S06.E15: Tick Tock / S06.E16: Transfer of Power

[thewhiteowl]

Quote

As the clock ticks down to the inauguration of the first female President of the United States, Olivia takes a big risk to insure Mellie's safety.

Fitz uses his power to make some unexpected changes

[WhosThatGirl]

It WAS Cyrus by way of Luna Vargas the whole time? So stupid. Like this show. 

Ugh. I can't with the "Liv saved Fitz" story. I can't ship them. Also ew on the Fitz leaves and Olivia runs to kiss him. Well. Looks like they will be taking another headline away from Mellie. Also so glad we get to relive b16 all over again next season.

Also the Olivia and Rowan scene. I still don't know when the bygones were bygones on the whole "hey dad remember when I tried to get my two ex boyfriends to try and KILL you? Yeah let's do brunch on sundays, k?"

Moments I liked: Charlie's reaction to Quinn being pregnant. Mellie telling Cyrus she wants him to be her date. Olivia falling out the widow for not owning her BS about knowing Frankie was going to be shot and keeping the children off the stage because she knew exactly what was going to happen that night.

Until someone from the actual cast gets killed, I'm over this show. I mean it was sort of a shock when they killed Liz but I mean like someone who it would actually make an impact. Liz came and went, she was a regular guest star but all the same we went a block of episodes without seeing her. 

[badabingo]

Meh... I feel like the first half was so weak. It felt like Shonda betting on classic dynamics that have worked in the past, but are now just plain tired. Mama Pope is dynamic and arresting, but they threw so many pointless monologues at her. don't get me wrong, I loved what she was saying. The part about cultural appropriation? YQY. But it had no purpose. Were we supposed to believe that after 15 minutes of being kept in a cell, she went so off the wall to drag society for miosgynoir? She spent like 20 years in a cell not as roomy and successfully to escaped. It was like the writers said, "Oh, fans love Maya? Let's fill twenty minutes with a coo coo for cocoa puffs soliloquey and they will love it because they love her." 

I would have liked Fitz's talk with Mellie about when he was shot. It was moving, except for the fact that he left out what really happened. They hated each other's guts in the car. If my memory serves me well, literally the last thing he said before he got shot was a snide comment to her. 

Did like Quinn's pregnancy. That was unexpected and very well executed.

But the second half was beautiful. Fitz's final goodbye to the White House? Geez, I was crying. The scene with Luna was so delicately acted that I knew something was off. I just didn't recognize that I knew something was off until Cyrus revealed himself. I loved the final scene with Olivia and Cyrus where they recognized the monsters in each other. Game recognizes Game. 

30 minutes before it ended, I was wishing that they solved the big bad and the Fitz/Olivia scene was the series finale. But after that ending, I guess I don't mind another season. 

[KaveDweller]

Every week I think I couldn't hate all these people more, and every week I am wrong.

I actually think that final scene with Olivia and Cyrus would have made a good series finale.  The whole thing would have been a good series finale actually unless you're a Fitz/Olivia shipper (if those still exist). 

I know this show is not realistic, but I have a hard time believing Luna Vargas had enough money to pay for everything Peus and Ponytail Lady did. 

[LeeLeePanda]

I know this is probably going to be an unpopular opinion, but I enjoyed this episode and the season as a whole. It wasn't perfect, but I was entertained. 

 I love that Olivia has decided to embrace her evil side. Everyone on this show is a terrible person. They're murderers, thieves, liars, just totally unscrupulous. They're power hungry, and try to justify it in the name of protecting the Republic. I've made my peace with that, which is why I'm fine with Olivia leaning into it. 

That being said, I feel like Luna Vargas  being behind everything was a Deux Ex Machina. Where did she get the money? How did she get in touch with Pony Tail and Peus? 

Luna's forced suicide made me nauseous. Lord, that was awful to watch. 

I was on the edge of my seat during the swearing in scene. I had to cackle at the comment that the (fictional) 45th president had the biggest inauguration crowds ever. I loved that Mellie filled her Oval Office with feminist heroes. 

It will be interesting to see what they do with Quinn and QPA. Katie Lowes is pregnant in real life, so it's nice that they wrote it in. I did enjoy seeing Abbie and Quinn deciding to work together. 

[Guest]

This was terrible. The parody on Dear White People was better. 

If only Luna had followed Mellie's trajectory and the show continued, in 4 seasons we would have found out Frankie was an abusive mobster who set kittens on fire so her actions were all justified. 

I really couldn't care less about Charlie/Quinn. 

This season sucked. 

[badabingo]

12 minutes ago, LeeLeePanda said:

I know this is probably going to be an unpopular opinion, but I enjoyed this episode and the season as a whole. It wasn't perfect, but I was entertained. 

I thought the second half of s5 and the first half of s6 were just flat out boring. But I think the last few episodes actually connected of this season. We will never see Scandal hitting the mark with season 1-2 accuracy, but I thought they managed to pull it together at the end.

People seem to forget that the show is called Scandal. If you want something without the corniness or unrealistic plots, then go watch House of Cards. 

[Jodie Landon]

This should've been the series finale. All of the storylines were wrapped. Mellie is president. Fitz leaves office, while Olivia chooses power over love. Quinn and Charlie getting married are having a baby and Abby is back at OPA (do they even have/take clients anymore?) and actually wants to be there. Cyrus and Olivia are both back in the White House. Olivia is on good terms with her mother and back to having Sunday dinners with her father. Most importantly, Liv has really become her father. The end.

I don't see where else they can go with this.

[Guest]

Watching Liv make a morality speech is bad enough, but her doing it to convince someone to commit suicide using the "do it for your children" argument is just beyond contrivance and unrealistic.

Unrealistic fixes are one thing. A murderous group of torturers running the country secretly is just bad writing, imo.

[Artsda]

This made no sense and I really could have gone without ever hearing B613 ever again.  Fitz says he'll bring it back, Liv throws a tantrum that it's horrible to do that, then 5 minutes later she brings it back?

Why are Fitz and Liv acting like they'll never see each other again. Is he not allowed to leave Vermont in Scandal-land?  

Fitz and Mellie share children, pretty sure he'll be seeing them within the 4 years. He'll be back around DC. In fact it would have made more sense if they wrote in him getting a DC home like the Obamas did to stay in town for the kids sake. 

So Luna set up the assassination of her husband? Really she has that much power and money? No she didn't. They threw that it feels like at the end of the season and never really always planned it to be her. And Cyrus planting the seed in her head? He was VP before the plan, he's VP after the plan, so what did this accomplish other than to make innocent kids orphans?

Glad they're writing in Katie's pregnancy. 

Edited May 19, 2017 by Artsda

[LeeLeePanda]

19 minutes ago, Artsda said:

 

So Luna set up the assassination of her husband? Really she has that much power and money? No she didn't. They threw that it feels like at the end of the season and never really always planned it to be her. And Cyrus planting the seed in her head? He was VP before the plan, he's VP after the plan, so what did this accomplish other than to make innocent kids orphans?

Glad they're writing in Katie's pregnancy. 

Yeah, I had to side eye all of that. I know that Shonda had a whole plot line about Russians interfering with the Oval, and they dicided to scrap it because of the real life Election.

My theory is that Pony Tail and Peus were supposed to working for the Russians, and they changed it to Luna at the very last minute. 

I'm going to Fanwank that Cyrus unintentionally planted the whole "kill your husband and become the Vice President" seed in Luna's head. 

[Karen885]

Olivia needs to take several seats and end the power trip she is on.  Her outrage and preventing her mom from shooting someone at the inauguration was so stupid.  "She wasn't go to shoot mellie, she was going to shoot someone else". Shut up liv, that doesn't make it ok to shoot someone on live tv.

 This whole assination plot ended up being so convoluted I can't even keep it straight.  Cyrus got luna to order the hit.  Then somehow she connected with peus and ponytail lady.  They got abbey and papa pope involved. Papa pope pulled the trigger because his random girlfriend was threatened.  Then someone hired mama to kill luna?  

[bobbyjoe]

1) So Cyrus planted the idea in Luna's head so she would have Vargas assassinated?

a) uh, what?  Like she's so powerful, uh, how?  Why wouldn't he have just hired the people to do it himself?

2) And Cyrus went to jail because of, ummm, why?

a) because the powerful people that Luna hired because Cyrus convinced her to hire them botched it, though from what they said there was no evidence that anything hadn't gone according to plan, which meant that Cyrus going to jail was part of the plan that he planted in Luna's mind and....

[let me just step in here for a second and state that Cyrus would have been president, not vice-president, if he had simply had Vargas assassinated himself.  But somehow his ridiculously convoluted plan leads ultimately to him becoming vice-president.  Ummmm, congratulations, you diabolical genius you?]

3) So Luna's part of the plan depended on her being nominated for vice-president?

a) but Cyrus seemingly turned down being nominated for vice-president after he got out of prison.  But now being nominated for vice-president was endgame?  So this scheme involved Cyrus turning down what he wanted in order to later, after a lot of ridiculously unnecessary maneuvers, get what he could've gotten a lot more quickly and easily?

There are two options here when it comes to Scandal.  Either:

1) This plot is so ingenuous and complicated that it would take a team of physicists working 24/7 for 18 years to make any sense of it whatsoever, or...

2) The writers on Scandal absolutely do. not. give. a. shit. whatsoever. anymore.

I know where I'd place my money.

Edited May 19, 2017 by bobbyjoe

[Bama]

This show is such a hot mess now but I still watch it out of obligation - I'm a completist with my TV shows.  I have to finish no matter how much they circle the drain.

But I have to say that Kerry Washington looked exceptionally gorgeous in the ball gown scenes.  The make-up was different somehow and her hair?  BEAUTIFUL.  I prefer it straightened to the bouncy ringlets she wears now.  Just stunning.

That's really all I took away from this episode.  Oh, except how awkward Liv looked "running" across the White House lawn.

 

[Dee]

Khandi Alexander is a gift. 

And, if there is any justice, these episodes will be her Emmy reel.

[buttersister]

Good job, Tony.  Helped everyone look good. Meanwhile looked like he hadn't had a carb in six months.

I want to say I remember Luna having family money that helped finance Frankie's campaign. I'd like to. But sure, once the Russians angle became real life, what was Shonda to do?

And since I never cared for white hat Liv, as she's half her momma and half that crazy man, this Liv finally makes sense to me.

[Mama No Life]

On a shallow note...because that's all that's left now....what the hell was Mellie wearing to the ball?  That.was.hideous.

Liv looked gorgeous. Also loved her black and red striped outfit.

Tony is still hot.

None of these people are good actors, just saying.  Writing is stupid, dialogue is corny and delivery is a cheeze fest.  So why do I watch?  Sigh.

[PsychoDrone]

That had to be the most ridiculous 2 hours of television.  First hour was a snooze fest and the last 30 minutes was beyond stupid.  I doubt no one could suspend disbelief over the revelation that Luna (Luna!?!?!) had enough juice to be over an organization/people that scared Rowan.  An extremely convoluted series of events that NO ONE could predict to ensure those results.  Also, I see that the writers of this show also watch Empire.  Had Luna emulate the suicide of Naomi Campbell on Empire to end a similarly ludicrous storyline. 

The crazy thing is someone pitched this drek and Shonda gave it the greenlight.  Or, it was her idea and the writers had to do it.  Regardless, this is Shonda's show and she is responsible.  I think her star is not shining as bright with this season on her resume.  Not really sure about her other shows since I don't watch them.

Finally, why did they have Mellie wearing that horrible dress?  Was that a bridesmaid dress because that's how it seemed.  All the other women, VP, Chief of Staff, etc made Mellie look second tier.  Mellie is the president and should have looked amazing.

[slade3]

Olivia looked fantastic in that last scene with Cyrus.

Though I loved Olivia and Cyrus's final scene, I'm disappointed by just about every episode that came before it.

I agree with those who feel Luna was a last minute villain. There is no way the show runners had Luna in mind when they were creating this convoluted mess. I wish they had just kept their Russia storyline because they clearly didn't have the time or interest in creating a new storyline that made sense.

I can't stand Maya Pope, or the way Khandi Alexander plays her, but I thought she had some of the best phrases last night like "prehistoric penguin" and "big bobble head". I screamed. I was also happy she called Rowan crazy or mentally unstable. Finally, someone acknowledges that Rowan is insane. I mean, Maya is insane, too, but whatever. Her out-of-nowhere commentary on race in America had absolutely nothing to do with the plot as far as I could tell, so I was baffled about that. 

This season was a huge mess and feels especially heartbreaking because we only have one more season left.

I think last night's finale established that there will be a Scandal spinoff after the season 7 finale. My guess is that it will focus on Quinn Perkins & Associates: Quinn, Huck, Abby and Charlie. I think Jake and his NSA crew will also be involved - I don't know how this will come about, but I suspect the men in Jake's office last night will be part of his team: Jake, David, Rowan. I also think we'll see Cyrus become VP, so that will be the White House aspect of the spinoff: President Mellie Grant, Vice President Cyrus Beem and Chief of Staff (Abby? David? Marcus?)

As much as I hate to write this (as a Jake and Olivia shipper), I think season 7 will end with Olivia realizing she hates being Command and leaving DC with Fitz. Unless, of course, Scott Foley isn't moving on to a spinoff. If he's leaving Shondaland, Olivia may still end up with Jake.

[vibeology]

9 hours ago, KaveDweller said:

I know this show is not realistic, but I have a hard time believing Luna Vargas had enough money to pay for everything Peus and Ponytail Lady did. 

It's pretty much impossible. I get being rich but how much money did Abby get? It was hundreds of millions, right? (I honestly don't remember anymore because everything about this season has been a mess.) No way Luna Vargas has those resources. They needed to make the bad guy either a country of a huge company to make the money part of this story even remotely believable.

9 hours ago, Artsda said:

So Luna set up the assassination of her husband? Really she has that much power and money? No she didn't. They threw that it feels like at the end of the season and never really always planned it to be her. And Cyrus planting the seed in her head? He was VP before the plan, he's VP after the plan, so what did this accomplish other than to make innocent kids orphans?

Cyrus planning all of that was maybe the most ridiculous thing and this was full of them. If Frankie dies and Luna's goal is to be President, either Cyrus also has to die to Cyrus has to be forced out of power somehow. Neither option is good for him and he had no guarantee that he'd somehow be exonerated. That's a huge gamble to take. He could have very easily ended up dead so I don't think he gets any credit for this "plan." It was moronic.

I can't actually make heads or tails of Luna's plan but to me the most direct path to the White House would have been far less complicated. She wanted Frankie to win (though why Samantha and Peus were putting so much pressure on Rowan to fix the election. What if Liv had actually gone through with it?) Once Frankie won, she wanted him to be assassinated on election night. She wanted Cyrus to take the fall and be put in jail. She then wanted to bribe the electoral college to select Mellie and then somehow get Mellie to drop Jake and chose her even though the pressure on Mellie to pick Peus was counterintuitive to that. Then kill Mellie and become President. I mean, if two people close to Luna Vargas die in a three month period why wouldn't people become suspicious of her? It's a dumb plan and it involved way too many moving parts and people she couldn't control and yet somehow it almost all worked out perfectly? It's too much to believe. Rather than all that shit with Mellie, wouldn't it have just been easier to bribe the electoral college to pick her as president. They are actually allowed to pick anyone. Just mount a pr campaign and then use that to have her selected and she's president with half the mess and stress.

6 hours ago, Bama said:

But I have to say that Kerry Washington looked exceptionally gorgeous in the ball gown scenes.  The make-up was different somehow and her hair?  BEAUTIFUL.  I prefer it straightened to the bouncy ringlets she wears now.  Just stunning.

That final look was the best thing she's worn in years both on screen and off. I like her hair all the ways but I do think the straight somewhat severe look suited both the gown and what was happening on-screen.

2 hours ago, Mama No Life said:

On a shallow note...because that's all that's left now....what the hell was Mellie wearing to the ball?  That.was.hideous.

Whoever is advising Mellie on wardrobe is doing her no favours. Even wearing a black coat for the actual oath was bad styling. She needed to be in either red, white or blue and Luna should have been told to wear black or grey (or navy if Mellie wasn't wearing blue). Same with the gowns. Luna's was clearly much nicer. I do agree with Mellie that the pressure put on women in politics to dress both fashionably and "appropriately" is ridiculous, but at the same time, it's real so you have to respond to it. No way in a world with women as both POTUS and VPOTUS would a VP be wearing something that upstages the President at the Inauguration. Staff would coordinate that. Also, no way does Mellie not have a date arranged prior to the ball. Either family or a friend would already have been chosen.

Still, I do think the emotional arc of this worked even if all the details fall apart. I don't like Fitz and Liv but I do like that song of theirs so I can tune out their bs and just listen to the music. I think OPA has potential going forward. Mostly I do think, knowing that next season is the last, that they're probably going to have a fairly tight story to tell and I'm looking forward to it despite finding this season disappointing.

Edited May 19, 2017 by vibeology

[Primetimer]

Will they be able to prevent her assassination at her own inauguration? Who’s really behind the assassination plot anyway? Kim Reed has questions about the Season 6 finale!

View the full article

[Good Queen Jane]

I have now come to the conclusion that the Truman Balcony at the White House has a heating source that keeps the people standing on it nice and warm no matter how cold it is. How else could Mellie and Fitz stand out on it in shirt sleeves in January in DC? Everyone was nicely bundled up outside the next day for the inauguration. And what does it say about this season of Scandal that this is what most attracted my attention in the episode?

[cali1981]

This absurd plot that Luna is the mastermind and money source of a criminal conspiracy to take the Oval makes the one  in Designated Survivor look entirely plausible. It looked like they had a cabal with Peus and vicious ponytail with unlimited funding make some sense but changed it at the last minute. At that point it made no sense at all. 

Edited May 19, 2017 by cali1981

[Dream Boy]

2 hours ago, slade3 said:

Her out-of-nowhere commentary on race in America had absolutely nothing to do with the plot as far as I could tell, so I was baffled about that. 

This. I fanwanked it as her wanting to show Rowen that he's not the only one of Olivia's parents who can rant nonsensically for five minutes. Take that, dinosaur nerd!

This...was not good. I know they thought that they were presenting these clever twists. And they would be clever....if you didn't watch the actual show all season. Otherwise, they make zero sense. 

The best things out of this episode: evil Olivia (which, quite frankly she's pretty much been for a few seasons now), Mellie as Prez (the girl has deserved this), and the little we got of the OPA crew. Other than that, I've got nothing. And yes, Keri looked fantastic at the end. I'm a completist too so I'll stick it out through next season (Hell I'm sticking with Pretty Little Liars which is even sadder right now) but I can't imagine us getting anything close to a satisfying end. 

Edited May 19, 2017 by Dream Boy

[bobbyjoe]

Hooray, B613 is back!

-- said no one, ever.

[slade3]

Scandal's Kerry Washington: Trump 'Completely' Derailed Season 6 Plans

From the article: “Our writers have really been challenged,” the actress told Trevor Noah. “[They] were actually going to end this season with the Russians hacking the election. And they were like, ‘I guess we can’t do that, because that’s a reality show!’ They’ve had to completely restructure the end of the show.”

By making a Mexican American woman the Mastermind villain? (The Frankie Vargas wiki says Frankie was born in PA to parents from Mexico. So I assume Luna is also Mexican.)

How ironic that Shonda and the writers were so broken up over Trump's win, that we've had Olivia do a speech about nasty women (that completely contradicted her character an episode earlier), and Maya do a speech about Black women and appropriation (that had nothing to do with the plot), but the finale ended up supporting Trump's racist thesis that all Mexicans are criminals by making Luna Vargas - a Mexican American woman -  a criminal Mastermind who had her husband assassinated because Cyrus whispered something in her ear. They really should have kept the Russia story line.

As a Black woman, I don't love the way Shonda and the writers address the issue of race with rants from Rowan and Maya that rarely have anything to do with the storyline, but happily make Maya an unhinged terrorist who seems to hate her daughter and ex-husband, and Rowan an unhinged merciless killer "for the good of The Republic" who has tried to have his daughter killed, and has pretty much mentally abused her for years because he wanted her to be better than "them". Not to mention the downward spiral Olivia has taken over the years.

One of the reasons Scandal has kept me watching for so many years is the fact that I love that Olivia is formidable, elegant, intelligent, attractive and 100% flawed. I love that she has sex unapologetically and doesn't need a commitment on paper. But she has become incredibly unpleasant, shouting in everyone's face when they don't do what she wants, and demanding things from them that are emotionally trying or just plain life threatening. This is not progress and it makes me sad that Shonda may think it is.

Edited May 19, 2017 by slade3

[Fairlily26]

I would have had to be shot, Im not killing myself. Nope.

Good season finale, but there is no way some lady can go running after the president as he leaves the white house without being tackled by the marines.

Its nice to see Quinn and Abby's relationship come full circle, interesting that Quinn told Abby about the baby before Huck, Charlie, or even Olivia.

I miss Steven and Harrison....

[LeeLeePanda]

1 hour ago, Dream Boy said:

 

Her out-of-nowhere commentary on race in America had absolutely nothing to do with the plot as far as I could tell, so I was baffled about that. 

I really loved Mama Popes speech, but initially thought it was weirdly placed in the episode. I understood it better at the end of the episode. 

Maya knew Liv was sitting outside of the jail cell. She touched on all of the things black women do for the world and the little credit they get. She was basically encouraging (or manipulating) Liv to stop playing nice for people who don't appreciate her, and get hers. 

[Kathcart]

Quote

None of these people are good actors, just saying.  Writing is stupid, dialogue is corny and delivery is a cheeze fest.  So why do I watch?  Sigh.

Amen and double amen to this! I am glad to be getting my Thursday evenings back (until next season starts, I guess, probably ...)

[candle96]

I have now come to the conclusion that the Truman Balcony at the White House has a heating source that keeps the people standing on it nice and warm no matter how cold it is. How else could Mellie and Fitz stand out on it in shirt sleeves in January in DC? Everyone was nicely bundled up outside the next day for the inauguration. And what does it say about this season of Scandal that this is what most attracted my attention in the episode?

And, of course, when Fitz was leaving the White House, in the middle of what would be January, it was sunny, with lots of green grass and trees surrounding him.

[Artsda]

31 minutes ago, Fairlily26 said:

 

Good season finale, but there is no way some lady can go running after the president as he leaves the white house without being tackled by the marines.

This I believed would happen because she's not just some lady, she's the now chief of staff and even before she was COS she basically all these past few weeks ran all over the White House while Fitz was President like she was in charge of it.

[thewhiteowl]

The weather is pretty far down on my list of unbelievable crap on this show but it does make the list. A very long time ago, Pappa Pope told Liv he was grooming her to take over BS13,  I guess that worked out for him despite her outraged righteousness at the time. 

It wrapped things up, not well but wrapped anyway. I am confused about the details because they really make no sense. But whatever, it's done. 

I will watch next season.  It has got to be better than this, right?

 

*crickets*

[Anela]

12 hours ago, deaja said:

Watching Liv make a morality speech is bad enough, but her doing it to convince someone to commit suicide using the "do it for your children" argument is just beyond contrivance and unrealistic.

Unrealistic fixes are one thing. A murderous group of torturers running the country secretly is just bad writing, imo.

Yep. I thought she wasn't the only one that needed to be taking those pills, if it was based on her arranging for someone's murder. Luna kills herself, but Olivia is still meeting Daddy every Sunday - the man who killed Luna's husband. 

Cyrus was VP after all? I missed that, and wondered why Olivia said something about nominating him. Of course he had to be the one to plant the seed in Luna's mind - but Vargas' ideas weren't dying on a vine - he won the election!! 

28 minutes ago, candle96 said:

And, of course, when Fitz was leaving the White House, in the middle of what would be January, it was sunny, with lots of green grass and trees surrounding him.

Yeah, that was funny. 

So is Fitz leaving the show? One thing that bugs me, is that Marcus said he wasn't going to be Olivia Pope, last week, and now Fitz seems to be taking off. So it was fine for Mellie and Olivia to be "the woman behind the man" but they won't stick around and be the man behind the woman. 

[slade3]

1 hour ago, LeeLeePanda said:

I really loved Mama Popes speech, but initially thought it was weirdly placed in the episode. I understood it better at the end of the episode. 

Maya knew Liv was sitting outside of the jail cell. She touched on all of the things black women do for the world and the little credit they get. She was basically encouraging (or manipulating) Liv to stop playing nice for people who don't appreciate her, and get hers. 

I'm not sure if you meant to, but you responded to my comment and attributed to  Dream Boy's name. In case you were responding to my comment:

1 hour ago, LeeLeePanda said:

She was basically encouraging (or manipulating) Liv to stop playing nice for people who don't appreciate her, and get hers. 

Get what? Olivia has a pretty terrific life. Until recently, she had her own company, and now she has a job she wanted, she has a fabulous penthouse apartment, she has a great wardrobe, she drinks wine that costs thousands of dollars. She is smart, beautiful, and she speaks several languages. She helps people. If those people treated her in a dismissive way, I might understand Maya's speech. But Olivia doesn't play nice with people. Everyone she helps pays her in some way. If they've hired her, they pay her handsomely, and have often been there for her when she needs a "favor". Her team has proven over and over that they will risk their lives for her. The two men she sleeps with are handsome, well-built and generally do everything she tells them to, and she isn't in a committed relationship with them by her own choice. Fitz has asked her to marry him, and Jake has asked her to live with him and raise three children. She said no. Who doesn't appreciate Olivia? What is she missing? And when has she played nice?

ETA: I will also add that Olivia has always been unhappy. But I don't see her unhappiness stemming from the way "white people" treat her, which seems to be what Maya is saying. Olivia is unhappy because she was raised to believe she has to be Great, so nothing she attains is enough. She has to have more. Now that she "has the White House" and Command, I don't see her being happy. Who should take the blame for that? Maybe her father for emotionally abusing her all these years? Maybe her mother for being a terrorist and overall horrible human being? Maybe Olivia herself for not allowing herself to enjoy what she has and date a man who is attainable and really loves her.

Edited May 19, 2017 by slade3

[Guest]

Mellie is such a child. "I deserve this!" Yes, entitled princess. The half term in the Senate that was your entire time in public service makes you deserve the White House.

You deserve a jail cell.

[Anela]

^^ Yep. As far as I could tell, most people adored and/or respected her. Mellie had good reason to hate both her and Fitz, but now she adores her, too. 

They're all so entitled, acting like they're owed the White House, and the power that comes with it. I liked the business woman who helped people in trouble. She wasn't perfect (the affair), but she did her best to help people. Now she's one of the monsters. I can't picture her ever making jam, but she had the option of a second home in Vermont, and still running her business. Let Fitz make the jam. These people have options, and I can't relate to the need for the power of the White House. I get that we now have a black woman running things on the show - Mellie is the President, but Olivia is right there with her - I just hate how they got her there. 

3 minutes ago, deaja said:

Mellie is such a child. "I deserve this!" Yes, entitled princess. The half term in the Senate that was your entire time in public service makes you deserve the White House.

You deserve a jail cell.

haha! Your post wasn't there as I was writing, but I agree. 

My "yep" was for slade's post. 

Wait, what did Mellie to do deserve jail? The others have murdered people. Did she know about what they did to Luna?

Edited May 19, 2017 by Anela

[LoveIsJoy]

I'm sorry, but I absolutely cannot stand! Mama Pope--the actress, her delivery, the crazy-faces, the out of place monologue, the scenery-chewing--even the way she drawls "babbbby."  That interminable  "tick-tock" routine almost made me turn off the tv (but I couldn't find the remote fast enough).

I, too, am a completist.  Sadly, I will return for the final season to see how it ends, but I haven't actually enjoyed watching this show for years.  Horrible storylines, wretched overacting, tedious monologues instead of actual conversations, rapid-fire exposition when placing photos on the windows (to the point I have no idea what they're even talking about), and characters I've grown weary of ages ago--are just a handful of a million reasons why I hate this show now. 

And I hate myself for continuing to watch it.  Ugh!

[Good Queen Jane]

The funniest scene was in the middle of the one that should have been the most intense:

Olivia: Everyone here who has killed a Vice-President, raise your hand. Raises her hand and then looks intently at Jake.

Jake (protesting): It was just Argentina's!

Olivia: It counts! Jake slowly raises his hand.

I laughed so hard I couldn't hear the next few lines

Edited May 19, 2017 by Good Queen Jane

[rebeccalj]

3 hours ago, bobbyjoe said:

Hooray, B613 is back!

-- said no one, ever.

Given the shit show that was the scary ponytail lady and Peus, I'll take B613 any day...  At least they were evil for a "cause"...  I still don't have a clue what the point of the ponytail and Peus was.

[Fairlily26]

44 minutes ago, rebeccalj said:

Given the shit show that was the scary ponytail lady and Peus, I'll take B613 any day...  At least they were evil for a "cause"...  I still don't have a clue what the point of the ponytail and Peus was.

Fake "Big Bad" so that the reveal of who was really pulling the strings would be more satisfying. 

I am still struggling with the idea that a loving wife would kill her husband because she doesn't want him to take a job....

A little over simplified, but y'all get my point....

[candle96]

So if Cyrus planting the seed in Luna's head started this whole thing off, what was the point of those episodes with him seeming genuinely shocked and saddened by Frankie's death or his whole tortured stint in prison?? I mean, yeah, I get it was written that way for the viewers, but seriously, he did not play that role like a man who knew what was up. Which I thought was the point, that Olivia knowing for sure that Cyrus did all this was wrong. Ugh. What a strange and tacked on copout the ending was. Olivia went from wanting to take Cyrus down for killing Frankie the first time, to toasting him and laughing about it the second time.

And what happened to the supposed mole in OPA, the one who had eyes on Olivia at all times? I thought for sure that was going to be revealed. TBH, I thought Jake was going to be behind the whole thing. That would've been more interesting and plausible. I adore Scott Foley, but his character is beginning to feel unnecessary at this point.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Anela said:

 

Wait, what did Mellie to do deserve jail? The others have murdered people. Did she know about what they did to Luna?

I don't think she did anything to earn jail this season, however she was involved in a plot to steal the election as a main conspirator; when Fitz was shot, she forged his name on a letter declaring he was back to strength (while he was still in a coma); she helped cover up Daniel Douglas' murder; and she released the names of members of a confidential grand jury panel, leading to every member being killed by Huck.

[babs1226]

Just a comment about the weather.  Frankie Vargas was inaugurated in January, and then assassinated.  Even though there haven't been any references (that I've seen) to what month it is when Mellie is inaugurated, it feels like a few months have passed by.  Hers was not a normal election, and it's definitely not a whole year later.

[Guest]

1 minute ago, babs1226 said:

Just a comment about the weather.  Frankie Vargas was inaugurated in January, and then assassinated.  Even though there haven't been any references (that I've seen) to what month it is when Mellie is inaugurated, it feels like a few months have passed by.  Hers was not a normal election, and it's definitely not a whole year later.

Frankie was killed on election night. He was the President-elect. He was never inaugurated.  The Electoral College vote we saw was in December. Inauguration Day is January 20th, and Fitz referenced this date on the show last night.

[Ohwell]

So Mellie never read the Executive Order, just signed it and took Olivia's word for whatever was in it--and she thinks she deserves to be President?  Stupid cow.

Add me to the lost of those not buying Mama Pope's speech to "poor widdle Olivia."  Like she's lived a life of oppression and now it's time to "get hers."  Olivia is a monster now and the only thing she needs to "get" is executed, along with the rest of her murderin' crew.  

[Kristilove]

So I get the whole Luna thing, but if her goal was to be VP then why did she have Peus plant bombs to become VP??

[Ohwell]

3 hours ago, LoveIsJoy said:

I'm sorry, but I absolutely cannot stand! Mama Pope--the actress, her delivery, the crazy-faces, the out of place monologue, the scenery-chewing--even the way she drawls "babbbby."  That interminable  "tick-tock" routine almost made me turn off the tv (but I couldn't find the remote fast enough).

I guess she's supposed to be some sort of "femme fatale" but she's just not working for me.  I don't know if she's had work done or not, but she looks like she rose from the dead.  And I guess the way she speaks is supposed to be sexy or alluring with men, and perhaps provocative with women, but she just sounds creepy to me.

[cali1981]

43 minutes ago, Kristilove said:

So I get the whole Luna thing, but if her goal was to be VP then why did she have Peus plant bombs to become VP??

Once the Luna revealwas known, you could look back over the course of the conspiracy and find so many points where it completely fell apart that, in retrospect, the entire thing just seems silly.  This has not exactly been Shonda and her writing staff's most shining moment. They boxed themselves in more and more each week iand had no magical escape door so they came up with this dreck as a way of somehow ending this season.

[Moxie Cat]

So Cyrus orchestrated Frankie's death, basically. My main question is, why did Peus and crew then stage the ruse for suspicion to land on Cyrus early in the season? With Frankie dead, Cyrus would have more likely become prez than Mellie. Or was part of the deal maneuvering Luna into position as veep? Heck, they could have easily done that since the veep spot would have been empty.

So freaking confused. Peus and Ponytail seemed way too cutthroat and well-fiananced to simply be Luna's guns for hire. I think it's much more likely that Cyrus used Luna and was the point of contact for all the baddies, but I just don't understand why it got so convoluted.

[Ohwell]

Mellie could have chosen a much better-looking inaugural gown.   She looked like one of those Mrs. America contestants in the evening gown competition.  

Edited May 19, 2017 by Ohwell