Scandal Season 4 Episode 10 recap.
Okay, out of a pretend middle-eastern soundstage, into the fire. Oh, and the President of the United States was convinced to negotiate with terrorists and start a war by his wife, because she feared for the life of his mistress. I mean, I do love this show. How can you not?
There are pretty big things we’re meant to swallow, among them that Olivia’s captor thinks he’s going to have her in captivity for the next three years, or that Huck’s hacking, which is usually seconds-long, expanded to fit the entirety of this hour. But there were many distractions to keep us from wondering why it took so long to find the warehouse where Olivia no longer was, or for that matter why Huck didn’t microchip the rest of OPA a long time ago.
Like the first time Elizabeth asks Andrew “What did you do”, she’s as delighted as she is scandalized. It’s only after he admits that he actually kidnapped Olivia to start a war that she gets properly scandalized, and even then not until Huck gets up close and personal with her daughter. In fact, he gets so serious about it he Grandmother Foxworths her! (If you don’t know what I mean with that reference, that’s your weekend homework.) I don’t mind Mellie and Elizabeth working together at all, frankly, especially since Mellie gets to deploy those wiggle dresses of hers.
And at least she gets someone interesting to interact with, some chemistry, some drama. As opposed to her actual husband. Fitz’s big scowly toddler face is the worst thing I’ve seen on TV, and they just keep going closer and closer on his brow as he tries valiantly to get his eyebrows to meet. Sadly, that’s most of the White House shenanigans, as Cyrus moans about being on the outside and Abby, well, here’s the thing. What training did Abby, and really David Rosen, ever have to be in small counsel with the President? I know they’re not really talking, socially, but wouldn’t you think they’d turn to each other occasionally and go, “Holy sh*t how did we get here?”
I’m concerned about Olivia inasmuch as you can be concerned about the lead of your show not getting to be the lead anymore, but no matter how many threatening interactions she has with her captors, I never bought that she would die.
However, by the time we saw that last sequence, with Olivia’s flatiron back in working order, and Olivia back in comfort on the plane, I did think of something that hadn’t occurred to me.
Olivia could defect.
This is the current plan, that he’s going to sell her on the open market, and that’s fine that she’s pulling all the strings and ultimately going back to Fitz (after, I’m sure, a threatening bid from West Angola). But Olivia knows that if the stakes are this high she can’t just go back to idly strolling in and out of the White House, giving a wink to the scads of people complicit in her kidnapping. She might see a new world in which she’s a sort of permanent outsider, able to pull bigger strings than ever from above.
After all, if the President is this easily manipulated, how can she really respect him anymore? What would her daddy say?
Attached - Kerry Washington hosting a Scandal inspired spring shopping event earlier this week.
