Scandal, Season 4, Episode 2, “The State of the Union”
Oct 2, 2014, 9:00p.m. (EST), ABC
This isn’t as good of an episode as the Season opener, but it still had me watching with intense interest.
To start off I am loving the fact that Olivia is back where she belongs, working for the White House. Her working for the White House and how she bends over backwards for Fitz is why I began getting interested in the show. So, when the opening scene was of Cyrus blackmailing Olivia to work for them again I knew this episode was going to be great. But, it ended up being very strong in some parts and weak in others.
One of the strong points was Mellie in general. She used to be that character I never wanted to see. But, with the death of her son she has become a very likable character. Bellamy Young has done a lot to show the different layers off Mellie and I am thankful for that. Before, I thought she was annoying but now that she is grieving for her son’s death, I find I am empathizing with her. She is not being annoying in her grievance, but rather heartbreaking. I am actually hoping Fitz will swoop in and be a hero to make her feel better, which is something I never thought would happen. One of the strongest scenes in the episode is when Mellie drops to the floor inside the White House and starts crying uncontrollably, while telling the guard to leave her alone through sobs.
That being said, I wish that we spent more time with Mellie and within the White House in general. The episode started making me bored when it came to the Gun Control couple that hated each other. It seemed like it was just thrown in there to kill time for the episode. Maybe time that could have been spent on Jake looking into the death of Harrison! When I saw him sitting at the computer I was thinking, “Yes, they are going somewhere now,” only to be left disappointed when the next shot was of the couple yelling at each other again.
The last ten minutes really brought everything back together so well, that I almost forgave the presence of the irrelevant couple. The scene with Olivia and Fitz and how they are trying to fight their love yet completely showing their true intentions for one another was great. I love how Fitz still pines for Olivia in the most obvious ways, ways that make everyone at the White House know what he’s up to. It really makes the show worth while when they keep some things constant throughout the entire series. And then here come the shocks every Scandal fan wants! Jake finally finds out who has killed Harrison and Cyrus is being played by a new worker inside the White House.
Scandal knows how to get under my skin in the best way and make me count down the minutes until next Thursday, and I thank the creators so much for that!
This episode is not as great as the season opener but it still has a lot of ups and only one down. It ends on such a high note that by the time the credits are rolling that one down will be completely forgotten to the audience, just as it was for me.
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GREAT
