Scandal: An Innocent Man Review

As each episode goes by, I can’t help but hope and hope that I will like Fitz again. But, then he will say just one thing and it blows it all. I mean, if Jake’s bloody and swollen face wasn’t enough to make me cringe at the sight of Fitz, the way he talks to Liv just makes me want to scream.

After Jake was introduced onto the show, I thought it would be a nice break from the Fitz and Liv saga. However, now Jake is just thrown into the middle of their insufferable whirlwind romance, fighting for her even though he knows he can’t win, which he admits at the end of tonight’s episode. Ultimately, when Fitz finally lets Olivia go to see Jake, he tells her he knows she won’t choose him, but that it’s ok. Sure, the man’s not perfect but he wants her to be happy after all of this craziness. At the start of this series, I would have been certain that at the end of it all, she would choose Fitz. I even wanted it to be so. But now with Jake in the picture and seeing how manipulative and unstable Fitz can be…I can’t help but hold out for Jake!

Olivia and Fitz had another yelling match when she pretty much realized, Fitz was going to execute Jake. Olivia then pleaded with Fitz, saying if he brought Jake back then there would still be hope for the both of them.

Seriously? After all that?

Though, when she uttered the words, ‘There’s hope,’ I think she said it in a tone of obligation. You can almost feel this desperation Liv has to just end this constant battle between the two of them and just move on. But she can’t, because he won’t let go until she says to let go. However, if she does drop him completely, if there isn’t hope, then she will suffer his consequences. The first one being that Jake will be killed.

In tonight’s episode, Olivia and her team take on the case of an imprisoned man wanting to be justified from the accusation that he attempted to assassinate a former President Cooper. Olivia believes him, just like when she believed Fitz back in that first episode when she looked in his eyes and he told her he didn’t have an affair with another woman. She trusted him because she thought she could see it in his eyes. Well, Fitz was lying and we find out that this man, Carnahan is nuts and wanted to not just be known for attempting to assassinate the president, but who actually did. When it’s discovered that the bullet still launched in Cooper’s head caused his stroke 30 years after the attempted murder, Carnahan can officially say he was the one who assassinated the President. Olivia is sickened by the fact the she trusted him. She blamed her love for Fitz in that first episode for clouding her judgment and I think he has done it again.

Finally, Shonda Rhimes is bringing back the old Mellie! Well, the old Mellie in the sense that she is dressing in her classy dress suits again and starting to go back to her first lady duties. First she must organize former President Cooper’s funeral. She ends up bonding with Mrs. Cooper and I have to tell you, their dynamic has been one of the best on the show in a long time. Talk about witty banter at its finest. It’s clear that Mrs. Cooper is serving as an inspiration to Mellie and a guide to get Mellie more than back on her own two feet, but also starting to make changes in the white house and the country on her own. Honestly though, I could listen to Mellie and Mrs. Cooper gab all day on the white house balcony.

I have appreciated Rhimes’ choice to have Mellie’s entrance back into the world a slow process. It seems it could be the beginning of some serious Mellie influence for both the show and the audience. If she starts taking some pointers from Mrs. Cooper, then we are in for some exciting new storylines with the first lady.

Before Olivia convinced Fitz to take Jake off the chopping block, Papa Pope had a few sweet words for Jake. Don’t get me wrong, I love and appreciate Shonda Rhimes’ use of poetic and powerful dialogue. But when it’s Rowan saying it…it just makes his character even less appealing. Joe Morton is so good at playing someone so excruciatingly bad.

While we are on the topic of corrupt characters (though they are all, a little corrupt) Cyrus is still enjoying his “meetings” with his prostitute. While we have known for a while he is setting Cyrus up, it looks like he is finally being clued in. When Cyrus scolds Abby and makes her in charge of finding out how some confidential white house information was leaked, Abby was happy to share her findings. I think Cyrus forgot Abby used to work for Olivia Pope, using her sleuthing skills to find out about Cyrus’ personal scandal and that he is the culprit of the leak. Karma is a bitch…but what do you expect when a high ranking official leaves his cell phone alone with his mischievous lover?

Bad, Cy.

So, even though it looks like Liv might actually believe Jake killed the president’s son, Liv tells her father that while he has resources, she does too.

Use them, Liv!

Hopefully those resources will be enough to figure out why that locker Quinn had been searching for had picture after picture of our dear Olivia Pope? Next week, I’m hoping for some answers on the ongoing case with Olivia’s friend accused of killing her daughter. Somehow the locker, Olivia and the daughter are connected and if it’s not answered before the winter finale in two weeks, it’s going to be a long wait.

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