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Scandal Review: Who Can You Trust?

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Scandal did the time warp this week, propelling the story 10 months from the end of the previous episode. Olivia's hair is straight and she's wading back into the dating pool. And the regular pool. She also looks fantastic for having not slept at all. Maybe it's the coffee. Or the red wine.

Fitz, however, is deteriorating under the weight of the world that rests on his shoulders without his trusty sidekicks to help him shoulder the load. 

Yes, "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot" was another sold episode of this breakout hit. One that, while a little sleepy at times, had a jaw-dropping, and creepy, ending. WTF, indeed, Scott Foley!

Fiz with Olivia

Poor David Rosen. The guy cannot catch a break. First he loses the Lindsey Dwyer case. Then he's made to look foolish in front of the Grand Jury and loses his job. And then he can't find a job at any law firm in D.C. and decides to build his own. But the clients don't come. So he ends up teaching civics and government classes.

And then he winds up with a dead girl in his bed and calls Olivia Pope for help.

Olivia and the team decide to move the body, with David's approval, and Huck teaches Quinn about clean-up, calling her a "natural" at stabbing corpses.

Sidenote: I'm not alone in thinking an interoffice romance between those two could be interesting, am I? Quck? Hinn? Quick? Okay, I'll stop.

If I have one criticism of Scandal over the past few weeks, it's that it got bogged down in the election rigging and everyone trying to cover their own tails. This was sort of a return to the case-of-the-week format. Sort of.

As it turns out, the dead girl in David Rosen's bed was actually after information on Defiance. Defiance will not die.

After talking his own way out of his own office while Harrison watched with his jaw on the floor, and after (rightfully) accusing Olivia of everything bad that has ever happened to him, David finds the dead girl's jump drive and takes it to Olivia. On it they find highly classified information that no civilian should have in his or her possession and now David absolutely needs Olivia's help if he wants to stay alive and out of prison.

Captain James Ballard, Olivia's new love interest, played by Scott Foley, had been in contact with the dead girl in David's apartment the day she died. His story is that she had been trying to sell him secrets. Top secret secrets. But after that scene in his living room at the end of the episode, I believe exactly nothing that he says.

He has cameras inside Olivia's apartment and who knows how long they've been there.

I should have put it together faster: them meeting in the coffee shop followed by the fact that he was the person she had to visit with at the Pentagon. His rather cocky insistence that they go out to dinner. There were warning signs that their chance encounters weren't so random. But I think I want Olivia to find happiness away from Fitz so badly that I was too eager for this to be someone to do that to stop and see the red flags that he's creepy.

And that TV monitor spy-cam setup he has is creepy. And intriguing. In true Scandal fashion, I have lots of questions.

I want to know his connection to Defiance. Did he kill Wendy or know who does? Is there someone in the Pentagon who suspects something happened with the election? Is this guy going rogue? Why the fascination with Olivia? Is he the mole connected to the White House?

Yes, there's a mole in the White House.

Fitz is growing increasingly paranoid about who he can trust after Verna's deathbed reveal. He knows Mellie and Cyrus enough to know that they're both animals who will stop at almost nothing to get whatever it is they want. His anger and distrust of them isn't misdirected or misguided at all.

For that matter, his anger and feelings of betrayal that are directed at Olivia aren't misguided either. Of the three of them, her betrayal hurts most, which is why their server-room sex and the following conversation was so hard to watch.

These two have certainly had their steamy moments. Tonight just felt angry, without the passion that usually causes me to want these two to be together against all the odds. (I'm not saying they weren't on fire, but angry sex is not as hot as Oval Office sex, right?) 

But even the angsty tryst in the server room was more inspired than Fitz and Mellie in the shower. Maybe it was all the scotch. 

Time jumps are always risky in television shows. They're an effective way to speed along a story that seems to be dragging, and Defiance and the election scandal were certainly dragging along. While we're not beyond that story by any means, at least now there are new avenues being opened up. There are new places for these characters to go and new stories to be told.

For instance, what will happen when Huck finds out about the cameras in Olivia's apartment? 

What did you think of "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot"? What do you think of Captain James Ballard? Do you think the time jump worked? Be sure to check out the Scandal quotes page where you can rate the existing quotes and add your favorites!


Editor Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
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User Rating:

Rating: 4.2 / 5.0 (186 Votes)


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    Hi Ravie,
    Thanks. I'm glad to be here. I just check the blogs everyday for new comments so I guess you could do that if you have the time of course lol. Looking forward to this week's review. Can't wait to see what happens and hear everybodies thoughts!


    Truth, glad to have you on board. I only wished that this site sends an email back to you when a new comment is added, because you never know when someone has replied to you or commented after you. If it's there, wish someone would let me know.
    I'm only going to post about one thing, because everything else was already said. I loved, loved, loved David Rosen's speech to his predecessor in his old office, in front of Harrison. Only one person here barely mentioned it, but I think it was so great, spot on, and downright magnetising and hot. When David is angry, he is really at his best. I really hope he joins up in some form with Olivia's team. Their dynamics are enigmatic!


    Hi everyone,

    I'm new here but I have to say that I truly enjoyed reading all of your comments. It was so great hearing everyones thoughts and opinions whether you agreed with the show or not. That's how it should be. I just had an issue on another site because the recapper doesn't like you to say anyting negative about the cast or the show but would rather spend time talking about fitz hair and how dreamy he is. She even went as far as to shut down the comments section because of comments she didn't like. I expressed my thoughts to her about it and she got defensive and so did the other commentators so I decided to leave. What's crazy is that they had the nerve to try and say that I wasn't a real scandal fan! Are you serious? Just because I don't agree with everything on the show doesn't mean I'm not a fan. I LOVE this show and enjoy it every week. Anyway I'm done venting I just wanted to say again how happy I am to have found a place where we can all talk and have conversations and be respectful of each other. After all that's what adults do right? LOL thank guys


    Hi Miranda,
    I enjoyed reading your review. It was spot on - especially the part of the sexual encounter between Olivia and Fitz.



    This episode blew my mind, broke my heart and made me blush, just like all scandal episodes it was an emotional rollercoaster! I just love Fitz and Olivia I can't help it. Their chemistry is off the charts and you'd have to be blind not to see they still have feelings for each other. I just really hope it will all work out. Mellie and Fitz trying to have sex...might be the sadest thing i've seen for a long time. It must be soo humiliating for her. But since I think her horrible monologue in the car with fitz was a proof of how evil she actually is , i don't reLLY care.


    I am loving this show; the characters are flawed and sometimes foolish when they should be using their smarts and that is so like real life (if you've lived long enough to see that). I LOVED the eyes exchange between Olivia and Fitz at the christening, and I was so glad Mellie saw it. Even after all this time there is a connection between though there is a lot of anger right now. I too was surprised at first that Fitz was so hard on Olivia about Defiance but then I realized hers was the biggest trust/connection and therefore the betrayal was the worst, though I do think he should give her the chance to talk about it. Will be laughing with glee when Mellie is found out. She threw EVERYONE under the bus! Anyway another great rollercoster ride episode and I think the time jump worked this time.


    "I should have put it together faster"... isn't it great when a show is creative enough for you to actually say that to yourself? :)


    This Fitz is better. Fitz and Olivia are mutually self-destructive. Mellie's the best. Olivia not sweeping for bugs regularly is ridiculous. Pentagon guy is super creepy. I bet he's the mole.


