wanted to see how things were going.”
“I can’t tell you, because telling you would be a violation of the Patriot Act, and I could end up in the basement of the Pentagon being beaten and waterboarded to within an inch of my life. Not that that ever happens.”

“I’ve been busy.”
“Too busy for the story of the century?”
“The president was shot. There’s a lot of stories of the century this week.”

“Leap of faith? It’s swallowing tacks and expecting to puke up a unicorn.”
Is that an actual saying? I mean seriously, what the heck is that supposed to mean? Why tacks?

“It makes him look weak.”
“He’s unconscious. He is weak.”

“I’m here to see the president.”
“He’s not accepting visitors.”
“You’re a visitor.”
“I’m his...”
“You’re his what?”
Oh, so many possible responses...

“And by the time I reach for my gun, you’ll have put four bullets in me?”
“Five. One for the dog.”
Did they have to remind us that she killed the dog? I’ve been trying to block that out!

four out of four forged signatures

5 comments:

  1. Wow! I don't know how it does it, but this show continues to astonish me every week. And, it's not just the "action sequences" that do it. My favorite bit this week was the juxtaposition of Huck coming home and Sally taking all the credit in the background. Genius.

    I also liked the scene of James holding the baby -- and how cute is she?? I really, really hope he doesn't get all paternal and drop being a reporter. For one thing, he's damn good at it. For another, I like the tension it sets up between Cyrus and him.

    I wasn't sure where the Fitz story was headed, but I'm glad he's awake. We haven't had enough of Tony Goldwyn for a while, so I am ready for him to be a player on the stage again.

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  2. My one worry about James pursuing the voting scandal is if Cyrus feels compelled to "silence" him, if you know what I mean. Let's not forget he had that girl murdered last season. I keep wondering if they're going to find a way around that... like he didn't know... and now he feels like a "monster" because he set the change of events in motion.

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  3. The first thing I thought when I saw Huck being tortured was ‘Damn. Billie’s going to hate this.’

    And you were right. :) I watched through my fingers, too. How can Huck have any teeth left? How can he still be walking? Why isn't he concussed?

    At least Fitz is alive! I thought too that he would wake up when Olivia finally touched him, but the writers probably thought it was just too much of a cliche to get away with.

    Terrific review, Sunbunny.

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  4. That Hollis is one evil a** guy.
    He has no compunction in "dispatching" anyone who might hinder his interests.
    And that Stony Queen Sally consents and backs him up to boot!

    Its nice to see Mellie in her ol' bad scheming self.
    I missed Bellamy Young. :)

    Oh, Huck.
    Beaten both in body and heart.
    It is heartwarming to note that inspite of everything that has happened, his allegiance to Olivia is unbreakable.

    Great review for a marvelous episode, Sunbunny.
    And Hi to you, too. :)

    ReplyDelete

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