S05.E17: Thwack!

[thewhiteowl]

The election is in full swing, which means everyone is doing their best to take down their opponents, but when a potential leak threatens several candidates, they have to work together to keep their secrets safe. Boundaries are pushed and lines are crossed as we find out just how far some people are willing to go to protect themselves.

 

 

[Dr Epi]

Well, you could see that coming

 

Welcome home Olivia, you and your black hat

[Guest]

Well, yeah. When I think the show can't get worse, it finds a way.

[Tetraneutron]

Why should the audience care that Alex is telling Cyrus's husband that Cyrus is cheating on him? Cyrus isn't doing anything wrong or anything that would get him in trouble. The husband knows it's an open relationship. Also, I hate eating food in bed. I can't stop thinking about crumbs getting everywhere.

Also, in last week's episode, Edison said the nation was ready for a black president. That would mean Obama doesn't exist in this world. But this week they were talking about McCain losing in 2008? So does the real world exist or not?

As for the main plot, the only interesting part was Olivia and Abby fighting. The rest was blah. Fitz is noble, Olivia wins, Abby is combative, Cyrus is kind of a dick, Huck and Quinn do shady shit in the background, Jake is involved because Scott Foley has a good agent, even though there is literally nothing he does that Huck the tech genius can't do. And now we're supposed to think Olivia has joined the dark side like her dad? She killed a terrorist. A literal terrorist who arranged for the President to be essentially blackmailed. They're never going to make Olivia actually dark. I do miss the old days OPA would find some way to blackmail or discredit him. Why is murder everyone's first go to now?

[reggiejax]

I guess I could look on the bright side and admire Liv's upper body strength. That chair did not look light, yet Liv wielded it with some clean, powerful swings. But otherwise I think "jump the shark" should be replaced with "beat the Veep to death with a chair". 

 

I'm out. I am amazed I lasted this long. 

Edited April 8, 2016 by reggiejax

[DCC]

Yes, why is jake still a part of this show?

Not gonna lie, I enjoyed this episode. It's been pretty boring the last few episodes. I totally agree that it needs to return to its first season glory.

[Sidney]

Zzzzzzzzzz. More shock value.

[Dr Epi]

I have enjoyed the past 2 episodes with scenes of Jake basically just eating as Poppa Pope bitchslaps someone else.

 

Remember when Jake wanted to take Poppa Pope down?

 

Now he eats fried chicken and does his bidding.  All with a pretty smile on his face.

[ChicksDigScars]

I guess I could look on the bright side and admire Liv's upper body strength. That chair did not look light, yet Liv wielded it with some clean, powerful swings. But otherwise I think "jump the shark" should be replaced with "beat the Veep to death with a chair". 

 

I'm out. I am aemazed I lasted this long.

I'm speechless. I left this steaming pile of shit on, volume muted, while I played on the iPad. I look up, and there's Olivia bludgeoning the old VP with a chair. A little over the top, wasn't it, Shonda? Is shock value the only way you think that your fan Tweets and ratings will go back up?

And yes, "Beat the VP to death with a chair" is the new "jumped the shark."

[Empress1]

I laughed at Jake just kicking it at Rowan's table, eating as shit goes down.

I don't understand Danny Pino's angle re: telling Michael that Cyrus is cheating. They're not a real couple. Maybe he's planning to expose that to the country, but a) does the country care about Cyrus at this point? and b) I'd think that would make Michael more sympathetic, not less. Sex worker with few options, dragged into the situation, etc,

I had a hard time understanding what Jon Tenney was saying before Olivia killed Andrew, I know he was basically calling her a whore, but I couldn't make it all out.

I haven't thought Liv was a good person for quite some time, so her going further with that wasn't that shocking. The WAY she did it was, but the fact THAT she did it wasn't, IMO.

Edited April 8, 2016 by Empress1

[Guest]

It was pretty clear the whole episode that Liv would kill someone before the end of it.

 

It says a lot about what this show has become that the reaction I had to Liv telling Abby she could work for her again and it would be fun was 'oh, crap. wrong thing to say.'

 

The show kind of sucks now mostly because they keep trying to out shock the last shocking thing and its all gotten kind of stupid and ridiculous.  But Liv murdering the VP was almost made worth it by Abby's reaction to it.

 

And I can't believe the episode title. Thwack!

 

It is too bad that they have to always use brute force now because the writers aren't smart enough to come up with a clever way to solve the problems with their brains.

[buttersister]

Thwack is right.  Liv/in the bunker/with a chair. Had the first two going into the last half hour. Tony G. did a real good job and Jake eating and smirking in Rowan's kitchen hasn't gotten old for me.

[sarkygal]

I have concluded this show is just as bad as Quantico. Fucking Quantico! The difference is we acknowledge just how terrible that show is. That is all.

[WhosThatGirl]

What. The. Hell. Was. That? No. I..what? I'm so lost. How is this a show? I feel like I should not have laughed when Liv killed Andrew but, seriously, it kind of felt like an SNL parody of this show. Which..I mean.. you guys, she killed him with a chair.  I can't..even. I also think the ABC promo clearly don't know what they were promoting because Fitz getting shot was awesome and shocking.. this? This was not awesome or shocking. 

 

I think really, the only time I genuinely enjoyed this show this season was Mellie during the fill buster and a couple of weeks ago when Michael was working on a doll fo Cyrus kid and then asked if Cyrus wanted to help him with the hair and Cyrus WTF face. 

 

As much as I love seeing Scott Foley on tv (loved him since Felicity, was super excited he was on Grey's a hundred and ten seasons ago only to be killed off and ended up on this show) Jake kind of bugs me at this point. So, eh. I mean, at this point, the show is kind of a toss up with who bugs me the least and I guess Jake bugs me least since all he does now is sit around Rowan's kitchen and eat or something. 

Edited April 8, 2016 by WhosThatGirl

[WhineandCheez]

First, Abbey's "Bitch, Please" expression was everything.

 

Now it must be said that the extreme lengths everyone in this Washington inner circle went to to avoid killing Andrew is beyond laughable at this point. When 6 out of 7 of them had killed or had given the orders to kill numerous times.  It was ridiculously outlandish.

[Dowel Jones]

The fourth time I had to pick my jaw up off the ground because of the dialogue, I just gave up.  Is it the characters' collective amnesia, or the writing staff's, that allows those turds to insist that they're "not animals, we don't do that"?

 

I did like Abby's Meet the New Boss routine.  Too bad she didn't have the backup to back it up.  And of course everyone on the show bows to Olivia's awesome Olivia-ness and does her bidding without question.

 

I will say this.  Huck and/or Quinn can sure pick out a change of clothes for Olivia when she is in a desperate hurry.

 

No autopsy for the ex-VP?

[J-Man]

So, "the election is in full swing" as the episode description tells us, but no Susan this week (she was barely even mentioned), and have they just forgotten about Edison? Mellie made it seem like a foregone conclusion that Vargas would be the Democratic nominee, yet apparently his team is are concerned about winning primaries. I'd also gotten used to having Sally and her Liberty Report on a regular basis; she was missed this week, too. 

 

I guess I've been caught up in the recent election episodes and hoped they'd continue along that path. We really didn't need this interruption with Andrew's story. 

[PrincessTT]

Woman kills man who arranged her kidnapping after he taunts her about said kidnapping... 

 

I don't think Liv's actions with Andrew are even in the top 10 terrible things that people have done on this show. 

What she did last week was worse than what she did this week IMO. 

 

And I say that as someone who really can't stand Olivia Pope anymore. 

Edited April 8, 2016 by PrincessTT

[TheOtherOne]

Yup. This is a show where the president murdered a cancer patient in her bed because she rigged an election and was going to reveal he didn't deserve to be president. Everybody seemed to get past that just fine.

 

But a woman beating to death the man who had her kidnapped, had her neighbor murdered, tried to use her to start a war, committed treason and terrorism, and was still actively trying to hurt her and hurling abuse is somehow Jumping The Shark?

 

He had it coming. I didn't get to see Abby shoot her abusive ex-husband in the face, but I'll take this.

[DivaLasVegas82]

Yup. This is a show where the president murdered a cancer patient in her bed because she rigged an election and was going to reveal he didn't deserve to be president. Everybody seemed to get past that just fine.

 

But a woman beating to death the man who had her kidnapped, had her neighbor murdered, tried to use her to start a war, committed treason and terrorism, and was still actively trying to hurt her and hurling abuse is somehow Jumping The Shark?

 

He had it coming. I didn't get to see Abby shoot her abusive ex-husband in the face, but I'll take this.

 

Fitz didn't just kill Verna to protect his presidency. He did it to protect Olivia's role in "Defiance." Plus, Fitz has never talked about wearing a "White Hat" or being a "Gladiator in a Suit." You can't use those terms and then beat viciously beat a man with a chair. If she had killed Andrew right after she was kidnapped or while she was bjeing held hostage, I would thought she was totally justified. But she only killed him to shut him up and because Abby wouldn't let Fitz take the fall for everything that happened regarding Olivia's kidnapping. I loved how Abby stood up to Liv tonight. Olivia chastised Fitz for starting a war to save her life, yet she was practically giddy of what a great leader he was because he was willing to take the fall for the egregious behavior who conspired with Andrew.

Woman kills man who arranged her kidnapping after he taunts her about said kidnapping... 

 

I don't think Liv's actions with Andrew are even in the top 10 terrible things that people have done on this show. 

What she did last week was worse than what she did this week IMO. 

 

And I say that as someone who really can't stand Olivia Pope anymore. 

 

I don't think Olivia killing Andrew is in the "Top 10" of horrible actions committed by characters on the show either. However, it was not a good look for a woman who invented the term "White Hat." She didn't kill Andrew in self-defense, for the greater good, or even because he had her kidnapped. She did it to shut him up because Abby wouldn't let Fitz be the fall guy for the others who conspired with Andrew at some point or another.

[DivaLasVegas82]

What. The. Hell. Was. That? No. I..what? I'm so lost. How is this a show? I feel like I should not have laughed when Liv killed Andrew but, seriously, it kind of felt like an SNL parody of this show. Which..I mean.. you guys, she killed him with a chair.  I can't..even. I also think the ABC promo clearly don't know what they were promoting because Fitz getting shot was awesome and shocking.. this? This was not awesome or shocking. 

 

I think really, the only time I genuinely enjoyed this show this season was Mellie during the fill buster and a couple of weeks ago when Michael was working on a doll fo Cyrus kid and then asked if Cyrus wanted to help him with the hair and Cyrus WTF face. 

 

As much as I love seeing Scott Foley on tv (loved him since Felicity, was super excited he was on Grey's a hundred and ten seasons ago only to be killed off and ended up on this show) Jake kind of bugs me at this point. So, eh. I mean, at this point, the show is kind of a toss up with who bugs me the least and I guess Jake bugs me least since all he does now is sit around Rowan's kitchen and eat or something. 

 

Jake has always bugged me because he's always been so inconsistently written. His personality changes from plot to plot. He spent all last season trying to get revenge on Rowan/Eli/Papa Pope. Now he's perfectly content with being Papa Pope's puppet again. One minute, he says he loves Olivia. The miniute, he has his hands around her throat (I'm still angry that Olivia barely reacted to that). I feel like Shonda created the Jake character as giving Olivia an alternative to Fitz, but she never knew what to do with him outside of that. 

[Jodie Landon]

Fitz didn't just kill Verna to protect his presidency. He did it to protect Olivia's role in "Defiance." Plus, Fitz has never talked about wearing a "White Hat" or being a "Gladiator in a Suit." You can't use those terms and then beat viciously beat a man with a chair. If she had killed Andrew right after she was kidnapped or while she was bjeing held hostage, I would thought she was totally justified. But she only killed him to shut him up and because Abby wouldn't let Fitz take the fall for everything that happened regarding Olivia's kidnapping. I loved how Abby stood up to Liv tonight. Olivia chastised Fitz for starting a war to save her life, yet she was practically giddy of what a great leader he was because he was willing to take the fall for the egregious behavior who conspired with Andrew.

I don't think Olivia killing Andrew is in the "Top 10" of horrible actions committed by characters on the show either. However, it was not a good look for a woman who invented the term "White Hat." She didn't kill Andrew in self-defense, for the greater good, or even because he had her kidnapped. She did it to shut him up because Abby wouldn't let Fitz be the fall guy for the others who conspired with Andrew at some point or another.

It didn't seem to me that Olivia went there intending to kill Andrew. I thought she went there to make a deal with him until he started taunting her. His saying that he should auction her off again seemed to finally push her over the edge. So, within the TV realm, I was OK with it.

Edited April 8, 2016 by Jodie Landon

[SevenStars]

Yup. This is a show where the president murdered a cancer patient in her bed because she rigged an election and was going to reveal he didn't deserve to be president. Everybody seemed to get past that just fine.

But a woman beating to death the man who had her kidnapped, had her neighbor murdered, tried to use her to start a war, committed treason and terrorism, and was still actively trying to hurt her and hurling abuse is somehow Jumping The Shark?

He had it coming. I didn't get to see Abby shoot her abusive ex-husband in the face, but I'll take this.

I stop liking Fitz and Olivia, actually I don't like any of the characters but...

Fitz didn't just kill her because she rigged the election and was about to reveal the truth. He killed her because she tried to kill HIM for something she did and he didn't know anything about. Then had the audacity to tell him that since her killing him didn't work, she was going to destroy his life and the lives of people he loves. All because she was dying and wouldn't pay for her crime. When he didn't do shit to her or ask her to rigged the election.

With that said, just like I was okay with Fitz killing the judge. I'm okay with Olivia killing the VP. In both cases, these people hurt Fitz/Olivia deeply, physically and mentally for their own agenda and then had the audacity to taunt them and proclaimed they are going to destroy their lives AFTER trying to kill/kidnapped.

They had it coming and it was deserving.

Edited April 8, 2016 by SevenStars

[JenE4]

I'm constantly falling asleep during this show and don't even know why I attempt to watch anymore, but it seems like every episode I wake up just to see Jake eating at Papa Pope's house. Not "TV acting eating" where they push the food around with a fork but gnawing on fried chicken like it's going out of style (last week) and shoving huge tomato wedges in his mouth (this week)--and he also had another lovely berry and croissant breakfast with Rowan the next morning. I don't even know what's happening. Does he live there? Are they dating? Rowan told Olivia that he and Jake are her family. Did he adopt Jake? Are they brother and sister now? Jake doesn't even say anything--just sits in the background eating. So I'm starting to think Scott Foley just shows up on set to graze the Kraft Services table and no one has the heart to tell him that Shonda forgot to write him in this week, so they just sit him in the background and let him eat his lunch. Oh, yeah, and Olivia killed someone. Still not as intriguing as what Jake is doing eating at Rowan's. Does he help cook? Does he at least contribute grocery money?

[Dr Epi]

Note that Fitz and Olivia only kill people that are so physically incapacitated that they can't fight back. And they kill people who have secrets on them that they don't want to give out.

Yes, you could say that both Verna and Andrew had done terrible things to Fitz and Olivia but I argue that what Olitz did to them was much worse. And not even in a fair fight.

[kirinan]

I felt like I needed to take shower after watching this show last night, to scrub off the ickiness. They ruined the one character I had left to root for, Abby--she's just like the rest of them now. That awful scene with Mellie and Andrew in the hospital room. Cyrus and Tom in bed. Liv beating away Andrew's face. Jake shoving food in his mouth every time he was on screen. My skin just crawled constantly. There is absolutely no one left to like on this show anymore. Maybe little Teddy, but we never see him. Eh, he's probably going to be revealed to be a psycho killer at the age of six, anyway. Boy, Shonda, THAT would bring some big ratings, wouldn't it?

 

And I don't get the thing with Alex and Michael. Is this going to backfire on Alex? Because I don't think Michael would care a bit what and who Cyrus does. Are they setting up Alex to get killed off by Cyrus/Tom? As thrilled as I am to have Danny Pino back on my screen each week, maybe it would be better for him (and for me) if his character is offed. He's got "Brain Dead" coming up this summer anyway, and this piece-of-crap show can only bring his career down, I would think.

[Free]

have they just forgotten about Edison?

 

His whole character seems to exist just to be forgotten about.

 

I have concluded this show is just as bad as Quantico. Fucking Quantico! The difference is we acknowledge just how terrible that show is. That is all.

 

Quantico does feel like Scandal on speed so that explains the trainwreck for both shows.

[SevenStars]

Yes, you could say that both Verna and Andrew had done terrible things to Fitz and Olivia but I argue that what Olitz did to them was much worse. And not even in a fair fight.

They tried to do way worst to Fitz and Olivia, unfortunately for them, they failed. Olivia and Fitz didn't fail.

Side note: I hate defending them. I prefer to just point and laugh at them and all the other characters.

Edited April 8, 2016 by SevenStars

[Guest]

The Tom and Cyrus thing is ugh to me. I don't care if they're found out. It is such a stupid plot anyway.  Tom has gone from loyal Secret Service agent to murderer of the President's kid to seeming kind of psychotic to now dating Cyrus.  Don't care.

 

I've never liked Cyrus or thought he was a good guy (um, hello, Amanda Tanner?) but at least when he was with James, I felt he was a person. Now he's just another weirdo on the show written inconsistently and with no clear motive. Just like Mellie, Jake, and even Rowan.

 

Remember when the bunker was a super secret place? And Liv could basically only access it one time ever and she blew it?  Now it's like the happening new White House coffeeshop for the elite criminals of the country.

 

My least favorite part was probably Liv basically threatening Abby with "never cross me again." I don't feel that bad about her murdering Andrew. He was terrible. But Abby was her friend.

[Guest]

Yes, you could say that both Verna and Andrew had done terrible things to Fitz and Olivia but I argue that what Olitz did to them was much worse. And not even in a fair fight.

 

Verna tried having Fitz killed and did succeed in having him shot in the head and two members of his staff killed. I don't think it gets that much worse.

 

I'd say Olivia and Andrew are pretty neck in neck for who did worse to each other, but Andrew's actions killed hundreds of military, so I'm not exactly weeping for him either.   I do think that first paralyzing him and then killing him is pretty terrible (obviously...).

[Dr Epi]

I think that what Fitz and Olivia did to Verna and Andrew was worse because they succeeded and actually murdered them, while they were incapacitated.  Verna and Andrew only accomplished attempted murder of Fitz and Olivia.

 

As for what everyone has done in the past, before the acts of (attempted) murder, it seems like a lot of it all washes out.  They are all people who have done horrible things- lying, murderous things.

 

All of them are wearing black, blood-stained hats at this point.  The least indictable, criminal people at this point are Mellie and Hollis and all they did was steal an election!

 

Except, maybe, Susan Ross. And Marcus.

[PrincessTT]

I think that what Fitz and Olivia did to Verna and Andrew was worse because they succeeded and actually murdered them, while they were incapacitated.  Verna and Andrew only accomplished attempted murder of Fitz and Olivia.

 

As for what everyone has done in the past, before the acts of (attempted) murder, it seems like a lot of it all washes out.  They are all people who have done horrible things- lying, murderous things.

 

All of them are wearing black, blood-stained hats at this point.  The least indictable, criminal people at this point are Mellie and Hollis and all they did was steal an election!

 

Except, maybe, Susan Ross. And Marcus.

 

 

Mellie was involved in the cover-up of Daniel Douglas' murder, and ther was her involvement with the death of the jurors. 

While she has kept her hands (relatively) clean there have been a few different incidents that the show has stated that she could have gone to prison for.

 

Hollis arranged to have the Cytron offices blown up, killing Quinn's boyfriend and 6 of his co-workers, and then framed Quinn (or Lyndsey Dwyer as she was) for it.

Edited April 8, 2016 by PrincessTT

[thewhiteowl]

As I veered around the gaping plot hole of Andrew being left alone to recover, I can admit I was entertained. I liked Abby getting her face cracked. She deserved it. She was going to tank Mellie's campaign under the guise of "doing her job". She found out Liv really is a monster and that is what monsters do when you cross them. Glorious.

Jon Tenney is really good, someone give him a show!

[gryphon]

 

What she did last week was worse than what she did this week IMO.

I don't even remember what she did last week. Which is bad, yet, I am glad my brain has not taken the opportunity to save this show in my memory.  

 

And no Susan Ross this episode. Boo. 

[TheOtherOne]

I think that what Fitz and Olivia did to Verna and Andrew was worse because they succeeded and actually murdered them, while they were incapacitated.  Verna and Andrew only accomplished attempted murder of Fitz and Olivia.

 

They may not have succeeded in killing Fitz and Olivia, but they did succeed in killing several other people as a result of their actions, as already mentioned. Fitz's press secretary and another staffer were killed during the assassination attempt. Olivia's neighbor was murdered during her kidnapping and Andrew was involved in arranging the bombing to spark the war.

[reggiejax]

But a woman beating to death the man who had her kidnapped, had her neighbor murdered, tried to use her to start a war, committed treason and terrorism, and was still actively trying to hurt her and hurling abuse is somehow Jumping The Shark?

 

 

The “hero” of the show resorting to murder can easily be considered a jump the shark moment, but that isn’t why I believe Mr Fonzarelli has strapped on the skis.

 

It was the ridiculousness of the moment that did it in. The show has been losing it for a good long while now, but it was this moment where all the idiocy came together so perfectly as to render the show useless.

 

That is why, for me anyway, the show has jumped the shark. Or as I suggested earlier, it has now “beaten the VP to death with a chair”.

Edited April 8, 2016 by reggiejax

[Primetimer]

Emphasis on 'chair.'

Read the story

[ChicksDigScars]

I don't think Olivia killing Andrew is in the "Top 10" of horrible actions committed by characters on the show either. However, it was not a good look for a woman who invented the term "White Hat." She didn't kill Andrew in self-defense, for the greater good, or even because he had her kidnapped. She did it to shut him up because Abby wouldn't let Fitz be the fall guy for the others who conspired with Andrew at some point or another.

 

 

I'm more disgusted about the WAY it was done. It was shock and gore to make the viewers run to Twitter and post "OH MY GOD!" over and over. Shonda needed a reaction. If Liv had pulled out a gun and shot Andrew cold, her actions would have seemed more justified, given that he engineered her kidnapping and was then taunting her about it, but then you wouldn't have gotten the gratuitous violence and the "shocking twisty-ness" that ABC wants to promote, and Shondaland now feels that they have to have every week to get their ratings back up. 

 

Gun shot to the face, shocking, but not special, given this show's track record. Bludgeoning a man with a chair with blood splattering everywhere? OMG! SHOCK! GORE! TWISTY! RUN TO TWITTER, GLADIATORS!  WTF?

Edited April 8, 2016 by ChicksDigScars

[Dowel Jones]

Jake doesn't even say anything--just sits in the background eating

 

Jake is the  head of the NSA.  I guess that stands for Noshing on Sandwiches Again.

[Artsda]

Does Jake actually do any work? The head of the NSA seems to have nothing to do. 

 

Olivia's just horrible, her problem is she acts holier and superior to others, white hat and on her high horse. The others like Cyrus or Huck or Fitz don't try to act like that and next week will be her home with Daddy & Jake all episode? I'll pass. 

[roomtorome]

I missed something - what did Abby do before she anointed herself Queen - she went in to talk to Andrew, closed the door and then we see her walking into Fitz' office - does anyone know what happened behind that door.  I may have missed it when I kind of gagging at all the sick crap going on this thing but am curious.  She seemed to have inflated herself to the point of believing she had more power than the president - somehow?

[TheOtherOne]

Fitz didn't just kill Verna to protect his presidency. He did it to protect Olivia's role in "Defiance." Plus, Fitz has never talked about wearing a "White Hat" or being a "Gladiator in a Suit." You can't use those terms and then beat viciously beat a man with a chair. If she had killed Andrew right after she was kidnapped or while she was bjeing held hostage, I would thought she was totally justified. But she only killed him to shut him up and because Abby wouldn't let Fitz take the fall for everything that happened regarding Olivia's kidnapping.

Nope.

 

She didn't kill Andrew in self-defense, for the greater good, or even because he had her kidnapped. She did it to shut him up because Abby wouldn't let Fitz be the fall guy for the others who conspired with Andrew at some point or another.

 

 

 

Nope. That's not the way the scene played out at all. When a man tells a woman he should try selling her again--a man who did it once and who still has the resources to do it, even if he is in a wheelchair--and tells her HE deserves revenge, when a woman screams "You think you get revenge? You. Don't. Get. Revenge. THAT'S MINE! MINE!" she sure as hell isn't doing it to save someone else's reputation or for politics or for anyone else. She's doing it for her damn self, because of everything that asshole did to her, was STILL doing to her and COULD still do to her. This was hers. She deserved it. She owns it. It wasn't about anyone but her and him.

 

If Liv had pulled out a gun and shot Andrew cold, her actions would have seemed more justified, given that he engineered her kidnapping and was then taunting her about it, but then you wouldn't have gotten the gratuitous violence and the "shocking twisty-ness" that ABC wants to promote, and Shondaland now feels that they have to have every week to get their ratings back up.

 

Liv having a gun would have indicated premeditation, and a lot of viewers would give her a hell of a lot more shit for that than what happened in the moment.

 

It was the ridiculousness of the moment that did it in. The show has been losing it for a good long while now, but it was this moment where all the idiocy came together so perfectly as to render the show useless.

 

One person's ridiculousness is another's awesomeness, I suppose. For me, it was the most satisfying thing I've seen on TV in weeks. I've watched the scene 10 times now, everything from Andrew sneering about how he deserves revenge through Olivia telling off moron Abby. We live in a world with too little justice, where bad people get away with things everyday, where men hurt women all the time and there are too few happy endings. For all the plot machinations required to make it happen, this moment had a woman face down a man who had done terrible things to her without remorse, who threatened to keep doing bad things to her, and she had enough. She took him out. It's the kind of thing that wouldn't be acceptable in real life, but that's what fiction's for. From where I'm sitting, it was satisfying as hell.

[TVHappy9463]

That was horrible. This was such a great show and now it is ruined. Just terrible. I'm out.

[Dowel Jones]

She seemed to have inflated herself to the point of believing she had more power than the president - somehow?

 

Doesn't everyone on this show?

 

One person's ridiculousness is another's awesomeness, I suppose.

 

My argument with the entire scene is that, after however many episodes of absence, they bring Andrew back for almost a cameo, and then kill him.  I personally was still trying to recall the stuff he had done by the time he got his headache.

[marny]

So, is the show still going to try to pretend that Liv and her people are White Hats? Are we finally done with that fiction? Have the writers finally caught up with the audience who has known for a long time that all these people, including Liv and Co., are scumbags? Well except for the new Not-Harrison who doesn't seem to ever know what's going on.

[LydiaMoon1]

Well except for the new Not-Harrison who doesn't seem to ever know what's going on.

 

Oh, he's a scumbag too.  Remember how they introduced him as a disingenuous politician who pretended to have integrity while simultaneously screwing his opponent's wife?  He also cowered in a closet and watched while that same woman (who he claimed to love so much) was brutally murdered. Sooooo, yeah.  Everybody's awful.

[PiggyRod]

Yes, why is jake still a part of this show?

Not gonna lie, I enjoyed this episode. It's been pretty boring the last few episodes. I totally agree that it needs to return to its first season glory.

 

 

I have enjoyed the past 2 episodes with scenes of Jake basically just eating as Poppa Pope bitchslaps someone else.

 

Remember when Jake wanted to take Poppa Pope down?

 

Now he eats fried chicken and does his bidding.  All with a pretty smile on his face.

 

 

I laughed at Jake just kicking it at Rowan's table, eating as shit goes down.

 

 

 

Jake is the  head of the NSA.  I guess that stands for Noshing on Sandwiches Again.

 

 

this is the real Scandal you guys! What would Jake eat next!

We know he enjoys fried chicken, salads, the occasional sandwich... I am expecting some lobster for the season finale!

[reggiejax]

When a man tells a woman he should try selling her again--a man who did it once and who still has the resources to do it, even if he is in a wheelchair

 

Of all the things the now deceased VP was guilty of with regards to Olivia Pope, he in fact did not try and sell her. Putting Olivia Pope up for auction was her idea.

 

Had all gone according to plan, I believe Olivia would be dead right now. It is hard to remember how it all went down exactly, but I do recall the VP losing control of his plot, and the actual kidnappers going rogue.

 

Also, I am not really sure how he has the resources to do it again. As they mentioned, the VP was heavily in debt. And he no longer has the powerful position to put such things in motion.

 

Then again, I don't really understand why he was bringing all this up. He was in no position to expose everyone, if only for the simple fact that it leaves him exposed most of all.

 

Telling his story to a reporter does not make him immune to prosecution for treason. Was the VP ok with going before a firing squad?

Edited April 8, 2016 by reggiejax

[ToukieSmith]

Does Jake actually do any work? The head of the NSA seems to have nothing to do. 

 

 

 

He has more to do than the President.

[ChicksDigScars]

Liv having a gun would have indicated premeditation, and a lot of viewers would give her a hell of a lot more shit for that than what happened in the moment.

 

Then she could have strangled his ass, or taken a page out of her luv-vah's playbook and smothered him with pillow or chair cushion. No one seems to have a problem with that when it happened before. The guy was in a wheelchair. He wasn't going to fight back. But no.  We had to show blood spattering all over everything and hear the squishy THUD of metal hitting flesh and bone over and over, and get a really good look at the blood soaked VP. This was so over the top that ABC had to insert a "viewer discretion is advised/hide the children" warning spot ahead of the broadcast. This wasn't cable or even the 10:00 time slot. Hi kids! Check out what Mom's watching!  

 

It would have been more appropriate to piggy back this episode next week, following the two hour Grey's, so that it came on at 10. It still would have been over the top gratuitous violence, but at least it would have happened 7 minutes before the news came on. But no. Shonda needs attention. The ratings stink. Grey's is the show that is holding up ABC's Thursday night, even though it gets the least amount of attention and promotion. The shows coming on AFTER Scandal are also suffering (both of them). Shondaland needs people to talk about the "shocking and twisty" ending, so that people will go check online or On Demand to see how nasty it really was. 

Edited April 8, 2016 by ChicksDigScars