Scandal - General Discussion

[Aethera]

This topic replaces the old Scandal forum which has been vaulted at the location below:

http://forums.previously.tv/forum/58-scandal-v/

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Kerry Washington at the Emmys:

[ShellsandCheese]

I had quit watching after the season five mid season finale. I finally did a full rewatch and finished the end of five, along with six and seven. Watching it all in such a brief period of time pissed me off. Why? Because this show was good until it got hijacked by the love triangle no one wanted and the top secret government spy agency that no one wanted, lol. 

This show should and could have been a lot better than it was, and that's the saddest thing of all. I really wish that Olivia that had left both Fitz and Jake alone. She should have been done with Jake after he choked her ass or better yet after she found out he was spying on her for both her father and the President - and had camera's in her apartment!! Like, seriously? WTF!!!

And she should have been done with Fitz after he proved himself to be emotionally abusive. Also, I'm all for a female President but on what planet was Mellie even remotely qualified to be President? Lawd. As if being being the wife of a President, and what Senator for two years makes one qualified to be President.

Also, I know that people praise Shonda's casting choices. But as a black woman it totally left a bad taste in my mouth to have what was supposed to be this amazing wonderful Black female character in two very destructive and dysfunctional relationships with abusive white men. Ugh. (Although, I will admit that Kerry Washington and Tony Goldwyn's chemistry was out of this world, especially in earlier seasons)

[Guest]

I completely agree. When I saw it was leaving Netflix, I decided to try to watch it all again. The first two seasons were as awesome as I remembered. The third season was okay. And I'm getting mad remembering how it progresses from there. The way B-613 overshadowed everything else was ridiculous. It went from a secret government agency to an unsanctioned government agency. It went from 7 spies to being unstoppable and in control of everything. It made previous plots not make sense.  In season 3, it was alluded to that Rowan was not the first command. Then suddenly it was his brainchild. Then the high ranking senator knew about it. Then no one knew about it and Jake went to jail for it.

And I know Shonda said she made Mellie president as a response to real life events, but it was just such a stupid plot. They totally rewrote Mellie's character halfway through the show.

 

[ShellsandCheese]

4 hours ago, deaja said:

I completely agree. When I saw it was leaving Netflix, I decided to try to watch it all again. The first two seasons were as awesome as I remembered. The third season was okay. And I'm getting mad remembering how it progresses from there. The way B-613 overshadowed everything else was ridiculous. It went from a secret government agency to an unsanctioned government agency. It went from 7 spies to being unstoppable and in control of everything. It made previous plots not make sense.  In season 3, it was alluded to that Rowan was not the first command. Then suddenly it was his brainchild. Then the high ranking senator knew about it. Then no one knew about it and Jake went to jail for it.

And I know Shonda said she made Mellie president as a response to real life events, but it was just such a stupid plot. They totally rewrote Mellie's character halfway through the show.

 

Yes! If the show had stuck with cases of the week, with the occasional Presidential scandal. It would have been a lot better. And agreed, there was so much retconning when it came to Mellie's character. Also, just a heads up, it's moving to Hulu starting May 20th 🙂

[Guest]

I need to get Hulu but I'm trying to resist a 4th streaming service right now. 🙂

[LeGrandElephant]

Watching the pilot. I just keep thinking this is such an unhealthy workplace dynamic! Don’t take a job with so many warning signs, new girl. 

[Guest]

On 5/28/2020 at 10:09 PM, LeGrandElephant said:

Watching the pilot. I just keep thinking this is such an unhealthy workplace dynamic! Don’t take a job with so many warning signs, new girl. 

Looking back at where her story went, she really didn't think it was strange that she was being recruited to join the firm when she was using a fake name and identity and everything?

[ElectricBoogaloo]

According to this announcement, PBS will be airing Present Laughter (2017) with Kevin Kline, Kate Burton, Kristine Nielsen, and Cobie Smulders on 7/31.

[l star]

I'm re-watching this series. I'm most of the way through Season 2 and three things really stand out. One, how little Fitz wanted to be president to be so betrayed that they lied to him about it. The entitlement he feels about everything is mind-blowing. Two, how many chances Olivia and Fitz had that they went back on just to continue with the affair. They were really incredibly selfish with how they handled it. Three, how toxic Mellie and Fitz were. He hates her, then he's being cute with her. He's begging her to be on his side, then he's a drunk asshole screaming at her. I don't know how anyone could watch him in his marriage and think he'd be a good romantic partner for someone else. Much less father to all those new babies they planned on in Vermont. That's not even counting in how awful he was to Olivia over the years.

On 5/12/2020 at 9:50 PM, ShellsandCheese said:

I had quit watching after the season five mid season finale. I finally did a full rewatch and finished the end of five, along with six and seven. Watching it all in such a brief period of time pissed me off. Why? Because this show was good until it got hijacked by the love triangle no one wanted and the top secret government spy agency that no one wanted, lol. 

B-613 really ruined this show for me. It ruined Huck and Quinn. The presence of her father destroyed Olivia. It took over until no storyline on the show could build without this lurking presence waiting to take over. Plus it just got to be so stupid. The love triangle was really secondary to me because I started hating Fitz so early on. The way he treated Mellie and Olivia was just appalling. They went too far at times with Jake too. It was hard to really invest in a love triangle when Olivia just kept running back to Fitz for more abuse. 

On 5/13/2020 at 10:49 AM, deaja said:

And I know Shonda said she made Mellie president as a response to real life events, but it was just such a stupid plot. They totally rewrote Mellie's character halfway through the show.

I disagree. Mellie obviously changed from the first season but her political ambitions were clear by season 2. Same for her complicated relationship with Olivia and her cold-bloodedness. I think the biggest thing with Mellie is that she was never supposed to be one of the main characters like she became. It's hard to grow a character's presence that much without showing the obvious change in direction.

Also, though I seriously doubt it was even a thought at that point, they did a good job laying the groundwork for Mellie's rape reveal with her reaction to Fitz getting aggressive in the shower in Whiskey Tango Foxtrot. She couldn't even respond to him trying to kiss her after he grabbed her she was so put off.

[ShellsandCheese]

On 2/10/2021 at 9:15 PM, l star said:

I disagree. Mellie obviously changed from the first season but her political ambitions were clear by season 2. Same for her complicated relationship with Olivia and her cold-bloodedness. I think the biggest thing with Mellie is that she was never supposed to be one of the main characters like she became. It's hard to grow a character's presence that much without showing the obvious change in direction.

Also, though I seriously doubt it was even a thought at that point, they did a good job laying the groundwork for Mellie's rape reveal with her reaction to Fitz getting aggressive in the shower in Whiskey Tango Foxtrot. She couldn't even respond to him trying to kiss her after he grabbed her she was so put off.

In Fitz's defense, he grabbed Mellie to stop her from trying to give him a blow job he didn't want. She was the aggressor and the one who wouldn't take no for an answer until Fitz grabbed her and yelled at her to stop. That aside, while her political ambitions may have been clear - the show did a piss-poor job actually showing the audience any of her accomplishments or laying the groundwork for her to have a successful Presidential run.

To me, Mellie ending up President felt very unearned and very much another case of someone having an immense sense of entitlement. For all the talk about Fitz's sense of entitlement, Mellie was his feminine counterpart - a spoiled whiny brat with a lot of privilege. She felt entitled to be President, or rather, in her mind she earned it because she graduated top of her class in law school and sacrificed a promising career to be a stay at home and politician's wife? Her sense of entitlement was just as bad, if not worse than Fitz's. 

Edited July 16, 2021 by ShellsandCheese

[Guest]

On 7/15/2021 at 10:14 PM, ShellsandCheese said:

To me, Mellie ending up President felt very unearned and very much another case of someone having an immense sense of entitlement. For all the talk about Fitz's sense of entitlement, Mellie was his feminine counterpart - a spoiled whiny brat with a lot of privilege. She felt entitled to be President, or rather, in her mind she earned it because she graduated top of her class in law school and sacrificed a promising career to be a stay at home and politician's wife? Her sense of entitlement was just as bad, if not worse than Fitz's. 

Agreed. It was 10 times worse than his. She had no real qualifications or experience.  She was senator for 5 minutes or so?

[Chaos Theory]

Rewatching show because I am bored and need something on my tv while I work.    I am still on season 2 but the show is actually pretty decent except for the dumb boring Futz/Olivia stuff.  I mean Fitz is the definition of boring white dude.  Everyone else during the first two seasons is at least interesting except for the President of The United States who is supposed to be the love of Olivia’s life.   Hey maybe her kink is milktoast white guys.   Not kink shaming.  
 

My favorite to characters are Mellie and Quinn.   Good downward spirals are entertaining and Quinn going from innocent pawn to something actually dangerous is at least fascinating to watch.  Mellie trying to protect her marriage when she knows her husband doesn’t love her but neither of them can leave is  perfectly tragic.    I remember this show going off the rails pretty hard but it was actually pretty entertaining until it did.