After a mediocre outing last Thursday, ABC's Scandal ended its year with a much better performance.
The cast were all class night. Each one of them were outstanding, with some delivering arguably their best work this season. It's a rare event for the cast to be mentioned first in any review I write, but this is very well deserved.
Titled "Where the Sun Don't Shine", the episode was written by Mark Wilding and directed by series star Tony Goldwyn, who was in the hot seat once in each of the past two seasons. This was Wilding's sixth credit.
The duo wasted no time in bringing viewers forward onto the edge of their seats, with the return of Maya Pope occurring less than a minute in. The preceding seconds showed the tactical team members who weren't slaughtered in last week's final moments, raiding the headquarters of Rowan Pope's beloved B613. It was Olivia giving the orders, condemning her mother, and launching an offensive on her father, who was now in the wind.
Things accelerated further when Elizabeth North provided the case of the week for OPA, with Cyrus at the center as his bedtime antics with North's hired hooker Michael became public. Not to be outdone, it was Huck and Quinn who provided the intel needed to stop North in her tracks, with the final blow dealt to North and Vice President Andrew Nichols by none other than Mellie Grant.
I was surprised to see almost exclusive focus on the relationship between Olivia and Jake. The episode was devoid of anything in relation to Fitz and Olivia. As well as the gun tutorial, Olivia and Jake danced together in what was one of the most bizarre scenes the series has produced - not because of its content, rather because of its context.
While that was going on, Charlie was reintroduced, albeit rather unsurprisingly. Him and Quinn shared a few love/hate moments, and after completely demolishing a room, the pair decided that one killing the other wasn't going to happen. I wouldn't be surprised if we haven't seen the last of B613'c cleanup crew - surely Charlie himself must be a target, along with Huck. Watch this space.
Abby also stood out for me tonight. She looked the most comfortable she's ever looked as press secretary despite the chaos surrounding Cyrus' circumstances. I'm guessing this is a sign that her role in the White House is set to continue for a while longer yet.
From my perspective, the most important development from the episode was Olivia's relationship with her parents. Rowan baited her by leaving the gun on the table, though it was obvious right from the start that the magazine would have been empty - Rowan ain't that dumb. I would have thought Olivia could have realized through the weight of the gun that it was empty, and maybe things could have gone down differently. But it was Olivia's later scene with Maya which took me by surprise as it remains unclear whether there was something pulling at Olivia's heartstrings to giver her mother a break and actually get to know her. It'll be interesting to see how this unfolds.
The evening's cliffhanger came as a bit of a shock. VP Nichols' endgame was revealed in the closing moments as it turned out he staged the car bomb that could have killed him in order to force the President's hand in retaliating against his country of choice - West Angola - chosen thanks to its oil resources. When Fitz declined to pursue further action, Nichols had Olivia abducted from right under Jake's nose. Could it be that Rowan comes to her rescue in 2015? Or will Jake and Fitz battle it out to be the hero?
In all, the midseason finale was a pretty good piece of television, and a marked improvement on the last couple of weeks. I'm hoping to see the intensity lift in the new year as the series progresses its storylines toward the ever-spectacular season finale.
Thanks for reading! Share your thoughts and theories in the comments below, and don't forget to check out Scandal's ratings on my website, www.seriesmonitor.com/scandal. See you in the new year!
Jimmy.
