In the previous episodes of Scandal this season, the focus has been firmly on Mellie's grieving process and Olivia's reintroduction to the Washington political scene.
Last night, however, that focus shifted significantly, coming to rest on Cyrus, Jake, Rowan, Quinn, and Abby.
"Inside the Bubble" was written by Matt Byrne and directed by Randy Zisk. The episode lowered the intensity but increased the suspense. We've just began walking across the bridge to the next big event that will ramp up the intensity that Scandal fans know all too well.
There's lots to go through so let's start with Cyrus. His involvement with his escort friend at the hands of Elizabeth North, who, it turns out, is a puppet on the end of someone else's strings, is building nicely. You'd think Cyrus would be a tad more careful, perhaps asking for a background check. The higher off the ground someone gets, they harder they fall. I don't think it will be long before Cyrus's doings become his undoing.
Jake produced the biggest surprise of the episode in my opinion. Though we knew Jake was investigating Rowan Pope's involvement in the deaths of Harrison and Jerry, I didn't expect him to reach the conclusions this early into the season. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining at all, because we were treated to a fantastic confrontation between Rowan and Jake at the former's house. This will surely cause hell to rain down on one of them, but who will be on the receiving end?
Jake was also heavily involved with his arch-rival Charlie, who seemed remarkably soft considering the front of a vending machine got the better of him. Charlie was an unexpected sight in this episode, and I'm puzzled as to why he was reintroduced given Jake was already on the right track. However Katie Lowes really shone last night, doing an excellent job playing Quinn as she confronted Charlie, along with her stand in OPA HQ. Charlie loves to play games with people, so it was no surprise to hear him leave a few passing words in Quinns's ear as she left. As a side note, I'm very glad Jake interrupted proceedings when he did.
We've seen a lot of Mellie in the past fortnight, but her actions in last night's episode were nothing short of bizarre. I'm not sure why the creative team opted to get her to try to solve a crime, and it didn't sit well with me. I wrote in my notes "Mellie looked like a dick" which could be a bit harsh, but Fitz seemed equally bemused, and we had identical facial expressions on our faces while watching this all go down.
Speaking of Fitz, I thought it was fantastic to see him and (G)Abby finally getting some one on one time. Abby's transition into a much bigger role than she's had previously has been well executed, and Darby Stanchfield has done a great job portraying someone who isn't naturally at home in that environment, but is standing their ground. In her scene with Fitz in the Oval, you could see her thinking about Olivia, who used to stand where she stood, and got up to a whole lot more in that room. That scene was the highlight of the episode for me.
Lastly, David Rosen had an interesting time. Relied on by Fitz to press his gun control bills through the political sludge, Rosen dug up some dirt on one of the judges and swayed the vote. The celebrations for Rosen were short lived when he heard that the same judge had died from a gunshot a short time later.
In all, this was a pretty good episode. It wasn't the best, it certainly wasn't the worst, but it's laid the groundwork for some big moments to come in the next few weeks. Next week's promo and press release suggest a few things are reaching their boiling point, and Fitz and Olivia meet properly for the first time this season. I for one cannot wait to see how that goes down.
Thanks for reading! As always, share your thoughts and theories in the comments below! Don't forget to keep tabs on Scandal's ratings on my website, www.seriesmonitor.com.
Jimmy
