S07.E18: Over A Cliff

[TigerLynx]

10 hours ago, Chaos Theory said:

I know I said I was done commenting but I still think a better ending was letting Rosen be the hero but it feels like they didn’t do that because he is a white male  and Shonda Rhimes ultimately wanted to make a point about black people in America but it felt flat.  

If Shonda wanted a different hero than Rosen, then maybe she shouldn't made almost every other character a murderer.

1 hour ago, scruffy73 said:

B613 ruined the show.

That’s all.

Yes, it did.

[shksabelle]

White privilege and gun control woven into an absurd, minimal storyline, wrapped around a ridiculous number of ads and show promos. 

[Black Knight]

I don't know why Marcus is so overlooked. Even David's hands were dirtier than Marcus's.

Of course B-whatever ends when the show ends, instead of years before or not having been introduced at all. The story for B-whatever, and Papa Pope, are such messes. Of course the show had to end with a final terrible Papa Pope monologue. It was unrealistic that the committee didn't just laugh in his face, since it seems like his whole rant took place at the beginning of his testimony rather than after he'd testified as to specific things he'd done and presented evidence that he really was who he said he was. As was said upthread, he just sounded unhinged. I'm all for Black people speaking truth to white people about the many Black contributions to this country that have been hidden, minimized, or appropriated, but B-whatever is a spectacularly poor example for so many reasons. I'd rather have heard Marcus, or even Olivia, speak on the subject and use literally anything other than B-whatever.

When the gang were discussing early in the episode how their testimony would probably land them all in prison, I kept waiting for Huck to mention that he has immunity for all his past crimes. But of course the writers forgot about that storyline where he got immunity, or don't want us to remember how he killed that woman in order to get it (I don't remember the reasons now why he thought she'd jeopardize it). I have not forgotten. At least in one of the few good decisions made for this finale, although probably not made for the same reasons as why I think it's a good decision, the return of Huck the torturer was cut. The scene I wish had been kept in was the one where Mellie confronts Cyrus about killing David, for a few reasons. One, it's dramatically lacking that we never got a Mellie/Cyrus scene after she realized that he was out to take the presidency from her. Two, it would have allowed us to really see the effect of David's murder on Cyrus, which we were assured broke him, something that's hardly convincing given what little we were shown and in comparison to all Cyrus's many, many crimes that he never lost any sleep over. I'd have liked to see the murders of innocent people he orchestrated in order to launch Frankie Vargas's bid for presidency come out. Aside from David and Marcus, these are basically all terrible people who have done terrible things, and before realizing there's no way it would happen, I was briefly thrilled at the possibility that just maybe all of them really would land in jail, but there are certain terrible things that stick in my craw more than others, and that's one of them.

Which is how I could smile at Quinn and Charlie's wedding, about the only thing in this episode I did like. I'm under no illusions they're not among the worst of the bunch, being gleeful, unrepentant torturers and murderers, but they happen not to be responsible for any of the specific things that most bothered me over the course of this show, and I've always liked their chemistry.

And I'm thrilled I'll never have to sit through another Fitz/Olivia scene. I thought when he chose sex over real time with her that pretty much encapsulated it. They were never able to make things work as a couple before and they won't be able to now, either. They have nothing outside of sex, and there's only so long that you can avoid dealing with each other in any way other than sex.

I wonder if this finale has come too late for Dear White People to satirize in S2. I adored their S1 mockery. I wonder how Shonda feels about it, heh.

[TigerLynx]

35 minutes ago, Black Knight said:

I don't know why Marcus is so overlooked. Even David's hands were dirtier than Marcus's.

I would have loved to see Marcus and David get fed up with all these idiots, and legally bring them down.  All of them testifying before a closed congress session, having Eli/Rowan lecture congress, Jake taking the fall for everything, even though aside from admitting they were all killers they didn't provide any evidence of anything whatsoever, and everyone else walk away while David was murdered, was such a total cop out.

[queenbee9b]

Ha season 6 lizard people.  I had stopped after 5 and then watched six this summer when I heard this would be the last season.  There was no point to that season and I still don’t get what those “lizard people” were doing/how they really thought that blowing up cities plan would work. 

[Guest]

5 hours ago, Black Knight said:

don't know why Marcus is so overlooked. Even David's hands were dirtier than Marcus's.

My theory is that the show overall was much less memorable by the time Marcus joined it so as a character he’s more forgettable. Whereas David has been there since episode 1, so he was around for the good seasons.

[misstwpherecool]

Disclosure-Show/series interloper here. Wanted to see how it all ends. Watched as much in syndication as first run.  Missed this entire season other than channel surfing minus this final epi. I watched last year but just was not drawn to this season.

There were interesting characters and potential without the body count. Rosen makes the entire series/survives his run as AG and he gets smothered by a pillow by a known criminal?  How Jake convinced or transformed Cyrus into a physical killer was one of the more fitting things/scenes. I was always amazed how fast everyone talked squeezing in as many words as possible-they definitely got their say. But I realized in a show about politics they were making speeches(just like real politicians do at every opportunity) Even personal arguments they would give speeches. Was that on purpose or simply trying make sure the audience knew where a character was coming from(minus the political commentary)?

Other than Jake who was basically a soldier there was little or no justice. Papa Pope gets off and Olivia winds up dinning with him after all those lectures and speeches?

Not sad to see this one go although there are enough surviving characters I guess we could see a revival or put them on other shows.

[wanderingstar]

From NPR: The 'Scandal' Finale: Last Shocks, Loose Ends And Lots of Lust

[Oblique Angle]

Quote

I still want them all dead.

Same.

Quote

There is no possible way any "Senate select committee" would consist solely of white males in this day and age.

It wasn't a select committee per se but the GOP Senate health care bill working group consisted of only of 13 male senators, most if not all of whom were likely White. This happened in 2017.

Ditto comments above, I can't believe they turned David into a suddenly overly trusting idiot and killed him off. And all Cyrus got was fired from his job? Say what now? (And the US AG can wander around all hours of the day and night with no Secret Service? I don't believe that but I don't dare google it because I'm not trying to get Guantanamoed over Scandal.) Given all the killings and other felonies they are were involved in, it seemed like a cop out to me to pin it all on Jake but whatever. And finally, Shonda just had to throw the Olitzers a bone, leaving the question of Vermont hanging but hopeful since Liv didn't end up in prison after all. Okay then, Shonda. Have cake, eat it too. Got it.

My fellow Scandal forum PTVers, our long national nightmare is over. It's been a pleasure watching the show with you and reading your witty and insightful observations.

Edited April 22, 2018 by Oblique Angle

[Free]

On ‎4‎/‎21‎/‎2018 at 12:11 AM, Gillian Rosh said:

For me, the focus on B613 was the death of anything interesting happening on this show. It became the go-to plot device/tension-builder. As soon as it was introduced into any story, my eyes immediately glazed over. 

Exactly, it was a pathetic plot device that they just blamed away all their problems for anything.

[helpmerhonda]

On 4/20/2018 at 6:19 PM, candle96 said:

Yeah, putting Michelle Obama and Olivia Pope in the same sentence, let alone linking the two as similar, should be a crime. The idea that Olivia is a role model for African American women is beyond ridiculous and insulting. I was fine with her having questionable ethics and being a bad ass, as it a television show. (and she stopped being a bad ass somewhere around season 3)  But let's not pretend I hope any young girl would actually emulate her. Shonda shoe-horning real life politics into all of this was a mistake, when it was established long ago that none of these were good people.

I wish I could like this a thousand times.

[Kaiju Ballet]

I think what I’m most angry about is how I came to love these characters in first few seasons, feel for why they did the horrible things they did, and then see them become unrecognizable (and unfathomable) vehicles for the off-the-rails writing. The past two seasons in particular, culminating in this half-assed watered down finale. You can almost hear Shonda congratulating herself every time the camera zoomed in on the earnest expressions of the two little black girls making their way through the National Portrait Gallery.

 

I feel betrayed.

 

The first few seasons promised me characters to root for as they had to navigate through the shark-infested waters of DC politics. What would the price be for success (or at the very least survival), what compromises would they have to make along the way? We saw seemingly weak people find their strength, broken people repaired and even privileged people make their way from underneath the weight of their past.

 

Mellie – the story of the political wife who was even smarter than her husband becoming President. But told every step of the way that she was a puppet. Her own inner circle didn’t take her seriously. The last time we see her is her fulfilling a promise Olivia had made. Message to me? Still Olivia's puppet.

 

Abby – Not gonna lie, I never really cared for her. But there was an interesting story in how she had been a battered woman finding her way, ultimately becoming Chief of Staff and letting that power get to her head, to realizing her strength lay in not being a wannabe-Olivia, but her own person. Message to me? You don't get a happy ending, except you don't go to jail and you DO get a job being the next Olicia's lackey.

 

Charlie – the only one who made out well. From scary BS-whatever free agent to a guy who will sacrifice everything for love and his child. Plus, he provided comic relief in a plausible way and the wedding scene was a bright spot. Kudos to the actor.

 

Quinn – Never really liked her, sorry Quinn fans, but wow did they bungle her story. I did appreciate the arc from how she was an Olivia rescue to being entrusted with running OPA but her character was totally assassinated this final season. I get how overhearing that your friend’s seemingly ok with your death would piss a regular person off, but she’s a trained BS-whatever and trained in OP stone-cold strategic thinking. From that point on, she started making decisions based on emotions – not choosing to do things just because OP suggested it, and kneejerk reacting to everything OP-related. That was a real betrayal of the leadership ability that she had developed. What a huge regression. At least they gave her a nice acknowledgment of what she was giving up (being there for Robin) by doing the right thing. And the insensitivity to Abby’s loss as pointed upthread was a character consistency and part of the reason I never liked her. Points for that I guess?

 

Huck – I was ok with him, the homeless guy that OP rescued. That was the beautiful thing about the first seasons—OP’s rescues and why they’re so loyal to her--but this character this last season was absolutely inexplicable. I was always ok with his very simplistic way of speaking and seeing the world (he was broken in Papa Pope’s conditioning) and it worked to make him a Frankenstein-like character. But this last season he seemed developmentally challenged, with his childlike insistence that Olivia be “good’ or however he phrased it. It just didn’t feel organic, more of a plot contrivance as to why certain problems couldn’t have been dealt with before they became problems, as they had been in the past.

 

Jake – This character has see-sawed all over the place the last few seasons, and just these last few episodes alone are ridonk. It’s as much a fault of the BS-whatever storyline (I agree, it ruined the series) as it is that the character is really there for whatever plot contrivance is necessary. Love triangle? Check. BS-whatever FOR Olivia? Check. BS-whatever AGAINST Olivia? Check. Boy-toy? Check. I can buy him “suddenly” realizing that he’s got all this power as BS-whatever, but wouldn’t his first move be to off Papa Pope, who now reveals that HE’S got all the power, except for random other organizations that pop up out of nowhere? Especially since its Papa Pope’s magical testimony that brings down the entire plan and organization.

 

Oh, and thanks to that last histrionic overacted speechifying, we now have the definitive answer to why he’s Eli AND Rowan, four seasons after I stopped caring.

 

In addition to Papa Pope’s speechifying which I have cringed through for however long he’s been doing it, I also won’t miss Olivia’s odd strut. Is it supposed to be a runway walk? I noticed that Annelise has it too in HTGAWM, so is it a Shonda thing? I don’t mind the series ending with Olivia and Fitz back together (because that’s been telegraphed since the premiere).  But I really doubt the writers intended my response to the reveal of Olivia’s portrait to be: WTF? What an insult to Michelle Obama.

Edited April 22, 2018 by Kaiju Ballet
Indignation messes up my grammar

[jschoolgirl]

At least Kerry Washington's upper lip will get a rest for a while.

[Lusterleaf]

The finale was terrible. All of these people confessed to crimes yet Jake was the only one that went to jail. And Cyrus pretty much got away with everything. Poor David. He was really the only "good" character left on the show.

[Jessa]

I haven’t really been enjoying this season and I had let about 6 episodes pile up on my pvr. I was trying to decide if I should catch up, but I think I won’t bother.

[Ohwell]

On 4/22/2018 at 5:02 PM, Kaiju Ballet said:

In addition to Papa Pope’s speechifying which I have cringed through for however long he’s been doing it, I also won’t miss Olivia’s odd strut. Is it supposed to be a runway walk? I noticed that Annelise has it too in HTGAWM, so is it a Shonda thing?

I know it's supposed to be their "power strut" but they both look like their feet hurt in those too-high heels they wear.  (I've done that walk myself until I had the sense to get more comfortable shoes, lol.)

[jschoolgirl]

20 hours ago, Jessa said:

I haven’t really been enjoying this season and I had let about 6 episodes pile up on my pvr. I was trying to decide if I should catch up, but I think I won’t bother.

I wouldn't. All of that shouting and overacting and strutting and that flapping upper lip?

Go out and get some fresh air instead!

[candle96]

On 4/22/2018 at 4:02 PM, Kaiju Ballet said:

II also won’t miss Olivia’s odd strut. Is it supposed to be a runway walk? I noticed that Annelise has it too in HTGAWM, so is it a Shonda thing? 

I mean, honestly, it's like they're wearing shoes that are 2 different heights.

[Neurochick]

This show was good until B613 appeared.  What was the point of it anyway?

Papa Pope's speech cracked me up, because what he was saying was, "I run things in the USA, you all only THINK you do."  But, he also knew the committee would never arrest HIM for being the leader of B613, because it would be just "too shocking" for America to believe that a black man could actually run the USA, so Papa Pope gave him a white man, someone they could, and America could, accept.

It's funny and sad given the state of race in the USA today, with too many white people not seemingly wanting black people to exist in public spaces (Starbucks, Yale, a park in California and a vintage store in Brooklyn, are just the latest).

[ursula]

Well I loved the ending, and the possible glimpse of future President Olivia Pope. ?