Foolish and Dangerous Games

Before the regular episode, Madam Shonda had the ABC network preempt the anchor show of TGIT, “Grey’s Anatomy.” She gave gladiators one of their favorite episodes, “The Trail.” Why was this done? Shonda wanted to un do the damage that had ruined the show and lead her viewers back . The best moments of Olitz came from that episode. Fitz and Olivia meet , she tells him that he needs to screw his wife, and then the two realize that it isn’t just a cheap affair, but a budding romance. Between the beginning of Olitz, we see the dead body of Amanda Tanner as David Rosen and his assistant trying to solve the so called suicide, Quinn is involved with the reporter trying to find out about Amanda Tanner. , and by taking a trip back in time, we get to see the late Harrison Wright and the late James Novack. But the main focus is the start of this romance and how passionate these two people were.  Six seasons we have watched the POTUS and the Fixer have as many ups and downs as Ross and Rachel. And yes, when Fitz and Liv were on a break, Fitz slept with a lot of women.  “The Trail” was also the end of the first season when we learned about Quinn and also the first time that Fitz offered to give up the White House. Liv let her fears get the best of her and so she and Mellie hatched up the idea to say that the woman on the tape was her. Best line from that episode, “I know how to fake it with my wife, you taught me well.”

Fitz and Olivia meet for the first time. She confronts him about his dead marriage and how it needs to be resurrected. This relationship is the heart and soul of “Scandal” and the favorite of both Tony and Kerry.

Flash forward to tonight,  David finally gets some courtesy of his new girlfriend, “Samantha”. I wonder how Jeff Perry felt about his daughter rolling around with him. Zoe Perry has officially made the transition to evil villain. Taking evil cues from her mother in “Scream 2” and her father on “Scandal.” , she makes a delicious evil bitch who makes Poppa Pope look like a choir boy.  The big news is that Cyrus has been cleared of all charges. With everything that happened, Olivia wants Mellie to concede. Cyrus is now being told that he will become POTUS.  Abby takes him to a hotel room and he only asks one thing, to see his daughter. Michael doesn’t think he is worthy. Olivia goes to see him and he throws her out for not believing in him. Olivia knows to bring in the big guns and Fitz convinces him to take the Oval. But things are also beginning to unravel, while David celebrates his coitus with the mystery woman, Jake tells him to get out or he will get killed by his new lover. Mellie is not ready to give up yet either, Lizzie Bear tells her not to make the speech. Liv gets condolences because Fitz says that she did deserve this.

It is obvious that these two are still very much in love. He always wants his woman to win. He knew how important it was for Mellie to be President.

But one thing is for sure, you don’t mess around with Olivia Pope. Angela was given her walking papers tonight. First of all, she was asking her boyfriend about his ex girlfriend’s visits to the White House. First of all, you don’t question Fitz about Olivia and Angela didn’t know that. Angela wanted to start problems and it was obvious she was gunning for Olivia. That was just enough for Fitz to say Bye Bye Felicia. But Rowan informs Olivia that if Cyrus becomes President, they both are dead.

Despite feeling he is not worthy, Cyrus(Jeff Perry)  tells the press at the Lincoln Memorial that he will be sworn in as President , for the memory of Frankie Vargas. Fitz(Tony Goldwyn)  is at his side since he convinced him to clean up.

Mellie is terrified. She wants the Presidency but not at what it costs. After all, her ex won by fixing and deceit. Lizzie is behind her one hundred per cent. But then, Peus shows up and inform the Senator that she will win the White House. She says she doesn’t want it and then she is informed that it is too late. They also inform her that they will be running the show.  It is sad but the “Mystery Lady” picks up a golf club and murders Lizzie right before her eyes. That isn’t all, she informs Mellie that if she goes anywhere to tell about the murder,they will kill Teddy and Karen. When Olivia found out, she sent Jake to take care of Mellie. He is ready to take over as Veep.

 Hasn’t Mellie ( Bellamy Young )been through enough in pursuit of the White House?

There is no doubt who is the MVG for this episode is the soon to be ex President , Fitz. He has been taking fixer lessons from Livvy. In a short time, he convinces Cyrus to clean himself up, take care of the Bad Guys, and get the girl in the end. He also sends the FBI whore Angela packing when she announces her plans to have Olivia arrested for her part in the Vargas set up. Olivia  couldnt be more overjoyed because this will take care of Mellie not getting in the White House. Fitz tells her that he is afraid of losing her forever. She informs him he has. By reassigning Angela, he has Rowan arrested and Liv is livid. He has him arrested in his custody. Together , they will bring down Peus. But before that, Olivia and him do something

Olivia and Fitz finally kiss (Kerry Washington and Tony Goldwyn)

A Twisty , Crazy Kind of Story

Shonda is a fucking genius. While we have been cursing her out for wrecking “Scandal”, she has managed to turn her entire show  back to where it should be. That’s the great thing about this show and Ms Rhimes, you can’t predict what’s going to happen. An examination of concscience , makes Olivia think about where she and Fitz are. But there is a lot of goodies before the two meet in a very familiar place.

Lately, Shonda and Olivia have been talking a lot of about history .  In the past two shows, there have been a ton of references to the past. Huck’s shooting  has made Olivia examine how far they have had to go for Fitz. The last time she made this kind of examination was when Rowan had Tom kill Jerry Jr. She and Cyrus sat and talked about becoming monsters. Olivia has gone through a lot in one hundred shows. She has fallen in love, become the world’s best fixer, worked in the White House, been kidnapped, had the men she love suffer for their relationships, reconcile with her absentee father and mother,  live with the leader of the free world, dump him, and murder the Vice President.  The 100th episode causes gladiators to remember the best and worst of this Capitol romance. That is what has made it different than other political dramas, in its purest form its a romance between a Washington fixer and her love affair with the President of the United States. But not just that, it is also has political intrigue and “Scandal”, the title isn’t too far from the truth.

But that’s another post…Jake, Fitz and Olivia are in the WH and they are trying to make sense of everything that has happened with Vargas. Olivia is glad her friend is going to be alright , but wonders how far she has gone for politics and fixing elections and murder. Did any of them sign up for this ? But then Olivia and Jake , think back to Defiance and the act that changed everyone lives.

“Scandal’s 100 is a twisted  version of  “It’s A Wonderful Life” . Instead of the I had never been born scenario, we have a if I never fixed the election scenario. Olivia goes back in her mind to the Grant jet and the vote. This time she says no…..she can’t fix the election. And as predicted, Fitz Grant never wins and becomes a normal citizen. A lot of the story is predictable…Fitz proposes to Olivia and they get married in a grand wedding. He has divorced Mellie and you would think they would live happily ever. Things change for a lot of the people. The winner for best comeback from the past has to go to “24 Legacy’s ” Dan Bucatinsky . Dan brought back the charm and sweetness that he won the Emmy  for his portrayal of the love of Cyrus’s life. We all know that Cyrus doesn’t love Michael, this proves that he was indeed meant to be with Mr. Novak. But in this episode, he is not paired with James. He has a much more dangerous partner in mind. The two are invited to the Pope – Grant nuptials, but they can’t sit together. James is disgusted by the way Cyrus treats him.

So Cyrus thinks of his political future , both Grants are married following the divorce.

Mellie enters into another political marriage … Mrs Cyrus Beene.. two political monsters

And the other Grant marries for love…Governor and Mrs Fitzgerald Grant the Third…yes it happens in this universe.

The wedding is the social event of the season. Olivia ‘s gown is Anne Barge .   All of the gladiators are there . Huck gives her away since we all know that Rowan wouldn’t be welcome. (Well she never gets to know him in this universe) Abby is her maid of honor . Lindsay Dwyer is a reality star. (Quinn never came to be) There also might be a glance of Columbus Short in the audience. Yet with such brilliant imaginations, some characters were MIA from the episode. Where were the Grant children? Shouldn’t they have wanted to meet their stepmother? And Stephen should have been there as well. After all, he was the one to come back to rescue Liv.  Verna was probably dead because she was secretly suffering from cancer. But one man did show up at the wedding and that was Rowan. He couldn’t stand to see his little girl marry this man. Huck takes his place next to Liv

Huck gives away Olivia to her groom… Fitz

Lindsay is looking for her prince on a reality show

But things have never been better for Olivia professionally , she is working with social justice advocate , Marcus White. Fitz is now a political analyst , the equivalent of Sally’s show “The Liberty Report. It comes on every day at three. THE GRANT REPORT

But this is all Fitz has. Olivia is making waves in Washington. She makes her way into the White House

Olivia does get into the White House.. with very different results.

But all Fitz can do is drink and be filled with regrets. He is jealous of his wife’s success and sickened by the fact that Mellie is running for President. He is this tv host that interviews reality stars.  He really hates the fact that he couldn’t even win the election.  Olivia tells him that she was the reason that he didn’t win was because she voted not to fix the election. He couldn’t have done it because he was mediocre and ineffectual.  The romance is dead and so is the Grants sex life. But Mellie goes ahead with her plans for the Oval and they include getting Novak as a reporter to help them. Cyrus is thrown by this development and tries to hide his relationship from his bride. But they try to get rid of Sally Langston by outing Daniel as a gay man. Mellie realizes that her hubby is gay and she can’t out another man and wreck a marriage. Her own marriage is no more than a lie. The man who gets the photos of Daniel is none other than Rowan. He and Cyrus are working together.  Fitz is questioning his and Olivia ‘s relationship and accuses her of having an affair with Marcus. He never sees her and so he drinks and then considers having an affair with Lindsay in his dressing room. But then he sees things all so clear. Olivia considers divorcing Fitz until she gets a visit from Mellie. She tells her she realizes that she made the right decision. She couldn’t have been First Lady if she knew that Fitz didn’t actually win.  Fitz realizes that he is lucky to have Liv and tells her that. Liv makes the final move as they meet and she hands him an envelope . With the way she talks with Abby, we assume the envelope has divorce papers. Instead , there is a deed for a house in Georgetown . She realizes that they are worth fighting for , courtesy of Mellie.

But then we return to the present day,  Olivia has had time to think about her and Fitz and the present day situation. He wants to declare Cyrus innocent and also give him the Presidency as his successor. She just wants to end it, Cyrus will be happy, they can finally be happy, but one person won’t be happy

Where Is Huck?

As we come closer to the one hundredth, Shonda is beginning to hit her stride again. We are seeing  the elements of what made “Scandal” great. Anytime a gladiator is in trouble, the team rallies again and this is what we saw when Huck (Guillermo Diaz) was taken away by yet another of his psycho girlfriends. (Hey Huck, don’t you know how to find women that don’t know how to kill and mutilate?) The man has a problem.

There was a lot of symbolism and history in this episode. References were made all over the place to the rich history of the show. Face it, Shonda isn’t that original. She uses names and plot devices more than once in her shows. Putting Meredith Grey on a plane plunging to the earth is not a unique idea. Neither is allowing Ben (Peter Crause) on “The Catch” to build a house for him and Alice. In fact , it is the third time this plot device was used and by the romantic male lead of one of her shows. First, Derek had planned to build their dream house by a lake , then Fitz sprung the house in Vermont on Olivia. (To this day, he has not sold it and has the hope that she will be with him eventually) Huck and the body of Jennifer were taken by Meg to a quarry outside Washington. This quarry looked vaintly familiar, it was the same place where Olivia was traded by her captors and rescued by Stephen.  Into the water they went, to their water deaths. Ho hum, didn’t Beckett and Castle also sink or swim when they were forced into the ocean? It’s a good thing that Fillion is a certified scuba diver. But Huck, knew he had to stay calm or he would die. Once again his killer training comes to his rescue. It is ironic that the villain of the show, Rowan is egging him on and trying to save his life at the same time. He is also trying to save the other gladiators as well. Olivia returns to her familiar white trench coat of Season One . The color metamorphosis of Season Five is a memory. OPA is on the case of trying to find their own. The team hasn’t acted together since the kidnapping of Season Four.  Even Abby is reunited with the team.

But unfortunately, Abby is filled with remorse. She didn’t realize that by making her deal that they would hurt Huck. Abby has been put in precarious situation. She is caught between her loyalty for OPA and the White House. By trading Fields for Cyrus, she has sealed Huck’s fate. Realistically, she has made a deal with the devil and can’t cope with her decision. She knows how Olivia feels about Huck and also how she feels about Huck. With her guilt, she walks down to the Oval and spills her heart to Fitz. She sadly says how she needs a friend now, because she knows how Liv is going to take this news. With Fitz dating Angela, Liv feels alone as well. She turns to her newest gladiator as the rest of the team works to find their friend. Marcus can’t understand why no one wants to involve him in this case. After all, his life is so much better since Liv came into his life and he became a gladiator.

The gladiators work better as a team, and when I say the team, I mean everyone. Key players like Jeff Perry and Bellamy Young were given vacations as others have been in past episodes. Rhimes also has taken chances with this plot device used on “How to Get Away With the Murder.” Perhaps this device was used to take the pressure off of Washington who was pregnant with her son and also to allow Goldwyn to go on the Trail last summer.  Fans were not happy with these developments, especially involving Fitz with a new woman. Face it, the heart and soul of this series is the runaway romance between Pope and the President. After five seasons,  the “First” couple finally got a divorce so Mellie moved ahead on her road to the White House.  History played a big part in last night’s episode when phrases like “Over a cliff” and Olivia threatening Abby with a chair flashes back to the last time Liv went off in a PTSD fit when she took care of Andrew.

Another part of gladiator history was when Quinn took Charlie and confronted the psycho bitch, Meg . When she opened the door, Quinn stuck a gun to her head and said where is he? Quinn has a serious connection with Huck since he was the one who taught her all about torture and killing. She is a good student and uses his technique to torture her. This makes her mad when Meg laughs and says this is why he loved me more than you and then spits in her face. Men like to torment women on this show, whether it is how Andrew tormented Liv to kill him or how Fits sexually tormented Liv with the dirtiest phone call ever on television. Quinn ain’t havin it , so she kills her. This doesn’t do any good, now they have no leads for Huck.

Jake to the rescue when he remembers there is a tracking gps on Jennifer . He and Liv set out to find an almost drowned Huck. Once again, Huck is tormented by the “evil Huck”. The other “Huck” was seeing his past and the life with his son and how he was robbed of so much. One of the most intense moments of his life was when he finally got to see his son in that train station at 7:52 in the morning. This is a significant moment in Huck’s past. Guillermo Diaz shines brilliantly in this episode as well as the old Quinn played psychotically by Katie Lowes.

Every series has this moment. One of the family is in surgery and every one is gathered around waiting for the news.  Olivia indeed has a family, and they are all gathered together for their friend. But then, the moment every gladiator has waited for arrives with his army of Secret Service people. Olivia’s hero and prince, Fitzgerald Grant. (Tony Goldwyn) He arrives as the voice of reason and preaches the gospel of forgiveness. He forgave Liv for Defiance , she forgave him for his sins, and now she had to forgive Abby.  The tears well up as Abby holds Liv’s hand as they wait for Huck. This is not the first time that Liv had to wait for someone to wake up , once again shades of Fitz’s assassination attempt crossed fans minds. The show ends as Charlie stands with a broken heart, Huckleberry Quinn returns once again.

There is much debate on who should be this week’s MVG. I think the person that saved the day was Fitz. He knows that Abby and Liv have a lot of history and there have been times that Abby has gone to bat for her friend.  He also knows that despite the wars and arguments, these two have each other’s backs. Olivia thought so much of Abby it was the reason that she introduced her to the White House during the second election . She had faith in her . Abby’s problem is that she wanted to be Olivia , in that case, she lost Abby along the way. Fitz was the voice of reason when he could see how much Abby was hurting. Goldwyn’s presence has been missed for quite a while and we are glad to see that he is indeed back. One of the central plots of the show and what made “Scandal” so great was the relationship of Olitz. Perhaps this is just the beginning.

Samantha (Zoey Perry) informs Abby she is tired and bored with her. What is her next evil plan when she learns that Huck is alive?

 

No matter what terrible things these two have done to each other, they always end up together? This is the heart and soul of “Scandal.” For 99 shows, Kerry Washington and Tony Goldwyn have kept viewers cheering for this couple. In the 100th show, what happened if Olivia said no to Defiance?

After she was preached about forgiveness by Fitz, Olivia forgave Abby ( Darby Stanchfield ) as they waited for their family member, Huck to be alright.

 

Huck(Guillermo Diaz) looks like he is going to be alright. But what is this going to do to Charlie and Quinn? (Katie Lowes)