S05.E16: The Miseducation Of Susan Ross

[thewhiteowl]

Following the first Republican debate, Olivia is presented with damaging information about an opponent and enlists the Gladiators to verify its authenticity. Meanwhile, David deals with fallout from his dating life, and Cyrus continues to work on his own political agenda

 

 

[ForeverAlone]

Are we supposed to be rooting for Olivia still? Because I find myself thinking more and more that she is an unhinged sociopath like her father, completely willing to destroy innocent people to get what she wants. 

[Guest]

Liv is completely irredeemable to me at this point, just like Huck, Quinn, Cyrus, and Jake. These people are awful. She's willing to ruin Edison's life and career because he got addicted to pain pills due to her FATHER arranging an accident for him and Susan and her daughter's for no reason other than standing between Liv and something she wanted.

I'm tired of them trying so hard to be based on real events. With the craziness of the show in general, crossing into real life just feels extra squicky.

Rowan screen chewing while yelling at Edison was painful. Painful writing and acting. And then Jake sitting there disinterestedly eating. Just weird. What has happened to Jake?

I hate them all almost as much as I hate myself for watching.

[WhosThatGirl]

I really was hopeful that the Liv/Fitz breakup would be enjoyable but damn it, there are still stupid scenes with these two and Fitz trying to be all mean to her, the only time he did good with that was when he refused to take her call. This time, he just ended up saying things like, "let's not be the evil people we used to be that helped me become president". Like, shut up Fitz. Liv kind of has to still be evil since she isn't ending her presidency, she is still running a campaign of sorts and from what this show tells me, politics are full of this evil doing. But hey..I digress, I guess.  

 

I don't know how I feel about the finding out Susan lied about who her daughters father was; I feel like we all talked about Susan was so nice and too nice for this show and she was getting screwed over by evil people, so I guess this tidbit was thrown in that Susan wasn't always good. 

 

I could care less about really anything going on. 

[swimmyfish]

We're all assuming Huck broke into the jail and killed that dude and made it look like a suicide, right?

Also, Liv pledges to fight clean only after her only dirt becomes unavailable? I don't think it counts as righteous of you don't have any other options.

And again, Huck is the voice of reason? What is going on there?

[Dr Epi]

Damn, first time I liked Fitz in a long time.   I have to remember that Defiance wasn't his fault, though killing that Supreme Court justice surely was.

 

And Olivia, there aren't enough lines in the world to keep you in.  The only lines that will work on you now are lines of the metal bars in a jail cell.

[Guest]

We're all assuming Huck broke into the jail and killed that dude and made it look like a suicide, right?

Also, Liv pledges to fight clean only after her only dirt becomes unavailable? I don't think it counts as righteous of you don't have any other options.

And again, Huck is the voice of reason? What is going on there?

Oh, I think you're right about Huck. I assumed someone had him killed, but I hadn't thought who.

Let's not forget Mellie was behind Defiance. The show is trying to paint her as the great candidate, but she's an election thief like Liv, Hollis, and Cyrus.

[mwell345]

not only has Scandal jumped the shark, it is doing backflips over the shark.

What universe is this where Huck and Fitz come off as reasonable....and actually like able?

Edited April 1, 2016 by mwell345

[Happytobehere]

not only has Scandal jumped the shark, it is doing backflips over the shark.

What universe is this where Huck and Fitz come off as reasonable....and actually like able?

The above is possible when the curtain on the lies Liv has told about herself and her mythical white hat comes down. Oliva is beyond awful. At this point, if the show ends with anything other than everyone getting the comeuppance and destruction they so richly deserve, I feel my time as a viewer will have been wasted. At this point, the only one whose deserves to remain standing is Poppa Pope for always owning who and what he is (now ain't that a bitch, because I never thought I'd say that, but time keeps proving Rowan right, he does appear to be the righteous in the midst of vipers, and he's a mass murderer, so what does that say about everybody else). All the rest, lying, liars who lie.

Edited April 1, 2016 by Happytobehere

[WhosThatGirl]

I'm pretty sure the white hats are gone. I've always hated that term this show throws around anyway, white hats, wtf? None of these people should have ever be wearing white hats or even saying a pretense that they were. No one on this show has ever been good. They've all done terrible things at some point. 

[KaveDweller]

I'm pretty sure the white hats are gone. I've always hated that term this show throws around anyway, white hats, wtf? None of these people should have ever be wearing white hats or even saying a pretense that they were. No one on this show has ever been good. They've all done terrible things at some point. 

 

I think Liv's white hat disappeared the second she rigged the election for Fitz. She could pretend all she wanted, but that pretty much destroyed and goodness I saw.

 

And these days she doesn't even seem to care about being the good one or the hero. A client pays her and she does whatever it takes to clean up their mess.  A "white hat" would fight for the victim/little guy regardless of who wanted to pay her.  I know that wouldn't be a sustainable business, and that's fine, they just have to let her own it.

 

I can't believe those were the meanest Tweets about Mellie.

[Pathetica]

I am a generally peaceful easy-going person who seldom gets too involved in tv shows. But tonight is an exception. I want Olivia to die.

[Tetraneutron]

The most interesting part was watching the patented obnoxious Rowan speech aimed at Edison instead of Olivia. It's sexist and paternalistic and gross when Rowan's saying it to his daughter, so when he's saying it  to a man, it's just the last two. God, Rowan's a horrible character. His whole motivation since he was introduced was hating that Liv was the power propping up the dummy who actually is President, and now, he's BRAGGING to Edison about being the real power propping up the dummy. What's the difference? Is he actually any better at being the power behind the throne? What policies has Rowan implemented? What has he done, besides murder people? 

 

I am liking Marcus as the office conscience. And I love how he said to Mellie what we're all thinking. This is supposed to be a brilliant, tough, calculating woman who had the balls to get pregnant to help her husband's image, and now she's some neophyte shocked that American voters have sexist ideas about female likability? And we're supposed to be sympathetic that it keeps catching her by surprise?

I don't know how I feel about the finding out Susan lied about who her daughters father was; I feel like we all talked about Susan was so nice and too nice for this show and she was getting screwed over by evil people, so I guess this tidbit was thrown in that Susan wasn't always good. 

It still made Susan look sympathetic. We don't know if she ever told her husband the truth, which would be the real issue - it's certainly possible he knew. And why am I being asked to ship Susan and David? Just because they're the only two characters on this show who are nice, and the writers never could figure out what to do with David anyway?

 

As usual, the most unrealistic thing on this show is that Mellie and Susan could be Republican candidates. But I'm enjoying that fantasy. 

[reggiejax]

What universe is this where Huck and Fitz come off as reasonable....and actually like able?

 

The universe of ShondaLand, where we are supposed to believe that only in tonight's episode has Olivia Pope come dangerously close to crossing a line. Which is only true if you forget absolutely everything that came before tonight's episode. 

 

Sorry, but Liv crossed the line a long time ago. She not only crossed it, she obliterated it. And that her hatchet man was the one to express concern over Liv's "line crossing" was an irony so delicious, it just had to be fattening. 

[Calamity Jane]

Why do I watch this garbage fest?  Oh yeah, because my daughter records it, and I don't walk away when she watches.  

 

I can't even articulate how loathsome I found this episode.  I can't see that we are supposed to root for anyone except perhaps Susan.  How many lives do you get to ruin before you're past what an audience will forgive?  It's typical Shonda-style storytelling, taking a plot line to such an extreme that there is no way to keep going, so everything just kind of gets re-set and we're supposed to forget what happened before.  

[ThomasAAnderson]

 

It still made Susan look sympathetic. We don't know if she ever told her husband the truth, which would be the real issue - it's certainly possible he knew. And why am I being asked to ship Susan and David? Just because they're the only two characters on this show who are nice, and the writers never could figure out what to do with David anyway?

So are we to forget the big cheater speech she gave Fitz when she first became  VP?

 

The show hasn't quite jumped the shark but it's approaching the ramp IMO. 

 

It's funny that we can't take nasty, backroom politics in our TV shows but watch them unfold in real life all the time. 

 

The way they write Mellie is borderline offensive to anyone whose watched this show from the beginning. Her constant ranting doesn't appeal to me at all. I can get rant-y but Mellie is just TOO MUCH. I'm glad Marcus reeled her in. Speaking of Marcus I hope we get better comeback lines than "Whatever". Is Mellie's behavior supposed to remind us of Hillary?

 

I don't think Huck killed the convict, think that was a favor from Fitz.

[WhosThatGirl]

So are we to forget the big cheater speech she gave Fitz when she first became  VP?

 

Or her whole thing about not wanting Fitz to nominate her for the race because of his womanizing ways. And I guess Susan is still the last decent person left on this show, but really.. that isn't saying much here. I feel like all of the characters on this show have to have mud on them some way.. #shondalandpolitics I guess. 

 

I'm assuming one of the three republications is going to win because otherwise then there is no plot for the show and I don't think Fake Donald trump has a chance, so either Susan or Mellie, I guess. 

 

This show is so bad now. Like someone said we are so far gone over the shark at this point. How many more seasons can they keep this on? Also apparently next week Liv does something crazy next week, but haven't the promos been telling us this for like three weeks now? Unless she like burns down the white house or something, I doubt it very much. I guess she could kill someone or something but..she kind of already did that with one of her kidnappers and she's hid about a thousand accidental deaths so... I mean..really.. what more could she do? 

[txhorns79]

How many more seasons can they keep this on?

 

I feel like at some point the show will just entirely be silent shots of Liv looking great in various outfits, because the writers have taken things to such ridiculous heights that no one has anything left to say. 

[Rancide]

Danny Pino is extremely attractive and has a lot of charisma and charm.  Unfortunately, his delivery of lines is flat, rushed, and utterly without inflection.  I didn't notice so much on Law & Order where generally folks don't have to say more than one sentence in a row at a time.  But on a show that is basically built around speechifying, it's already grating.  I only assume it's going to get worse.

[kirinan]

Danny Pino is extremely attractive and has a lot of charisma and charm.  Unfortunately, his delivery of lines is flat, rushed, and utterly without inflection.  I didn't notice so much on Law & Order where generally folks don't have to say more than one sentence in a row at a time.  But on a show that is basically built around speechifying, it's already grating.  I only assume it's going to get worse.

 

As an unabashed Danny Pino fangirl, I agree wholeheartedly with the first sentence, not so much with the second, but that's what makes horse races, as a friend of mine likes to say. :)

 

I personally (obviously) like his style, which I see as understated, and always have. I will admit, however, that I don't think Scandal is his style of show. Or mine, really, since from Day 1 I've always hated the frantic pace and speechifying of this show. However, I really like Darby Stanchfield and the character of Abby, so I watch it for her. The first season I watched each episode in its entirety. When it got stupid in season 2 and ever since then I've just FF'd to Abby's scenes, watched them, deleted the show, and read the recap the next day.

 

Now with Danny I have to watch a bit more, but I do believe he's brought a sexy energy so far that's been sorely missing. I thought his scenes with Liv popped tonight with some pretty strong chemistry, and I am curious to see where things go from here, especially since they appear to be turning Liv as loathsome as her father (talk about speechifying; I've always loved Joe Morton, until this show. If they don't kill Papa Pope off soon, I may never be able to watch him again in anything without some selective brainwashing). 

 

At least in the meantime, it gives me someplace other than USA reruns to see Danny on my screen, and clearly, I will watch him in anything, even shows I don't love. So thank you, Scandal, for that.

Edited April 1, 2016 by kirinan

[Empress1]

I think Liv's white hat disappeared the second she rigged the election for Fitz. She could pretend all she wanted, but that pretty much destroyed and goodness I saw.

 

And these days she doesn't even seem to care about being the good one or the hero. A client pays her and she does whatever it takes to clean up their mess.  A "white hat" would fight for the victim/little guy regardless of who wanted to pay her.  I know that wouldn't be a sustainable business, and that's fine, they just have to let her own it.

 

I can't believe those were the meanest Tweets about Mellie.

When Liv went on TV after the affair broke and she was talking about how she started a business that helped people be their best selves, or whatever Iyanla bullshit she tells herself to convince herself that she's a good person, I was like "Girl, what?" She's never been a good person; they've just really blown the lid off it. She's quite literally had her team destroy and hide dead bodies. I'm rooting for ... I don't even know, I guess Michael at this point. Any man (of any race) who practices braiding so he can do his black child's hair is all right with me. (Lord, what must Ella's hair have looked like in between James and Michael? You know Cyrus wasn't doing it.)

 

Danny Pino needs a haircut, but he could still get it. I've thought he was fine AF since Cold Case. 

 

Mellie is supposed to be brilliant - I can't remember her credentials, but they're impressive. And she's been in the game a LONG time. Yet she is acting brand new. It's so annoying - and almost insulting, that she's being written as someone who doesn't have sense enough to know that being a know it all isn't appealing to most Americans, and that you shouldn't divulge your entire campaign ideas to people.

 

I laughed twice: when Marcus read Mellie, and when Mellie said "Girl, bye." It was her delivery.

[mwell345]

 

I think Liv's white hat disappeared the second she rigged the election for Fitz. She could pretend all she wanted, but that pretty much destroyed and goodness I saw.

 

I want to gag every time I hear "white hat" or "gladiator" out of the mouths of any of them.

 

I used to like this show.  Now it's the show that comes on while I'm waiting for Vikings.

[ShowPolish]

Call me crazy, but I actually enjoyed this episode.  Yeah it's not the same show it used to be, and pretty much everyone is absolutely horrible, but I was entertained.  I hope they don't go too close to life with the election because I don't really care about Shonda's views on it.  Mellie reading mean tweets has the potential to be legendary, I'd watch a full hour of that.

[Primetimer]

The Presidential candidates (and their campaign managers) wheel and deal, dirtily.

Read the story

[Dr Epi]

Agreed with not liking the dumbing down of Mellie.  If she graduated top of her class oat Harvard Law and she has been a first spouse for so many years, then she would have known how to handle the Jimmy Kimmel show.

 

As for Susan's baby daddy, I assumed it was a suicide.  That he felt so guilty about giving a paternity test an going in front of the cameras about Susan (or else having drugs planted on him in prison) that he took the only way out that he could see.

 

It was a given that it was Cyrus who set up Alex/Vargas to fail and not Poppa Pope.  Since Tom used to work for Poppa Pope, I wonder if there is still some interaction between PP and Cyrus.  Maybe PP got to Cyrus to undermine Vargas so Edison could win the Democratic nomination.

 

But what's with these Republican men (Cyrus, PP ) working for Democratic candidates (Vargas, Edison) and then women (Lizzie Bear and Olivia) working for Republicans (Mellie and Susan)?  

 

It's like dog and cats sleeping with each other!  (Though I do admire the girl power on the Republican side.)

[Artsda]

Have the writers forgotten their own writing? Susan took an attitude and holier than thou reaction to

Fitz's cheating, yet not only did she lie about being married to a man who lost his life serving his

country but she also cheated on him with a criminal and has been lying about the parentage of her kid?

Liv wants to win clean after she causes a man to commit suicide? Too late.

[swimmyfish]

Call me crazy, but I actually enjoyed this episode.  Yeah it's not the same show it used to be, and pretty much everyone is absolutely horrible, but I was entertained.  I hope they don't go too close to life with the election because I don't really care about Shonda's views on it.  Mellie reading mean tweets has the potential to be legendary, I'd watch a full hour of that.

 You're crazy! 

Kidding, obviously. :-) All of my comments to the contrary, I liked this episode also. Obviously, it does not hold up to any sort of scrutiny, but it was an entertaining hour. As horrible as everyone is, I like that in the Scandal-world, there are 2 viable female candidates for president. I like that the election storyline gives Sally Langston a reason to pop up and play Greek Chorus every episode. I like Jake sitting in the kitchen, happily eating chicken while his 'dad' yells at someone else for a change. (Incidentally, kudos to Scott Foley for directing a well-paced, diverting hour. Good job, Noel!) I like the idea of Marcus and Mellie getting together. I even like Fitz demonstrating that he knows how to be supportive sometimes, rather than always a ravenous pit of need and affirmation. 

 

Unfortunately, all of that gets overshadowed by the extremely unpleasant storyline for the show's lead character. I don't know if the writers genuinely want us to believe that Liv is a white hat, or if they're just kind of goofing on that idea or what, but it's weird that the main character was the worst part of an otherwise enjoyable episode. She's like the Dawson Leery of Scandal now.

 

One other thing I forgot to mention in my previous post was that I was a little confused by the scene between Liv & Fitz, by the implication that she was going full boar on taking down Susan because she wanted to defeat Fitz. I mean, I get why Fitz thinks that, since he's an overgrown child and can't imagine that anything in the world might not be about him - but are we supposed to think that? I thought she was going dirty to prevent her father from installing Edison as his puppet president. Was she just letting Fitz think he was right so he wouldn't know what was going on with Rowan? 

[Artsda]

 

I thought she was going dirty to prevent her father from installing Edison as his puppet president.

I think she just wanted to win, period. She was feeding off 

[Black Knight]

Edison must die. He triggered a PapaPope monologue. That's unforgivable!

[FilmTVGeek80]

 

So are we to forget the big cheater speech she gave Fitz when she first became  VP?

 

I'm assuming the writers did. This show and continuity do not always go hand in hand. 

 

It sucks that they turned her into a hypocritical, cheater but it could have been a lot worse. I figured they wanted to dirty her up a bit and at least they didn't turn her into a criminal, an accomplice to murder, a thief, or a murderer. On this show Susan's dirt still puts her above everyone on the show, except arguably Abbie (I know she worked for OPA and has covered up crimes, but as far as I can remember she hasn't done anything worse than that.)

 

 

 

The universe of ShondaLand, where we are supposed to believe that only in tonight's episode has Olivia Pope come dangerously close to crossing a line. Which is only true if you forget absolutely everything that came before tonight's episode.

Sorry, but Liv crossed the line a long time ago. She not only crossed it, she obliterated it. And that her hatchet man was the one to express concern over Liv's "line crossing" was an irony so delicious, it just had to be fattening.

 

This is very true. Yet, for some reason this episode firmly pushed me over to the side of hating Olivia and finding her irredeemable, even moreso than her letting her psychotic father out of prison just so she could avoid marrying her boyfriend. What she did tonight probably wasn't even in her top five of bad things she's done on the show, but there was just something about it that made me just want the character gone. I honestly had a fantasy that I would love it if she and her father just killed each other in the series finale (don't care what happens to the other characters.) They're basically turning her into her father, with her even repeating his lines ("Come hell or high water.") They're both despicable.

 

It probably didn't help that I don't understand why she was so hell bent on destroying Susan. I get that she's always been driven and goes all out for her clients, but something tonight felt off, and almost like it was personal. They way she reacted when Ronnie said he wouldn't do the test was practically satanic. She looked at him like "How dare you say no to the almighty Olivia Pope."

 

 

Also, Liv pledges to fight clean only after her only dirt becomes unavailable? I don't think it counts as righteous of you don't have any other options.

 

I thought that was sadly hilarious. Her antics most likely drove a man to suicide and she decides to act with Fitz like she took some moral high ground and agreed to not play dirty.

 

What I would have loved more than this show adding yet another death to its body count would have been for DNA test to embarrassingly blow up in her face. I would have loved it if the DNA test results had shown that John was the father. I thought it was weird how Quinn said that Susan had a DNA test run and Liv automatically assumed that John must not be the father. I would have loved to have seen the look on her face after all her back dealing and threats to have her open the test results and be proven wrong.

 

 

Damn, first time I liked Fitz in a long time.   I have to remember that Defiance wasn't his fault, though killing that Supreme Court justice surely was.

 

I used to like Fitz once upon a time, I think until he killed that woman. I hate the Olivia/Fitz relationship for its toxicity and never want to see them together. I think Fitz is doing a lot better away from that relationship, even with his manwhoring ways.

[reggiejax]

Edison must die. He triggered a PapaPope monologue. That's unforgivable!

 

As unforgivable as it is, I don't think it merits the death penalty. After all, a cool breeze can set off a Papa Pope monologue. The man does love to pontificate.

 

As horrible as everyone is, I like that in the Scandal-world, there are 2 viable female candidates for president.

 

It might have been nice if either was a good candidate. Gender aside, we have a no record Senator and a no record VP, both of whom have held elected office for only a couple of years.

 

Still that is better than Hollis Doyle, who only has a record of being a jerkoff.

 

But I will say this, for once the political scene on Scandal is realistic. You can't say that Scandal's lineup of Republican candidates is any worse than the real life version.

 

 

I like that the election storyline gives Sally Langston a reason to pop up and play Greek Chorus every episode.

 

Me too. And I never thought I would say that. Sally used to make me cringe, but now that she is in the proper context as a pundit, she is always the highlight of each episode she appears in. She is the character I am rooting for.

Edited April 1, 2016 by reggiejax

[Guest]

This is very true. Yet, for some reason this episode firmly pushed me over to the side of hating Olivia and finding her irredeemable, even moreso than her letting her psychotic father out of prison just so she could avoid marrying her boyfriend. What she did tonight probably wasn't even in her top five of bad things she's done on the show, but there was just something about it that made me just want the character gone. I honestly had a fantasy that I would love it if she and her father just killed each other in the series finale (don't care what happens to the other characters.) They're basically turning her into her father, with her even repeating his lines ("Come hell or high water.") They're both despicable.

 

Completely agree with every word of this.  I think a lot of it for me was the vulnerability of who she was attacking.  He seemed so confused and sad, and she just hammered home that she would ruin his life - and she did. Whether he killed himself or Huck killed him, she was caused it.

[marny]

Does the head of the NSA have nothing to do all day than to eat a sandwich and watch arguments? Seems like an easy job. What was the point of that plot point anyway since Jake literally has done nothing this season except drink wine with blowhard Papa Pope?

[Bobsterfest]

I think I was most disappointed with the "mean tweets"....that bit is funny because the actor/athlete/musician responds to the tweet either with a look or an insult instead of just reading them out loud and smile waiting for applause.

Edited April 1, 2016 by Bobsterfest

[cali1981]

Olivia is almost beyond redemption.  She is now the spitting image of Papa Pope right down to the scathing Shakespearean soliloquies.  Yeech!  Please, for the love of God, get rid of Sally Langston. Kate Burton is a terrific actress but the character is beyond obnoxious.  Even if Susan was padding the truth, her debate answer was one of the best moments of this season.  I loved her coldly stopping the blowhard Hollis in his tracks with her "I'm talking now".  It was a very nice scene for Artemis Pebdani who does a fine job playing Susan. 

[Black Knight]

Me too. And I never thought I would say that. Sally used to make me cringe, but now that she is in the proper context as a pundit, she is always the highlight of each episode she appears in. She is the character I am rooting for.

I always get a huge grin on my face the second Sally appears on her show, launching into a punditry bit. I can't say that about anything else on Scandal. I just love her being sort of like the evil Greek chorus to the goings-on in the Scandalverse. The character was just so-so back when she was VP and then doing her presidential run, but she really works in this context.

[Tetraneutron]

Olivia is almost beyond redemption. She is now the spitting image of Papa Pope right down to the scathing Shakespearean soliloquies

To me they're very different. Rowan's speeches are about justifying his actions, that being a terrorist is acceptable if you grew up poor and had to fight for everything. Olivia isn't pretending it's about anything other than winning.

Besides, she's doing standard campaign dirty tricks. That's worlds away from murder and torture and torture-murder and terrorism. I enjoy watching a soapy show about brilliant people fighting. Rowan is a shark-jumper because he has no limits on his power. He's like Lex Luthor.

[Jade Foxx]

I always get a huge grin on my face the second Sally appears on her show, launching into a punditry bit. I can't say that about anything else on Scandal. I just love her being sort of like the evil Greek chorus to the goings-on in the Scandalverse. The character was just so-so back when she was VP and then doing her presidential run, but she really works in this context.

The best part of this show is The Liberty Report. I hate all these people.

Edited April 2, 2016 by Jade Foxx

[Dowel Jones]

Completely irrelevant question:  Has Abby ever been seen wearing pants since her move to the Press Secretary?  She was in one scene this episode.

[marceline]

Edison must die. He triggered a PapaPope monologue. That's unforgivable!

 

To be fair, the vending machine being out of Snickers bars probably triggers a PapaPope monologue.

[thewhiteowl]

Susan did well at the debate but I am not a big fan. I think she's insecure and far too easily influenced to be President. Not that the other choices are any better. They are all pretty ridiculous. Of course Fitz is led around by his pecker but we know he is a pretty shitty president. Mellie has been pretty stupid and Hollis is a Trump joke. The Dems are equally as hard to root for. I want neither of those to win so I guess it just doesn't matter to me who does win. Unless Olivia defects, I predict it will be Mellie, just to keep Olivia involved in the White House.

[Oblique Angle]

Did the WH not fully investigate Susan when they pulled her in to be VP? I was surprised that Olivia was surprised about her not actually being married. That story Susan told at the debate about her "husband" in combat must have been a big part of her political narrative and I'd think someone would have looked into it before now.

 

Danny Pino is extremely attractive and has a lot of charisma and charm.

Yes and I'm extremely distracted by his role. Surely they brought him on to be Liv's next lover, right? If so, let's get on with it.

 

kudos to Scott Foley for directing a well-paced, diverting hour

Well that explains Jake's odd behavior in this episode. So who do I blame for the glaring (to me, anyway) dialogue error when Sally said "Bravo!" in reference to Susan's last-minute home run at the debate? Pretty sure an ace bloviator like Sally would have known to say, "Brava!" since she was referring to a female.

[Omega Mu]

Another nit-picky complaint, when Huck pulled out the marriage certificate file for February 2006, there appeared to be just one document in it.  Valentine's Day is a huge date for weddings, and obviously falls in February.

[LeeLeePanda]

Unlike most folks here, I loved this episode! The characters on this show are unscrupulous people, but they've been that way from the start. This is a show that takes place in Washington DC, which is crawling with terrible people trying to get power. I think it would be unrealistic they werent all assholes. I guess that's why I don't hate most of them. Ok, that's not true. I hate Fitz, but even he was ok this episode.

I think the campaign story is pretty interesting. Each character has a mountain to climb, and it's cool to see how they go about doing it. I hate that Susan cheated on her "husband", but compared to the rest of the characters on the show she's still a saint.

Edited April 2, 2016 by LeeLeePanda

[slayer2]

I deeply enjoyed everything about this episode except Olivia. I hope this season-ender will be on par with Buffy Season 2 when she was a raging, narcissistic bitch and got dragged in the end. Olivia needs the karma police something fierce. Loved everything else, happy to say I enjoyed Fitz and Huck again and yet another episode with just the right amount of Rowan, also cute to see Jake just munching on his chicken like "Whatevs". Loved Huck's conscience, his humanity seems to be growing every episode and it makes sense wrt Havi. Quinn for me was a useless git in this episode but everyone else....lovely! I especially enjoyed Marcus and Mellie's interaction. Everyone on this show has so much chemistry, it's phenomenal. Kudos to James (?) for sticking true to his values and convictions, so fucked up for him to have to resort to suicide because Olivia is a selfish, privileged bitch who likes to play daddy and mommy's little mind games. Fucked up. When Fitz is the voice of reason then you know you've done wrong. Nice to seem him try to talk her down to earth, even though it didn't work, what a despicable character she's become. 

 

 

As an unabashed Danny Pino fangirl, I agree wholeheartedly with the first sentence, not so much with the second, but that's what makes horse races, as a friend of mine likes to say. :)

 

I really appreciate the actor as well, I find absolutely no error in his cadence or what have you. I'm not here to nitpick about acting styles I'm here to enjoy these beautiful, despicable people and their weekly round of "I hit rock bottom and keep on digging.".

Edited April 2, 2016 by slayer2

[Happytobehere]

Did the WH not fully investigate Susan when they pulled her in to be VP? I was surprised that Olivia was surprised about her not actually being married. That story Susan told at the debate about her "husband" in combat must have been a big part of her political narrative and I'd think someone would have looked into it before now.

The real problem with this particular narrative is that when Susan was introduced as a character who was a potential VP, Olivia did find out Susan was never married to the dead veteran -- she and OPA then proceeded to cover this little fact up, so yeah, there should have been a marriage license on file, but this is Shondaland, why keep track of the stories you already wrote for the show.

[PrincessTT]

The real problem with this particular narrative is that when Susan was introduced as a character who was a potential VP, Olivia did find out Susan was never married to the dead veteran -- she and OPA then proceeded to cover this little fact up, so yeah, there should have been a marriage license on file, but this is Shondaland, why keep track of the stories you already wrote for the show.

 

I remember that when Susan was running for senator against Abby's ex husband, Leo found out that she wasn't married and was going to reveal all. 

Abby told him that her ex used to beat her up and so Leo kept quiet about Susan, and I think he did something to help her beat Abby's ex too.

 

I don't remember OPA covering it up though.

[vanarnd1]

I didn't watch much of this episode and haven't watched much of this season, but I was was confused/ in awe when Huck and Quinn were talking about Olivia going too far. Like almost every character in this show has links to multiple murders but somehow playing dirty politics to win an election is too much? The morals of this show operate in the twilight zone honesty.

[kirinan]

I just finished watching the rest of this episode; I'd missed the last few minutes. And okay, I still hate virtually everyone on the show, but I do have to say, Kerry Washington and Tony Goldwyn still have a zillion volts of chemistry. Too bad this show has gone so far down the path of (IMO) ugly irredeemability for both their characters.  

Edited April 3, 2016 by kirinan

[buttersister]

Scott got to play with the overhead camera! Congrats, you chicken-eating, practically 4th-wall breaker, you. I don't care who Susan's baby daddy was but I love that Huck wants to protect her daughter (of course, he's used to protecting daughters). Speaking of, Liv, you suck as a human being. Getting caught up in whatever b.s. you did is one thing. Having it result in a suicide? Something else. I kept wondering under wtf auspices she was getting in to see James anyway. Is this a return to the Fixer Olivia? Maybe it is and I'm too dense to realize she's always been this way (fixing shit for asshole clients, stealing elections, etc.) The "power" walking makes me laugh, albeit I'm pretty sure that's not Kerry's intention. 

 

Based on previews for both shows, I may watch Blacklist live and On Demand this thing. Funny about shows with despicable characters, eh?

 

 

 

 

 

Re: 4th wall breaker---to me, the bemused Scott was kind of winking at the audience. "I directed this!"