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

[Moxie Cat]

Just thought of an ending that would have been better: Susan Ross was the mastermind! Why, you ask? Why not? I'm sure we can make up a good reason!

At least she would have been surprising, even shocking. The reveals of Luna and Cyrus didn't surprise me. We didn't know enough about Luna to guess at her character one way or another. (Maybe we would have if the show hadn't skipped from the conventions to the election!) And I would believe anything about Cyrus. 

I wish, in retrospect, during the last scene, we would have seen some flashbacks with an explanation of Cyrus's involvement - similar to how we saw that montage of Luna when Liv figured it out. I'm guessing, though, that it was so convoluted and nonsensical that even the writers couldn't put a good explanation together, and we'll probably have a time jump till next season - so no need to explain anything!

[J-Man]

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Also, no way does Mellie not have a date arranged prior to the ball. Either family or a friend would already have been chosen.

Not just her date -- but it was ludicrous that she was still deciding what to wear for the ball ON INAUGURATION DAY. Of course I guess that partially explains why the dress she ended up with was so hideous.

[tomsmom]

Omg that speech to Luna was just gross. This show has just slid downhill. Girl, Bye.

Edited May 20, 2017 by tomsmom

[toodles]

6 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, 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!

Second this.  I skipped through the mama pope in jail.  Trying to make sense out of this show gives me a headache.

[Layne]

3 hours ago, Moxie Cat said:

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.

Why would he have his people kill Jennifer Fields though, since her witness testimony could have exonerated him?

[Moxie Cat]

2 minutes ago, Layne said:

Why would he have his people kill Jennifer Fields though, since her witness testimony could have exonerated him?

But more than that, why would Papa Pope have Jennifer Fields pin the murder on Cyrus to begin with? What was the point of his going to jail? Why was he sitting at home eating brownies if getting Luna in as veep was the plan? OPA only found Luna because Maya decided to take her out to help Olivia. I mean, did Cyrus orchestrate Maya's intervention too?

Given all that, I guess there's not a lot of basis for the idea that Cyrus was actually a mastermind behind Luna. I just have a hard time believing that she was the brains behind people like Peus and Ponytail and Huck's girlfriend and everything they did. And if her endgame was getting the VP nod, that was really a long shot. All it would have taken would have been for someone in that White House confab to say (rightly), "we can't drag a grieving widow into this dangerous situation, she has young kids!" and the idea of Luna as veep would have been over.

We really needed a better explanation, and I don't think we're ever going to get one. I actually may be more interested in what the original plan for the season was (Russia, etc.) because that may make more sense in retrospect.

[weathered1]

I'm actually astounded at the depths to which this show has sunk. Olivia is pissed - pissed, she says - not because of the people who died, the turmoil in which the country was mired, or anything else - because her power was being thwarted. Oh, the horror. And to top it off, the scene in which she and Jake basically forced to Luna to kill herself was abhorrent. The thing is, I don't think the show will act as though Olivia has turned her back on her "white hat." I think it will spin this as Olivia in all her goodness and brilliance triumphing over evil. Oh, and I'm sure she and Jake will bond all over again by the roles both played in this grossness, so they'll more than likely be hitting the sheets again in the season premiere. 

Never mind that the evil plan, aka the conspiracy involving Luna and Cyrus, is ludicrous and nonsensical in every way, on every level. But no matter, because: 

"How does it feel to be the most powerful person in the world?" "Right. It feels right." 

Olivia Pope is a disgusting human being, but it's okay because she's powerful. Thus endeth the lesson, I guess. 

[Emma9]

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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.

Not to mention the period where he thought Tom had killed Vargas because Cy turned him away. If he knew, or even suspected, Luna was pulling the strings behind everything, why all the fear and guilt (most of which wasn't framed so that he could have been faking it because another character was watching) then?

Not to mention how violently clunky Cyrus parroting Luna's speech basically word-for-word was as a reveal. By comparison, Olivia thinking back to Frankie's kids not being onstage on election night either was a more interesting clue, though I'm sure at the time it was more about their actors being unavailable or not hired yet.

 

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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?

Not to mention nearly getting him killed in prison, trashing his reputation (especially now that he's VP again, the stain of suspicion is never going to completely leave him), exposing his affair with the guy who murdered Fitz's son (and how did that never get him reviled by the public?) and losing his daughter.

 

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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.

Ayup. Exactly what was her plan if they'd caved and made Peus VP? For that matter, why back Mellie at all? Let Cyrus get the nomination, put a bug in his ear about making her VP, then a couple months after inauguration, slip him some of the magic undetectable heart-attack drugs - given his health history, no one would have been surprised, cuts out the need for another big splashy assassination.

Or, if you're going with assassination, why pick Mellie's handler's mother out of all the killers in the world?

 

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Just thought of an ending that would have been better: Susan Ross was the mastermind! Why, you ask? Why not? I'm sure we can make up a good reason!

Makes more sense than her not being in tonight's episode at all. She was still vice-president, yes? The whole 'Here's the next president, and her VP! And the current president, and...no, just him!' phrasing of the announcements made that especially glaring.

~

Does anyone else here watch Madam Secretary? Tea Leoni's character wore something very similar to Mellie's dress in the most recent episode of that show, minus the weird thing where the jacket was folded to gape open at the bottom. Agreed that it certainly didn't look like an inaugural gown.

Quinn's unease about her pregnancy and Charlie seemed weird in light of their babysitting shenanigans a season or so back. I thought the point was that he was good with kids and domestic stuff, he just also happened to be a ruthless killer when hired to do so. It was an interesting character beat (particularly compared to most of the characters on this show with their *does something horrible*/"WHAT HAVE I BECOME?!?"/*does something even worse* cycles).

Edited May 20, 2017 by Emma9

[dr pepper]

Ok, i'm done. I don't care what happens next season, i'm going to treat this as the end of the series with just one addition. The scene with Liz and Cyrus freezes and becomes a picture as the camera draws back to show it as part of the last page of a book. Below the picture are the words "and so, having once again saved America from the follies of democracy, they all lived happily ever after!". Fade to black.

[PsychoDrone]

Pulling on one of the many threads of this season and it completely falls apart.  I wonder if the writers read the boards to gauge the reception of the show?  I would imagine they do and see the dismal job they did with this season.  Hopefully, they can return to some level of quality and end the series on a good note.

[NeverLate]

I finally watched the season finale. I freaking loved the end, even though by then I had somehow figured it out. Hated the black suit with flowers on that Liv wore , and that girls wears great clothes, Hated BSC mama pope, hated Liv running to Fitz slobbering a goodbye all over him while the media took photos.

That's all I have

Just show me Jake in uniform ( non stop) and I'm very very happy.

[KaveDweller]

17 hours ago, Moxie Cat said:

Given all that, I guess there's not a lot of basis for the idea that Cyrus was actually a mastermind behind Luna. I just have a hard time believing that she was the brains behind people like Peus and Ponytail and Huck's girlfriend and everything they did. And if her endgame was getting the VP nod, that was really a long shot. All it would have taken would have been for someone in that White House confab to say (rightly), "we can't drag a grieving widow into this dangerous situation, she has young kids!" and the idea of Luna as veep would have been over.

We really needed a better explanation, and I don't think we're ever going to get one. I actually may be more interested in what the original plan for the season was (Russia, etc.) because that may make more sense in retrospect.

I'm hoping we're supposed to think the exact plan didn't go as it was supposed to. Luna said she just wanted Frankie to lose the election, but "they" took it to far and killed him. It's hard to believe, because why would people just volunteer to kill him? But if you go with that, it sort of makes sense that Luna really just wanted him to lose, it all went to hell, but somehow ended with an offer for VP, and she figured, why not?

However, this falls apart with the idea that Cyrus planted the idea in her head. Cyrus is the one that got Frankie to run, he would never want him to lose.  He would want Frankie to die AFTER he was sworn in as VP. And he would have had the bad guys ensure Frankie was the winner, not the other way around.

I like the idea of Cyrus planting the idea behind it, but it makes no sense with how it played out. It's just a twist for twist's sake. It's like the writers picked a name out of a hat and made them the one responsible for it all.

[shksabelle]

Show gets more surreal every week. I'm convinced Shonda and her writers take 'shrooms on a regular basis. 

But on a shallow note, Jake does cut quite the dashing figure in that uniform. 

[OldWiseOne]

That was stupid.

[Moxie Cat]

1 hour ago, shksabelle said:

But on a shallow note, Jake does cut quite the dashing figure in that uniform. 

No matter what Jake does, I can't dislike Scott Foley. My affection for "Noel Crane" endures forever.

On a related note: what ever happened to Jake's wife? With the recast, it would have been nice to see Jessalyn Gilsig again - and in retrospect, maybe she should have been part of the conspiracy, to make the recast really worth it.

[Haleth]

Does anyone else think the writers were making this up week to week?  The conspiracies within conspiracies, secrets within secrets make no sense at all.  They were throwing everything at us this season. It's Cyrus. No, it's Rowan.  No, it's Maya. No, it's Luna. It was almost as convoluted as a season of 24.  I'm surprised we didn't get a scene showing Ella was behind the Frankie murder.  

[slade3]

12 hours ago, Haleth said:

Does anyone else think the writers were making this up week to week?  The conspiracies within conspiracies, secrets within secrets make no sense at all.  They were throwing everything at us this season. It's Cyrus. No, it's Rowan.  No, it's Maya. No, it's Luna. It was almost as convoluted as a season of 24.  I'm surprised we didn't get a scene showing Ella was behind the Frankie murder.  

For a while I was hoping we'd see a scene with Michael shooting Frankie Vargas with Ella sleeping in a baby sling on his back.

I definitely believe Luna was a last minute choice. I still believe they were going to make the Masterminds Rowan and/or Jake, but decided they couldn't count on the viewers to forgive them in season 7 after the real US election results.

[Empress1]

On 5/19/2017 at 7:33 AM, slade3 said:

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. 

Legit laughed out loud at "prehistoric penguin." The commentary on race in America was random but as a Black woman, I enjoyed it. 

Is Tony leaving the show? What about Fitz and Mellie's school-aged child? (And their teenage daughter, although they can continue to forget about her in boarding school.) 

I liked that they wrote Quinn's real-life pregnancy into the show.

All the women in the cast looked better than Bellamy on the ball night; her dress was hideous. Kerry looked STUNNING. Her makeup was perfect. I want to copy it. The subtle smoky eye was gorgeous and the pink lip was a nice balance.

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Does anyone else think the writers were making this up week to week?  The conspiracies within conspiracies, secrets within secrets make no sense at all.  They were throwing everything at us this season. It's Cyrus. No, it's Rowan.  No, it's Maya. No, it's Luna. It was almost as convoluted as a season of 24.  I'm surprised we didn't get a scene showing Ella was behind the Frankie murder.  

The entire "it was Luna!" thing made no sense at ALL, but y'all have already covered that. You can tell they came up with it on the fly.

[Oblique Angle]

Maybe they should've just called the season finale "But Wait...!":

Maya is the Big Bad and she's trying to assassinate the president-elect! But wait...she's not!

Luna Vargas--oddly inspired by the vision of a newly-widowed First Lady in a bloody Chanel suit--is the assassinations mastermind! And there's no way to stop her! But wait...she's not because Cyrus put the bug in her ear, and Liv and Jake forced her to off herself!

Cyrus is stuck to live out his sad life alone and falsely disgraced, sucking down bonbons while watching the new administration take power without any help from him. But wait...he's not! He did have a hand in it all and will probably end up working for Mellie via Olivia! And he got to be Mellie's date to the inauguration ball! Yay Cyrus?

Rowan pulled a sneaky and is getting the B613 band back together! But wait...he's not! Fitz is taking over B613! But wait...he's not! Olivia is the new Command!

Quinn is carrying Charlie's spawn, so she's quitting OPA to go into hiding and turning reins over to newly-unemployed Abby! But wait...she's not leaving and Abby will help her raise the devil child!

Ugh, I feel like Shonda et al were trying to give me plot twist whiplash but all I really got was a dull disgusted sensation.

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Until someone from the actual cast gets killed, I'm over this show.

Similarly, I'm not going to be satisfied unless Olivia or Fitz ends up dead by the show finale. Preferably Olivia.

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Olivia looked fantastic in that last scene with Cyrus.

I found the staging of it interesting. His was the silhouette that lined up with the Washington Monument, not hers. Wonder if that means anything?

Ditto comments upthread, I think this should've been the show's finale. All's that left now is for us to see Liv get to be president without actually being elected. And more Olitz fan service. Don't particularly want to see any of that and at this point will be pretty much only watching for the clothes.

[badabingo]

On 5/20/2017 at 6:44 AM, PsychoDrone said:

Pulling on one of the many threads of this season and it completely falls apart.  I wonder if the writers read the boards to gauge the reception of the show?  I would imagine they do and see the dismal job they did with this season.  Hopefully, they can return to some level of quality and end the series on a good note.

I used to work for a different studio producing network shows, and I would track common themes that online respondents would say and send them upwards to the big guys making decisions. I can't speak to how much they took those comments into account, but I imagine ABC/Disney has someone similar to my former position on their payroll.

Unfortunately, a lot of TV decisions are guided by numbers, not quality. As long as the ratings come back with a sizable viewership, studios don't care if the fans are happy or not. Scandal suffered a pretty bad slump for the majority of season 6. It returned to a normal rate towards the end, which probably told the show runners that everything is fine. 

[WhosThatGirl]

This whole season was a mess. And I know that most of the episodes were reframed previous episode footage to give KW time for her pregnancy but.. the show suffered a lot this season. The fact that the big evil doer was so random and made no sense. Cyrus being the mastermind behind it all doesn't add up for the various reasons others have spilled as well; his time in jail.. what? He was completely unhinged being there and he was apparently all cool with being a casualty for Luna? I.. what? He allowed himself to be imprisoned and beaten up? Sure, okay. 

And also Luna's plan doesn't make sense, remember when the bad guys came to Mellie and said she had to fire Jake and hire the evil guy as her VP? If Luna's plan was to always be VP, what the hell was that? The evil people were coming to Mellie and were like "you are hiring us now in your cabinet" . It's one thing for the writers to forget things from a season or two ago(they shouldn't really because hey they've worked on this show but I digress) but to forget major plot points that happened only a few episodes ago only because you realies you didn't have an end point? Wow.

[misstwpherecool]

I don't know. As soon as I saw bodies drop and criminal cover ups it was one of those shows that I couldn't give two hoots about the characters. Throw in the political subtext no matter how subtle eh. This was a watch later or on rerun show for me

This would've been a good series end and may have been written as one with changes once they smelled renewal.

But yes how does a then non first lady get the money and connections to assassinate let alone kill her husband. Even if a billionaire how many people know where to go to find a mercenary or killer.

Olivia becoming like her dad & mom has been brewing although didn't disown her father again this season.

A twisty series ender or final season needs Liv to be brought down by another fixer. Not murder but she needs to be brought down like she brings someone down or gets in a position her clients do where she has to call a fixer.

[Katsullivan]

On 5/18/2017 at 11:40 PM, Jodie Landon said:

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.

I agree and I say this as someone who quietly still ships Olitz, but that goodbye scene was epic, seeing Olivia rise to become the Most Dangerous Woman in the world was epic, and I really don't understand where else they can take this show to.

[Katsullivan]

10 hours ago, WhosThatGirl said:

The fact that the big evil doer was so random and made no sense. Cyrus being the mastermind behind it all doesn't add up for the various reasons others have spilled as well; his time in jail.. what?

Luna wasn't random. The seeds were planted from the start with her not letting her children be present during Election Night. Scandal has always played hard on the 'Behind every great man is an even greater woman who could do his job better' trope. Luna was Dark Mellie - "there Mellie goes but for the grace of Olivia Pope".  You could easily say that the Luna reveal was the culmination of not just 1 season but 6 seasons of build-up on this show. (As for the funding --- it seemed more of a partnership than a straight-up hire. Assassinate my husband, and get 'stocks' in the US Economy as we puppeteer the POTUS.)

Cyrus was the Iago of the story. He assassinated by suggestion. I doubt he knew anything about Peus or Mama Pope or the details of the assassination and conspiracy. But he was the figurative Devil that planted that seed in Luna's ears. Much like Iago, he's the villain because he's the one preying on Othello's insecurities and manipulating situations but no court of law would convict Iago for Desdemona's murder. It was the perfect murder.

There were some inconsistencies but overall, I think the season wrapped up perfectly. I think the series wrapped up perfectly and I really don't understand what can top this. 

Edited May 22, 2017 by Katsullivan

[Layne]

13 hours ago, Katsullivan said:

You could easily say that the Luna reveal was the culmination of not just 1 season but 6 seasons of build-up on this show. 

Lol what??? 

13 hours ago, Katsullivan said:

Luna wasn't random. The seeds were planted from the start with her not letting her children be present during Election Night. 

Wasn't one of her kids in the hospital dying of cancer last season? I assumed that's why their kids weren't present on election night. 

[Layne]

13 hours ago, Katsullivan said:

Assassinate my husband, and get 'stocks' in the US Economy as we puppeteer the POTUS.)

Wouldn't it have been easier, cheaper and more efficient to assassinate her husband and make her his replacement as President or VP on the Democratic ticket, instead of assassinating her husband on election night, framing his VP, paying off the Electoral College to elect the Republican candidate, blackmailing the Republican VP-Elect, hoping they'd choose her (the wife of the Dem. President-Elect) to replace the Rep. VP-Elect, killing the new (Republican) President-Elect at the inauguration, swoop in as the new Republican President, and hope nobody notices that she was standing on stage next to both Frankie and Mellie when they were assassinated, or find it weird that the widow of an assassinated Dem. President-Elect would become the Rep. President a few months later? 

[Emma9]

17 hours ago, Katsullivan said:

Cyrus was the Iago of the story. He assassinated by suggestion. I doubt he knew anything about Peus or Mama Pope or the details of the assassination and conspiracy. But he was the figurative Devil that planted that seed in Luna's ears. Much like Iago, he's the villain because he's the one preying on Othello's insecurities and manipulating situations but no court of law would convict Iago for Desdemona's murder. It was the perfect murder.

So what was his motive? Don't get me wrong, as someone who's a fan of the character in part because of his twisted ruthlessness, I was actually hoping for the majority of this season he'd that end up being behind it all.

Just not like this.

Was he nudging Luna because he really truly thought she could use Frankie's death as a springboard to do amazing things as president, and believed in this so fervently that he was willing to give up a guaranteed spot as VP? I would find that wildly out-of-character.

Even if he somehow intuited that through the bizarre string of events that followed, the conga line of musical presidents/vice presidents would end up with him being VP anyway, he'd have to know that at best he'd fall under suspicion for the assassination, and at worst...well, basically what happened this season.

Or are you saying he was manipulating her for personal gain? What gain? It can't be that his grand plan all along was to get the presidency for himself, not when it would have been so very much simpler to have Frankie killed on his own dime (by a competent assassin who had no prior connection to anyone on the cast) once the electoral college voted.

[Katsullivan]

4 hours ago, Emma9 said:

So what was his motive?

Yeah, it doesn't bear analyzing, does it? ;) But I still think that in the convoluted way that Scandal seems to thrive on, the murder mystery made sense. 

[WhineandCheez]

When Maya was going on and on during the Tic Toc Soliloquy, I thought i was listening to a Def Poetry Jam.

I assume that now that Fitz is out of power, his penis is no more of any interest to Liv.  He can use it to stir jam for all she cares.

This show has become sooo very awful that ramping up the evilness in each and every character is the only thing to do to make it interesting.  In next season's opener expect David Rosen to be grinding baby chicks under his shoe heel.....

[Layne]

4 hours ago, WhineandCheez said:

I assume that now that Fitz is out of power, his penis is no more of any interest to Liv.  He can use it to stir jam for all she cares.

Oh dear, I will never get this visual out of my head...

[Tara Ariano]

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

 

Scandal Swears In A New President, But Will It Be Able To Keep Her Alive?

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!

[cameron]

Thought it interesting that Tia Leoni wore that same red gown that Melli had on two weeks ago on Madame Secretary.

[Dowel Jones]

I still say that's Justice Clarence Thomas moonlighting for some extra coin.

[Emma9]

17 hours ago, cameron said:

Thought it interesting that Tia Leoni wore that same red gown that Melli had on two weeks ago on Madame Secretary.

Thank you, glad someone else noticed that! I thought I was seeing double.

Edited May 25, 2017 by Emma9

[byrd]

On ‎5‎/‎18‎/‎2017 at 10:14 PM, KaveDweller said:

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. 

I am willing to bet the Olivia/Fitz ride off into he sunset together in Vermont as a finale.. They finally get what they want..each other..

[KaveDweller]

On 5/23/2017 at 0:46 AM, Layne said:

Wouldn't it have been easier, cheaper and more efficient to assassinate her husband and make her his replacement as President or VP on the Democratic ticket, instead of assassinating her husband on election night, framing his VP, paying off the Electoral College to elect the Republican candidate, blackmailing the Republican VP-Elect, hoping they'd choose her (the wife of the Dem. President-Elect) to replace the Rep. VP-Elect, killing the new (Republican) President-Elect at the inauguration, swoop in as the new Republican President, and hope nobody notices that she was standing on stage next to both Frankie and Mellie when they were assassinated, or find it weird that the widow of an assassinated Dem. President-Elect would become the Rep. President a few months later? 

Pretty much anything would have been easier than all that.

On 5/25/2017 at 3:51 PM, byrd said:

I am willing to bet the Olivia/Fitz ride off into he sunset together in Vermont as a finale.. They finally get what they want..each other..

I bet they will too, but I don't know why anyone would have any confidence they actually work out that time.

[Bubbles]

The only way the Cyrus reveal possibly makes any sense given what we've otherwise seen all season is if he planted the seed in Luna's head thinking it would go a much simpler route but then things went horribly awry for a while before eventually taking a tortured path back to the desired outcome, and he genuinely did not know at least at first whether she'd actually gone through with it or whether it was someone else with some unknown motive. His actions in prison were those of a desperate man who didn't think he was getting out of that situation, not a puppet master pulling the strings and watching his grand plan unfold. 

[Lemoncello]

On 5/19/2017 at 9:44 AM, Good Queen Jane said:

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?

It's not really that cold in January in DC, or at least it wasn't this year.

It was between 40-60 degrees, I was there the day after the inauguration, was outside all day, and just wore a light jacket and was comfortable. Mellie was wearing a suit and Fitz was wearing his shirt, I think they would have been fine.

[queenbee9b]

Okay I am late to this. I had stopped mid season 5 and caught up this week since I figure I will watch the last season.  There was something all of season 6 said and I feel like I missed something.  Every scene where the Vargas win is shown the news reporter says something like after a huge set back he won.  They never tell you what caused the setback but because it was shown so many times in those first half episodes I really keep thinking it would show up again because otherwise why not just say it was close and he won.  Does anyone have any insight on this? 

[WhosThatGirl]

Watching the rerun of this.. still as terrible to me as it was last May. This season was such a clunker. And also I wish this show had just ended with this episode. I’m not sure what else they can do with this show to end it. 

Also I still hate the Olivia Fitz kiss. I’m not a shipper for them, and also way to ruin Mellies moment Olivia. 

[CKTV123]

I keep having to remind myself what the original premise of this show was about. Olivia Pope & Associates moving stealthily through DC putting out fires, saving reputations, rescuing political careers - that was some good television viewing. But they chose to capitalize on the Olivia & Fitz nonsense...now it's all this completely ridiculous crap. The run across the WH lawn to kiss the departing president - yuk. Trying to neatly tie it up in a bow with Luna and Cyrus as the ultimate bad guys is so sloppy. The writers & producers need to be canned.