ABC's Scandal hasn't missed a beat yet in 2015, and last night's episode kept the quality, intensity, and storytelling at a very high level. It didn't eclipse last week's effort, but it had its own game-changing moments.
Titled "Gladiators Don’t Run", the episode was written by Paul Williams Davies and directed by Randy Zisk. It's Davies' first time with the pen in hand for an episode of Scandal, but he didn't disappoint, It's Zisk's sixth episode in charge - and third this season. He also directed last week's installment.
The hour, rather surprisingly, began with Abbey. We saw her waiting outside for Olivia to enter White House property, but unsurprisingly she was a no-show. A visit to her apartment where she noticed the felled wine glass puts her on course for the OPA office, where Quinn speaks the first words of the episode, just over a minute after it began. I'd venture that this episode holds the record for the quietest opening minute in Scandal's history.
Records aside, it was the beginning of a top notch performance by Darby Stanchfield. Katie Lowes and Guillermo Diaz also brought their A-game, as their characters bounced Abby right back out the door, having decided against revealing any of their intelligence to people associated with the White House.
They were right to hold their cards close to their chest. The next scene was in the very building the pair were trying to keep their distance from, as Fitz signed some documents ordering the dismissal of the Secret Service and the removal of his second in command, Andrew, from the vice presidency. It was there Fitz also decided to enter the darknet auction to #SaveOlivia.
Fitz wasted no time in bringing in one of his most trusted allies - Jake Ballard. He won the title for the worst dressed person in the White House as he told Fitz of his belief that Olivia was the instigator of her own auction.
However the duo had no idea what was really happening in Olivia's world. A disgruntled second in command, Gus, blew head honcho Ian's brains out and took over proceedings, and Olivia later tried to turn the tables once more, as she had a few quiet words with the nerds hired by Ian to run the auction.
The two teams of good guys, the White House and the members of OPA, quickly merged into one with Jake serving as the go-between. In order to get into the darkest of the darknet, they needed a well known player serve as their proxy. Cue the reintroduction of Maya Pope, whose screen time was thankfully lean, which ensured she'd stay out of trouble. David Rosen ensured that would be the case, granting basic cable access in her cell but no elevation of privileges. This enabled Huck to throw down some B613 billions in an attempt to win the auction for Olivia.
While this was going down, some of my favorite moments from the hour came from Jeff Perry as Cyrus. As the character continues to climb out of the rut in which he got well and truly wedged in late 2014. He kept nudging Elizabeth North down that very slippery slope with lots of sharp things at the bottom as he leveraged her misgivings with Andrew. There is something very satisfying about watching Elizabeth lose her grip - the faster the better in my book, but there's nothing wrong with dragging it out for entertainment value.
While I found Huck's return to a very dark place quite interesting, my favorite character in this episode was, without a doubt, Mellie. Last week's episode left me secretly wondering whether her remarkably open and upbeat approach to Olivia's return was a temporary measure of sorts, in this episode things were much more deeply explored. Case in point was my favorite scene of the hour, where Fitz and Mellie looked as close a couple as they've ever looked, cuddling together on the White House balcony. "We sleep better when she's lying between us" was a daring quip, and Fitz was as confused as I was upon hearing it.
That was good, but this scene got better. Mellie went on to share her thoughts on how she believed the country can forgive a man a hundred infidelities but would not forgive a woman even one, in reference to her brief fling with Andrew, who had earlier blackmailed her on the subject. I'm not from the land of the free so I'll leave that for those who are to debate, but it was her next question to Fitz that made this scene one of the series' best to date, and one that will no doubt change the course of the series once more.
"What do you want - really want - more than anything in the world?" she asked her husband. "Jerry. Alive again" was his answer. This answer caught Mellie by surprise, so she rephrased the question, this time limiting the options to those with an actual possibility of happening. This time she got the answer she was expecting when Fitz responded "Liv". Mellie was, amazingly, contempt with not being second on Fitz's list of wants, but she wasn't deterred, and asked her husband to ask her that exact same question.
Her answer was truly surprising:
There was one other scene that was an absolute gem in this hour, and it came inside the final 5 minutes. Fitz and Cyrus were in the Oval Office, and Fitz revealed that there were 43 fallen soldiers due in Dover that day. He went further to reveal that Mellie meets every plane. His following words were among the finest lines you'll ever see on television:
There are soldiers who are never coming home because I tried to get her back. Someone's father, someone's husband. I have killed so many mother's sons trying to get her back.
The flags placed on the coffins where they lay are there because they had the courage to give their lives and I did not have the courage to give Liv's.
So she has to come back because their sacrifice (didn't want us to mean something (illegible)). They cannot have gone to their deaths for no other reason than I asked them to."
Thanks for reading! Stand by for next Thursday night as the winner of Olivia's auction is revealed. Check out the promo here and press release here. As always I'd love to hear what you thought of the episode in the comments below - if someone knows what the illegible words Fitz said in the quote above, please let me know! Don't forget to check out Scandal's ratings on my TV ratings website, www.seriesmonitor.com/scandal.
