Scandal – “The List” – The ABC Television Network. (ABC/Richard Cartwright) KERRY WASHINGTON
This final season of Scandal has been quite a thing. It wanted to have a central arc of Olivia turned bad, but then later finally being redeemed that didn’t work out well. It also constantly interrupts this arc with episodes that don’t mesh well and make the season feel out of sync. It’s a good move to have an episode centered around the #MeToo movement, but it also feels out of place with the area this season is currently in. Hell, when they mentioned in the end preview that there is only 4 episodes left of the series, it felt even more out of place.
A D.C. intern had bought a gun and then went missing, so her father came to Olivia for help in locating his daughter. Even though Olivia states she really doesn’t do this kind of work anymore, she eventually decides to help because she learns that the reason the man’s daughter came to D.C. was due to Olivia being a role model to her. This case is also another way of trying to make the Olivia redemption go better, even though I still think it’s a wash because of how poorly it was executed. There is worry that the intern bought the gun to get revenge on being ousted for a work position, but it’s later revealed that she killed herself instead.
Going through the assholes of D.C. and the intern’s former roommate, Olivia discovers the intern wasn’t given the position because she refused to sleep with a higher-up, while her roommate did and ended up getting the job. There’s a list going around D.C. that gives out the info of which interns put out and which don’t, making it easy for the creeps of D.C. to prey in the young woman and offering them jobs in return. Olivia teams up with Fitz to stop this and it seems that he’s basically forgiven her for all the wrong she’s done because the characters have to be dumb for the plot to move forward. Fitz attempts to get Mellie on board with the plan through Marcus, but the sexual tension between them makes that difficult.
Scandal – “The List” – The ABC Television Network. (ABC/Richard Cartwright) DARBY STANCHFIELD, KERRY WASHINGTON
In the meantime, Olivia kinda sorta patches things up with Abby and reveals to her that she knows Cyrus was the one who hijacked Air Force Two with the hack. She requests that QPA look into it, but Abby knows Quinn will want nothing to do with it if she knows Olivia is spearheading it, so Abby lies and states it came from David. Everyone starts to investigate this, though Charlie has the most vocal objections to this idea. Eventually, the truth comes out that Olivia was actually the one behind this, so Quinn pulls the project because she is the only character who is still justifiably mad at Olivia. This doesn’t stop Huck, however, and he puts together that the code came from Charlie. This would make his outbursts at investigating it to be shown in a new light and he had already worked for Cyrus in the past, so it checks out. Quinn decides to go confront Charlie about this, but surprise, turns out he was framed by Cyrus and the FBI comes running in to arrest him.
Cyrus’ plan also has a few other tricks revealed and put into motion this episode as well. He paid for the hack using the painting Fenton gave him as he knew it would prevent a money trail from following him and revealing he was involved. He also persuades David to recuse himself from the case of the Air Force Two hijacking because it involved him, allowing Cyrus to bring in the same person he paid with the painting. This will allow Cyrus to easily pin the blame on Charlie and escape blame, so he can head forward with whatever plan he has to take Mellie down and become the President way faster than just waiting for the end of her term.
Wrapping up the #MeToo section of the episode, Mellie starts to see the waves Olivia is making in the news about the intern’s lose of life and her roommate coming forward on television to reveal The List and how she was forced to sleep with someone to get the job she currently had. Mellie knows that this will help the case to have a sexual harassment policy be reinforced to prevent these kind of actions from happening again, though Jake states it’d be better to wait this out as certain members of the government wouldn’t be happy about this and the White House is currently trying to avoid a shutdown so support is needed from all sides. Then Jake creepily comes onto Mellie in a random ass moment where she’s on the floor complaining about her back, causing her to snap out of it and demand Jake put the harassment first, to which he reluctantly agrees.
Scandal – “The List” – The ABC Television Network. (ABC/Richard Cartwright) KATIE LOWES
So “The List” makes the world of Scandal become a better place through the sad death of a innocent girl who just wanted to make it in D.C., but not much is done in regards to the man plot. Yeah, Cyrus’ plan has some movement, but it doesn’t feel like enough for the final four episodes to have a satisfying conclusion, though I’ve long past the feeling that Scandal would end in anything close to satisfying. We still don’t know what his major plan will be and everyone else is still slightly divided due to Olivia’s actions, making it harder to form a defensive against Cyrus. But since more and more people are beginning to forgive Olivia, I’m sure by next episode it’ll be like the entire first half of this season didn’t even happen.
The List – 2 out of 5
Pros:
- Cyrus has swapped from villain to not-so-much-a-villain many times during this series, so I’m surprised people even trust him. That said, I do find him enjoyable as a villain as he’s second only to Rowan in schemes.
- I thought the overall storyline of the #MeToo movement was done in good taste.
- I’m glad something came out of that Fenton painting I guess.
Cons:
- Jake being a creep and trying to bang Mellie, despite her complaining about back pains. Doesn’t sound like fun sex to me and Mellie sleeping with a person who has also slept with the mistress of her ex-husband sounds like a lot.
- Charlie is one of the only characters I think has made a decent turn, so it sucks to see him played by Cyrus.
- Still not sure I like how easily everyone forgives Olivia, but whatever.
