S05.E08: Rasputin

[tomatoflyer]

I...I kinda like Jake now? He says all the stuff I think about Olivia. I get that he's done bad things, but they all have. At least he''s taken off the rose-coloured glasses.

Olivia, really? Why should I care if Rowan dies? I definitely don't care if he's scared. And would the world really be so welcoming to Olivia? And does Fitz really not realize he's completely whipped? He's just Olivia's puppet at this point. Heck, he's always someone's puppet. They tell him to dance and he dances, but he never realizes it. He has to literally have the other person tell him for him to see his own foolishness.

The case of the week? Why does every case feel so recycled? And so boring? I'm not looking for anything life-shattering but the writers are putting zero effort in.

Edited November 15, 2015 by tomatoflyer

[Oblique Angle]

It's stunning to me how much disrespect Liv and Fitz have for each other. They lie to and keep huge secrets from each other and blithely disregard the other's right to have agency over their own life. I wonder how that'll work when Fitz no longer has the power of his office to wield over her and she can't use his authority as POTUS to pull stuff like get Rowan released from prison. Is that when they'll move to Vermont and try to live the simple life? Sure, I bet that'd last a year tops because she'd likely get bored out of her mind.

 

I'm still not convinced that Scandal isn't in a dream or alternate reality sequence right now.

[wanderingstar]

Haven't watched at all this seasons, but I watched this ep with my friend when I was at her house while she was catching up on her DVR'd shows. As Scandal eps go, it wasn't bad, but I didn't find anything that would make me want to tune in again on a weekly basis.

 

One question - why did Olivia free Rowan from prison - I mean what reason did she give for doing it? 

 

Fitz and Olivia are so damned overwrought. I've been over their angst-ridden dynamic since the first episode of this show. I did like the muting of their dialogue in the big confrontation scene. That's how I've tended to watch all their scenes. We don't really need to hear the actual dialogue since they've been having the same conversation for 5 seasons.

[scruffy73]

How did it get back that Olivia "released" Rowan? Number A - she has no authority to do so, so her name would be on NOTHING. Number B - FITZ's name was forged I the release papers so why was that brushed over? Again, how did it get back to Olivia being the mastermind when she cannot so jack shit to get him released? If she could, she wouldn't have needed Mellie's help. Speaking of, once Fitz discovered his name had been forged (which this whole investigation should have led to, not Liv), wouldn't he have

thought of Mellie first? I think this is a poorly written plot to get to "Olivia released Rowan" because she has no power to do so I her own.

[Tara Ariano]

In case you missed it, here's the Previously.TV post on the episode!

 

Scandal Tries To Forgive And Forget
Liv prepares to tell Fitz that she freed Rowan, but doesn't think he'll be able to forgive her actions.

[dr pepper]

Quinn annoyed me when she told the new guy to speak faster. 

 

I can understand that, but i actually liked it. It struck me as a bit of self mocking 4th wall breaking. The man was not speaking Shonda cadence, the way everybody else does when laying out a case and i'm sure that there's been feedback from the audience about this.

[dr pepper]

When Tom met Olivia in the elevator, he smirked and called her Helen of Troy. I think that was meant to foreshadow Fitz's new gilded cage plan. But it doesn't really work. Olivia is a lot of things, some of them awful, but she is not a passive trophy without agency, if she does sometimes defer to male authorities in a way that would gladden the heart of any polygamist cult leader.

 

If you're going to compare her to a historical figure whose combination of romantic entanglement and ambition ended badly, call her Anne Bolyn.

[PrincessTT]

When Tom met Olivia in the elevator, he smirked and called her Helen of Troy. I think that was meant to foreshadow Fitz's new gilded cage plan. But it doesn't really work. Olivia is a lot of things, some of them awful, but she is not a passive trophy without agency, if she does sometimes defer to male authorities in a way that would gladden the heart of any polygamist cult leader.

 

If you're going to compare her to a historical figure whose combination of romantic entanglement and ambition ended badly, call her Anne Bolyn.

 

There was a scene a couple of seasons ago (just after he was arrested I think) where Tom gave Olivia a big speech comparing her to Helen of Troy, I believe his elevator comment this episode was a reference back to that. 

 

ETA - Found it...

 

Edited November 17, 2015 by PrincessTT

[tvfanatic13]

Can someone please remind me why Olivia got Rowan out of prison?

[Guest]

Can someone please remind me why Olivia got Rowan out of prison?

 

I assume you mean other than plot contrivance?  ;)

 

He was able to pull strings to blackmail the Senators investigating Fitz.  Apparently, no one else in the world can blackmail and the secret B613 files that were destroyed weren't really destroyed. Or maybe all were destroyed except for the Senate Judiciary Committee members.  

[Cekrypton1]

"That's why I never buy scented candles." <--Well done.

[TV Diva Queen]

Quinn annoyed me when she told the new guy to speak faster. 

I would have just put a period after "me". 

So Liv isn't ready to get married but she's not ready to be done? What does she want?

 

At this point my favorite parts of the show are the ones where Jake tells Liv about herself. Also the music - Donny Hathaway's "A Song for You" is one of my favorite songs of all time.

All time favorite song.  I do favor the Leon Russell version though.  But any version is amazing.  

[huahaha]

He was able to pull strings to blackmail the Senators investigating Fitz.  Apparently, no one else in the world can blackmail and the secret B613 files that were destroyed weren't really destroyed. Or maybe all were destroyed except for the Senate Judiciary Committee members.  

 

The weird thing was that all the documents were supposedly destroyed. Rowan had it all up in his head. Ok, fine, that makes sense, but then where did all the photos of fires and other scandals come from?

[Rancide]

I'm a week behind but still wanted to chime in to say "Good for Jake!"  Also, he looked fine in that suit. Someone finally has my respect on this show.  Unfortunately, it's never going to last because the only way to keep it will be to continue to tell Olivia to go fuck herself each and every time she tries to come crawling back to him.  And we all know, especially after last week, that that's never going to happen.

[nara]

On 11/13/2015 at 1:47 AM, WhosThatGirl said:

Um, what? So, is Liv now like trapped or something and I should feel bad for her? Oh, I hate everyone on this show. Except for Susan Ross. I once again will say that the hilarious Jimmy Kimmel spoof of this show is so much more fun than the actual show. Also when I came here to post my thoughts and saw the title of this episode, I giggled because whenever I think of Rasputin, I always think of my senior year in high school history class and after we learned about him, our teacher played this song about Rasputin that just went, "Ras,ras,rasputin.." over and over.

That sounds like the song by Boney M!

[FozzyBear]

On 11/12/2015 at 9:34 PM, buttersister said:

Alright, Fitz! Kudos on an entire new reason you're the worst.

Sweet fucking Vertigo! What is that shit? Fitz is such a monster. So, Olivia...Starting to maybe clue in that not everything was Mellie’s fault? You picked a real winner there. Enjoy your new Stepford life.