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Scandal: Nobody Likes Babies

“He wouldn’t survive knowing. It would change him. It would break him.”

This is the final straw. I’m suing Shonda Rhimes to recoup the costs of the extensive therapy I now need. Anyone care to join me in a class-action lawsuit?

The episode started weirdly for me. I tuned in a minute or so late after Person of Interest, which a) had never happened before and b) totally threw me off. In the beginning, the cuts between scenes and stories felt forced and jumpy. Once this ep got going, however, it didn’t disappoint. You know, with that one glaring exception.

Fitz is a murderer. I’m having issues processing this. See above re: therapy. I’m the biggest Olivitz shipper there is, but I’m not sure I can support my beloved Olivia loving a man who murdered a cancer-stricken old lady in her bed. For the last few minutes of the show, I was literally shouting at my TV “Die! Die!” in the vain hope that Verna would expire sans assistance and I could go on ogling Fitz without repercussion. Sadly, Verna did require assistance to go gentle into that good night.

Perhaps the part of myself that loves good story and flawed characters is happy with this twist. Honestly, I haven’t checked in with her yet. I’m too busy trying to keep the Jane Austen-loving hopeless romantic part of myself from jumping off a bridge. Don’t worry. I’m kidding. It’s way too cold to jump off a bridge.

Onto less depressing matters, the first part of the season has wrapped itself up very neatly. I’m sort of loving the two mini seasons setup Scandal fell into this year. I’m not sure the Cytron storyline would have stretched over 22 episodes all by its little lonesome.

Abby and David got back together (yay!) and then almost immediately broke up (boo!). Quinn almost ordered a hit on Hollis Doyle after Huck saved Hollis from the hit put on him by Cyrus and Cyrus almost had his husband killed by the same man who almost murdered Hollis. Olivia dumped Edison for good only to be dumped by Fitz “for good.” This show gets confusing, doesn’t it? I loved the Abby/David confrontation. Did she steal the card? She really had me believing that she knew nothing about it until whoops, she found it in her bra. It’s okay, Abby, I lose shit in there too.

Cyrus and James also kept me guessing. Would Cyrus carry out the hit on James? We have ample proof that Cyrus Rutherford Beene is NOT a good guy, but murdering his husband is (fortunately) a bridge too far. I know there are some James haters out there, but I happen to like him. I was disappointed in the revelation scene between the two. Jeff Perry was very good but the whole “get undressed” thing sort of ruined the scene for me. It made it funny at first and then I kept expecting them to kiss. They do seem to go at it in the most bizarre moments.

Speaking of amazing actors, can I just say the Emmy goes to Tony Goldwyn? The scene where Verna told him of the conspiracy was just beautiful, up until, you know, that point. I loved that she made him tell her instead of the other way around. The way he said “Olivia” was so heart-wrenching. It was absolutely wonderful.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to watch something adorable to take my mind off this episode. Preferably something with talking animals.

Bits and Pieces:

The bobblehead bit was a nice respite in the darkness that was this episode.

Tony Goldwyn’s face as he’s watching doctors try to save Verna’s life is amazing. The first time around, I thought he just looked worried. The second time I watched the ep, it’s obvious he’s feeling the weight of what he’s done.

Harrison really pissed me off this week. I can’t believe Abby didn’t slap him. It seemed like the perfect moment for a decent slap.

I seriously don’t think I’ve ever felt this betrayed by a fictional character. I need a hug. :(

Quotes:

“Confessing tells America that the country they love is built on a lie, that it’s a fallacy. You think I care about my conscience? Screw my conscience! I’m trying to save America’s soul! I’m trying to give America its country back! The country they deserve, a country built on trust where a vote actually means something!”
“By killing a man?”
“If I’m already going to hell, why not?”

“Surprised to see you down here.”
“Why?”
“You have a new baby.”
“You have a new baby and you’re at work.”

“Yes, but...”
“But you’re a man.”
“I was trying to find a nice way to say, yes, but I don’t like babies.”
“Nobody likes babies.”
Mellie/Cyrus spinoff. NOW.

“I’m not made to be a fugitive! I’ve got asthma!”
I seriously love James.

“I wasn’t made to be chief of staff. Do you know what I was made to be? I was made to be the President of the United States. I was made to lead the nation. I was made to ensure this country’s place in the world for generations to come. I would have been great at that. I have the stones. I have the backbone. I have the will. I would have been a great president. But guess what? I’m fairly short, and I’m not so pretty and I really like having sex with men so instead of being president of this land that I love, I get to be the guy behind the President of the United States. And, sure, I have power. I influence decisions. I help steer the country. But I’ll never be in the history books. My name will never be on an airport or a doctrine. Being the guy behind the guy is as far as my road goes.”

“I want painful, difficult, devastating, life-changing, extraordinary love.”
“Love is not supposed to be painful or devastating. Love isn’t supposed to hurt, Liv.”

“You’re naïve, you’re pampered, you sail through life clueless as a child, but you’re not stupid.”

three out of four magical vote-rigging cards

4 comments:

  1. Now, that was a development I did not see coming! I'm not quite sure how I feel about it either. On the one hand, wow. Great character and story development. On the other hand, however, how do we continue to root for a guy who a) knows that the presidency is not his and b) just murdered someone?

    I'm with you on Harrison. His blind loyalty to Olivia can be disturbing and I found his little speech to Abby to be over the top, almost cult like. But, it worked. Abby ended up doing exactly what he wanted her to do and, I believe, broke her own heart by doing it.

    I just have to add how much I loved the Huck/Charlie/Hollis encounter. Hollis is a cool customer, even with two assassins pointing guns.

    Hope the talking animals helped! :-)

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  2. Loved the Cyrus/James stripping down scene. It was pretty much the perfect physical accompaniment to them telling each other the naked truth for the first time. :) And I was glad that Cyrus couldn't have James killed, even at the cost of the only thing in life that he wanted.

    And I'm very disappointed with Fitz. I sort of get it; the woman had just dashed his dreams, made his presidency a farce, and made him hate the love of his life -- plus she had ordered his assassination. And she was even on her death bed. Can we blame it on residual brain damage and lack of impulse control from the bullet in his brain?

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  3. Nice review, Sunbunny.

    These last few eps had a lot of Cyrus monologues that revealed a lot of his back story.
    Jeff Perry is an amazing actor.

    I also wonder how Liv and Fritz will be together again after all that has happened.
    The guilt that Fritz will forever carry in offing Verna will always be in the way.
    With Mellie, it will be okay for as long as he is The President and she is his First Lady.

    I guess the "blind loyalties" that the Gladiators have for Liv is of the fact that they are all supposedly nothing before Liv gave them a new life.
    Yeah, rather blind; but for some, understandable. :)

    I was right in guessing Verna as the one who ordered Fritz's hit.
    Aside from learning about this, I think the last straw was Fitz hearing Verna mention his father as a factor of her "patriotic loyalty".

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  4. I agree with your comment about Vera mentioning Fitz's father. I think the writers suspected we wouldn't buy Fitz killing Verna because she was going to come clean and that everything would come out. That last mention of his father did it. They had already set up that Fitz reacts in the extreme when it comes to his father.

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