Mindblowing.
That's the only word that seems to do last night's episode of Scandal justice.
This was simply stunning television. There's no doubt about it. It doesn't get any better. Written by Mark Fish and directed by Paul McCrane, "Like Father, Like Daughter" ranks as one of Scandal's best ever episodes, and makes it onto my personal list of best ever television episodes, comprising of around 60 total episodes from the thousands of hours of television I've watched,. In my opinion it also easily slides atop the list as the season's best episode.
The beautiful thing about this episode was that none of the featured storylines felt like they were superseded by another. Karen's crisis at the party, the reunion with her father, Mellie's mother to daughter moment, all felt perfectly balanced with the progression we saw in the investigation into the first family's son's death. You also had Mellie and Fitz face off in one of the series' most memorable scenes. And so much more.
The long awaited reintroduction of series leads Olivia and Fitz finally occurred too, with Karen Grant dialing Olivia to get her out of a messy situation. This was beautifully executed throughout the episode, with the chemistry between the pair feeling a lot hotter than previously. Tony Goldwyn showed his class throughout the episode, and really shone in his scenes with Kerry Washington, who delivered her best performance of the season.
Jake Ballard saw significant screentime last night, starting the episode off with a bang thanks to a failed attempt at a car bomb. In the best final 5 minutes of an episode of Scandal yet, Ballard was singled out by under duress secret service agent Tom Larsen as the one who ordered Larsen to kill Jerry Grant. In their reunion, Olivia revealed to Fitz that she hadn't been alone. Without knowing it, Olivia has done the next closest thing to sealing the fate of her second lover, giving Fitz more than enough reason to be biased and tunnel visioned in his quest, led by Rowan under his orders, to find his son's killer.
Joe Morton proved his worthiness of his recent Emmy award, doing what he does best - delivering powerful dialog in defining moments of the series. Equally deserving of praise is Brian Letscher, who plays Larsen, and absolutely nailed it in the interrogation box. I for one almost began praying for Fitz to walk into the interrogation box and rescue him. How much more we will see of Larsen is unclear, but I'm putting my money on Olivia having something to do with his possible fight to clear his name and out her father as the mastermind.
It remains to be seen whether Ballard's repossession of his B613 files from David Rosen will impact his chances against Rowan. Rosen has been relatively stagnant thus far in season 4, so if he's been smart and backed up the flash drive he handed over, his actions over the next couple of weeks will impact a significant amount of characters. Though Olivia will try to work her magic, as we see in next week's episode promo, it's Rosen who has the house of cards resting on his shoulders.
Bellamy Young put on another great show as Mellie Grant, and guest star Mary Mouser as Karen Grant opened her account on the series in good fashion. I'm hoping the mother-daughter talk between the pair will finally help right the boat for Mellie and help her snap out of her trance, which has gone on long enough for me.
Before I wrap, the other lead characters, Cyrus, Quinn, Huck and Abby deserve a mention. I'm pleased Cyrus's arc was halted somewhat to free up airtime for the meaty stuff. Cyrus putting Abby in her place was strangely satisfying, as was seeing Quinn and Huck on better terms. At this point, a more appropriate OPA reunion between the former trio looks some way off, and hedges on Abby's job security which could take a hammering very shortly. We will just have to wait and see.
Thanks as usual for readingmy review for one of Scandal's best ever episodes. I'd love to hear your thoughts and theories in the comments below. Don't forget to track Scandal's ratings on my TV ratings website, www.seriesmonitor.com/scandal.
Jimmy
