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Scandal 5×22 “Any Questions?” Review: No More Good Guys? And A Lot More Questions!

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I really didn’t know what to say about this week’s Scandal, because there was so much to process.  I don’t know how I’m going to handle the finale, since this one was so intense.  There are parts of it I loved, parts that made me sad, and parts that were like, “what the hell was that!?  You would think after nearly two seasons of this show I’d be used to it.  Nope.  I still get blindsided.  I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one.   More than what actually happened though, what’s the message behind it all?

Scandal Any Questions

Huck (Guillermo Díaz) and Quinn (Katie Lowes) look as devastated as we all must have felt when we realized that the Mole had the Cytron chip. Now, I know one isn’t supposed to destroy evidence, but…why did they not just smash the damn thing to bits and be done with it? Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington) and associated have destroyed evidence before, so why… Yeah, alright, this is one of those horror movie moments.  You know, when the girl hears the scary sound and decides to go investigate?  If she doesn’t then there’s no story – even though it’s clear  that no one in there right mind would be heading down that hall.

This isn’t the first thing that happens of course.  The first thing is seeing Cyrus Beene (Jeff Perry) at a press conference fending off reporters questions about the infidelity accusations from First Lady Mellie  (Bellemy Young) – including questions from his husband James (Dan Bucatinsky).   Cyrus is doing well, until a reporter asks him if he could at least tell the press where President Fitz Grant (Tony Goldwyn)  is.  Cyrus stumbles.  He has no idea…and then it dawns on him.  When it does, oh man, is he mad!  Seriously mad!


So yeah, Olivia wants to start doing her fixing thing – but Fitz doesn’t want her to. In fact, he tells her that if they are going to “survive this thing, together, then you are going to have to stand down.” She agrees to it – and she really does try…

After Cyrus has collected Fitz from Olivia’s bed to take him to the White House, Olivia goes back to her office where the gladiator gang, plus wanna-be David are sitting around the table.  They inform her about Charlie (George Newbern) and the laptop with the Defiance trial notes on it and surmise that whomever the mole is knows about the election being rigged.  In a total panic Olivia and everyone race into her office where she opens a safe and pulls out  a safe and a small box with the chip in it.  There’s a group sense of relief – except for David.  Abby (Darby Stanchfield)cops to being the one who took it, but David shrugs it off, telling her he made his choice and is “part of the team now.”

Meanwhile, Mellie has hired herself a fixer (John Barrowman) who reminds me vaguely of Tom Cruise in his younger, cuter days. Hmmm, an affair for Mellie…would make sense. I loved how he describes his job: “I am your priest, your shrink, your bedfellow, your best friend. All I require, is complete honesty.” With that job description a fixer’s clients must fall in love them all the time! Just the idea of Mellie falling for another fixer (well, as much as Mellie can fall for anyone) It’s the end of the season, but I bet we’ll be seeing more of  this fixer next fall…

Here’s a  question.  Is this guy really a fixer?  With Shonda Rimes all bets are off!  Especially since it seems that everyone is somehow connected to the chief of B613 (played by Joe Morton) – there’s Huck and  Charlie, plus Jake (Scott Foley) who doesn’t seem to know that Charlie was once a part of B613.  Then we have…Cyrus?

After reprimanding Jake for not telling him about Olivia and the President as soon as he knew, Chief B613 sends Jake Ballard (to retrieve the video of him with Olivia and to bring in Charlie.   Then, Chief B613 shows up to dress Cyrus down for not keeping Olivia and Fitz apart.  He wants Cyrus to use the tape of Olivia with Jake to do it.  Oh, then he tells Cyrus that Charlie used to be “one of his” and that he has to cut all contact with him.  Cyrus does, leaving Charlie out in the cold when Jake’s trying to hunt him down.  Chief B613 apparently has some control over Cyrus too.

Now, here’s another question.  What is the connection between Cyrus, Chief B613, and Olivia Pope – because there definitely is one.  In “A Woman Scorned”  Olivia almost let it slip how long she’s known Cyrus.  What’s clear is that Cyrus came into her life at a critical time.  This week Chief B613 shows up to deal with Cyrus knowing about Jake.  It starts off with Chief B613 telling Cyrus how lucky he is no one knows about the president’s mistress.  When Cyrus tries to deny Fitz has one, this is the conversation that ensues:

Chief B613

It’s Olivia Pope.  You’re surprised that I know about the President and Olivia Pope.

Cyrus

I suppose I’m surprised that you care

Chief B613

We care about everything that effects the Republic. You should have shut this down a long time ago.You have all the ammunition that you need.  You know about Jake Ballard, you know that he’s been sleeping with  Olivia.

Cyrus

We agreed that you would not have me surveil, damn it!

Excuse me?  Chief B613 called Ms. Olivia Pope, “Olivia” like he knows her – and Cyrus is talking about some agreement the two had about Olivia.  Then there’s the sarcasm Cyrus displays about The Chief caring?  What do we know about Olivia?  Well, for one, she relates the most to Huck, understands his darkness.  Cyrus is her best friend, which, if you think about it, is pretty odd.  I’m going to take a guess here and say The Chief is related to Olivia – possibly her father.  Talk about Dark Vader!

Fitz may have decided he’s giving up his Presidency for Olivia – but apparently no one else but Sally Langston (Kate Burton) wants it to happen.  B613 doesn’t want it, – describing it as “a danger to the Republic.  Cyrus will hear none of it.   If Fitz’s leaves office that’s the end of Cyrus’s legacy, and leaves the party to the ultra conservatives of the party who are, as he points out to Olivia, anti-gay and racist.  Throughout the episode they keep cutting back to Cyrus at press conferences handling the swarming reporters.  With his perception that fate of the country depends on Fitz staying in office, the man is under a lot of stress.  That’s the only explanation I’ve got for this outburst.

Cyrus isn’t wrong about Mellie setting this up to use James to get at Cyrus as well as Fitz. (Pretty spiteful – she’ll be paying for that later.) However, losing it with James plays right into Mellie’s hands.  He’s yelling at James for being “stupid” and “naive” for not realizing the setup – but if James is, then so is Cyrus.  He’s certainly angry at himself for not realizing it.  The thing is If Cyrus had really thought James wasn’t qualified for an on-air job, he would have realized something had to be up.   It didn’t occur to him that James wasn’t qualified.  As the saying goes, hind-eye is 20/20. Since Cyrus is many things – but stupid isn’t one of them – I’m putting this entire incident down to major stress.  What that’s going to mean for his marriage I don’t know.  They just got back together and now Cyrus has made James cry.

Olivia really does try to be hands off about the entire thing.  Even when Harrison (Columbus Short) confronts her about the fact that it won’t be too long before Mellie announces to the world that’s she’s the one the president’s been seeing.  The man is passionate about protecting Olivia…or maybe he’s just passionate about Olivia?  Beyond the fact that she kept Harrison out of jail,  we know the little about their connection.  It wouldn’t surprise me if it turns out that he’s her half-brother only he doesn’t know it and she does.  It’s a tad Star Wars, but the whole Leia and Luke dynamic – haughty worldly princess/warrior, and smitten farm boy who shows much promise for the future – does seem to fit.  Look at this shot of Olivia right after Harrison tells her that “He knows enough” about what’s  been going on with her and the president.

Scandal Harrison and Olivia insert

Kerry Washington manages to look angry,  amused, sad, and grateful – all at the same time. So help me, if she is not at least nominated for an Emmy it will be clear that the fix is in.  As great an actress as Kerry is, the reason I’m referring to this shot is that it reflects the entire scene.  From the moment he walks in Olivia  knows how much Harrison cares, and she loves him for it. She’s  grateful for his concern, especially since, well, he may have a crush on her.  However, it’s really none of his damn business and the poor boy really has no idea how deep, dangerous and complex it all is – but it is kind of cute that he thinks he can fix it, only she can’t let him know she thinks it’s cute, so she’ll stick with annoyed and mad, because she’s got enough to deal with as it is without having to deal with a would be knight in shining armor.

To make a long story short, Olivia was willing to sit back and let Fitz do things his way – until Cyrus let’s her know that Fitz never filed the papers to run for re-election.  So much for the big gesture of giving up the presidency for her!  You would think that’s why Olivia was upset about.  It’s what Fitz thinks she’s upset about.  Nope.  It’s this:

Olivia isn’t the only one who knows Fitz though.  When her fixer brings Mellie a copy of Fitz’s speech for the press conference answering her allegations, she’s floored to see he’s resigning.  That wasn’t her intention at all!  The idea that he would give it all up for Olivia devastates her, and her fixer realizes that Mellie is hoping for her husband to come back to her.  That’s why she won’t say who Fitz is sleeping with, because then Fitz will forever hate her.  He tells her that while he can move mountains, he can’t make Fitz love her.  As far as I’m concerned, this fixer just gained some credibility!  Mellie however, isn’t going to do anything until after Fitz’s speech.  She’s convinced he won’t go through with it.  Ironically, she’s correct – but it’s because of Olivia.  How this Olivia, Fitz, Mellie mess is going to blow up in the finale – I have no idea. The assumption being made is that if Fitz is going to run for office he’s going to stay with Mellie.  I’m not so sure that’s his plan.

Now, let’s get back to the mole – and the Cytron chip.  Once Charlie realizes he’s been shut out by Cyrus, he heads to Olivia’s office where he found David alone, and took him hostage.  That’s right, they left David alone in the office.  Guess they trust him now, which turns out not to be the best thing.  Charlie wants to hire Olivia to get, “the same deal she got for Huck.”  What deal?  Charlie says she must have gotten him a deal because Huck left B613 and yet he has a life.  He lives out in open, works for Olivia – he should be dead.  Olivia tells Huck there was no deal made.  So yet another question: did Olivia make a deal with Chief B613, who may or may not be her father?  Maybe.  Perhaps she didn’t have to, because Chief figured Huck would be good protection for Olivia to have?  The one thing that’s clear, Charlie is not the mole.

He does however, know who the mole is.  He’s not talking though.  Luckily, Huck is quite happy to torture the information out of him.  After all, the man took away his family, and threw him in that box which he knew would cause Huck to go bonkers.  Olivia is against it, but it’s his world – his rules.

When Charlie shows up asking for “Huck’s deal” Olive seems to be expecting trouble.  While Huck is off extracting information from Charlie, Olivia calls Harrison into her office and hands him two folders,  The first one is the names and contact information of everyone who owes Olivia a favor, (She says, “us” but it’s Olivia – via her firm.)   The second folder – the black one – is sealed.  Olivia tells him to use it as a weapon of last resort.  Then it gets really interesting.  She tells Harrison that if things get messy he’s to carry on without her – that she can take care of herself.   Harrison assumes that by “messy”  Olivia means if her name comes out, but I got the distinct feeling that’s not what she meant at all.  Why?  Look at her reaction!

Scandal Olivia reacts to Harrison's idea of messy

If this were one of those newspaper caption contests, this would get, “You poor, sweet, innocent child.  You are just so completely clueless.

Apparently, Huck doesn’t have to use torture on Charlie for the information.   Some kind of deal has been struck.  Maybe it’s the CIA killer’s code because both Huck and Charlie both seem to know what’s going to happen.   Charlie’s duck-taped to a chair chit-chatting about what makes the perfect donut. ( Huck got him the donut, it’s the  “last meal” request given before execution.) Then Charlie requests a high-energy shell and one clean shot at the base of his skull, an instant death, which “will mean less clean-up” for Huck.  Huck agrees and then tells Charlie that he needs the name.  Charlie writes it down and hands it to him.   As Huck prepares to shoot him, his hands shake as he holds the gun.  This is not an easy kill for him.  Before he can pull the trigger, Quinn appears and asks Huck if he’s gotten the name.  It’s HuckleberryQuinn!  She knew!  She knew Huck was going to kill Charlie, and that killing Charlie would not be good for Huck – for many reasons.

Scandal 2x21 Quinn talks down Huck

Quinn talks Huck down from killing Charlie

This scene, to me, rivals the scene with Olivia talking Fitz into running for a second term.   It’s that intense, that epic.  Quinn talks him down, telling him to focus on her, to look at her – and he does!  Then she gives him the advise that Huck once gave her “Job’s over. so right now, you  have to ask yourself if you’re a gladiator, or if your looking for revenge, because from the way I hear it, you can’t have it both ways.”  They let Charlie leave.

Finally, we get to the identity of the mole.   The big reveal is that it’s Billy Chambers (Matt Letscher), Sally Langston’s right-hand guy when she was running against Fitz.  He’s the one who tried to set Fitz up as having killed Amanda Tanner.  I’ve got to give Shonda Rhymes credit – the old saying’ “Out of sight, out of mind” was proved once again.  Billy Chambers has not been seen or mentioned since season one.  No one was even thinking about this guy!  However, the biggest reveal isn’t Billy.  It’s that David Rosen, completely played Olivia and her gladiators.  When Harrison realizes the Cytron card has been stolen and informs the group that it’s gone – David pins the robbery on Charlie.  While Fitz is announcing to the world that his marriage is no ones business and that he will be seeking a second term, David is in a car with Billy Chambers – handing over the Cytron card.

No more good guys.  David Rosen was the last of the Scandal characters that could have been seen as a real, “good guy.”   With this betrayal, the world of Scandal is now completely gray.  Even the horrendous Hollis Doyle was shown to have a heart during his daughter’s “kidnapping.”   The question is, how bad is bad?  Was David in on that girl’s murder, knowing it would give him an in with Olivia if he had to call her and ask for help?  If  so then he’s clearly crossed his own line between right and wrong.  The question, “are  you a gladiator or are you seeking revenge” is one that Quinn, and now Huck, have clearly answered as being “gladiator”.  David  has failed it.  Revenge is more important.

I think this episode of Scandal has expanded the idea of  being a “gladiator” – or maybe I just didn’t get it.  I thought a gladiator was someone loyal to Olivia Pope, but it’s more than that.  Aside from being loyal to Olivia, a gladiator does things, legal and illegal, to help and protect someone or something larger than their own self-interests.  It’s why a gladiator can’t kill for revenge, can’t try to “get back” at people.  It’s why Olivia insisted on helping Hollis Doyle get his daughter back.  Olivia tries to live her life as “Switzerland”  a completely neutral party in the world, doing what she thinks is right and best for other people, best for country.  It’s why she didn’t kick Abby to the curb when she found out Abby had betrayed her to David – because she saw the circumstances as being unique, and letting go of Abbey would have been vengeful.  Taking revenge seems to be what Olivia sees as the cardinal sin.  Everything else is up for grabs.  It doesn’t make her moral and it doesn’t make her good, but somehow, it makes her someone you want to root for.

This Thursday is the season finale of Scandal, and it promises to be a red-hot mess!  I can’t wait!  Talk to you on the other side, gladiators!

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The post Scandal 5×22 “Any Questions?” Review: No More Good Guys? And A Lot More Questions! appeared first on Gossip and Gab.


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