S04.E20: First Lady Sings The Blues

[thewhiteowl]

 

The team taking down B613 is in serious danger and forced to take drastic measures to ensure their safety. In the White House, Mellie is mortified when the nation turns against her and Cyrus is forced to come to her defense.

 

[Chicago Redshirt]

I can only hope that the actual episode is as good as its title. 

[Anna Yolei]

Wait, B613 is going away? As in really dead and not soap opera dead where it'll return from Abu Dhabi after a few seasons?

I may give this show another chance in season five if this is true.

[Donny Ketchum]

Had a feeling it'd be too easy for Jake to be dead.

 

Felt completely awful for Rondi Reed's character (though it was great to see her in a more dramatic role rather than her comic one on Mike and Molly).  Rowan has now killed innocent children to go with the many adult bodies he's claimed.  Months ago, I was just glad to have an effective black villain on TV.  Now I'm with everyone else.  He needs to get what's coming to him, and soon.

 

Glad Olivia at least figured out that her new man is a rat.  I figured she did when she told Huck, Quinn, and David that their pursuit of B613 was over, and that it was for the rat's benefit to hear.  Guess she's still kept her brains.

Edited April 24, 2015 by Donny Ketchum

[SimoneS]

Ha, I knew that I was right to be skeptical about Jake actually being dead. The actor is Shonda's good friend. So what if his character is a waste of space? He will be employed forever.

 

Mellie running for senator of Virginia is such a stupid story, even for Scandal. There is no way that she could win in that blue state. I don't even understand what Fitz is doing now. When they brought up, the separation/divorce I thought that was what Fitz was really after.  

Edited April 24, 2015 by SimoneS

[bmoore4026]

Kids, Papa Pope?  KIDS!?  WE ALREADY KNOW YOU'RE EVIL!  THERE WAS NO NEED TO KILL KIDS!

 

And to all those who figured out last week that Jake's "death" was a cop-out, I bow to you.

 

Also, it's official - Fitz wouldn't be able to find his ass with both hands and flashlight without Olivia.

 

Lastly, did anyone find Huck's statement about Black Sable, that she's a ruthless, unpredictable, and crazed killer unbelievably ironic?

[Happytobehere]

I assume Scandal has been renewed. All I can say is if Shonda cares about the actors or the fans, she should make it the last season, cause What The Hell Was That!?

[Mama No Life]

That was fucking horrible.

 

At least I can quit TWO Shonda shows at once!

[Abstract]

Was this Scandal or the SNL parody?

When I wasn't laughing inappropriately at all the unintentional humor, I apparently drifted off to sleep a few times. I completely missed that the kids got killed. Very very bad!

[33kaitykaity]

"This is Definitely Going to Hurt."  Out-fucking-standing.  I had my arms up in a rah-rah cheer.  I was working my way up to a great big pissed off hissy fit at Olivia playing mattress tag with ratman, like oh, fuck no she didn't.  And I got a happy instead.  

 

Cyrus nailing Sallie to the butterfly board by bringing up Daniel Douglas was fabulous.  

 

I thought the Russian story clicked together really well.  It had the team in panic mode, everybody almost finishing each other's sentences, but getting things done, staying a step ahead of Jake's death however they could.  Jake?  So no matter how far apart they seemed, they still saw him as part of the team.  

Lastly, did anyone find Huck's statement about Black Sable, that she's a ruthless, unpredictable, and crazed killer unbelievably ironic?

And I love how Charlie keeps showing up.  Hell, if we have Mr. Irony Huck -- great observation -- on the team, we may as well  have Charlie, too. 

 

I really enjoyed that.  Yeah, I've learned to check my brain off when I hit play.  

Edited April 24, 2015 by 33kaitykaity

[bobbyjoe]

I take back what I took back last week about the show.  Scandal does not-- and will not-- kill any major characters, ever (James is still really the only even recurring character even close to major they've killed). You'd be in more danger if you were a cast member of The Brady Bunch.  I wouldn't get any hopes up about Papa Rowan biting it any time soon.  Notice that "Foxtail" thing they shoved in there at the end.  Even if B613 completely vanishes, I expect Rowan will be on to something else on the show.

 

But, look, even if they're not going to kill anyone and we're all just going to have to grit our teeth and bear it, they have to work a little bit harder than "sure, Jake was stabbed eighty-kazillion times, but it missed any place that would really kill him."  That's the laziest of lazy writing; it's like they said "we know people will keep watching, so why even bother."  At this rate, next week, they can have Fitz pushed off a twenty story building and survive because gosh, the ground was really soft.

[swimmyfish]

I found that episode surprisingly enjoyable! I completely agree that Jake's resurrection is a total cop-out, but as I said last week, I like Scott Foley so I can't be too upset that he's sticking around. I do, however, hope that someone important does actually die die by the end of the season. Ideally, Huck.

 

I really like that they found a way to bring back Sally Langston. I love how self-righteous she is, and I even love that, no matter how on point her criticisms are of the happenings, she will always be brought up short when someone reminds her they know she killed Daniel Douglas. It's like she forgets, or pretends to forget, that she killed her own husband; seeing her get the unpleasant reminder that, no matter how much she believes in her cause, she is no better than the rest of them is just delightful. So delightful, in fact, that I actually liked Cyrus for putting the smackdown on her.

 

Maybe the biggest surprise of the episode was how Fitz was totally not the worst! His continued support of Mellie is great character growth, and his incredulity that no one double-checked if it was actually legal for the First Lady to also be a senator was actually funny. It's amazing how much more likeable Fitz is when we're not asked to believe that he's capable of doing any actual Presidenting, and when he's not aggressively mopey about Olivia. It also seemed like Tony Goldwyn was having a really good time with the material he got to play, which made it fun to watch.

 

And, while I agree that killing Rondi Reed and her grandchildren was just despicable of Papa Pope, I liked how truly shocked and rattled Olivia was by their deaths. FINALLY someone on the show has the proper reaction to finding a dead body!

 

Even though I totally agree that the Pope speechifying gets tired, I did still enjoy his lecture to Marcus that Jake must be alive because Rowan hadn't heard from Olivia - it was accurate, effective, and relatively short. I also really like how casual he was about shooting Marcus.

 

On the downside, while I do believe there's room for overt Feminist statements on this show, I totally do not buy Abby as the mouthpiece of those statements. In the very first episode of the series, she is overjoyed to call Amanda Tanner a "slut", and since then, she has not missed an opportunity to revel in tearing another woman down. Maybe the show is attempting to make up for that, but frankly it's too late. Which is too bad, because I think that actress (whose name I do not want to misspell) is actually pretty good.

 

Overall, though, I think this episode had more hits than misses for me. I do not give one tiny little crap about what Foxtail is, but I am actually looking forward to how the rest of the season plays out.

[Shermie]

Actually I thought it was amusing, in a sad way, that a First Lady can be a senator because it never occurred to the founding fathers that that was a possibility.

As for the show, blegh. Everyone is awful.

[DavidJSnyder]

 

I take back what I took back last week about the show.  Scandal does not-- and will not-- kill any major characters, ever

They did kill Harrison, though obviously there was a real-life reason to get rid of the character there.

Edited April 24, 2015 by DavidJSnyder

[WhineandCheez]

Can we make a show with Susan the VP, Sally Langston and Cyrus as the stars and have everyone else gone?  Mellie, Charlie and Micheal the ManHo can come and guest star too, I suppose.  Everyone else--gone!!!

 

Where is Papa Pope getting the money to keep all these ex-agents on the payroll and still do missions?  Does anyone know.

Edited April 24, 2015 by WhineandCheez

[Chicago Redshirt]

Mellie running for senator of Virginia is such a stupid story, even for Scandal. There is no way that she could win in that blue state.

I don't know how blue Virginia is in real life. But since the Grants are basically RINOs (pro gun control, pro police accountability, only pro war when it comes to saving one's side piece, etc) and since money talks and they obviously have LOTS of it and the ability to raise lots more, it doesn't seem that surprising that they would think she has a good shot. Also, in Scandalverse, it seems like Virginia's not the greatest at having good candidates. The last election was portrayed as between Abby's abusive ex and Susan Ross.

 

Black Sable -- a Russian redhead spy who was hot in her heyday and who scares the crap out of all other spies, but realizes there has been too much red in her ledger...does that sound a Widow familiar?

 

Seems stupid to try to activate a spy who had been out of the game for 20+ years.

 

It's pretty cold-blooded to try and have your own father killed. Traitorous, even. But it also seems like if you're going to go down that path, there are plenty of other folks who would be interested in taking Command down.

Edited April 24, 2015 by Chicago Redshirt

[Empress1]

What is Mellie talking about, not lying to the country about the marriage? She made up a miscarriage. Everything they've told the country about their marriage since Fitz started campaigning is a lie. I mean, I like that she and Fitz have worked out a friendship/partnership, but that's not what they're selling the American people either - they're selling that they're a happily married in-love couple, which isn't what they are. (Although they're basically the Clintons, and certainly most people I know believe the Clintons have an arrangement based on achieving goals, not love.)

 

I laughed at "Did anyone check?" Like, yes, that's the sort of thing you do before you start a campaign.

 

The shade thrown in both directions during Sally and Cyrus's interview was classic. Jeff Perry needs a new hairpiece though.

 

On the downside, while I do believe there's room for overt Feminist statements on this show, I totally do not buy Abby as the mouthpiece of those statements. In the very first episode of the series, she is overjoyed to call Amanda Tanner a "slut", and since then, she has not missed an opportunity to revel in tearing another woman down.

I agree. I can think of several "not judging, just saying [but I am totally judging]" comments she's made about other women. Also, I'm not convinced Abby is that good at (or qualified for) her job.

 

Jake not being dead is a cop-out, but I wasn't surprised. I did like that Olivia figured out that Russell was B613, and that she was suitably horrified by the murders of the Russian woman and her grandkids.

 

Liv speaks Russian and Farsi. Anything else? I bet she speaks French and Spanish, just for the practicality.

[Artsda]

Jake living was beyond stupid and now there's some new cover up Foxtail? Oye. Jake/Papa/B16/and all of it needs to go.

[Sidney]

Jake living was beyond stupid and now there's some new cover up Foxtail? Oye. Jake/Papa/B16/and all of it needs to go.

 

 

Don't count on it.

[Primetimer]

Liv and company have to tussle with the Russian KGB in order to get a doctor to save a life.

Read the story

[Jade Foxx]

So, this is a sitcom now. Got it.

[Oblique Angle]

"Foxtail"? A project to keep urgent tabs on lovely Olivia? I see what you did there, show.

 

That scene with Olivia straddling Russell while holding a gun to his temple reminded me of the movie Shadowboxer. In it, Cuba Gooding Jr. and Helen Mirren play co-assassins and lovers. At a critical point in the movie Gooding's character shoots Mirren's character in the head while they're having sex. Interestingly, the movie was directed by Lee Daniels, lately of Empire fame and fortune. The very same Lee Daniels who during an advance PR panel interview for Empire threw some subtle shade at both Shonda Rhimes and Tyler Perry.

 

As someone who doesn't hate Jake as much as many do, I'm glad he survived (so far, anyway) but that really was unbelievable. All those knife wounds, loss of blood, nearly dead, and being operated on in a storage locker? Please.
 

Seems stupid to try to activate a spy who had been out of the game for 20+ years.

I think that Russian spies stuff was aimed right at The Americans. The woman playing Black Sable even resembled a fairly high profile character on The Americans. And based on the previews, the next episode looks like an arc from House of Cards. At least SR is stealing from paying homage to the best.

 

He needs to get what's coming to him, and soon.

Yep. Three to the head with a large caliber weapon. There was no reason to kill those innocent children. IMO, Rowan has become simply absurd, almost like a James Bond villain.

[bobbyjoe]

They did kill Harrison, though obviously there was a real-life reason to get rid of the character there.

 

Exactly-- had there not been real-life circumstances that forced that actor off the show, I'm sure Harrison would still be alive and kicking.  Probably after a scene where Rowan shoots Harrison point-blank in the head and then Harrison shows up next episode walking around with a band-aid on his nose.

[JenE4]

So when the RNC chairwoman/campaign manager (sorry, forgot her name), said the best course to get Mellie elected was for them to dissolve the marriage, I yelled out, "Finally! So THIS is how it happens?!" And then Mellie says, no, we're a strong partnership to the end! And Fitz just nods. I was all WTF?!! We've had HOW MANY SEASONS of this damn show with BOTH of them wanting out of this marriage, and the ONLY reason they stayed in it was because of how it would look to the constituents and for Mellie's political future. And now they're being told that the EXACT REASON why they have stayed in this marriage is the SAME reason why they SHOULD end it and instead of jumping on that, they're suddenly living happily ever after?! Get the f*ck out! Fitz even called Olivia for advice (like he does when he's in looooove), and Olivia found out her boyfriend is working for papa, so it seems like they're setting it all up that they COULD get back together again. I am going to throw a jar of jam at my TV if by season's end they decide they WANT to get back together again but Mellie JUST told America how strong their marriage is and how she has the ear of the president so now they HAVE to stay together--even though they had a very clear-cut opportunity to end the marriage!

[Anela]

ugh.

 

(Said about the show, not any of the posts here.)

Edited April 24, 2015 by Anela

[Empress1]

I didn't get that either, JenE4. Their marriage has been dead since Fitz was on the campaign trail. They've been lying about it since then - probably since Fitz was governor of CA. At one point they actively hated each other. Mellie slapped Fitz in the face and screamed "YOU TAKE EVERYTHING FROM ME" in full view of a bunch of staff after Fitz got Andrew to end their affair. They seem to have settled into a comfortable friendship/partnership, but that's very recent. This "we're a team" stuff is as much a lie as everything else. 

 

I could maybe buy her being concerned that announcing their marriage was over would be bad for Fitz, but even that wouldn't really mean much as he's in his second term - and that's not what she said, anyway. Stupid.

[reggiejax]

It's pretty cold-blooded to try and have your own father killed. Traitorous, even. But it also seems like if you're going to go down that path, there are plenty of other folks who would be interested in taking Command down.

 

 

Conspiring with a foreign spy to kill the head of one of our intelligence agencies would fit the definition of traitorous very nicely. But much like last week's "accessory to murder", that will no doubt be forgotten quickly. 

 

I don't give two shits about Mellie or her plan to eventually become President, but I will at least allow that the imbecilic strategies Team Mellie comes up with are worth a chuckle. 

[ParadoxLost]

This started out as a multiple choice test:

 

Did the assassin miss every major organ because?

A. Assassin is so good that Rowan sent him to make Jake suffer but not die in order to send a message

B. Assassin wanted to make Jake suffer so missed every organ to make sure it wasn't a quick death; but wasn't good enough to actually check the dead guy

C. Assassin is bad enough to not hit any vital organs despite stabbing Jake a kajilion times

D. Shonda is still pretending every episode has a shocking twist with actual consequences.

 

So when the RNC chairwoman/campaign manager (sorry, forgot her name), said the best course to get Mellie elected was for them to dissolve the marriage, I yelled out, "Finally! So THIS is how it happens?!" And then Mellie says, no, we're a strong partnership to the end! And Fitz just nods. I was all WTF?!! We've had HOW MANY SEASONS of this damn show with BOTH of them wanting out of this marriage, and the ONLY reason they stayed in it was because of how it would look to the constituents and for Mellie's political future.

 

When Fitz called Olivia, it came across to me that he was desperate for Mellie to be elected because that is his out.  I figure he's decided he owes it to Mellie to get her elected.  So he was prepared for leaving office and two years on the campaign trail; then he divorces her when she's a Senator which gives her six years to rehabilitate her image.  This advances his timeline so he can ditch her on the way out of the White House.

[lion10]

Scandal could be better if it cut down on the over the top social justice rhetoric.  After four seasons, I get it, we all get it, being a woman in America can sometimes be harder than it is to be a man.  There's nothing wrong with holding these views but every time feminism is brought up, it's brought up in such a way that it feels like a mini-PSA that detracts from the actual plot of Scandal.  People having a problem with Mellie running for Senator are right to question whether the fact that she's the President's wife is obeying the spirit of the separation of the Executive and Legislative branch.  There's nothing inherently sexist about it.  

 

Jake being alive is baffling to me.  How did Remy, a trained killer and spy, NOT kill him?  Slit his throat and be done with it.  Olivia's father is way too involved in her sex and romantic life.  If she wants to bang the President, let her.  It doesn't affect him and if he wishes she showed him more respect, perhaps he shouldn't have shipped her off to boarding school for her entire adolescence.

 

Edit:  Is Shonda Rhimes trying to make a point to Michelle Obama?

Edited April 25, 2015 by lion10

[reggiejax]

Was this Scandal or the SNL parody?

 

 

No, more like a ripoff, excuse me, homage to Scandal's true creative forebear, Dynasty. The Jake ploteline was clearly Scandal's version of the Moldavia Massacre. The difference being that the Moldavian terrorists were more effective than Rowan's third-string B-613 assassin. 

[Haleth]

Mary Patterson = Elizabeth Jennings in 30 years?

[Dowel Jones]

Best line of the night:  "She  was in B613 for like 5 minutes.  Barely enough time to qualify for the health plan."

 

So Huck and quinn drug Russell and drag him off to the Level 1 Trauma Warehouse, and no one restrains him?  Did I miss something?

And speaking of transportation, what low level functionary B613 intern got the job of cleaning up Jake's blood from Olivia's apartment, and the vehicle  used to transport him to her office?

 

I noticed that Olivia never got to really close to Jake.  Can't get blood on the outfit, you know.

[Haleth]

Jake was in the office when he was stabbed, not the apartment. And everyone thought Russell (is that his name? I had no idea.) was a victim who needed to be protected, not restrained.

Edited April 25, 2015 by Haleth

[Oblique Angle]

Edit:  Is Shonda Rhimes trying to make a point to Michelle Obama?

Maybe. Hear tell some people would like Michelle Obama to run for political office once her tenure as First Lady is done. As far as Scandal is concerned, I think the Mellie character has always been a big finger pointing at Hillary Clinton.

 

Mary Patterson = Elizabeth Jennings in 30 years?

Elizabeth is a true believer. She'll never come in from the cold or feel guilty about what she's done. She'll probably have a hard time once the USSR falls. I think Phillip is more likely to end up living a Mary Patterson-type life.

 

So Huck and quinn drug Russell and drag him off to the Level 1 Trauma Warehouse, and no one restrains him?  Did I miss something?

I was confused about that too. I guess they were operating under the mistaken belief--which would have come from Olivia--that he was simply another victim of Rowan. It's hard for me to believe though that Olivia wasn't suspicious when he showed up at her apartment with Rowan.

[Black Knight]

I was relieved that Jake wasn't dead, not because I really want Jake to stick around (although I don't mind him, and I certainly vastly prefer him for Olivia over Fitz, if it has to be a Fitz vs. Jake thing), but because if Jake was dead, there was no chance that Huck would be killed by season's end. And I really, really need Huck to die.

 

And Rowan. At least he barely talked during this episode, but I'm still so sick of him. It's weird that Scandal can do so well with one antagonist - Sally Langston - and then fail so miserably with another antagonist. But then, Sally is more realistic. She's smart, but not omniscient. She has power, but she's not all powerful. She knows how to play the game well, but she has weaknesses. She's a worthy antagonist, someone who will land blows but who can be beaten, although not easily. Rowan is just dialed up to 15 - he knows everything, owns everyone, always wins. It's not interesting or entertaining to watch.

 

And I was annoyed that they had Olivia too stupid to realize that if she was going to successfully pull off the scam of making Rowan think Jake was dead, she needed to call him and scream at him like she would if Jake really had died. She was so worried about bringing Jake to a hospital because of the trail that would be created, but forgot that she needed to act like he had died? Oy. At least she was allowed to get her brain back by episode's end.

 

Virginia is not a blue state, it's a battleground state. Yes, right now Democrats hold the governor's seat and both Senate seats, but not in landslides (Senator Mark Warner, for instance, won his last race by less than 1%, and had the Libertarian candidate not bled off votes from the Republican candidate, Warner would have lost). The Republicans have the majority in both houses of the state legislature. Mellie absolutely can be elected from Virginia. And I liked that the show was realistic about what the winning strategy would be, because state voters have always been hypocritical - they will denounce pork on principle while still wanting their own representatives to bring lots of pork home.

 

Cyrus is the one I don't understand. As it is, he faces losing his job when Fitz leaves office, and we all know how important it is for Cyrus to be close to the levers of power. I know he doesn't like Mellie, but Mellie becoming POTUS would be his best shot at continuing to have the kind of power that he wants and is addicted to having. If he got on her good side and helped her win her races, he might be retained as chief of staff. No one else is going to make him chief of staff - they will have their own teams of people. But Mellie's team is for the most part Fitz's team. I'm not saying Cyrus couldn't get hired by anyone else, but is he really going to find it satisfying working for a representative or senator after having worked in the White House? I don't think so. It would be a serious step down for him.

Edited April 26, 2015 by Black Knight

[J-Man]

I think Phillip is more likely to end up living a Mary Patterson-type life.

So Phillip Jennings will become Bruce Jenner!

[jumper sage]

Killing kids - not cool, not cool at all.  I used to love this show but it has become a caricature of itself.  Boooooo!  I loved Rondi Reed, to bad she had to die.  Boooo!  I love seeing Charlie again and in such a helpful manner.

[Chicago Redshirt]

Cyrus is the one I don't understand. As it is, he faces losing his job when Fitz leaves office, and we all know how important it is for Cyrus to be close to the levers of power. I know he doesn't like Mellie, but Mellie becoming POTUS would be his best shot at continuing to have the kind of power that he wants and is addicted to having. If he got on her good side and helped her win her races, he might be retained as chief of staff. No one else is going to make him chief of staff - they will have their own teams of people. But Mellie's team is for the most part Fitz's team. I'm not saying Cyrus couldn't get hired by anyone else, but is he really going to find it satisfying working for a representative or senator after having worked in the White House? I don't think so. It would be a serious step down for him.

I see it as an open question as to what it is Cyrus wants.

 

Sally may have hit on some level of truth in her interview with him: he may want to step up from being the man behind the throne and be the actual guy. He might not have thought that possible before because of being closeted. Now that he's out and has suffered no ill-consequences from having been with a gay prostitute and even married him, he may think he'd be a good candidate for something in his own right. 

 

He may plan on being a lobbyist. Heck, maybe he'll join OPA or set up a rival firm. 

 

In real life, the longest-lasting chief of staff served 6 years, which I guess is about where we are at in the Grant administration. 

[Eolivet]

Oh, the delicious irony that on the night of two Shonda shows with two charismatic male leads who were facing trauma, and the guy who is stabbed multiple times...

1) bleeds for how many hours until he's found

2) survives being transported to a shady warehouse

3) survives waiting another hour for a shady doctor

4) survives surgery with 100 stitches

5) survives again when he's stabbed by the same guy again not five minutes after he's awakened from his first surgery and

6) will presumably survive being transported to the hospital after being stabbed again after having 100 stitches from being stabbed multiples times the first time

 

Meanwhile, earlier in the night, we have a guy in a car accident:

1) immediately transported to a hospital

2) dies of brain death, because they can't get a neurosurgeon to come in 20 minutes.

 

(Now I find all that trolling the Scandal actors did about Jake's departure immensely irritating and almost nasty, given what happened on Grey's this week. But this isn't about Grey's, so...)

 

All that being said, I actually liked this episode and wasn't expecting to at all. I could watch Cyrus and Sally for hours -- they're like a Tennessee Williams play, and can pull off the monologues for which this show is famous (or infamous). I don't like B613 at all, but I always like it when they invite Charlie because his dry, dark wit tempers Huck's overserious earnestness. I think Mellie running for Senate is interesting, because any excuse we have to check in on the White House (and away from B613) is good with me, and Liv's strategy was classic Liv. I also loved her figuring out Russell and leaking fake intel. I've said before and will say again: if Papa Pope dies, the only person I want pulling the trigger is Olivia.

 

And finally, because I'm a little loopy tonight: What does the Fox(tail) say? B613, B613, B613, B613! Torture, torture, torture, torture! Death, death, death, death! Lots and lots of monologues! Lots and lots of monologues!