The guest cast for last night's episode of ABC's Scandal had me excited early on. While the episode itself was fantastic, its timing was truly bizarre.
Written by Chris Van Dusen and directed by Regina King, this episode was all about Cyrus, who hasn't featured prominently since the first half of the season. Reintroduced into the equation was Michael, played by Matthew Del Negro, who, after a boozy night out, had been spotted effectively cheating on his husband-to-be. Everyone sprang into action in the early hours of the morning, with Quinn notably having spent the night with Charlie, who resurfaced last week.
The raw crisis control scenarios that gave Scandal its initial following haven't been as prevalent in more recent times, but this was a classic, dealt with in classic fashion by all involved. Olivia steered the ship, with Huck and Quinn passing money under the table to alter the stories, and Abby playing games with the media. Cyrus himself was also involved, but largely sat in the back seat, making room for Fitz and Mellie to show their support.
It was good stuff. The episode carried solid momentum throughout. For the most part it was easy to follow and made reasonable sense. Emmy award winner Dan Bucatinsky reprised his role as James Novak, the White House reporter who was gunned down by Jake in season 3. While not particularly meaty, the flashback scenes he was in reminded me how good Bucatinsky was at his role, and how much more interesting Cyrus's life could have been had the character not been killed off.
That aside, Cyrus's life in a more traditional marriage was also shown, with Emily Bergl, known for her work on Shameless, playing Janet Beene. We glimpsed Cyrus proposing in a rather unconventional manner, and not long after we saw Janet end it all, with a thrilled Cyrus coming home after Fitz had just won California to be dumped on the spot. It was a powerful scene that got better as Cyrus's own personal political aspirations were also dashed because he would no longer have a wife by his side.
Having been appointed campaign manager in last week's episode, Elizabeth North did a couple of handy things to streamline the marriage between Cyrus and Michael. That wasn't before being put squarely in her place by her boss, Mellie, in a scene which was highly satisfying to watch, not only because I'm not fond of Elizabeth, but because Mellie rarely gets to boss anyone around.
With the episode all about romance, the creative team spent time blossoming the relationship between Abby and Leo, with a few cute moments here and there. Fresh off seriously considering quitting her role as press secretary in last week's episode, Abby appeared to be back to business as usual.
But perhaps the most interesting part of the hour for me was Olivia's continued PTSD symptoms grabbing another good couple of minutes in some super intense flashbacks which could have caused those vulnerable to have seizures. Fortunately, the flashbacks ended on a rather positive note for Olivia as she recounted her time with Fitz, and remembered a ring he had given her. The episode closed with the final scene showing the ring clearly seated on Olivia's finger, with Fitz noticing just that, having also noticed in a prior scene that the ring was absent. The eye contact in the final scene between the pair will definitely have increased the excitement level of Olitz shippers, especially given their extended dry spell.
In a final, brilliant bit of storytelling, Sally Langston, played by guest star Kate Burton, resurfaced as a television host of a political themed show, and had her eye on the wedding coverup right from the get-go. With the imminent threat of the truth being released, Olivia did the deed herself, blackmailing Langston into silence when she revealed to her that her deceased husband, Daniel Douglas Langston, was a former client of Michael's.
I mentioned the bizarre timing of this episode in the first sentence of this review, and I want to address it now. Firstly, there's the events I've touched on from last week's episode, namely Abby considering resigning. In last week's hour, Huck went nuts, but was featured for only a few seconds last night. Jake was also absent, as was David Rosen. That's weird because the press release for this episode has a synopsis stating "Meanwhile, David takes the first step in executing his plan to take down B613". There was no storyline progression at all either, much like the first episode of the month, "The Lawn Chair", which suffered from the same symptom. This episode was a filler at its finest, but very poorly placed given the position the serialized storyline has reached.
It looks as if Jake makes up for last night's absence next Thursday night, as the episode promo features nothing else but him. Hopefully the serial storyline is right back on track, and will remain that way for the season's remaining episodes.
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