Because The A.V. Club knows that TV shows keep going even if we’re not writing at length about them, we’re experimenting with discussion posts. For certain shows, one of our TV writers will publish some brief thoughts about the latest episode, and open the comments for readers to share theirs.
- Well, another episode of Scandal that asks us to believe in the utter stupidity of its characters to make the episode work. Luckily, this week’s story is the most successful yet at setting up a long-term plan for the season.
- I don’t think Huck is dead, because, well, Meg probably would’ve just said, “Huck is dead.” Vague responses are a giveaway on shows like this, but this cliffhanger doesn’t even try to leave room for mystery.
- I groaned when Abby’s involvement with the new shadow agency came to light. It doesn’t particularly make sense, but I do like that it sort of confines that storyline (hopefully). Last week’s episode made it seem like there was an unending succession of white men ready to take power, but this plot feels a bit more digestible with a familiar face involved.
- Did Huck miss B613’s Emotional and Romantic Manipulation 101 course or do we just have to believe he’s an idiot now? The entire jail scene was unnecessary and irrelevant. I barely remember what Becky did and we didn’t need her to point out that Huck is easy to manipulate when Olivia emotionally manipulates him every week.
- No one wants violent Huck sex or romance, so at least that got nipped in the bud.
- Did Huck really think it would be that easy to kill Papa Pope? Jake tried for like, an entire season. The second Huck went down the stairs, I knew Papa Pope knew he was being followed. Papa Pope never missed a B613 class and he got top honors in Followed Turned Follower 301.
- A lot of weird camera angles used with Huck this episode––when he returns and thinks there’s a mole and after his sex scene. I was not a fan of any of it.
- It’s really irritating to see Olivia be so wrong about something and so self-righteous about it.
- There were no flashbacks this week! Except for the minor flashbacks to remind us what happened last week. This show apparently thinks we all suffer from amnesia.
- At no point did this episode make me trust Meg. Even after it was revealed that Huck was right––thank you deus ex tracker––they still didn’t clear up the fact that there was a mole in the office. If anything, Olivia’s first move after telling Quinn to stand down should’ve been to run a check on Charlie. Then she should’ve been like “Yeah, Huck, there’s no way your girl was randomly eating lunch with the woman running a shadow organization.” Olivia and Huck leading Meg to Jennifer made no sense.
- They really want us to care about romantic relationships between characters we barely know. I do not care if love changed Papa Pope or Huck. I do not care at all.
- Meg: Olivia takes on lost causes and helps out underdogs.
Me: Ah, so you stopped watching after season two then? It’s been awhile since Olivia helped anyone who wasn’t in the White House. - This whole episode would’ve gone a lot smoother if Huck had just clearly explained that he saw the people following Rowan and then saw the same woman again with Meg. There’s no common sense in this episode, but hey, it gets us somewhere interesting and pulls us out of the boring flashback hole of hell.
Join the discussion...