S04.E12: Full Circle

[toodles]

Smelly Melly for President.  I would so buy that T-Shirt.

[cali1981]

From the PreviouslyTV recap:

 

"In a strange scene, Fitz tells Cyrus that Mellie greets every plane that returns from the warfront with dead soldiers. And Fitz needs Olivia to be okay so that these soldiers' sacrifice means something."

 

I had forgotten about this.  Was Fitz serious? I'm sure the families of the lost soldiers will be just fine once they realize their husbands and sons were sacrificed for Olivia, and oh, it now means something. Every time I think Fitz can't be more of an a**, he proves me wrong.

Yeah.  Of all of the inane, idiotic things that happened last night, this one topped the charts because it was so outrageously offensive,  It would be like, in 1962, the Cubans kidnapped Marilyn Monroe and John F. Kennedy actually launched an invasion of Cuba to "save" her.  I can see it now.  In the charred ruins of the US, Russia and everywhere else after all of the nukes have been launched, somehow Jack Kennedy survives, comes up from White House bomb shelter,  looks around and proclaims "Yeah but Marilyn was some piece of ass".  This is pretty much President Fitz, letting the little head do the thinking for the big head.  Just absurd.

[mwell345]

 

It would be like, in 1962, the Cubans kidnapped Marilyn Monroe and John F. Kennedy actually launched an invasion of Cuba to "save" her.  I can see it now.  In the charred ruins of the US, Russia and everywhere else after all of the nukes have been launched, somehow Jack Kennedy survives, comes up from White House bomb shelter,  looks around and proclaims "Yeah but Marilyn was some piece of ass".

 

And Jackie says "What do you want Jack?" and he says "Marilyn"

And Jack says "What do you want Jackie?"

 

And Jackie says "I want to be President, of course".

 

Even that's more believable than this mess.

[JenE4]

I fell asleep during the show last week--or maybe I missed it this week (although I stayed awake), but how did the Gladiators find out about this secret bidding war? Did Fitz tell Jake about it? I was wondering how the hell the gladiators did ALL of this WHILE the bidding was going on--like wouldn't they have missed it? But then Olivia said we have 12 more hours left of bidding! What was this like Ebay?! And in that case, doesn't everyone know that you're not supposed to bid and just swoop in when there's 30 seconds left and steal it out from under the poor schmuck who thought he had it in the bag? But this was apparently Olivia's idea last week, right? Did she explain why? Or we're just supposed to assume that The Fixer knows what she's doing and figured the ol' White-Hatted Gladiators and her various boyfriends and parents etc. would save her because she's Olivia Fucking Pope and worth at least a billion and a half dollars?! Jeesh. I've seen conceited people, but she just takes the cake! Yet, I suppose the foreshadowing of her as Helen of Troy was, indeed, accurate.

[Jade Foxx]

 

because she's Olivia Fucking Pope and worth at least a billion and a half dollars?!

 

To depict the "auctioning" of a human being (a black woman, specifically) in the year 2015 (and during Black History Month) is a bit shady, Shonda.

 

DAMN.

[Oblique Angle]

This is pretty much President Fitz, letting the little head do the thinking for the big head.  Just absurd.

And apparently being perfectly fine with using the U.S. Treasury as his personal sidepiece ransom-payment fund. I couldn't believe when he said, "Who has more money than the United States?" as if he'd just have the mint print more if it came down to a bidding war.

 

I think SR is getting close to insulting the audience with this stuff. She might need to reclassify Scandal as comedy or sci-fi because it's no longer believable as a straight drama. Not a nighttime drama, anyway.

[Jade Foxx]

 

I think SR is getting close to insulting the audience

 

Shonda is notorious for doing this.  Which is why I refused to get suckered into How To Get Away with Murder....she'll find a way to fuck that up, too.

[reggiejax]

It would be like, in 1962, the Cubans kidnapped Marilyn Monroe and John F. Kennedy actually launched an invasion of Cuba to "save" her.

 

The Cubans would have to have done it before August 5th. Marilyn would be unavailable from that date on.

 

Too soon? ;)

 

And while I have known for a long time not to expect anything remotely resembling plausibility with this show, I have to say, even by Scandal standards the President signing Executive Orders dissolving his Secret Service protection and enlisting Navy Seals to protect him and the First Family, is a stretch. That really is not the type of thing he can have Gabby announce in a routine press release.

 

Seriously, at this point, the only way to watch this is as satire. More a parody, I guess. Satire implies there is some sort of commentary. And there simply isn't.

[diggle]

How can it not be Dad?

How can that surprise us at this point?

Do they think we are stupid?

(Don't answer.)

[jjj]

How can it not be Dad?

 

Maybe it's Victor Garber.   They have gone down the "Alias" path, after all. 

[cali1981]

What was hilarious was when Olivia tried to "handle" the two hackers with another of her interminable self righteous soliloquies and the Asian kid set her ass straight with "I want the f-ing billion dollars".  Oh snap!!

[Haleth]

I think SR is getting close to insulting the audience with this stuff.

Close? I think this storyline is pretty offensive. I'm this [] close to giving up.

I must admit I gasped when the current baddie shot Ian.

[AnnA]

I don't know how much more of this show I can take.  

 

I do know that I never want to see Huck again.

 

It's a shame because I really enjoyed Olivia Pope in her white suits cleaning up someone's mess every week. 

[buttersister]

Nice rewrite of Mellie's character to make Fitz look better

Sorry, Kim, can't go there with you. Fitz looks like the fucking piece of shit Shonda made him. To me, anyway.

 

Huck is a low-functioning psychopath and Jake's all-business beheading puts him right there, too. Perhaps Shonda wrote this before the real-life beheadings started, but woman, WTF? Re-shoot!

 

So what am I left with here? Mellie. Joe Morton's scenery chewing. Mellie and Poppa Pope Save the World? Maybe I'd watch that, but I don't think I can watch anymore of this. Not sure I can convert to a hate-watcher, either. (And I, too, after a few episodes, bailed on HTGAWM--no thanks.)

[Dowel Jones]

At least the Aretha Franklin backing track ("Think") to the negotiations with Momma Pope was worth it.  It would have made my day if she had exploded in fury at David and Quinn:  "What do I want?  What do I want???  Some decent food, that's all.  You know what I had to eat last night in this craphole?  Four whole chickens, and a Coke!!!  And some dry white toast.  So get to work, kids."

 

This show has been spinning out of contriol for so long.  Unlike other shows that people talk about long after they're gone (Lost, Justified, etc. )my guess is that us diehards will watch to the end, say something like "Oh, well, that's it.  Next show".  Click.  And that's about the extent of the epitaph that Scandal will get on its eventual demise.  And that's a shame.

[WalrusGirl]

Why does Mellie think that *anyone* would vote for a Presidential candidate who proved that unter pressure she goes into a drunken catatonic state for weeks?

Um. Didn't she only do that the one time her teenage son suddenly died in front of her and kind of a live and televised audience? Sort of thinking she gets a pass there. (Though, and I'm fuzzy on this, I think she did all the drunkenness out of the public eye - it was a photo of her in, probably, her bathrobe sitting/eating/reading at her son's grave that got out. At which point she pulled it together just enough to get dressed and show up at the SOTU before breaking back at the WH.)

Anyway, no primary or general election candidate is using anything in the weeks/months after her kid died against her. Leaks about her wandering the WH drunk and in her bathrobe would just up her favorables anyway. It's not like she was even neglecting a job during her initial grieving period.

[Eolivet]

Unlike other shows that people talk about long after they're gone (Lost, Justified, etc. )my guess is that us diehards will watch to the end, say something like "Oh, well, that's it.  Next show".  Click.  And that's about the extent of the epitaph that Scandal will get on its eventual demise.  And that's a shame.

 

It's funny you should mention that, because in the middle of one of the scenes -- the Oval Office scene with Fitz, Mellie and Cyrus and Abby (maybe?) -- I actually had a thought about the end of the series -- that there's no way at least half to three-quarters of these people survive. That this show pretty much has to end with mass casualties, given everything they've done. It's not going to be a happy ending, that's for sure.

 

That being said, I still liked it. I feel like Shonda has to get over the fourth season hump, just like she did for Grey's. That show had a similar trajectory of going downhill in the third season and bottoming out in the fourth, but it recovered eventually. Give Shonda enough time, she straightens things out. I liked Mellie's confession that she wanted to be president -- that scene was well-done. I liked Liv at least trying to save herself (and obviously she was right, because who thinks Gus let those two hackers live?) I liked Mama Pope negotiating for a TV with David Rosen -- that was high comedy. So, I'm in it for the long haul (or however long these people survive).

Edited February 14, 2015 by Eolivet

[wanderingstar]

I liked Mama Pope negotiating for a TV with David Rosen -- that was high comedy.

 

 

"Cable."

 

"Just basic."

 

Yeah - I chuckled at that little exchange.

[JAYJAY1979]

I even liked when Quinn said she didn't have any money, all she had was student loans. 

 

"you change identities and Sallie Mae still manages to find you anyway' LOL

 

With that said, at least there was some concern expressed over Huck's dark interests.  He needs to be written off the show, and perhaps get some new gladiators come in.  Maybe that's what the show needs in season 5, to get a new gladiator to come in with an interesting backstory connected to Washington D.C. politics.

 

I think SR needs to look at House of Cards and try to copy that instead of trying to be another homeland or the Americans.

[Blakeston]

Um. Didn't she only do that the one time her teenage son suddenly died in front of her and kind of a live and televised audience? Sort of thinking she gets a pass there. (Though, and I'm fuzzy on this, I think she did all the drunkenness out of the public eye - it was a photo of her in, probably, her bathrobe sitting/eating/reading at her son's grave that got out. At which point she pulled it together just enough to get dressed and show up at the SOTU before breaking back at the WH.)

 

We were supposed to believe that because Mellie hid from the public view in the weeks after her son's death - and then the photos were taken of her munching on chips at his grave dressed like Peg Bundy - that everyone was questioning her mental health and competence. And that her showing up at the State of the Union looking "normal" was hugely important to convincing the public that she wasn't outright crazy.

 

If she ran for office, the whole thing would probably come up. If we get a "Mellie runs for president" storyline on this show, I have no doubt that some mean reporter character would make an issue of it.

[Turtle]

This hot mess was hard to watch. I couldn't even keep up with what was going on because it was such a disaster (and I couldn't make myself care). At the end, with the whole "their deaths have to mean something" and the black and white stills, I felt like this ridiculous show was trying a little too hard to be like The West Wing. And failing more miserably than anyone has ever failed at anything.

I can handle a well-written and well-played sociopathic killer who is actually one of the good guys. Huck is not that.

I can't even remember what was ever good about this show.

[reggiejax]

But yeah, I'd vote for Mellie because she'd at least get things done.

 

 

I admit I can't stand Mellie, so I am not really objective when it comes to her, but for the life of me I cannot think of anything she has gotten done. Certainly nothing that would merit Presidential consideration. At best I see her as the dutiful, and long suffering, political wife. I can't even even think of what her personal project, the one every First Lady has, is. 

 

Can some Smelly Mellie supporters (Smellies?) enlighten me?

[OldWiseOne]

What a load of crap. Although if they bring Steven back I'll keep watching. Maybe Steven bought Olivia!

[ChicksDigScars]

To depict the "auctioning" of a human being (a black woman, specifically) in the year 2015 (and during Black History Month) is a bit shady, Shonda.

 

Add that to the casual beheadings used as part of the process in getting a hostage back, and I'm wondering if Shonda uses FOX News for storyline inspiration.

 

 

 

Shonda is notorious for doing this.  Which is why I refused to get suckered into How To Get Away with Murder....she'll find a way to fuck that up, too.

 

CO-SIGN.  I've had HTGAWM on TV and haven't paid any attention to it.  I just can't bring myself to get involved in a third straight hour of Shonda destroying a show that I loved. So, despite the awesomeness that is Viola Davis, I'm not even going to start, 

Edited February 14, 2015 by ChicksDigScars

[KaveDweller]

  Maybe that's what the show needs in season 5, to get a new gladiator to come in with an interesting backstory connected to Washington D.C. politics.

 

I think it definitely needs a new gladiator, and to get back to some of the more case of the week type stories.  A new gladiator would make sense as a way to show Olivia kicking ass and being a white hat again. They could also do something like they did with Quinn, give the new person a secret that gets everyone speculating.

 

If she ran for office, the whole thing would probably come up. If we get a "Mellie runs for president" storyline on this show, I have no doubt that some mean reporter character would make an issue of it.

 

I have no doubt reporters would make an issue of it, but that doesn't mean she couldn't win.  Get Olivia to run her campaign.  She'd find some way to turn it into a positive.

[Schmoopy]

Again with the fast paced, gaspy, breathy, staccato speak that almost every character uses? I bet the scripts are even written with random caps and pauses everywhere so people would be urged to speak in the most unnatural and aggravating ways possible:

 

This!...THIS! Is such and irriTATING way for PEOPLE! PEOPLE! to TALK! Every...week! EVERY...week! EVERY! WEEK! I...FEEL...so much...RAGE...ShonDA! MYBESTFRIEND! MY! BEST! FRIEND! my BEST friend! MY...ONLY...FRIEND! ONLY! FRIEND!

 

NO one...talks...like THIS! ShonDA!

 

I cant be the only one to read this as Captain Kirk :)

[Anela]

A person on another board, suggested that it might be the woman that was involved with Harrison - the one that he wasn't happy to see - that bought Olivia. Since she was involved with her mother.

[JenE4]

I think it definitely needs a new gladiator, and to get back to some of the more case of the week type stories. A new gladiator would make sense as a way to show Olivia kicking ass and being a white hat again.

I assumed that the scene with Quinn and Jake in the empty office, appropos of nothing, Jake saying he's never been in that room and Quinn saying it was Harrison's office and, before that, Steven's was foreshadowing that and now it will be yours, Jake!

Also the mission to kill the terrorist's enemies, Jake had to come in, calm Huck down, and take over. Then he followed up with Quinn that Huck went too far, Quinn defended Huck that he always brings himself back from the edge, but then we saw Quinn scared by Huck for going too far with the description of Liv's buyer sending pieces of her to the president. By that point I felt like this whole episode was a set-up that Jake is needed as the tactical lead to the Gladiators; Huck can't be trusted to make decisions any more.

Edited February 15, 2015 by JenE4

[thewhiteowl]

A person on another board, suggested that it might be the woman that was involved with Harrison - the one that he wasn't happy to see - that bought Olivia. Since she was involved with her mother.

 

 I thought her body was found with Harrison's.

[slayer2]

Yes Mellie!! Yes Mama Pope! Yes Abby (that scene with David made me cry (DS is phenomenal). Whoa there Huck. Poor Liv and way to go Fitz for doing something for Nellie for once in your damn life. Finally!

[JAYJAY1979]

If the show was still like season 1 through early season 3, Abby's back-story with the abusive ex-husband who is in politics would be a bigger focus rather then a one off episode story like it was this season.

 

Sadly, because Abby's back story and her abusive ex isn't involved with the whole B613 story nor the show's attempts at being Homeland.. sadly it only got little focus.  Same as the wasted guest stint story of Lisa Kudrow last season.

[wanderingstar]

If the show was still like season 1 through early season 3, Abby's back-story with the abusive ex-husband who is in politics would be a bigger focus rather then a one off episode story like it was this season.

Sadly, because Abby's back story and her abusive ex isn't involved with the whole B613 story nor the show's attempts at being Homeland.. sadly it only got little focus.  Same as the wasted guest stint story of Lisa Kudrow last season.

 

 

I agree, JAYJAY1979. One of my frustrations with this show is that the elements of a top-notch drama are in place, but the writers seem determined not to take advantage of them.

[dr pepper]

Huck needs to fucking see someone now.  Just...how the HELL did he rip off someone's arm?  And all the blood and the crushed heads...  B13 ruined Huck, there's no way he should be anywhere near Javi.  I can't wait to see how this kidnapping arc ends.

 

But that's just it-- most of the people who get things done in this show are former victims of B613. Or of Olivia Pope Associates.

Who bought Olivia? How about the the thuggish corporate backer in the original election fixing conspiracy? I forget his name. But he had a lot of connections. Hmm, i also forget if he's dead or not, but if he is, then it turns out he was dead like Mama Pope was dead.

[CaughtOnTape]

Does Shonda actually still write for this show?  Did she ever?  Or does she just produce?

Because I'm shocked that she would think up some of this shit.  Like, auctioning off Olivia is.....massively offensive and not good storytelling.  Not to mention, I don't give a shit who has Olivia.  The minute Fitz went to war with her I said to myself "Fuck this show."  Because it would never happen in real life.  Ever.  I don't care how "in love" someone thought they were.  

 

It's like this show doesn't know what to do with itself if it's not shocking all the time.  It was fine for the first few seasons where there was some huge twist every episode, but I'm over it now.  Grey's Anatomy stopped with that shit years ago and has now settled down, time to do the same with Scandal.  It's not like there's some shortage of shocking shit politicians do that they can't draw some inspiration.  

 

None of these characters just has normal shit going on.  Huck is a freaking maniac and Quinn makes excuses for him even AFTER he ripped her teeth out?  WTF?  

I don't wanna watch a show where everyone has to be over the top fucked up.  Normal fucked up is fine for me.

[Sidney]

Was the reason ever given why Andrew wanted Fitz to go to war? This show has become so over the top, I can't remember half the stuff that happens. And just think, all it took was Mellie to sleep with Andrew to get the information needed to save Olivia. The SAME thing that Olivia did with Jake.to shut down B6-13. SMH

[Sidney]

Was the reason ever given why Andrew wanted Fitz to go to war? This show has become so over the top, I can't remember half the stuff that happens.

 

 

Never mind, I went back and watch the scenes between Liz and Andrew. So stupid! LOL.

[Ms Blue Jay]

Speaking of Shonda's repeated, tired Shondafied speech patterns:

 

They did the exact same scene TWICE where Quinn and Jake are speaking loudly over each other, arguing with each other, while Huck says something quietly and is not heard.  Then he says the same thing quietly again and is not heard.  Then he SUDDENLY SPEAKS VERY LOUDLY AND IS FINALLY HEARD BY THE OTHER 2 PEOPLE ARGUING IN THE ROOM.

 

They did this TWICE in this episode.  TWICE, at two different times!

That really pissed me off.

Edited February 20, 2015 by Ms Blue Jay