Saturday, January 19, 2013

Scandal - A Criminal, a Whore, an Idiot and a Liar


The President (Tony Goldwyn) may be out of a coma but things are hardly back to normal as Senator Davis (Norm Lewis) accuses Olivia (Kerry Washington) of having an affair with Fitz and acting President Langston (Kate Burton) goes after the legitimacy of the reinstatement letter which she knows to be a forgery. And in flashbacks, the days leading up to Fitzgerald Grant's election as President are covered including more information about how Fitz was helped into the White House from 10 points down weeks before the election.

On the campaign trail Olivia tries to convince Fitz to make use his beloved father, former Senator Grant (Barry Bostwick), to give his campaign the necessary boost while being shocked at Hollis Doyle's (Gregg Henry) pronouncement of how easy it would be to rig the election in their favor. The flashbacks also show us the first time Olivia's team was assembled when she brings Abby (Darby Stanchfield), Harrison (Columbus Short), and Huck (Guillermo Díaz) all together to dig up dirt on Fitz's opponent (Tom Amandes) in the election.


Despite their best efforts the gap between Fitz and Governer Reston isn't closing fast enough which brings Doyle back around to pitch the idea of fixing the election to Olivia, Justice Thornton (Debra Mooney), Cyrus (Jeff Perry) and Mellie (Bellamy Young). The closer the election gets the more the group begins rationalizing the decision and trying to convince a reluctant Olivia to get on board.

Back in the present, Langston's actions force Fitz out of ICU and back into the Oval Office and Situation Room in an attempt to save his Presidency and prevent his wife's decision to forge his signature from becoming public. Despite the strain Fitz manages through a delicate situation in the Middle East and press conference as well as making a hard decision about his future and what he wants more than anything else in the world.

The episode makes good use of editing the flashbacks with the current events, especially the quick cuts between the President's press conference and the final debate before the election. The episode also delivers a pair of bombshells in its closing moments with a Edison's surprise proposal and the President asking Mellie for a divorce. There should be plenty of fallout to delve into when the show returns in two weeks.

No comments: