Scandal: Where’s the Black Lady? Review

This Scandal review contains spoilers…

Fitz was paralyzed almost the entire episode not just by the thought of harm coming to Olivia by her creepy captor, but by the fact that he was being watched… everywhere. After the vice president calls his secret service to basically tail Fitz’s every move, he realizes that nowhere is safe to try and save Olivia. Well, except for one place.

Olivia’s apartment. 

Fitz meets Jake there and basically puts it in his hands to save her. Well, that doesn’t stop Mellie, Huck and Quinn from trying to save to her too. 

Huck goes back to his disgusting ways once again, when he threatens to torture Elizabeth’s daughter unless she got information on Olivia’s whereabouts. It was clear; she was out of the loop here. But, that didn’t stop Huck from skinning her back bare (not sure exactly what happened, but I’m sure I don’t want to know the details) which she shows to Mellie.

Is anyone else missing sweet, vulnerable, Huck right about now? 

Fitz was able to tell Mellie earlier on in the episode what was happening with Liv. So, in a scene where Mellie appears seduced by the vice president’s sickening charm, I could feel that it was some sort of ploy. Fitz, while extremely hesitant and torn, was even ready to let Olivia die so as to not go to war in West Angola, Andrew’s prerogative… but, Mellie talked him out of it. 

Since when did Mellie join team Olitz? 

Well, I’m game if it means seeing more Mellie sleuthing. Even though she had to sleep with repugnant Andrew, she was able to steal his cell phones and give them to Elizabeth, which she then took to Pope and Associates. 

Who knew Andrew could be so easy?

Despite Olivia’s limited means in her hellish cell, she’s up to games herself. In the video she had to record proving she was alive for Fitz, she takes a sip of water exposing the reflection of her captor in her glass. 

Of course, only Huck could notice that. 

With a little help from Olivia’s murdered neighbor’s friend, Rose asking, “Where is the black lady?”, they were able to figure out she was taken across the hallway first. They found Olivia’s ring and finally identified the captor through the internet connection they used when they first kidnapped her.

Olivia has cleverly left behind bread crumbs that only the gladiators can find.

Brownie Points awarded to…

David Rosen: He actually did something for Olivia Pope…and I’m sure he won’t let anyone forget that. When Huck, Quinn, and Jake finally narrow down where Liv is, they call in David Rosen who then sets up a fake drug raid to find her. Unfortunately, she was no longer there. But, it’s obvious that David looks sharp in a gladiator suit.

Mellie: Sneaky, seductive, conniving Mellie is the best of them all. Even after all that Fitz has done to her, in some weird twisted way they understand each other and therefore… she won’t let anything jeopardize his presidency. I feel like Mellie will always be a mystery, but I predict that in the final episode of Scandal, they will flash forward to the future and Mellie will be president. Wouldn’t that be great? 

Elizabeth: I was shocked to find out she had nothing to do with Olivia’s captivity. Andrew truly showed his colors to her when she approached him about it, saying that one of Olivia’s people (Huck) threatened her and her daughter. Andrew pretty much dismissed this and basically declared he would stop at nothing to get to the presidency and that she better hop on board if she wanted in on his mission. However, Elizabeth protecting her daughter showed she wasn’t as cold hearted as suspected. Even if Huck disagrees.

Cyrus: He wasn’t afraid to get on the president’s bad side when Fitz declared war on West Angola. However, Cyrus didn’t know it was in order to save Olivia. Fitz finally gets word to Cyrus towards the end of the episode, writing down, “They have Olivia” in his plan book for West Angola. Now, Cyrus understood. It was nice to know that not everyone in the White House was under the vice president’s spell.

Olivia: By the end of the episode, she has concocted her own plan to save herself. She basically makes herself an auction item and her captor is holding the gavel. I was shocked that he agreed to this, but now it’s clear what his weakness is: money.

While this week’s episode was nowhere near as gripping and edgy as last week’s, this gradual build to saving Olivia is kind of what I wanted to see at the start of the season when Olivia was living on an island with Jake. I thought it would take at least two or three episodes before we saw Olivia going back to DC and gladiator business. But, it wasn’t even half way through the episode when she decided to jet back home. This new storyline with Liv, I think, will draw out for a while and test weaknesses that many of these characters seem to have:

Olivia. 

So, who will bid the most for Olivia’s life? Will it be Fitz, the Gladiators, or the vice president? Well whoever it is, Liv is back in her swanky fashion and ready to work. She may have escaped her dank conditions in some abandoned building, but it’s clear she’s up to something she knows will work.

Follow our new TV feed @DenofGeekTV