Episode sixteen of ABC's Scandal did the title some justice. Stir in some Fifty Shades of Grey with some interesting storyline developments and you have an hour which I enjoyed for the most part.
Provocatively titled "It’s Good to Be Kink", Matt Byrne wrote the episode directed by Paul McCrane. Lena Dunham was the headline guest star, playing Suzanne Thomas.
The hour kicked off with a quarrel between Abby and current boyfriend Leo Bergen. This was a typical Abby style scene, where the actual subject matter remained unclear for some time. It was the start of a terrific night for Darby Stanchfield, an actor who is at her best when playing someone who is either very angry or bordering on insane.
Said subject was to become clear shortly after, with Abby seeking her former employer's help in halting the release of a raunchy Fifty Shades of Grey style book written by Suzanne Thomas on her dealings with several elite Washington officials. Abby was intimately familiar with two of those men - one being Leo, and the other being David Rosen. Realizing she was sitting on a jackpot, Suzanne sought a tidy $3 million from her conquests in exchange for her silence. David wasn't having a bar of it given its illegality, though Leo was all in with the plan.
The first half of the episode was pretty upbeat, bouncy, and funnier than normal. I was enjoying watching things unfold, but then things took a turn, not necessarily for the worse, but it threw me off somewhat.
This was largely to do with Huck, who spent most of the episode obsessed with obtaining immunity from David for his actions under B613. Initially, David wasn't keen on the idea given the processes yet to occur, but Huck got his way eventually.
Though this was a natural storyline progression following the events of last week's episode, Huck felt completely out of place among the other characters. Huck's storyline clashed heavily with the procedural storyline simultaneously occurring, and it became quite irritating to watch as the hour reached its end. Then there was the unfortunate incident where Huck slashed the throat of Suzanne Thomas, which will surely go down as one of the most abrupt and unexpected killings on television this season.
With that off my chest, another ongoing storyline that tied in much more smoothly was Olivia's continued recovery. With Jake out of the picture for now, Olivia hit the town and landed a man for the night, though it took her two goes thanks to a PTSD related flashback which was beautifully executed. As reported back to Fitz, plenty of wine is being consumed, and the gun is still present.
Much of the talk around the web in recent weeks has centered around Mellie's intention to run for office. Finally, this was made official in last night's hour, with Mellie announcing she would be running for Senator in Virginia. Baby steps at first I suppose, but it wouldn't surprise me if we see another significant time jump at some point either this season or the next to push things a long more quickly without compromising on legitimacy.
Mellie also settled on a campaign manager in this episode. After Abby denied access to Leo, Elizabeth North returned to persuade Mellie to give her the job. I'm on the fence on this having not been a huge fan of the character or Portia de Rossi's work, but I'll keep an open mind in case I decide to change it. One could expect the creative team has a series regular role in the back of their minds for de Rossi.
Times are changing for Abby too. In a brilliant scene with Leo at the midpoint of the hour, Abby decided to resign from her role as press secretary, citing the pressures of the job and the potential ramifications of the book being released. Abby unloaded big time about the judgement she faces in her role, with her gender clearly an aggravating factor. Though the book was never made public, and Abby didn't have to resign, the mere mention of it along with detailed reasons leads me to believe Abby won't be in the role for much longer.
Lastly, it was great seeing Charlie back for a brief appearance. Smart use of the character, with some dark humor to boot. It was a nice cherry on top for an episode which was pretty good for the most part even though Huck's storyline ground my gears.
Thanks as always for reading! Don't forget to share your thoughts and theories in the comments below. Scandal's ratings are available on my TV ratings website, www.seriesmonitor.com/scandal.
I loved this episode. Scandal feels like Scandal again. Bravo to Olivia for getting her groove back with a new guy instead of her human vibrator Jake. He was a lousy lay anyway!! Dr. Feelgood in the house. We know she'll be done with Jake, but not Fitz. The ring comes back in in two episodes. One night stand Russell and booty call Jake are nothing but bumps in the road to her true love Fitz.
ReplyDeleteNow Huck. What an sociopath he is! He did not have to kill Kinky. The case was closed and solved. I've lost count on how many people Huck has killed and gotten away with it.
Mellie has to run for Senator first. Still is a long shot for her to be POTUS, but winning an elected office is a start. I knew the writers weren't that big of hacks to make her jump from FLOTUS to POTUS overnight. It doesn't work like that.
Fitz have to make a big move now. Millie really want to run for an office. she needs Fitz support. Susan Ross is a vice president and a single mom. Millie can be a divorce's candidate. Cyrus, a gay chief of staff will soon marry a hooker. Anyone don't care. It's time for Fitz to ask for divorce if he truly wants Olivia. An Olivia to say what she wants. The public will accept the situation mainly if Mellie, the wife is ok with that.
ReplyDeleteMy girl is really suffer, lonely and sad.
Why Fitz have to trust Jake again???????????????????????
Any thoughts???????????????????
If it was up to Fitz, he would have filed the papers in season 2. It is not up to Fitz, it is up to Shonda Rhimes and for some reason, she want Fitz to remain miserable in a loveless marriage with Mellie. Fitz can only do what Shonda will write. Instead she wants to continue to torture Olitz.
ReplyDeleteFitz calling on Jake was only done to keep Scott Foley employed for another episode.
for all this 3 season i used to hate charlie but for the first time i don't know why but i was actually very happy to see charlie back.
ReplyDeleteIt is actually nice to see jake out of the picture now but that new guy, he is cute but i want my olitz back.Clearly i wasn't expecting that from liv.
" are we running away together " -liv .my favorite line
Yeah you're right. Charlie annoyed the hell out of me in previous episodes but not this one
ReplyDelete1. The new guy w liv is gross with his creepy mustache.
ReplyDelete2. Cyrus is so sheisty. Really dislike him. He doesn't follow command. Does what he wants. Yet their are skeletons in his closet too. No room for him to throw stones. And to lie to liv ahhhh. He needs to be chopped down to size.
3. The huck stuff is terribly out of control. Him killing susan was really just disturbing and not necessary. He really needs help. It's time.
4. So sick of b613 it's like the story that won't end.
Good ep. Not my fave though.
Good to know you realize it is Shonda Rhimes who is steeering this ship.
ReplyDeleteCharlie said something so awesome and shocking because it explained what he really does. He said I'm a spy who mostly watches other spies. I loved that line. And I like Charlie.
ReplyDeleteI loved the episode and have rewatched several times. Case is of Sue who authors a book about her sexual exploits with high-powered which includes Leo, the dusbuster and David Rosen. But David Risebn refuses to make it go away by breaking the law - forcing the 17 men described in her book to chip in 175,000 a piece to keep the book from being published. As a result David Rosen expects to lose his position as AG, which means he will be unable to help Huck avoid prosecution for his B613 crimes.
ReplyDeleteThere were lots of throwback moments. The first scene between Olivia and Sue reminded me of Liv's first encounter with Amanda Tanner, S1-Ep1. The drinking scenes with Jake and Fitz, a throwback to when we were first introduced to Jake Ballard. Jake doesn't have a job but he has access to all sorts of classified information. So who is Jake Ballard really? jake tells Fitz I don't work for free. Mellie is running for Susan Ross' recently vacated Senate seat. Can she run for office while serving as First Lady? Lizzie Bear as her campaign manager - scary. We find out from Charlie's failed hook-up with Sue set up by Quinn that he is a spy who mostly watches other spies. And Cyrus really is a monster. He wanted to buy Sue's book so he could blackmail his fellow gov't employees. Then there's Olivia who finds out the real reason for Sue's book is revenge on a boss who fired her because she refused to sleep with him. He wasn't satisfied with just firing her. He made it impossible for her to find work anywhere. Just as she did for Amanda Tanner, Olivia decides to help Sue Thomas. And just like Amanda Tanner, Sue is killed in the service of a larger purpose - full immunity for Huck so he can go home. This time though when Huck kills Sue he says it's too bad because she was really a nice person. But he wants to go home and she would have eventually told someone. There was this strange thing that happened at the beginning of the episode which no reviewer has mentioned so far. Abby told Liv, that Sue had sent copies of her manuscript to every major publisher in the country. We were told Sue typed it on an electric typewriter to ensure complete protection of her book. When Quinn returns to OPA, she hands Liv the manuscript and a jump drive which contains a scanned copy and tells her it is the only copy left. But there are all those proposals out there, which contain enough ino that a friend of Leo's sent it to him because he figured the dustbuster about him. The case seems more like something Liv dreamed up rather than something that actually happened.