Scandal S01E01-E05

What an opening. Columbus Short. It’s nice to see him moving around. That is to say, I like watching him on screen. This is a one performer to another kind of admiration.

So the series makes a grand entrance with a reminder that “Don’t ask’ don’t tell” is a thing of the past. Riding shotgun is a gay, decorated soldier and the quiet spin on the white hat. Regarding the white hat, I can’t help but notice these things and wonder about the thoughts behind using the term and what the people who decided on it thought would go through people’s minds when they heard it. There’s also an openly gay (and not the least bit flamboyant), right hand man and a female right wing Vice President. And the crowning glory is the female PoC lead character who plays hard and strict, but is allowed to have feelings. They are really trying to cover the bases. But if the shows any good, this heavy handed remedy for most of all that’s wrong with TV will fade into the background and all that will be left are a bunch of characters who also happen to fill a few voids and decrease the dearth of diversity non a really compelling show. That’s what I’m hoping for, anyway.

Initially I thought that she was going to be in love with some guy, this was just a feeling I had while trying to figure out her story before it was revealed (this habit is a double edged sword) and before the President (Tony Goldwyn; I like him) appeared. That thought lasted of 90 seconds. Then when Josh Melina opened the door (I love him), I was hoping that they would kiss after their lively exchange. I still have hopes for them, as long as he’s not married. While I see that the Pres is her weakness, like a serious last drop of blood lovesick weakness, it’s not healthy, so I don’t want them to be together. And he’s married.

So next, in episode 2, hookers and the hauntings of a colorful past visited upon politicians. Nice spin on the Supreme Court Judge candidate outcome.

Episode 3. The bundling of the 1%, the privileged, and, the always popular, rape. So the Pres’ scandal escalates. They seem to be writing this show for me. A lot of the story direction decisions I would make are being made. Great end to the rape case, by the way.

Quinn can’t continue to be the naive , clueless, always 3 steps behind, but smart sometimes character. But she can stay weird.

So we have reached episode 5 and they are doing the one thing I REALLY hate. The Pres vs. Olivia. No one. Not one person has directly confronted the other side about the recording. This means that there is a third party. I had already realized this back when it was decided that Quinn would be going out with Wallace. I knew she would find out that he didn’t call her or something to change their perspective. I could see it coming, the whole thing. This is how I ruin stories. Seeing to much.

So there’s the unconfirmed belief that the recording came from Olivia. There’s the fact that the President said the kid isn’t his. Mind you, he said it at a point where Cyrus was already aware of the situation. So it’s either he was sterile and there’s some arrangement with the First Lady regarding their kids or after they had two, he went for a snip snip, thus becoming sterile by choice. All of this on top of the fact that Amanda lied and said so and is now dead. So from here we go into Olivia believing Pres had her” taken care” of and the Pres’ office digging deeper into Olivia’s crew all for the misunderstanding over a recording. Meanwhile, the real culprits are plotting away.

Oh! and they were so close! Pres toed the line with asking her to say exactly what she was talking about, but not quite. And then he shows up at her door. How long will they keep this going?