After setting series high ratings and audience numbers in last week's fourth season premiere that wasn't what I expected, I didn't know what to expect from Scandal's second episode of the new season.
Titled "The State of the Union", this was one of the most powerful episodes of the political drama that we've seen. It was written by Heather Mitchell and directed by Allison Liddi-Brown.
Last night's episode was heavily character-oriented, with the procedural element amounting to no more than Olivia rallying a couple who couldn't stand the sight of each other, and convincing them to attend the President's State of the Union speech. Once this was sorted, some powerful performances from several lead cast members took over and gave the episode an edge over many that have gone before.
Relationships move faster than Earth can spin on Scandal. The main couples in the form of Fitz and Mellie, and Olivia and Jake, shifted hugely since last week's premiere. The latter seem to have split officially, but one of the series' sexiest scenes in the closing moments ensured that booty calls weren't out of the question. The former grew in the other direction, with Mellie eventually agreeing to be present at her husband's speech and later breaking down as she grieved for her son.
The couple chaos didn't end there, with Quinn and Huck still holding sizeable grudges over events that occurred in the previous season. Cyrus found a new friend, though if he wasn't a sex worker hired by Elizabeth I would have been up in arms saying it was too soon. I do have some sympathy for Cyrus, though a sizable part of me wants to watch him suffer a bit too.
We can't finish the relationship stuff without recalling Olivia and Fitz talking for the first time this season. Fitz seized the opportunity by ordering everyone else from the room and discussing his speech with Olivia. She quickly pointed out the one problem, and Fitz enacted that advice and spoke from the heart in what I think is his best speech of the series to date. As an aside, I though the showrunners had some serious balls to take on the issue of gun violence and school shootings, especially given the negative press both have received in recent weeks. Back on the subject, Fitz introduced his son's death into the speech beautifully, and used it to great effect. Given he's entering a new term in office, I'm fairly certain these topics will resurface, but one only has to remember that no one alive knows the truth.
I really enjoyed the beautiful timeshifting and cinematography in last night's episode. The numerous scenes in black and white, some different camera angles, and places where voiceover from a past event was used to explain the actions on screen worked really nicely. Katie Lowes and Guillermo Diaz did a great job in their brief moments on screen, as did Darby Stanchfield in her role as Abby, especially when giving Bellamy Young's Mellie an earful. Young, Kerry Washington and Scott Foley were consistent as always, as was Jeff Perry. Tony Goldwyn's screen presence when giving Fitz's speech was excellent, and bought the X-factor to the episode. I want to see a stronger performance from Portia de Rossi though.
In all, I don't have any real complaints about the episode. I enjoyed the focus on the characters instead of the procedural stuff, and some interesting groundwork has been laid for next week. Like the premiere, things were a bit slower than I'm used to from Scandal, so I'm hoping there's something in the works to ramp up the pace and intensity.
Thanks as always for reading! Be sure to check out next week's episode press release and promo, and to keep tabs on Scandal's ratings on my television ratings website, www.seriesmonitor.com/scandal. As always, share your thoughts and theories in the comments below!
Jimmy.
