Scandal Fall Finale Review: You Can't Close Pandora's Box
Scandal S04E09: "Where the Sun Don't Shine"
Man, it's fall finale time for Scandal already? The show kicked things off with zeal back in September, and it hasn't really looked back since. By pushing the focus away from Olivia and Fitz, fated lovers, just a little, and then spending more time on OPA handling crises, the show managed to rediscover the rhythm that made it both compulsively watchable and legitimately good (it strayed from the latter in Season 3). Scandal tends to go big with its finales, mid-season or otherwise, and "Where the Sun Don't Shine" was no exception. In fact, this episode was quite successful as a summation of everything that came in the previous eight, while also serving as an intriguing jumping-off point for whatever in the world is in store for 2015. Basically, it did exactly what a good fall finale should do.
The way that Scandal's been dealing with its multitude of stories is impressive. There are always a dozen different unbelievably important things happening simultaneously, but when the show leans too hard on Fitz and Olivia (or Jake and Olivia, for that matter), or when it pushes for the unforeseen twist, the results can be mixed. But "Where the Sun Don't Shine" was strong, coherent, propulsive storytelling. There were three key story threads, mostly working in concert: 1) the fallout from the failed attempt to put an end to Rowan's reign of terror, 2) the political hysteria brought on by the leaking of Cyrus's relations with Michael, and 3) OPA's attempts to discover exactly what RNC Chairwoman North (Portia de Rossi) and the VP have been up to. All three of those balls have been in the air for a while, and they came crashing toward the ground in this episode, colliding with each other on the way down and creating one mini-emergency after another until the moment when Olivia couldn't be Olivia anymore (more on that in a second).
Regardless of how misguided it was to try to take Rowan out, it was worthwhile for us as viewers because it forced the show to do something different with the character, and, more broadly, with that entire storyline. Scandal probably doesn't want to get rid of Joe Morton—and who can blame it?—but his looming presence in Washington, and Olivia Two Bros' neverending crusade to prove who loves her most, or something, had already grown a bit stale. With Rowan sort of scrambling around, "Where the Sun Don't Shine" was able to hone in on the confusing and corrupted relationships within the Pope family, as opposed to just the ones between Olivia and the men in her life. And by the Pope family, I mean Olivia's mother as well, who obviously wasn't dead, as Rowan had asserted. Scandal still isn't exactly sure what to do with Olivia's mom, but "condescending, Concern Troll" worked pretty darn well here. After Olivia managed to pull the trigger of an unloaded gun on Rowan—leading to a classicly incredulous Rowan response of, "AH, ARE YOU SERIOUS?"—Maya gave her daughter no sympathy. Instead, she affirmed that despite Olivia's insistence to the contrary, Daughter Pope is quite a bit like Papa Pope. That was a burn! You never know with this show, but it might be smart to let Rowan leave the stage for a spell so that Khandi Alexander can chew through the remaining bits of scenery that Joe Morton's left behind. Let's just allow the Pope parents to take turns acting like a monster toward their daughter.
Meanwhile, North's long-gestating plan to ruin Cyrus's credibility came to fruition thanks to the leak of some scandalous photos of Cyrus and Michael engaging in some private time. Unsurprisingly, the media and those on both sides of the aisle who were looking for a reason to come at the administration jumped at the opportunity, creating the perfect kind of crisis for Olivia to attempt to quash. Scandal cheated just a smidgen by having Cyrus refuse to go along with Olivia's original plan—Cyrus and Michael get married, with a contract—and turn in his letter of resignation to Fitz, but boy did it yield a number of wonderful individual scenes. Jeff Perry turned in awesome work on all fronts, bringing the hurt and the rage when discarding Liv's plan and (verbally) dressing down Michael, dialing it back when he quit in the Oval Office (Tony Goldwyn was also great; this might've been his best episode of the season), and then expressing a mix of emotion when Olivia berated him into sticking it out. Only on Scandal does a scene in which one character calls another a Bitch Baby over and over result in a triumphant return to glory.
Along with that, I got the sense that Michael's feelings for Cyrus are as real as they can get in a situation like this. Cyrus's angry response to Olivia's original offer stemmed from how earnest Michael's interest appeared to be. Obviously, $1 million/year isn't a bad deal for a marriage to the White House Chief of Staff, but you can already see how that relationship is likely going to evolve into something more. Not sure how that plays to those of you out there who really enjoyed James' presence on the show, but as Olivia said, this happens. And Matthew Del Negro has been good, right?
The various maneuvers between North and the VP and OPA were perhaps the least important goings-on for the majority of the episode, but obviously didn't stay that way. Though the team is now diminished, it's been nice to see Olivia, Huck, and Quinn at least trying to work through cases to help people, both inside and outside the White House. Not only did North's relationship with the VP come to light here, but we learned that the attempt on the latter's life was part of a larger plan to convince Fitz and the administration to go to war. Of course, that information came very late in the game, and with a classic kind of silly-yet-entirely=ballsy Scandal twist: North and the VP have, presumably, had Olivia kidnapped as a way to convince Fitz to declare war.
There's a lot to unpack there. This revelation came right after Olivia pulled a Kelly Taylor and said that she wasn't going to choose between Fitz and Jake—she chose herself instead. That in itself is kind of empowering, but also a delay tactic on Scandal's part so that the show doesn't have to commit to either side of this love triangle (as if Jake actually has a chance). On top of that, we've now spun into some kind of hostage situation where Fitz literally has to express his love by declaring war on another nation, presumably causing the death of dozens, maybe hundreds, of other people. That's one way to depict a deep connection between two individuals, but it's also as heightened and as ridiculous as possible given the show's premise.
And yet—I'm intrigued. If anything, it was nice to be reminded that the VP is an actual character on this show, even if it meant he turned into a villainous prick, presumably out of jealousy over Mellie. North now looks like a more formidable foe for the long-term, something Scandal could use if Rowan considers spending a handful of episodes on vacation in the Bahamas or something. Plus, so many characters are now connected to the primary story—the VP and North are two of them, but Mellie's relationship with the former and her discord with Fitz over Olivia are also back in play. The histrionics are bound to come, but they'll almost certainly be fun, too. And when Scandal is really, truly fun, there's very little like it on TV. Bring on late January!
NOTES
– Kerry Washington was outstanding throughout this episode. There's still more than half a season left, but "Where the Sun Don't Shine" will be hard to set aside when it comes to Emmy tape submissions. Also good: the editing. The stories came together well on the page, but the episode had some real zip to it—especially in the first half—without sacrificing any important moments.
– I didn't mention some of the less successful stuff up above, namely Quinn and Charlie reuniting, in this order: sex, sex, attempted murder, probably sex again. America's Sweethearts, truly.
– Also a little lame: David Rosen. That dude's life is just one long, sad trombone sound effect. As TV.com's own Noel Kirkpatrick texted me during the episode, he's the universe's chew toy.
– I'm glad Huck might have a chance to convince his wife that his B613 career was legitimate, but A) how good of an idea is it to let a civilian read those files, and B) Javi is probably still scarred for life after witnessing a murder. Better get back to those video games!
– I guess now that I've written this, it's possible that the VP and North are working with someone else to force Fitz's hand. Chances it's Rowan? It's always Rowan.
What'd you guys think? Good enough to hold you over until the new year?
