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President Fitzgerald Grant: Smirker in Chief

Rhondinella

By Rhondinella
in Scandal [V]

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Rhondinella

Rhondinella

I have issues.  Serious. Issues.  But let's start with this one, from a Scandal wiki:

"Fitz is a Rhodes Scholar, a PhD, and J.D. He graduated from Yale University suma cum laude before going on to Harvard Law School."

I buy Jed Bartlett being a Nobel Prize winner more than I buy this.  Just . . . no.

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quarks

quarks

I was so happy to see him all depressed and miserable and crushed in the Oval Office at the end of this episode.  The only thing that would have been better was hearing that he was heading off to a wedding on Game of Thrones.

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FozzyBear

FozzyBear

I was so happy to see him all depressed and miserable and crushed in the Oval Office at the end of this episode. The only thing that would have been better was hearing that he was heading off to a wedding on Game of Thrones.

I love you.

I can't stand Fitz. He's just so smug and smarmy and petulant. I died laughing when we found out that the dream team had to steal a freaking election to get him in the White House! Of course they did because Fitz is just slightly less presidential than Justin Beaber. And then he had the nerve to whine about how he wanted to win on his own merit. That's what they all wanted too but it wasn't going to happen! Go back to the kids table and let the adults talk.

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l star

l star

(edited)

I have issues.  Serious. Issues.  But let's start with this one, from a Scandal wiki:

"Fitz is a Rhodes Scholar, a PhD, and J.D. He graduated from Yale University suma cum laude before going on to Harvard Law School."

I buy Jed Bartlett being a Nobel Prize winner more than I buy this.  Just . . . no.

I can go with this. I can buy Fitz as brilliant but entitled and useless. I think he would have to have be brilliant enough for everyone to lead him to believe he was an actual presidential possibility instead of just a pretty golden child running on his daddy's name for him to feel like everything he and everyone around him 'accomplished' is his to throw away as he pleases instead of, you know, the culmination of a lifetime of hopes, dreams and a shitload of hard work for everyone not born Fitzgerald Thomas Grant II. I would have to laugh if they tried to give him a Nobel Prize though. College is one thing. Coming up with an idea, putting together everything it would take to make that idea real, and actually taking the initiative to push forward and complete something? Hahaha, no.

 

I think this is a huge reason why Mellie gets so disgusted with him too. Even Fitz acknowledges how brilliant Mellie is and I think they went through law school together. Fitz is a brilliant guy with real political prospects and all the tools to make it happen plus he wants to run- for an over-achiever like Mellie with a bit too much southern in her that's gold. Then while she's becoming a partner in a law firm he's doing...what? Fighting with his daddy? Even without all the other bullshit, after a few years of dragging him by the hand to reach his goals and being Fitz, only has to do is reach up and take what's offered yet he won't bother to, I'd want to drop kick his ass too. It blows my mind that Olivia seems to actually like Fitz being so useless that she spends all her time telling him what to do.

Edited by l star
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Julia

Julia

I have issues.  Serious. Issues.  But let's start with this one, from a Scandal wiki:

"Fitz is a Rhodes Scholar, a PhD, and J.D. He graduated from Yale University suma cum laude before going on to Harvard Law School."

I buy Jed Bartlett being a Nobel Prize winner more than I buy this.  Just . . . no.

And yet somehow he found the time to become an ace fighter pilot and serve as a military officer in his copious spare time. I'm pretty sure the writers must know how much time any of those pursuits take. I guess they figure we don't.

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Anna Yolei

Anna Yolei

Lol...Julia, I'm enlisted in the Navy and I swear more officers than not are like Fitz--blank slates with no thoughts of their own and entitled little fucks that can only look pretty for photo ops. I had the good fortune to work with one such bitch who thought her shit didn't stink because her daddy was a retired commander. Her instructor that transfered to my command after she left had a lot of fun stories to tell, like the one about almost getting the CO of the officer school canned for fraternization. Oops!

Anyway, Fitz is lame and I have no idea why Olivia or Mellie put up with his ass for all the reasons mentioned. Tony Goldberg has a great head of hair that I love looking at, but I wish it weren't attached to a character that made Enterprise's Captain Archer look balanced and self aware in comparision.

Lastly, what a pretensious name. Fitzgerald Thomas? It's just so damn awkward to say outloud. If anything good came out of Jerry kicking it, it means there won't be a fifth human being to share that name. Not as horrid as Albus Severus Potter, but still.

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greenbean

greenbean

(edited)

This character disgusts me so much. The way he treats Mellie. I don't care if you don't love her, or never did. No one forced him to marry her, he's a total bastard. I also hate how he treats Olivia. Always shouting at her, always barking orders. Always trying to control. Why she is so infatuated with him, I don't know.

 

Having said that, there's potential for him to become a good villainous character. If the show embraced his scummy ways, instead of trying to push him as the dashing president.

Edited by greenbean
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La Tortuga

La Tortuga

I'd probably like Fitz a lot more if the writers went back to what they did in the first season, which was to have him deal with actual problems that plague our country. Now that the writers have decided that virtually all real decision-making power is actually concentrated in B613, what comes across is that Fitz's only job in the White House is to keep himself in the White House, which mostly means looking pretty and arranging cover-ups so no one finds out who he's sleeping with or who he murdered. His entire character has been taken over by this focus on what he does to stay in the Oval Office, and what everyone else does to either help him or thwart him in this endeavor. I liked the episodes when he had to figure out what to do about a crisis in the Sudan, and he had several different people trying to sway him, including his wife. Now that I've finished watching S3, I wonder why anyone (especially Fitz) gives a crap if he gets re-elected or not, since in the Scandal universe the President has no more power than the Queen of England.

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greenbean

greenbean

Yeah. He's not even shown as much of a leader. That's one of the things that grates. I'm not a fan of how the B613 plot has evolved. It's caused the portrayal of many characters to suffer.

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l star

l star

My biggest issue with Fitz is that I feel like what I see is different than what I am being told. I see Fitz as being a really, really fucking awful president, boss, husband, boyfriend, and father. Yet all these people want him to be re-elected. And not just for power like Cyrus- Olivia seems to actually think he should be president. And Fitz only wants to be president when he can't be. He will happily sign it away yet he got pissed that they rigged the election instead of believing he could win and when he was told in the finale that he was going to lose. So where does this belief come from? It certainly can't come from his record. When was the last time Fitz made a decision on his own? Even when Olivia isn't around to tell him what to do every minute of every day he is looking to Cyrus or Mellie.

 

Somehow, none of Fitz's bullshit ever leaks. Yet he lets his wife, with his secretary right behind her, walk in on him making out with his mistress. He lets his entire secret service detail listen to him banging then fighting with said mistress. Yet when the first lady goes on national television to say he cheated on her or when there are pictures of him at Olivia's apartment after she is called out as his mistress, somehow there aren't dozens upon dozens of rumors and sources coming out of the White House saying 'yeah, he's a dog'. Every administration leaks except somehow this one. I don't see how anyone there has any loyalty to him whatsoever.

 

I think the reasons he is a shitty husband are self evident but he isn't any better as a boyfriend. He is a needy, manipulative roller coaster who at the end of the day, gives her nothing tangible.

 

I wrote a long post on TWOP about why Fitz is delusional in thinking he is the good parent to Mellie's awful parent. Not only is he uninvolved in their lives but he is a demanding ass. I understand why Mellie deals, he's not abusing the kids and he is their dad, but Olivia wants more kids with him? After everything she's been through with her family, she never blinks when he talks about them going to Vermont to get married and have kids with no mention of the kids he has. From what he has said, he basically intends to trade one family out for a new one. I can't support that or any character that doesn't see a problem with that. Speaking of- I wonder if there is any significance to his choice of Vermont? Say the belief that Mellie will take Teddy and go back to the other side of the country?

 

When my perception of the character is so different from the characters' on the show, how am I supposed to understand their support for him? Fitz is basically a pretty puppet most of the time. It's unfortunate that almost all of the times I have found Fitz himself interesting was when he was away from Olivia.

 

I think that is where my interest in Mellie/Fitz comes from. While their relationship did get more complex, my interest is mostly by virtue of elimination. All the other relationships are so awful that their history and deeper issues pushes them to the top. And Fitz is more interesting with her than Olivia to me. Maybe because he isn't focused solely on getting her pants off while totally disregarding all other obligations, family or professional. He's still a jackass but at least he is occasionally an adult.

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Dejana

Dejana

(edited)

My guess is that the writers are going for a cross of JFK and Clinton with a dash of Obama in terms of Fitz being the "inspirational", popular figure with loads of charisma. The writing with Fitz often fails because Shonda & Co. aren't so good with writing politics, though even if they were, it's one thing to read about JFK's rampant cheating in bios years later or hear about the Lewinsky scandal on the news, well after you have examples of them being presidential first (though I suspect if The West Wing had made its president a reckless adulterer, that people wouldn't have found him so inspiring). In the Scandalverse, there are flashes of presidential behavior, but mostly Fitz pining for Liv and acting like a spoiled child. Also, the writers want Mellie to serve as both Hillary and Jackie, depending on the needs of the story, when they are pretty much opposing types. So that has an impact on the writing for Fitz and his marriage as well.

Edited by Dejana
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Hybiscus

Hybiscus

Oh dear.  I was one of the very few (if any) people who actually liked Fitz.  That is, until he blamed Mellie for his affair with Olivia.  What the fuck?  What an ass!

 

My guess is that the writers are going for a cross of JFK and Clinton with a dash of Obama in terms of Fitz being the "inspirational", popular figure with loads of charisma.

 

Dejana, your assessment of Fitz is great, and spot-on.  He reads much more Democrat than Republican.   I also think they originally meant for him to be progressive, fair, and honest.  (Not saying that Dems are progressive, fair and honest.  Sadly, no politician is.)  But he has become a sad little sack with apparently no power or thoughts of his own.

 

Lol...Julia, I'm enlisted in the Navy and I swear more officers than not are like Fitz--blank slates with no thoughts of their own and entitled little fucks that can only look pretty for photo ops. I had the good fortune to work with one such bitch who thought her shit didn't stink because her daddy was a retired commander.

 

Hey, Anna Yollei!  I'm a former Navy officer.  We're not all like that, I swear!  :-D  Some of us aren't even photogenic!  But, thinking one is "entitled" being daughter of a retired Commander is pretty lame.  Commander isn't all that high in the ranks.  Several of my friends retired as Navy Captains, one could probably have made Admiral if she'd stayed, and none of us were entitled.  :-)   (Again with the smiley face because I don't want you to think I'm insulted.  I'm not!  Just found yours a fun post to respond to.)  Oh, and even I worked for some crappy officers.  But they were the exception rather than the rule.

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Anna Yolei

Anna Yolei

Having said that, there's potential for him to become a good villainous character. If the show embraced his scummy ways, instead of trying to push him as the dashing president.

To do what True Blood did to Bill Compton? I am down with this. He became 100000 times more interesting when he went to the dark side, as did Fitz on all one occassion where he made a decision without the Gepetto Committee (Olivia, Mellie, Cyrus, ect) pulling his strings on the invasion into that made up ME country.

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FozzyBear

FozzyBear

Ugh. Does he ever take responsibility for anything? How any woman can find that attractive, let alone two otherwise intelligent women, is entirely beyond my imagination.

No he does not. Ever. He killed a woman and it was everybody else's fault for fixing the election.

I really need the show to acknowledge that Fitz is not a Great Man this season. Not because he's not nice. I'm ok with the idea that a lot of great leaders aren't nice, but because he's not anything. He's not smart or hard working or creative or engaging. All of his best moments are scripted by Olivia or Cyrus. He can't even win an election on his own. He's a completely useless empty suit, which would be interesting if SR realized what she wrote and started letting Fitz's dumbness be a plot point. I would love a season where everyone left from Defiance realizes they made a deal with the devil for the wrong man! Except Hollis, who I think always knew Fitz's best quality was how easy it is to manipulate him.

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l star

l star

(edited)

I think at this point I could be happy if Fitz just had the slightest bit of self-awareness. I could be happy if he just said 'I was a shitty father to my son so now I'm going to have my secretary check in with Karen at least every ten days or so'. Or 'I'm a shitty president so I am going to direct all my authority to have my underlings make a law limiting statues to eight feet high nationwide so I have one clear success.' Or 'I'm a shitty boss so from now on I am going to choose hotel rooms with thicker doors to bang my mistress in.' I really don't need anything huge from him. Just some awareness of his surroundings beyond banging Olivia and his own endless tears. And for God's sake, some initiative.

 

I have no expectations for any changes in his love life but outside of that idiocy, I wish he would get past this I trust you! I hate you! Yours is the only advice I want! You are stupid!!! pattern with everyone close to him. If Olivia is the key to your presidency, stop shitting all over her opinion. If Cyrus is your bulldog, let him do it. If Mellie is brilliant and informed, use that brilliance. His total and complete impotence and insistence on continuing that path drives me crazy.

 

While I have no doubt Olivia will be back two minutes into the premiere, I would prefer to see Fitz and the White House with her MIA for two or three eps. We've already seen him pouting and drinking over her- where will he take out his issues this time? He can never be alone so will he start banging interns and relying on Cyrus to choose his every move? How long will he remember Jerry just died? I have no idea why I still find a character that I see as a spoiled toddler treated like he's king of the world interesting but I do. I think it is just the lingering effects of the end of last season when he was dealing with more than just Olivia and the Grant marriage was actually given a bit of space to demonstrate how truly screwed up it is that got me. I don't even object to Olivia and Fitz really. Just their melodramatic idiocy and the way their relationship consumes both characters.

Edited by l star
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Anna Yolei

Anna Yolei

In that case, Olivia still got the better deal, by a wide margin. She at least has OPA that she built on her own and prior to season three that was where her priority in life lie.

Fitz is a puppet--has been one his whole life, first by Big Jerry, then Mellie, then the rest of what I affectionately called the Gepetto Committee to include Olivia, Cyrus, Hollis, and whoever else will take a turn pretending Fitz will one day become a real boy in the future.

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Spartan Girl

Spartan Girl

I was so happy to see him all depressed and miserable and crushed in the Oval Office at the end of this episode.  The only thing that would have been better was hearing that he was heading off to a wedding on Game of Thrones.

 

 

Oh to give him the poisoned wine myself...

 

The season finale was one of the few times he actually seemed to give a damn about Mellie and his kids (for all his talk, he spends more time caring about the babies he and Olivia are going to have someday -- lets not forget how Mellie had to remind him what kids were doing in school on their fateful visit).  Too bad it had to take the revelation of Mellie's rape and Jerry dying to bring him to it, though I wager from the promo of him trying to reach Olivia that his guilt and remorse won't last that long.

 

I really hated how got Olivia to break up Mellie and Andrew because even though he hates her, he can't stand Mellie having sex with somebody else.  And WHY are we supposed to support, let alone believe in, Olitz?!

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l star

l star

Funny enough, the finale was also the only time he seemed to give a damn about winning the election. He got over it fast enough but he was pissed that he was going to lose. It's amazing how somehow, those three things come at the same time. For me, it makes his dream of Vermont even more obviously separate from his real life. It's all one or the other and everything else gets completely tossed aside. Since I have no doubt he will end up in some version of Vermont, for the sake of the family and career (and everyone working for that career) he's been building for twenty years, I hope that changes.

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Anna Yolei

Anna Yolei

I really hated how got Olivia to break up Mellie and Andrew because even though he hates her, he can't stand Mellie having sex with somebody else.  And WHY are we supposed to support, let alone believe in, Olitz?!

That was the icing on the cake that Fitz wanted to have and eat too.

Good God. For all his preaching to Daddy about the way he treated his mother, Fitz thinks nothing of having the supposed love of his life ask his wife to stop sleeping with his running mate. I hope Daddy Pope disappears him the moment he leaves the White House. Or before that. Whatever.

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DollEyes

DollEyes

(edited)

  One more on the Fitz Hate Train. He may not be as sleazy as his late father, but he's a scumbag nonetheless. I have never considered Fitz to be Presidential because IMO he has never been President. Like virtually everything else in his life, Fitz has had the Presidency handed to him on a silver platter not once but twice, both times covered in innocent blood, whether it was in Defiance, the church bombing or Jerry Jr's death. Then there's Fitz's treatment of women, whether it's his wife Mellie, his sidepiece Amanda Tanner or Olivia, his so-called "true love," aka the other sidepiece. Time and time again, Fitz has put Olivia above his job, his country, his marriage, his children and even Olivia herself. Innocent people have suffered and/or died because of Olivia and Fitz's relationship including Fitz's own son and IMO it's Fitz's fault. Rowan, Olivia's dad/the head of B13, may have technically given the order and Tom the Secret Service agent may have technically done the deed, but Fitz is ultimately responsible.

 

 If Fitz hadn't been so initially disrespectful about Olivia in his meeting with Rowan in "A Door Marked 'Exit," Rowan might not have retaliated against him. If Fitz really loves Olivia as much as he thinks he does, then that would have been the first thing he told Rowan in that episode, not one of the last. If Fitz really loved Olivia, he wouldn't have degraded her in front of her own father. News flash, Fitz: Olivia was your lover, not a hooker. If I had a daughter and a male talked about her that way, he's not only not a man in my eyes, I wouldn't want him anywhere near her and I would say/do just about anything to keep him away from her. While it's ultimately her choice, my choice would be not to tolerate anyone who would disrespect her like Fitz has done to Olivia, which is why I loved Rowan in "A Door Marked 'Exit.'" Instead of cowering in Fitz's almighty presence, Rowan read him for filth like the filth he is and I loved every moment of it. Rowan's ordering Jerry Jr.'s death was wrong, to say the least, but if Fitz was any semblance of the man he thinks he is, it probably wouldn't have happened in the first place.

Edited by DollEyes
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slayer2

slayer2

This guy's really stupid. Why would Jake kill his son? Probable cause, you idiot! But of course he's back to his standard, "anything to get into Olivia's pants" rule. Even using his dead son's murder to do it. This dude is the grossest. Seriously.

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Dejana

Dejana

I have no idea what Shonda's going for with Fitz...he has the guy he thinks ordered his son's murder, but he's actually angrier about him screwing his mistress... this is supposed to make Fitz more appealing, how exactly? All of the characters look worse for being involved in this triangle.

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rollacoaster

rollacoaster

I hate this guy like no other character on TV.

YES!

 

Coming here and discovering this thread has given me life!  I've been catching up on this series, and just finished Season 2.  I love the show, so far, but I feel that Olivia and Fitz's relationship is the least interesting part of the show.  I fast forward through any scene that looks like it will develop into a sex scene.   This man has treated Olivia so badly that I literally scream at my television everytime she goes running back to him.     

 

From the first episode of season one, Fitz gave me the creeps.  He has such a reptilian, date rapey quality.  I do not see the attraction this man has to so many.  I don't see the brilliance or the charisma, any of the stuff that drives people do things like debase themselves, have heart attacks, or rig national elections.  I was so hoping that he might die in the hospital after the assassination attempt.

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Cirien

Cirien

 

From the first episode of season one, Fitz gave me the creeps.  He has such a reptilian, date rapey quality.  I do not see the attraction this man has to so many.  I don't see the brilliance or the charisma, any of the stuff that drives people do things like debase themselves, have heart attacks, or rig national elections.  I was so hoping that he might die in the hospital after the assassination attempt.

It doesn't help that all of his scenes involve ignoring her personal space and boundries while she says "no". It does give of a "I know you want it" vibe

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rollacoaster

rollacoaster

It doesn't help that all of his scenes involve ignoring her personal space and boundries while she says "no". It does give of a "I know you want it" vibe

 

And, sadly enough, she does seem to want it, most of the time.  She gives in, anyway.  Sigh.  

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rollacoaster

rollacoaster

(edited)

I caught the end of the last episode.  Since I haven't yet seen season three or any of this season, I'm not caught up to how the show got to the point of the Wonder Triplets trying to eradicate Papa Pop, but I was beyond pleased with his speech to Olivia and him slipping through their trap. Hee!  Seeing any plan that Fitz is involved in foiled is so very satisfying.  

Edited by rollacoaster
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Anna Yolei

Anna Yolei

Okay, which one of you clever posters was responsible for this?

25 Reasons Fitz From “Scandal” Just Needs To Be Killed Off Already

It's pretty much everything that has been said against him here and in some of the other Scandal threads.

I love this post.Every reason listed is on point, except I'd add that he blames everyone from Mellie to Big Jerry for his problems, too.

I got friends who think I hate Fitz for cheating on his wife. And that's bad but...no. I hate him because, to paraphrase Papa Pope, he-is-a-boy....one who has been given every oppertunity in the world and appriciates none of it. Most of the same friends see Olitz as some star-crossed lovers like Romeo and Juliet. I find the comparison insulting, because Romeo didn't sit on his ass and mope about his situation.

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Blue Banrigh

Blue Banrigh

Nothing really new to add, but I just binged watch the four seasons and maybe that magnified his bad traits but Good Lords I hate this character.

 

He's a moody and spoilt child who throws a tantrum and blames others whenever he doesn't get his way; Eli's assessment of him being a boy was spot on. Ugh, I don't understand Olivia's attraction to him and this supposed great love that defines him. He's toxic; the moment that sealed it for me was when he blamed Mellie for his affair. Plus every times Olivia tries to shake him off and say no he just overpowers her until she submits. Ugh, the thought of him even being remotely happy at the end of the series makes me want to stab him in his face. 

 

Every time he yells at someone "I am the PRESIDENT", "I am the LEADER OF THE FREE WORLD", "I am your COMMANDER IN CHIEF" I'm yelling back at my TV "THEN FECKING ACT LIKE IT!"

 

Are we supposed to want him and Olivia together? Cause I sure as hell don't, my hopes and wishes for his character is him being dead or jobless, alone and miserable in his empty house in Vermont in the dead of winter with no heating.

 

Rant over. 

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ShadowHunter

ShadowHunter

I hate Fitz as well and that makes it hard for me to watch this show at times. I even fast forward through scene's with him and Olivia at times.

 

Fitz deserves the same ending that Tony Goldwyn's character had in Ghost where we saw him being dragged to hell.

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ShadowHunter

ShadowHunter

(edited)

I honestly do not get what Olivia or Mellie see in him.  Olivia does realize she is the one who is going to have to make all the Jam in Vermont lol.  I already pity Vermont if he actually ends up there.

Edited by ShadowHunter
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Anna Yolei

Anna Yolei

For Liv, it's been theorized that Fitz's general ability to be molded and dragged around the nose is appealing given her upbringing and who her father is. That would be the only thing that makes sense after everything they've been through.

I dunno what Mellie ever got, other than being First Lady, and I'm sure the media would've ripped into her for staying with Fitz after Tanner let alone Liv....much like Hilary Clinton.

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Cheetosandchoc

Cheetosandchoc

I just recently started watching this show, I just finished the episode where Mellie reaveals Fitz having an affair, while he is with his girlfriend proving his love. I was confused as to if I was supposed to find it romantic or not. I found it horrifying. I also think Liv does not come off as a good person, and as far as I can tell their relationship is purely about sex. What kind of resident obsesses per a mistress like tha, and what kind of woman ers involved in tha, while at first being friend laity the wife. Who can do that? I get the feeling I am supposed to dislike Mellie but don't, and like her character the best so far.

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Missy Vixen

Missy Vixen

We started watching on Netflix. My Hatey McHaterson for Fitz grows and grows. He's completely unlikable, boring, and uninteresting. One has to wonder how he managed to attract a woman smarter than he is, and I'm not speaking of Olivia Pope. It's all I can do to not fast forward through every scene with Fitz and Olivia. She's going to be doodling his name on her Trapper Keeper any second now -- well, when she isn't writing him a "love test" in fifth period English Comp.

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