Home Featured TV Shows All TV Shows Movie Reviews Book Reviews Articles Frequently Asked Questions About Us

Scandal: A Woman Scorned

“I didn’t know you were the president’s girl.”

How do they do it? Week in and week out this show provides a well written, well acted hour that shocks and enthralls me. This week was absolutely no exception.

I like to think of this episode as ‘a day and a half in the life of Cyrus Beene.’ Cyrus is having quite the 36 hours. His hubby reentered the workforce with a splash, he was suspected of being a murderous spy, and his career dissolved in front of his eyes. Poor Cyrus...mostly.

Oh Cy, what am I going to do with you? Am I rooting for you or not? You are a murderer, after all. Olivia finally, finally knows that he killed Amanda Tanner, but it provided for a bit of a continuity error. Last season, Olivia assumed it was Cyrus who had Amanda killed, but now she can’t believe he would do such a thing? Continuity is not just a river in Egypt, Scandal writers.

Cyrus also attempted to...kill? warn? chase away? Olivia. Fortunately for Liv (and unfortunately for us, the curious audience), Jake saw through Cyrus’s ploy instantly. I really don’t think Cyrus would have actually killed Olivia. It seems very un-Cyrus to get his hands dirty and he does love Liv. Then again, he was pretty desperate to appease Mellie.

I love Mellie so much. She is a fabulous bitch. I’ve heard complaints that her character is always the same, always saying the same sort of things in the same ways, but she’s so damn good at it, it’s hard for me to find fault there. I was totally shocked that she actually ‘went nuclear’ and told the press that Fitz was cheating on her. I completely expected her to blink. It’s been a long while since I watched it, but Shonda Rhimes’ style on Grey’s Anatomy was to have these big moments and then immediately backtrack on them. Big, emotional reunions followed by big, emotional breakups. There will be no taking this back. I’m excited to see where Mellie’s revelation takes the show. Fitz doesn’t have a prayer of reelection now, right?

Complicating Cyrus’s already hellish day is James and his return to media. I loved the way this subplot dovetailed so neatly with Mellie’s story. James bothered me in his scene with Cy at the house, but I loved his face as he watched Mellie confess the outrageous truth about her marriage. Total shell shock.

I was delighted beyond measure to have Olivia and Fitz happily together again. Then I started to think about it and I kind of wish I hadn’t analyzed it at all. As great as they are together and as much as I want them to be with each other, I just don’t know what to make of this week’s developments. Throughout the episode, Fitz seemed very sure that Mellie was bluffing and that she wouldn’t go through with it. Did he only go to Olivia because he thought it wouldn’t matter? That would change things considerably. Also, lest we forget, he’s having her followed and surveilled within an inch of her life. Jake claims its because she’s in danger, but she’s not in more danger than usual, is she? Does Fitz even know that Liv is mixed up in the Albatross business?

It also disturbs me a little that Liv lied to Jake about Fitz. She didn’t stretch the truth or understate their relationship, she denied that one exists. She saw Jake watching her in the hospital room. She knows he knows. Why is she acting like this? When Jake asks her about Fitz her response is to kiss him. Why? Was she trying to distract him or is she still interested in him? And hey, how will Fitz react when he finds out Jake and Olivia slept together (which you have to know is going to happen).

Who is the mole? I was pretty confident going into this episode that it wasn’t Cyrus. When the junior league of Pope & Associates announced that it was Cyrus, I knew it for sure. This is episode twenty of a twenty-two episode season. They’re not going to reveal the mole this early. According to Jake (who still works for B6-13, so take it with a grain of salt), the only people it could be are the president, the vice president, the chief of staff, and the secretary of defense. I’m assuming he left CIA Director Osborne off the list because of his being dead and all. Cyrus is now ruled out, leaving Fitz, Sally, and the heretofore unseen secretary of defense. It’s not Fitz. He spends too long pining over Olivia to have time to betray his country. So Sally or secretary of defense? Place your bets now, people.

Bits and Pieces:

Does it bother anyone that we don’t ever actually see Fitz and Cy running the damn country?

Huck recognized Charlie by his ear. Every ear is unique. I learned that on Supernatural, so it must be true. Also, salt repels ghosts and vampires can only be killed by decapitation.

Charlie’s book club reads 50 Shades of Grey, The Lovely Bones, and Kate Chopin. That’s an...interesting mix.

I loved the visual of Fitz standing on the presidential seal, being shouted at by his girlfriend.

Cyrus’s mood could be easily determined by how quickly he was going through the tunnels to and from Blair House. He began at a walk and his pace got brisker as the show went on. By the end of the episode, he was running.

Did Jake take the cameras out of Liv’s place or is there now video of Fitz and Olivia?

Quotes:

“I could be the next Anderson Cooper. Because, come on, I could be the next Anderson Cooper.”

“Maybe if we zoom in...”
“We can see how an ear works?”

“We didn’t want to bother you while you were...”
“Shaking off the crazy.”

“I’m asking you to be an adult. Stop holding your breath, quit stomping your feet, it’s time to pick up your toys like a good girl and act like the First Lady of the United States of America.”

“How involved are you with Fitz right now?”
“Excuse me?”
“Have you seen him? Are you seeing him? Do you plan to see him? Or are you just doing the heavy breathing phone routine these days?”
“Cyrus...”
“Mellie’s not playing this time, Liv. She’s at Blair House. She packed her bags and she’s left. She’s going to announce to the world that her somewhat high-profile husband is, in fact, a philandering cad, and for some reason, I seem to be the only one around here taking her threat seriously.”
“I’m done with him, Cy.”
“Done done or heavy phone breathing done?”
One of my favorite parts of the episode. How well does Cyrus know our couple?

“I am not a toy you can play with when you’re bored or lonely or horny. I am not the girl the guy gets at the end of the movie. I am not a fantasy. If you want me, earn me!”
Olivia should write a self help book. Then again, maybe not.

“The last woman that was sleeping with the president ended up dead in the Potomac.”

“What if I could get rid of Olivia Pope?”
I totally got chills when he said that.

“Huh. Wonder who he banged?”
Cue the awkward silence. Bit of a continuity error, though. We knew Harrison knew and that Huck knew, but what about Quinn and Abby? I’ll forgive them because it made for a funny moment.

four out of four 36 hour windows to recommit to your wife

4 comments:

  1. I was thinking Fitz was absolutely overreaching with Jake on the case -- right up until Cyrus showed up at Olivia's door. Yes, I think he would have killed her. Maybe. She *is* his friend. Or was.

    Terrific episode. Loved the review, Sunbunny.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Cyrus WAS pretty desperate... yet I don't think he would have killed her (he is smart enough to send Charlie for that), I thought he was gonna threaten her with sex video...

    I am very conflicted about Jake character, one minute he's good another minute he's not, yet another minute - who knows? At one point in the episode I thought I wouldn't mind him and Olivia being together, and then Fitz showed up.... I have now idea where they going with all this, but keep thinking that Liv would be a great First Lady :)

    I don't know who the Albatross is, I'm sure it's not Sally, I don't want it to be secretary of defense (whoever he is). It has to be someone we know well, otherwise what's the point? Maybe it's James?

    Thanks for the review Sunbunny!

    ReplyDelete
  3. "Did he only go to Olivia because he thought it wouldn’t matter?"

    I know we discussed this episode already but that's an EXCELLENT point. I didn't think of that!!! Hm.....

    ReplyDelete
  4. In the beginning of the episode, I was getting really angry with Fitz. I didn't like the way he was speaking to Olivia and I didn't like the way he was forcing her to bend to his will.

    He made up for it in the scene at the end. Call me a hopeless romantic, but I loved the way he played it. Of course, Olivia bought it. What woman wouldn't?

    I was interested in the ending. Do Olivia and Fitz know that that proverbial has hit the fan or are they in a bubble for the time being? Its bursting will be something to see!

    ReplyDelete

We love comments! We moderate because of spam and trolls, but don't let that stop you! It’s never too late to comment on an old show, but please don’t spoil future episodes for newbies.