SCANDAL – “Robin” – The ABC Television Network. (ABC/Mitch Haaseth) KERRY WASHINGTON
There was a thought in my mind some time ago about how I really think I’m starting to prefer networks that only allow for 10-12 episode seasons. When you do this for a show, you cut out all the fluff and get straight to the bone of the plot. For a network like ABC, however, double the amount is what they want out of a show. Scandal has had three seasons go over 20 episodes and this final season is pretty close with 18 total episodes divided between the odd pacing of 7 in the first half and then 11 in the second. Let me say that I desperately hope we don’t get another episode like this again for the remainder of Scandal‘s run.
First off, let’s address the elephant in the room: Quinn is not dead. I don’t care that we all collectively watched an hour of television that insisted the opposite, but she isn’t. Maybe if were handled better, an entire episode trying to elude the audience would’ve worked, but this wasn’t the case here. The plot of this episode could be boiled down to Olivia and the rest of QPA mourning the loss of Quinn and then planning her odd funeral that involved shooting bullets into the ground in the middle of a forest that contained the ashes of who they believe to be Quinn. We see Rowan planting the body in a lot and then blowing up the car it’s contained in, we see Huck noticing the body had the hairpin Olivia gave Quinn two episodes ago, and there’s at least one tooth that matches Quinn’s dental records. I’m unsure if this is meant to try and convince the audience or just to give the characters of the show the false impression, but it’s dumb either way to dedicate an full episode to this in the FINAL season of the show.
Olivia’s struggle between being Command and being a White Hat is what I consider the crux of Season 7, but the most we get out of that this episode is that she finds her old white hat during a drunken stupor and then hooks up with Fitz, because of course that needed to happen. I’m not sure if these will cause any developments in Olivia to turn her back to the good side, but what this episode did show is that even Huck is becoming suspicious of her actions and seemingly has joined the Fitz/Rowan team. The other question is that if Rowan’s plan to turn Olivia involves faking the death of one of her friends to show her the true meaning of consequences, couldn’t this lesson be reversed upon her realization that Quinn is actually fine? It seems that the next episode will reveal the full extents of Rowan’s plan and whether or not Quinn is actually dead, so I guess I’ll save that question for next week.
SCANDAL – “Robin” – The ABC Television Network. (ABC/Mitch Haaseth) GUILLERMO DIAZ, GEORGE NEWBERN
Besides the ending where Charlie enter Rowan’s home and finds a baby that looks older than his should be, but will probably end up being his, the only other noteworthy side story outside of the main funeral plot is that Fenton breaks up with Cyrus after doing a background check on his boyfriend and realizing he has done plenty of shady shit in the past, including having Charlie on his payroll. Cyrus tries to convince Fenton that it’s all in the past and that he’s sure Fenton has done bad things to get to his status as well, but it doesn’t look to work, at least for now. I doubt that storyline is over. Also is Curtis Pryce dead? We last saw him knocked out on the floor of a hotel room and then claimed missing on the television, follow up on that Scandal. Oh right, I forgot that Abby and David also find a USB in Quinn’s apartment after taking apart a crib. I assume it will contain evidence that Olivia killed Rashad, so all of QPA will join the Huck/Fitz/Rowan trifecta to knock some sense into Olivia.
So yeah, “Robin” was a major disappointment in the midseason premiere department. The wheels continue to spin and we get a filler episode in the meantime which attempts to undermine the audience’s intelligence and make them believe Quinn is actually dead. The only truly good thing to come out of this episode is that even Huck, the most loyal person to Olivia’s needs, has started to lose faith in her. It’s the only significant thing that moves forward in this episode as the baby and USB drive aren’t resolved and probably won’t be in this next episode. I guess celebrations are in order for anyone who actually still cares about the Olivia/Fitz romance though?
Robin – 1 out of 5
Pros:
- Huck being the only smart person on this show and becoming suspicious of Olivia.
- Loading ashes into bullets is a cool idea for a funeral I guess?
Cons:
- Filler episode and not even a good one.
- The acting and cinematography took a noticeable dive as well in this.
- If this is really the end of the Cyrus/Fenton romance, what was the point of it? Just to give Cyrus something to do this season or to actually give him a lesson?
